Selecting a Networked Virtual Environment Platform and the Design of a Collaborative E-Learning Environment A

22nd International Conference on Advanced Information Networking and Applications - Workshops

Selecting a Networked Virtual Environment Platform and the Design of a Collaborative e-Learning Environment A. Konstantinidis1, Th. Tsiatsos1,2 1Department of Informatics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki 2Research Academic Computer Technology Institute Greece akons, tsiatsos @csd.auth.gr

Abstract communication channels are available; the information in the environment is represented in multiple ways that can Our goal was to create a 3D virtual environment vary from simple text to 3D graphics; students are not which could be used to carry out online lectures and passive users but can interact with each other and with the which would offer the most popular features of current virtual environment; the system that supports the CVEs. This paper initially discusses the potential of 3D environment integrates multiple technologies; the networked virtual environments for supporting possibility of implementing multiple learning scenarios is collaborative learning and presents the assets of such supported; recognizable elements from the real world are systems. Furthermore, the paper reviews the features of visualized. In a virtual world all interaction takes place in five such software applications, through the comparison real time, the world is shared, it supports multiple of the tools and services they offer. These include tools for simultaneous users and is usually persistent (meaning that supporting communication, sharing applications, it continues to exist even without any participating users) organizing and coordinating the teaching process and for [13]. Also, virtual worlds let users experience interacting with the virtual environment through an environments which, for reasons of time, distance, scale, avatar. Based on that comparison, we justify our choice and safety, would not otherwise be available, especially to of platform and discuss design and implementation issues. those with disabilities. Finally, future work regarding the assessment of the This paper is structured as follows: The next section virtual environment is discussed. presents the state of the art in 3D multi-user collaborative environments and epigrammatically presents their general 1. Introduction features. Based on that, we justify our decision of platform in section 4 and then discuss implementation Research (e.g. [1], [6]) has proven the effectiveness of issues, concerning the development of our 3D educational collaborative learning compared to other educational environment. Finally, some concluding remarks and practices (e.g. competitive or personalized learning), and planned next steps are described in brief. concludes that collaborative activities, centered on a cognitive goal and supported by experts, result in the 2. Presentation of 3D multi-user more meaningful and efficient acquisition of knowledge. collaborative environment platforms Researchers that speak in favor of the use of computers in the collaborative activity, praise this method’s way of In this section we present the state of the art in 3D aiding the acquisition of higher level cognitive abilities, multi-user collaborative environments. The presented problem solving abilities, ease in scientific expression and CVEs were chosen based on their popularity, proven the development of communication, social and higher educational and collaborative value (e.g. [2]), respective order thinking skills. user testimonials and support of the generic features and In this paper we will focus our interest on computer advantages of current systems as presented in Section 1. supported collaborative learning virtual environments. Here, we first present the general features of each According to [2], a collaborative environment is an environment and in section 3 we discuss and compare the environment in which: The users participating have specific services and tools they each provide. Some different roles and privileges; the educational interactions general features of the platforms are summarized in Table in the environment transform the simple virtual space into 1. a communication space. Meaning that multiple

In Active Worlds (http://www.activeworlds.com/), Workspace 3D (http://www.tixeo.com) offers a 3D users can visit 3D virtual environments, communicate collaborative environment for meetings, conferences and with others and create their personal virtual space. The e-learning. According to the developers, using three educational capabilities of Active Worlds have been dimensions enables them to create a more accessible and explored by a learning community known as Active user friendly workplace, allowing users to intuitively Worlds Educational Universe (AWEDU) which provides recognize who, where and what someone is doing through educators, students, educational institutions and simple observation. individual programs with the AW technology. Through AW, educators can assess new ideas, learning theories 2.6 Features Summary and teaching methods and discover new paradigms in social learning. The most important features of the platforms are presented in Table 1, below. Platform/ Features Open Source Persistent Architecture 2.2 Croquet Active Worlds No Yes Client- Server Croquet Yes Yes P2P I-maginer No No Client- Server Croquet (http://www.croquetconsortium.org) is an Second Life No Yes Client- Server Workspace 3D No No, but you can Client- Server open source cross platform 3D environment designed for save states rich interaction and simulation, with a combination of Table 1: A comparison of the general features powerful graphics and multi-user collaborations [10]. In the next section we will take a look at specific tools Written in Squeak, an object and class based, reflective and services offered by the aforementioned environments. Smalltalk implementation, it’s a combination of open Through this comparison we will ultimately decide on source software and peer to peer network architecture which platform to utilize for our own virtual educational providing an infrastructure for synchronous real time space. problem solving within shared simulations [14]. For Croquet’s interface and architecture its designers have 3. Tools and services supporting incorporated many educational principles developed by collaborative e-learning Piaget, Papert, Montessori and Bruner. Current collaborative learning environments offer 2.3 I-maginer many helpful tools which constitute and augment their pedagogical value. Based on the features and advantages Through this proprietary software, users can create 3D of CVEs in general, these can be separated into five spaces intended for meetings, conferences, collaboration, categories: tools for communication, management and e-learning or blogging. Several tools are supported for coordination, teacher and student support, shared communication, multimedia, presentation and simulation. applications and avatar functions. According to the developers, the use of I-maginer Generally, in text based services and tools, the (http://www.i-maginer.fr/) results in “an increase in team traditional 2D interface is user friendly, efficient and the productivity, an improvement in quality of service, a one that most people are accustomed to. Any other type of reduction in supplier deadlines and an acceleration of the interface would serve only to complicate a very simple decision making process”. instrument. What should be pursued is the introduction of this 2D mechanism into a 3D context sensitive container. 2.4 Second Life This way the tool retains its assets, aids the learning process by augmenting the immersion of the user into the Second Life (http://secondlife.com) is a very popular environment and meets the need of the CVE definition for persistent 3D world which provides simple modeling multi-faceted information. tools and a scripting language (called LSL) for the A brief mention will be made here of the most creation of interactive objects and the alteration of the important tools of 3D collaborative software. For each worlds’ physics. In Second Life, educators can create real group of services a table will be presented and the most time interactive activities for the support of experiential, important tools discussed. project-based and community service-based learning [2]. Chatting with others and navigating the virtual world of 3.1 Computer supported communication the software is without charge, but creating objects and building requires the acquisition of land from the As mentioned in Section 1, users should be able to developers or from other users. communicate in multiple ways with each other inside the virtual environment; in this section we discuss the support

45 of the most prominent communication methods by the Applications which can be shared between users studied platforms. include, but are not limited to, word processors, internet Platform/ AW Croquet I- SL Workspace 3D Communic. Tools maginer browsers, whiteboards and CAD tools. Through a shared word processor, users can co-author a document or a Chat Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes presentation. In most of the environments (e.g. E-mail Ext. Ext. Ext. Ext. External Forum Ext. Ext. Ext. Ext. External Workspace 3D) users see the document through a 2D top Video Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes down perspective since it’s the most simple, accessible VoIP Yes, Yes Yes Yes Yes but and familiar viewpoint. with a fee Also, in [8], users complained about the lack of design Table 2: A comparison of the communication and brainstorming tools. A shared whiteboard satisfies tools supported by the platforms that need, utilizing the required functionality, such as Email technology is the most broadly used method for design tools for shapes and colors for the representation text based asynchronous communication today ([6]). of ideas and suggestions. In a 3D environment, the Despite this fact though, none of the examined software whiteboard could be realized in a 2D top down feature an email service embedded into the user interface. perspective, embedded into a virtual desk or workspace, Access to email is only available through an external or like its real life counterpart vertically attached to a wall application, or through an embedded web browser. The (as in I-maginer). case is the same for discussion forums. In a collaborative environment there should be links to Video messages for asynchronous communication are multiple sources of information, such as the Internet and usually limited to the projection of the face of the speaker external applications. In [8], users requested the ability to through a web camera, or of a video taken in the real project screens from external applications. In a 3D world. Similar functionality is incorporated in 3D environment, hyperlinks could exist between virtual environments such as Workspace 3D and Active Worlds. worlds in the form of portals. These types of hyperlinks In a 3D virtual world however, it would constitute an have already been realized in platforms such as Croquet. advantage to also be able to send videos taken from inside Here, users even have the ability to see through multiple the virtual environment. A feature only supported through nested portals sharing objects and files with each other. Platform/ Shared AW Croquet I- SL Workspace 3D external applications. tools maginer In all of the researched 3D collaborative environments, Annotation No Yes No No No the user interface includes a 2D space dedicated to a chat Co- Browsing No Yes Yes Yes Yes mechanism. In some 3D environments, such as Second File Sharing Yes Yes Yes No Yes

Life, the last message dispatched by each user, is not only Scenarios Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes entered into the discussion history, but can also be seen Shared Whiteboard No Yes Yes No Yes hovering momentarily above the avatar in the form of a Shared Word No Yes Yes No Yes Processor 2D speech bubble. It should be noted here that in [8] users Simulations Yes Yes Yes Yes No mention that they prefer seeing their own speech bubbles as well as everyone else’s. Portals No Yes No No No The users can also communicate through the exchange Table 3: A comparison of shared tools supported of sound messages and using modern sound processing by the platforms techniques (e.g. OpenAL) hey can pinpoint the exact Many collaborative applications, like Active Worlds location inside the 3D environment that the sound and Croquet, support project and scenario based learning originated from. The utilization of such a mechanism in a through role playing. These tools have been realized in 3D environment is quite demanding in equipment and 2D collaborative environments with success, but their bandwidth yet many users deem the VoIP service application in a 3D environment is where the advantages necessary, since the ability to send sound messages of this type of learning can be fully utilized. strengthens the psychological sense of presence in the The reason for this is that a virtual world can provide virtual world [8]. strong motives for participation [1]. Effects such as immersion, interaction and presence strengthen these 3.2 Application Sharing motives. In addition, simulations in virtual worlds allow users to experience environments which would otherwise Perceiving the students as little scientists and aiding be impossible, because of time, distance, risk or their acquisition of higher level cognitive abilities, disabilities as also mentioned in the CVE advantages in problem solving abilities and ease in scientific expression Section 1. requires specific sharing and collaborative capabilities Also, the use of simulations and microcosms would be from the CVE. These are discussed below. more compelling through a 3D virtual world. The reason for this being the possibilities provided by a 3D world for

46 the representation of any environment and the only limit by a virtual object which can be transferred between the being the creators own imagination. Access to users. In [8] users report the transfer of a virtual environments which would otherwise be impossible is microphone between them as a pleasant experience. made feasible through virtual representations. Another method that can be used for the coordination Environments such as molecular structures, solar systems of the collaborative process is the ability to focus the and nuclear factories, can be represented realistically, attention of the students by the teacher. Here, the user avoiding obstacles such as economic factors and security who has access to the medium can lock the first person or health issues. perspectives of all the other users to a certain object. This method can be used for explanation or disciplinary 3.3 Teacher and student support tools purposes. The user with access to the medium can choose to focus the perspectives of the other users on an object, a In most of the platforms, the participating users general space or even on his viewing perspective. A undertake different roles, exercising allowed privileges. helpful method not featured in any of the examined This group of tools refers to the collaboration between the applications. Platform/ AW Croquet I- SL Workspac roles of teachers and students within virtual environments Coordination maginer e 3D and how this is supported. Some of the tools have to do Tools with class management tasks and the evaluation of both Action Key No No No No Yes Participate No Chat No No Yes the students and the teaching procedure in general. Voting In 2D only is probably the fastest and most direct way of decision Save Meeting No Yes No No Yes Room making. Users can vote by choosing one or more of the Condition Security, No No Yes No Yes offered options. In a 3D environment, users can also vote Data Encryption through gestures, like in I-maginer. The results are usually Table 5: Comparing coordination tools presented through 3D graphs, pie charts, or histograms. supported by the platforms Included are argumentation tools, design tools, Automatic agents could undertake multiple roles in a brainstorming tools, structured chat mechanisms etc. The collaborative environment. They could help the user, in goal is to satisfy needs and activities on a cognitive, social the search for information, during scenarios and role- level. Activities such as conversation, design and playing or by just enhancing the illusion of the virtual programming, sharing of ideas and data, evaluation, role world. In addition, they could be used to bring users with entrusting, coordination and social interaction [6]. In a common interests together or act as a filter in order to collaborative environment activity replay is the very avoid information beyond the user’s cognitive abilities. useful ability to record and view all the actions that took RSS is a family of web feed formats used to publish place during a collaborative session. Platform/ Suppo rt AW Croquet I- SL Workspace 3D frequently updated digital content, such as blogs, news Tools maginer feeds or podcasts. In a 3D environment RSS feeds could

Activity Replay Ext. External External Ext. External emanate from a virtual radio that is carried around by the Agents Yes, Yes No Yes No users’ avatar, as is shown in the environment of Second but some Life and presented in [7]. need a fee Argumentation tools No No Yes No Yes RSS Feeds No Ext. No Yes No 3.5 The user’s avatar Voting System Ext. No Yes Ext. No Wikis No External External Ext. No As has already been mentioned in the Section 1 Table 4: Comparing teacher and student support definition of CVEs , users interact with the virtual world tools in the platforms and its inhabitants through an avatar. Some of the basic advantages of using a 3D avatar are summarized in [12]: 3.4 Methods for organizing and coordinating the Perception, tracking and recognition of others from their collaborative learning process avatars; the visualization of concentration, of actions and of gestures; the social representation of the self; For the efficient coordination of a collaborative enhancement of trust and security between the members process or a collaborative learning session, the way the of a group. Next we will present some of the basic users gain access to the common workspace is very operations that avatars are capable of carrying out and important. which have been utilized in the collaborative platforms In the action key method (used in Workspace3D for that were examined. Platform/ Avatar AW Croquet I-maginer SL Workspace example), the user possessing the action key is the only Functions 3D one with access to the common workspace. The rest of the Interact with Yes No Yes Yes Yes objects users can ask to obtain the key from the current owner. In Create objects, Yes, External No Yes, No build but and import but the 3D environment the action key could be represented with a with fee a fee

47 Platform/ Avatar AW Croquet I-maginer SL Workspace Functions 3D together. Portals allow users to peer into other

Interact with Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes environments and share files. Looking through nested other users Walking/ Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes portals is also supported. Finally, Croquet’s physics Running Flying Yes No No Yes No engine is capable of simulating vector fields such as wind and gravity [11]. Teleportation Yes Yes No Yes No Although Croquet has many useful features, there are Manipulate Yes External Yes Yes No avatar and import some tools and services which are yet to be integrated into Gestures Yes No Yes Yes Yes the platform. For example, from Table 5 we gather that Facial No No No Yes No Expressions Croquet is missing valuable coordination tools, necessary (e-motes) Perspective No Yes Yes Yes No for the management of a collaborative session. The Control implementation of tools such as attention focus and 2D Table 6: Comparing avatar functionality in the participation constitute our future work. platforms The interaction with objects enhances immersion 5. Design and implementation issues and maintains the illusion of a virtual world. In platforms such as Second Life, modeling tools are used for the Our goal was to create a 3D virtual environment which creation of objects, while in other platforms a user can could be used to carry out online lectures and which import 3D objects modeled with external applications would offer the most popular features of CVEs. The (such as when 3DSMax is used for Croquet). design of the environment (Figure 1) consists of two Research, in [8], shows that users mentioned interconnected rooms, a lecture hall where presentations problems during the navigation of the avatar. Comments and classes can be held, and a room where student teams regarding the speed of the avatar varied. Therefore, it is can meet to collaborate. Finally, it was our intention to probably best to allow users to control this. In addition, provide users with a personal space for taking notes and for the more efficient observation of large objects and for to allow collaborative web browsing through the user the avoidance of virtual geographical obstacles, the users’ interface. avatars should have the ability of flight or of instant teleportation, as is the case in Second Life. Other avatar functions include gestures, with the most popular being approval, disapproval, arm raising, clapping, and disorientation [8]; facial expressions, perspective control, and manipulation of the avatar’s appearance.

4. Selecting a Platform Figure 1: A diagram describing the virtual environment’s function Considering all of the above we chose to utilize the Α lecture hall and meeting room where successfully Croquet platform in order to design and develop a 3D created in 3DSMax 8 and imported into Croquet using the educational environment. We selected this platform Squeak programming language. The lecture hall (Figure mainly because it’s based on a peer to peer architecture; it 2) contains four main elements. The amphitheatre (item 1) has cross platform capabilities and is also an open source is where students can watch a presentation by a teacher or software application [9]. another student standing at (item 3). The environment This peer to peer based architecture achieves increased also features a portal (item 4) which leads to the virtual load balancing and facilitates the shared used of meeting room. In addition, the students can collect their bandwidth [6]. Furthermore, Croquet’s cross platform personal spaces in the form of 3D windows from the capabilities and virtual machine framework guarantee a tables at (item 2). simple and quick installation on any operating system. The students’ personal space was developed as a Finally, being an open source application grants designers programming container of Squeak code (morphic project). the freedom of creating a multitude of user interfaces, It contains some basic 2D tools for presentations, simulations and environments and enhancing Croquet programming, drawing and multimedia. Users can even with needed functionality. carry this window through portals into other virtual In addition, through Croquet’s multi-user 3D virtual environments.The other virtual space, the meeting room environment users can share files and applications, contains two main elements. First there is the central collaboratively browse the web, co-author documents and point of the virtual space, around which there are 4 presentations and communicate through text, VoIP or amphitheatres where students can gather to work video. Also, out of the five platforms examined, Croquet collaboratively and in teams. Also, the environment is the only one to feature portals which link virtual worlds contains a portal through which students can return to the

48 virtual lecture hall. Following that, a web browser 7. References (Mozilla Firefox) was added to the user interface through a modification of previous developer code. The browser is [1] A. Bruckman, J. Elliott, L. Adams (2002), No Magic presented in a 3D window and retains all of the Bullet: 3D Video Games in Education, Proceedings of functionality of its 2D counterpart. ICLS 2002, International Conference of the Learning Sciences, Seattle, WA, October 23-26, 2002. [2] C. Bedford, R. Birkedal, J. Erhard, J. Graff, C. Hempel (2006), Second Life As An Educational Environment: A Student Perspective, Proceedings of the First Second Life Education Workshop, Fort Mason Centre, San Francisco, Ca., August 20th ,pp. 25-27. [3] C. Bouras and T. Tsiatsos (2006). “Educational virtual environments: design rationale and architecture”, Figure 2: The lecture hall as seen from above in International Journal of Multimedia Tools and 3DS Max Applications (MTAP). Through the implemented user interface, users can [4] C.A. Findley, (1988). Collaborative Networked Learning: chat with others inside the same world, or with people On-line Facilitation and Software Support, Digital using the Jabber client outside of Croquet. They can Equipment Corporation. Burlington, MA. create text documents, lights, simple shapes and spaces [5] D. Schoder and K. Fischbach (2005), Core Concepts in and even 3D objects from 2D drawings using an Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Networking. In: Subramanian, R.; application called Sketch (integrated into Croquet by its Goodman, B. (eds.): P2P Computing: The Evolution of a Disruptive Technology, Idea Group Inc, Hershey. developers). Also, users can search for and connect to [6] I. L. Ballesteros (2006). Future and Emerging nearby worlds and import images and videos into the Technologies and Paradigms for Collaborative Working environment. Environments, Information Society, European Commission, The environment we have created can be used for a http://tinyurl.com/3y6aj7 multitude of distance learning scenarios. For example, [7] J. Kemp, D. Livingstone (2006), Putting A Second Life students can be taught how to browse the web, or how to “Metaverse” Skin On Learning Management Systems, Proceedings of the First Second Life Education Workshop use a Learning Content Management System (LCMS) like th Moodle or Blackboard. The virtual world can be a place at SLCC, San Francisco, August 20 , pp. 13-18. for students to meet and collaborate, participating in [8] K. Muller, A. Koubek (2002),Collaborative and Virtual Environments for Learning, ACM SIG Proceedings, New simulations and microcosms, co-browsing the web, co- Orleans, Louisiana, USA, November 16-20. authoring documents and presentations. [9] M. Lombardi (2005), Standing on the plateau looking forward, the Croquet project, http://www.opencroquet.org/ 6. Conclusions- Future Work [10] M. McCahill (2004), Design for an extensible croquet- based framework to deliver a persistent, unified, massively The examination of the tools and services offered by multi-user and self organizing virtual environment, Second five 3D collaborative applications reveals user Conference on Creating, Connecting and Collaborating difficulties, needs and preferences. The worth of such through Computing, Kyoto, Japan, January 29-30. applications has been proven by both their popularity and [11] M. McCahill (2006), Extending croquet spaces with virtual user testimonials in business (e.g. Workspace 3D) and presence, vehicles and vector fields, Fourth Conference on Creating, Connecting and Collaborating through entertainment (e.g. Second Life). We selected to utilize Computing, Berkeley, California, January 26-27. Croquet’s technology for the development of an [12] P. Zhigeng, J. Zhu, M. Zhang, W. Hu (2005), Collaborative educational environment. Our next step is to bring Virtual Learning Environment Using Synthetic Characters, Croquet into the computer lab and have students evaluate Springer- Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. its usefulness and efficiency in aiding collaborative [13] R. A. Bartle (2003), Designing virtual worlds, New Riders learning. We plan on carrying out a specific use case Publishing. scenario, and gathering information regarding students’ [14] R. Kadobayashi, J. Lombardi, M.P. McCahill, H. Stearns, impressions of the software and its applicability through a K. Tanaka, A. Kay (2005), Annotation Authoring in questionnaire. Also, through a personality test we will try Collaborative 3D Virtual Environments, Proceedings of the 2005 international conference on augmented tele-existence, to correlate the users’ personal traits with their impression Christchurch, New Zealand, December 8-10. of the platform. Using this information we will then proceed to augment the Croquet platform with the necessary tools and services. Also, more information describing design and programming tasks will be presented in future papers.