Identity+and+Avatars

=Identity and Avatars in Gaming Environments to Support Learning=

An important aspect of constructivist learning is the creation of "educationally beneficial identities." [1] In games, participants develop identities - either real or constructed - that allow them to have success in the gaming environment. Gamers act as themselves through a text-based identity or a virtual identity such as an avatar. Assuming an identity in a well-designed learning environment allows the students to take on roles that would be impossible for them to take on in real life - this is true of the identity as "learner" and as scientist, mathematician, explorer, etc. . As virtual environments become more immersive in the future, the physical experience will support the mental experience, enhancing learning further.

Quest to Learn is the nation's first public school built around the concept of gaming design as pivotal to learning design. Part of their curriculum overview reads, "Quest is designed to enable students to “take on” the identities and behaviors of explorers, mathematicians, historians, writers, and evolutionary biologists as they work through a dynamic, challenge-based curriculum with content-rich questing to learn at its core." media type="youtube" key="kHtj6PCpyLQ?rel=0" height="349" width="425" [2] For more about game and learning design theory, see the Learning Design page of this wiki.

Avatar comes from the Hindu word incarnation, and can be represented by anything from an email name to a constructed identity in Second Life or another virtual reality. This video describes at a basic level the benefits and confinement of creating an avatar: media type="youtube" key="wDH-9gt5WJc?rel=0" height="349" width="560" [3]

Creation of an identity as a learner
James Paul Gee outlines three different identities that players take on within a game. [4]
 * Virtual Identity. The virtual identity is who you are in the gaming environment. The successes and failures of the virtual character are mediated by a blend of the player - what characteristics and actions the player chooses - and the environment, or the constraints the game puts on that character in action and ability.
 * Real World Identity. The real world identity is who you are as the player. Gee argues that who you are outside of the game influences your behavior and choices in the virtual environment.
 * Projective Identity. The projective identity is both seeing one's virtual identity as one's project, and also the projection of the real world identity onto the virtual character. In the projective identity, Gee argues, the player imbues the virtual identity with feelings and motives that go beyond the game environment - the player doesn't want to let the virtual identity down. It is this identity that leads to deep learning through active and critical interaction.

As mentioned above, identity as a learner is an important aspect of constructivist learning. Gee goes on to describe a possible game where the virtual identity of the student would be, for example, the learner as a scientist. [5] As a virtual identity, "scientist" is partly shaped by the constraints and history of the science field, but as in non-educational games, the virtual identity would also have an overlay of the students themselves acting as scientists. In this way, scientist would become the projective identity, and the student/player would experience the emotional and critical connection to that role that would allow for deep learning.

One important aspect of creating identity as a learner is the real world identity the learner brings to the situation. [6] Identities in school relate to motivation and effort, and as Carol Dweck has argued, learners who believe in their ability to learn through hard work and practice, will learn. [7] The gaming environment sets up the possibility for the learner to bring a confident learner identity to the task in a number of ways. Games Gee also argues that one of the keys to learning design in games comes when gamers can help create the environment themselves. For more information on learning and game design see the Game Creation chapter.
 * create an environment where players can experiment and fail without real world consequences,
 * allow for multiple levels of entry depending on prior knowledge and skill that the learner brings to the task,
 * provide adequate challenge to build confidence while providing multiple opportunities for learners to experience success, and
 * allow for a connection to an identity - a projective identity - that motivates players toward success.

Exploration of identity is an enhancement to engagement and learning
Lee and Hoadly argue that the ability of adolescents to explore identities in an online environment allows them to become more engaged in the learning that takes place there. [7] They point out that the formation of a true identity is difficult for modern adolescents whose trajectory into adulthood is not so programmed or linear as it has been for past generations, and that trying on different identities allows the adolescents to be more engaged in what they are learning. Sherry Turkle argues that an online identity, rather than being different from self, is actually a part of one's self. In exploring different identities we are merely exploring different parts of ourselves, an "identity workshop." [8] Nick Burbules makes the case that "the 'virtual' is not the opposite of 'real' - it is a medial term, between the real and the artificial and the imagined." [9] Thus in a gaming situation, the learner would be able to take on identities - such as scientist, explorer, business person - that become part of the identity of the learner, and engage the learner to both undertake the learning necessary to complete the game (and presumably meet the learning objectives of that game), and to explore different facets of his own identity in the process. Their identity as that expert (in a controlled way) would in a sense become part of their overall identity, paving the way for exploration in a deeper way. In this overlap, the learner becomes the scientist, as in the projective identity described above.

Active, critical learning takes place in environments that would be impossible to have in the real world
If students create and interact as avatars in virtual environments, the learning can be enhanced by the students interacting in collaborative ways that they might not have done in real life - from shyness, embarrassment, or established social structures in the classroom, for example. [10] Gee calls this the "psychosocial moratorium" in a learning space where real-world consequences are lowered, not just in the affective domain. In virtual worlds
 * students can carry out tasks that are difficult in the real world,
 * students can experience "virtual world persistence," and develop ongoing relationships with collaborators and experiences within in the learning environment, and
 * virtual worlds can adapt and grow to meet learners' goals and needs. [11]

Students as avatars can select the appropriate level, can choose what problem they solve, and can save and restart a game when they want [12]. In addition, students can learn in virtual environments that mimic real environments, and thus can be immersed in the learning to a higher degree. They can personally experience choices and situations, and they can therefore connect with the situation at a deeper level. [13]

Avatars are currently being used by online learning institutions and other more innovative traditional institutions as a compliment and/or supplement to traditional learning. This [|blog]from Accredited Online Colleges describes ways in which avatars are already being used in online learning environments in higher education, including for teaching assistants and coaches. Avatars most often are associated with multi-user video environments (MVUEs) such as [|Second Life]. Citing other research, Gilly Salmon notes that when student, teachers and avatars interact, specific types of learning can take place.
 * Greeting, playing, signalling group affiliation, conveying opinions or feelings, creating closeness and dealing with conflict
 * Creating a strong sense of presence or ‘being there’ with others
 * Importing and exporting of shared norms into and out of virtual worlds and exploring alternatives roles
 * The possibilities and constraints for small groups of avatars learning together
 * Developing trust and a sense of belonging, prerequisites for successful learning in groups
 * Evaluating the impact of the nature and mode of communication used. [14]

Virtual learning environments also allow for immersive learning that is contextually based and can take place in non-traditional classroom settings. This video from Stacy Williams, and Assistant Professor at Case Western Reserve University, describes some ways in which virtual environments and avatars can be used to allow students to have real-world experiences.

media type="youtube" key="R3WLJq5BucM?rel=0" height="349" width="425" [15]

For more about reality based learning, see the Real Life Applications page of this wiki.

The Future of Online Identities in Education
In their book Infinite Reality, Jim Blascovich and Jeremy Bailenson outline studies that show that the brain doesn't distinguish very well between virtual environments and real environments.[16] Below is a rather low-quality video in which Bailenson nicely summarizes some of the work on avatars and behavior.

media type="youtube" key="7X88445s4ns?rel=0" height="349" width="425" [17]

In one study, Bailenson describes how people who see their avatars in a mirror and then interact with someone in a virtual world change the way they interact based on what they think they look like. For example, if your avatar is attractive, you are more likely to stand closer, look someone in the eye, and speak with confidence. In another study, people were shown their avatars performing a task that they had never done before and seeing results of that action. That caused them to behave differently, and the "learning" lasted for at least an hour after the person had left the avatar.

The [|2011 Horizon Report] predicts that gesture-based learning will become prevalent in four to five years.[18] Instead of students interacting in virtual worlds with type, they will be able to actually move and interact with information in a physical way. This might imply that instead of merely communicating in a virtual world, students will actually be physically moving around virtual worlds, thus allowing them to make, for example, the physical cut in a patient, or maybe even to ride in a covered wagon on the Oregon Trail.

Combined with the advent of gesture-based technology, the implications of avatars for the future of education seem to be tremendous. A teacher avatar could be manipulated to gaze upon and mimic the students, thus increasing the potential learning from direct instruction. In addition, students could actually embody avatars and could have the feeling of physically completing tasks even if they weren't actually doing them. Student avatars could be manipulated to succeed in a difficult task, and the actual student would experience the feeling of success. This could lead to a higher identity of the self as a potential learner, and could influence how the student learns outside of the virtual environment. Because this technology is so new, more empirical research is needed to connect learning through creating and using avatars and online identities.

There are drawbacks to the creation of false experiences in virtual worlds. See the Problems and Challenges page for more information.