Researching Virtual Worlds

Researching Virtual Worlds PDF Author: Louise Phillips
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136250514
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 197

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Book Description
This volume presents a wide range of methodological strategies that are designed to take into account the complex, emergent, and continually shifting character of virtual worlds. It interrogates how virtual worlds emerge as objects of study through the development and application of various methodological strategies. Virtual worlds are not considered objects that exist as entities with fixed attributes independent of our continuous engagement with them and interpretation of them. Instead, they are conceived of as complex ensembles of technology, humans, symbols, discourses, and economic structures, ensembles that emerge in ongoing practices and specific situations. A broad spectrum of perspectives and methodologies is presented: Actor-Network-Theory and post-Actor-Network-Theory, performativity theory, ethnography, discourse analysis, Sense-Making Methodology, visual ethnography, multi-sited ethnography, and Social Network Analysis.

Researching Virtual Worlds

Researching Virtual Worlds PDF Author: Louise Phillips
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136250514
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 197

Get Book Here

Book Description
This volume presents a wide range of methodological strategies that are designed to take into account the complex, emergent, and continually shifting character of virtual worlds. It interrogates how virtual worlds emerge as objects of study through the development and application of various methodological strategies. Virtual worlds are not considered objects that exist as entities with fixed attributes independent of our continuous engagement with them and interpretation of them. Instead, they are conceived of as complex ensembles of technology, humans, symbols, discourses, and economic structures, ensembles that emerge in ongoing practices and specific situations. A broad spectrum of perspectives and methodologies is presented: Actor-Network-Theory and post-Actor-Network-Theory, performativity theory, ethnography, discourse analysis, Sense-Making Methodology, visual ethnography, multi-sited ethnography, and Social Network Analysis.

Researching Learning in Virtual Worlds

Researching Learning in Virtual Worlds PDF Author: Anna Peachey
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 184996047X
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 222

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Book Description
Most of the chapters in this book are extended papers from Research Learning in Virtual Environments (reLIVE08), an international conference held by the UK Open University in Milton Keynes in November 2008. Authors of the best papers and presentations from the conferences were invited to contribute to Research Learning in Virtual Worlds, the first book to specifically address research methods and related issues for education in virtual worlds. The book covers a range of research undertaken in virtual worlds. It opens with an accessible introduction both to the book and to the subject area, making it an ideal springboard for those who are new to research in this area. The subsequent ten chapters present work covering a range of research methodologies across a broad discipline base, providing essential reading for advanced undergraduate or postgraduate researchers working in education in virtual worlds, and engaging background material for researchers in similar and related disciplines.

Cases in Online Interview Research

Cases in Online Interview Research PDF Author: Janet Salmons
Publisher: SAGE Publications
ISBN: 1452230277
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 401

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Book Description
In an era of constrained research budgets, online interviewing opens up immense possibilities: a researcher can literally conduct a global study without ever leaving home. But more than a decade after these technologies started to become available, there are still few studies on how to utilize online interviews in research. This book provides 10 cases of research conducted using online interviews, with data collected through text-based, videoconferencing, multichannel meetings, and immersive 3-D environments. Each case is followed by two commentaries: one from another expert contributor, the second from Janet Salmons, as editor.

Online Worlds: Convergence of the Real and the Virtual

Online Worlds: Convergence of the Real and the Virtual PDF Author: William Sims Bainbridge
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 184882825X
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 317

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Book Description
William Sims Bainbridge Virtual worlds are persistent online computer-generated environments where people can interact, whether for work or play, in a manner comparable to the real world. The most prominent current example is World of Warcraft (Corneliussen and Rettberg 2008), a massively multiplayer online game with 11 million s- scribers. Some other virtual worlds, notably Second Life (Rymaszewski et al. 2007), are not games at all, but Internet-based collaboration contexts in which people can create virtual objects, simulated architecture, and working groups. Although interest in virtual worlds has been growing for at least a dozen years, only today it is possible to bring together an international team of highly acc- plished authors to examine them with both care and excitement, employing a range of theories and methodologies to discover the principles that are making virtual worlds increasingly popular and may in future establish them as a major sector of human-centered computing.

Assessing the Effectiveness of Virtual Technologies in Foreign and Second Language Instruction

Assessing the Effectiveness of Virtual Technologies in Foreign and Second Language Instruction PDF Author: Kruk, Mariusz
Publisher: IGI Global
ISBN: 1522572872
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 319

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Book Description
Over the last few decades, the use of virtual technologies in education, including foreign/second language instruction, has developed into a substantial field of study. Through virtual technologies, language learners can develop metacognitive and metalinguistic skills, and they can practice the language by interacting with real/virtual users or virtual objects, a very important issue for language learners who have no or little contact with native or target language speakers outside the classroom. Assessing the Effectiveness of Virtual Technologies in Foreign and Second Language Instruction provides emerging research exploring the theoretical and practical aspects of virtual technologies and applications in engaging language learners both within and outside the classroom. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as game-based learning, online classrooms, and learning management systems, this publication is ideally designed for academicians, researchers, scholars, educators, graduate-level students, software developers, instructional designers, linguists, and education administrators seeking current research on how virtual technologies can be utilized and interpreted methodologically in virtual classroom settings.

Coming of Age in Second Life

Coming of Age in Second Life PDF Author: Tom Boellstorff
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691168342
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 348

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Book Description
Millions of people around the world today spend portions of their lives in online virtual worlds. Second Life is one of the largest of these virtual worlds. The residents of Second Life create communities, buy property and build homes, go to concerts, meet in bars, attend weddings and religious services, buy and sell virtual goods and services, find friendship, fall in love--the possibilities are endless, and all encountered through a computer screen. At the time of its initial publication in 2008, Coming of Age in Second Life was the first book of anthropology to examine this thriving alternate universe. Tom Boellstorff conducted more than two years of fieldwork in Second Life, living among and observing its residents in exactly the same way anthropologists traditionally have done to learn about cultures and social groups in the so-called real world. He conducted his research as the avatar "Tom Bukowski," and applied the rigorous methods of anthropology to study many facets of this new frontier of human life, including issues of gender, race, sex, money, conflict and antisocial behavior, the construction of place and time, and the interplay of self and group. Coming of Age in Second Life shows how virtual worlds can change ideas about identity and society. Bringing anthropology into territory never before studied, this book demonstrates that in some ways humans have always been virtual, and that virtual worlds in all their rich complexity build upon a human capacity for culture that is as old as humanity itself. Now with a new preface in which the author places his book in light of the most recent transformations in online culture, Coming of Age in Second Life remains the classic ethnography of virtual worlds.

Virtual Worlds and E-commerce

Virtual Worlds and E-commerce PDF Author: Barbara L. Ciaramitaro
Publisher: IGI Global
ISBN: 9781616928087
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
"This book presents various opinions, judgments, and ideas on how the use of digitally created worlds is changing the face of e-commerce and extending the use of Internet technologies to create a more immersive experience for customers"--Provided by publisher.

Ethnography and Virtual Worlds

Ethnography and Virtual Worlds PDF Author: Tom Boellstorff
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691264864
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
A practical guide to the ethnographic study of online cultures, and beyond Ethnography and Virtual Worlds is the only book of its kind—a concise, comprehensive, and practical guide for students, teachers, designers, and scholars interested in using ethnographic methods to study online virtual worlds, including both game and nongame environments. Written by leading ethnographers of virtual worlds, and focusing on the key method of participant observation, the book provides invaluable advice, tips, guidelines, and principles to aid researchers through every stage of a project, from choosing an online fieldsite to writing and publishing the results. Provides practical and detailed techniques for ethnographic research customized to reflect the specific issues of online virtual worlds, both game and nongame Draws on research in a range of virtual worlds, including Everquest, Second Life, There.com, and World of Warcraft Provides suggestions for dealing with institutional review boards, human subjects protocols, and ethical issues Guides the reader through the full trajectory of ethnographic research, from research design to data collection, data analysis, and writing up and publishing research results Addresses myths and misunderstandings about ethnographic research, and argues for the scientific value of ethnography

New Technological Applications for Foreign and Second Language Learning and Teaching

New Technological Applications for Foreign and Second Language Learning and Teaching PDF Author: Kruk, Mariusz
Publisher: IGI Global
ISBN: 1799825930
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
Population diversity is becoming more prevalent globally with increasing immigration, emigration, and refugee placement. These circumstances increase the likelihood that a child will be raised speaking a different language in the home than the common language used in each country. This necessitates the development of comprehensive strategies that promote second language learning through the adoption of new technological advancements. New Technological Applications for Foreign and Second Language Learning and Teaching is a scholarly publication that explores how the latest technologies have the potential to engage foreign and second language learners both within and outside the language classroom and to facilitate language learning and teaching in the target language. Highlighting a range of topics such as learning analytics, digital games, and telecollaboration, this book is ideal for teachers, instructional designers, curriculum developers, IT consultants, educational software developers, language learning specialists, academicians, administrators, professionals, researchers, and students.

Design for Learning in Virtual Worlds

Design for Learning in Virtual Worlds PDF Author: Brian C. Nelson
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136863036
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 263

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Book Description
Design for Learning in Virtual Worlds, the first book focused specifically on how to design virtual worlds for educational purposes, explores: • the history and evolution of virtual worlds • the theories behind the use of virtual worlds for learning • the design of curricula in virtual worlds • design guidelines for elements experienced in virtual worlds that support learning • design guidelines for learning quests and activities in virtual worlds. The authors also examine the theories and associated design principles used to create embedded assessments in virtual worlds. Finally, a framework and methodology is provided to assist professionals in evaluating "off-the-shelf" virtual worlds for use in educational and training settings. Design for Learning in Virtual Worlds will be invaluable both as a professional resource and as a textbook for courses within Educational Technology, Learning Sciences, and Library Media programs that focus on gaming or online learning environments.