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Galhenage Indika Udaya Shantha Perera Phd Thesis

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Galhenage Indika Udaya Shantha Perera Phd Thesis AN EVALUATION OF USER SUPPORT STRATEGIES FOR MANAGED LEARNING IN A MULTI USER VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT Galhenage Indika Udaya Shantha Perera A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 2013 Full metadata for this item is available in Research@StAndrews:FullText at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/4049 This item is protected by original copyright An Evaluation of User Support Strategies for Managed Learning in a Multi User Virtual Environment Galhenage Indika Udaya Shantha Perera PhD Thesis A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Computer Science University of St Andrews July 2013 Abstract The management of online learning environments so that they are effective and efficient presents a significant challenge for institutions and lecturers due to the complexity of requirements in the learning and teaching domain. The use of 3D Multi User Virtual Environments (MUVEs) for education introduces a novel set of management challenges. MUVEs were designed to cater for entertainment and commercial needs and as such do not intrinsically support managed learning. When MUVEs are used for educational purposes, forming 3D Multi User Learning Environments (MULEs), user support for learning management becomes an important factor. This thesis highlights the importance of managed learning in MULEs. It proposes a coordinated approach which accommodates the existing education institutional infrastructure. The research has focused on two very widely used and closely compatible MUVEs, Second Life (SL) and OpenSim. The thesis presents system and user studies that have been carried out on these selected MUVEs. The findings reveal the challenges that academics and students can experience if they do not have sufficient knowhow to manage learning activities in SL/OpenSim. User guidance and training tools were then developed for supporting learning management strategies in the context of SL/OpenSim and demonstrated in exemplar use-case scenarios. The user support models and tools which were developed have been extensively evaluated for their usability and educational value using diverse participant groups. The results validate the efficacy of these contributions, defending the research thesis. These contributions can be used in future research on managing MUVE supported education. Acknowledgement I owe my gratitude to many people who have made this research possible. My deepest gratitude is to my supervisor, Dr. Colin Allison for the opportunities and the support he gave. I was very fortunate to have him as my supervisor. His valuable input and the flexibility in shaping the best path for my research interests have helped me a lot for this work. I really appreciate his support extended to develop my research and academic competencies. I would like to thank my second supervisor, Dr. Alan Miller, and my reviewers Dr. Mark-Jan Nederhof and Dr. Alex Voss, for their support and feedback. I highly appreciate the financial support received from the Commonwealth Scholarship Programme (UK) and the Scottish Informatics and Computer Science Alliance (SICSA) to complete this work. I am thankful to Dr. Iain Oliver, Dr. Thomas Sturgeon, Dr. Ying Zhai, Dr. Meng Yu, Dr. Ittipong Khemapech, Mr. John McCaffery and Mr. Ross Nicoll for the collaborative research, inspirational discussions and knowledge sharing. I would like to thank my friends and the staff at the School of CS. It was a wonderful experience to work with them. I am grateful to my family for their love and kind support throughout. Thank you. Declarations I Galhenage Indika Udaya Shantha Perera, hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 66,000 words in length, has been written by me, that it is the record of work carried out by me and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree. I was admitted as a research student and a candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in September 2009; the higher study for which this is a record was carried out in the University of St Andrews between 2009 and 2013. Date Signature of candidate I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of PhD in Computer Science in the University of St Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. Date Signature of supervisor In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews I understand that I am giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work not being affected thereby. I also understand that the title and the abstract will be published, and that a copy of the work may be made and supplied to any bona fide library or research worker, that my thesis will be electronically accessible for personal or research use unless exempt by award of an embargo as requested below, and that the library has the right to migrate my thesis into new electronic forms as required to ensure continued access to the thesis. I have obtained any third-party copyright permissions that may be required in order to allow such access and migration, or have requested the appropriate embargo below. The following is an agreed request by candidate and supervisor regarding the electronic publication of this thesis: Access to printed copy and electronic publication of thesis through the University of St Andrews. Date Signature of candidate Signature of supervisor Contents 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Research Overview ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Thesis Statement ............................................................................................................................... 1 1.3 Research Objectives and Methodology ............................................................................................. 2 1.3.1 System Environment for the Research....................................................................................... 2 1.4 Research Contributions ..................................................................................................................... 3 1.4.1 Overview of Research Contributions ......................................................................................... 3 1.4.2 Selected Publications ................................................................................................................. 4 1.5 Thesis Structure................................................................................................................................. 6 1.6 Summary ........................................................................................................................................... 6 2. Review of Literature ........................................................................................................................... 7 2.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 7 2.2 Multi User Virtual Environments...................................................................................................... 7 2.2.1 Game Environments - MMORPGs ............................................................................................ 7 2.2.2 MUVEs – an Overview ............................................................................................................. 8 2.2.3 Related Terminology of MUVEs ............................................................................................. 11 2.2.4 Management Challenges in MUVEs ....................................................................................... 12 2.3 Technology Enhanced Learning ..................................................................................................... 13 2.3.1 E-Learning ............................................................................................................................... 13 2.3.3 Other Approaches .................................................................................................................... 14 2.3.4 Blended Learning..................................................................................................................... 15 2.4 Teaching and Learning with MUVEs ............................................................................................. 16 2.4.1 Related Educational Projects ................................................................................................... 19 2.5 Educational Theories for MUVE based Learning ........................................................................... 20 2.5.1 Generic Learning Taxonomies and Models ............................................................................. 20 2.5.2 Experiential Learning .............................................................................................................. 23 2.5.3 Exploratory Learning ............................................................................................................... 24 2.5.4 Constructivist Learning ..........................................................................................................
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