D-Taled J Description of the D-Tale2 Study
- Including a Revised Version of the course of events, week 10 –04.
What is behind the D-Tale studies?
The pilot study D-Tale and the comparative study D-Tale2 - both taking virtually place in Eduverse, Active Worlds (AWEDU) - are offshoots from the TALEproject: http://www.hum.sdu.dk/projekter/ipfu/uk/TALE/
The aim of the TALEproject is to facilitate learning conditions and develop tools for instruction of English as a foreign language. The means to do this is to let the pupils communicate and create narrative texts in an online virtual environment. The project uses the Blackboard e-learning system in a network of schools in the northern countries.
Thomas Hansson, from the Institute of Educational Research and Development (IPFU) at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU), is the co-ordinator of the TALEproject. He got the idea to the D-Tale studies from the projects – 5th
Dimensions: http://www.5d.org/ - Michael Cole is researching: (http://communication.ucsd.edu/people/f_cole.html).
“The name Fifth Dimension (5D) refers to the fact that education and learning go beyond the three dimensions of physical space and the forth dimension of time. 5D is about making learning meaningful.”
http://www.ronneby.se/learninglab/5d/public.htm#what
Christopher Kjær, Ph.d. student at Humanistic Information Science, SDU, made the contact to The 5th Dimension in Copenhagen, which is an offspring from Coles research in the Fifth Dimensions, to get information and inspiration about how to do and how to plan activities in the virtual world D-Tale. Christopher Kjær also made the contact to Eltang Centralskole, where the pilot study D-Tale took place in November 2003. Christopher Kjær has been our study director in connection to the paper in Learning Oriented Design, 2003, where we used experience from the pilot study.
Kenneth Jensen, Ma. stud. at University of Copenhagen, participates in the 5th Dimension project in Copenhagen: http://www.psy.ku.dk/5d/frameset01.htm. The 5D activities in Copenhagen differs from the classic 5th Dimension set-up by being largely dependent on researchers and by mainly using digital artifacts. The main focus of the project is on 3D virtual environments. Kenneth also introduced us to Eduverse and shared some of the experiences from 5D Copenhagen with us.
Rocio Chongtay, adjunkt at University of Southern Denmark, participated in the introductory design of the activities in the virtual world D-Tale before we joined the studies. Actually she also proposed the use of weblogs as a reflective tool, but we never knew before late. In the D-Tale2 study she wants to survey the role of a virtual agent with the name “Harry Potter”, to get experience and inspiration to develop the software of an artificial virtual agent in virtual worlds as in D-Tale. Rocio Chongtay is also our study director in the bachelor project. She joins us on the trip to Iceland.
The D-Tale pilot study was originally supposed to employ 20 students, one to support each pupil in the 7th grade class in Eltang. Four students showed serious interest in the study. A restricted amount of computers made it necessary to divide the class into two to switch between class room activities and computer room activities. We had to create different didactive designs for the class room and the digital environments. It was an advantage as it made it possible to compare the two kinds of activities. Inspired by the avatar Avafar used in 5D Copenhagen Hansson proposed to have a white lady or some kind of wizard to interact with the pupils to motivate or help when needed.
Who is inside us
Pernille Hansen and Yvonne Eriksen study Humanistic Information Science - www.infovid.sdu.dk at SDU. We are the project managers, we design the didactics and create the course of events for the D-Tale studies: the D-Tale pilot study in November 2003 in Eltang Centralskole and a comparative study in March 2004. Besides 10 pupils from Eltang the comparative study includes two classes, one 8th grade class from Hrafnagilsskoli, Iceland, and one 7th grade class from Yhtenäisskoulu, Finland. The pupils from Eltang are going to instruct and help the pupils from Iceland and Finland.
We will use the experience from the studies in our BA this summer (2004). We want to develop a didactic design applying several digital formats. Thanks to the D-Tale studies we have been given the opportunity to plan the teaching courses of events in a digital environment applying our model of a didactive design. We want to survey the learning and teaching potential of different digital formats: Inhabited virtual worlds with chat, wikis and weblogs. The formats can be combined individually or be integrated in a computer system for digital teaching and instruction. We make this research in order to produce empirical experience using our didactive design. The didactive design will later be implemented in a digital tool facilitating reflective knowledge.
Our main goal is not, like in the TALEproject, learning and instruction of English as a foreign language, but intervention to cause certain changes that will affect on different kinds of reflection and facilitate development of reflective knowledge.
Lau Korsgaard from 2nd semester at Humanistic Information Science at SDU, participates in the creation of the background conditions for the pupil’s activities in D-Tale. He creates all the functional graphics and he is good at it! He also makes a ‘handbook’ of how to use the functions in D-Tale. He is going to Finland to instruct and help during the activities in the D-Tale2 comparative study. eHHHHHHHHHHHHe wants to use the experience from the studies in his paper about Learning and Cognitive Psychology.
The background for our research
Our learning perspective when creating the courses of events in the D-Tale studies was Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory, operative constructivism and a communication model applying Lars Qvortrup’s knowledge profile for a hypercomplex society. We see learning as the result of a communicative activity. Our focus is the development of situative knowledge facilitated by communication and collaboration as described by Lars Qvortrup (Det lærende samfund, 2001) http://www.qvortrup.info/. Situative knowledge is divided among three communicative competencies representing the ability to continuously observe and reflect on the conditions under which:
¨ You observe yourself
¨ Others observe themselves
¨ The society or a community observes itself
To every competence we apply a narrative form – weak, strong and interactive narrativity – which in all provide the background structures for creating meaning. We want to survey how these competencies and their narrative forms are facilitated in virtual environments.
Absurd Wizards and Other Creatures in D-Tale
The absurd the names of the avatars in D-Tale are intended. We do not want the pupils to be tied down to traditional understandings of storytelling. We want them to be free to manage the situation of acting both a person and as an avatar playing a role in a way that suits them. The pupils can affect the identity of their avatar in many ways. The interesting thing is: Do they care? Does it make sense?
The roles of Lady Di and the wizard Alfadur is to be continuous figures in D-Tale. Someone to be recognized, in one way or the other. Lady Di will be recognized by the Danish pupils as she participated in the pilot study. She was a popular figure and the pupils missed more of her kind. This is the reason why we decided to invite Kenneth to be Alfadur. The role of a wizard implies anticipations of magic .. and unpredictability. We want the roles of Lady Di and Alfadur to be related to experiences of suspense and stability. They are known and unknown at the same time ..
Revised General Guidelines for the Course of Events – Week 10, 2004.
(Hrafnagilsskóli, Yhtenäiskoulu and Eltang Centralskole)
· Participants:
Teachers and pupils
Karin Eriksen - teacher at Eltang skole
7th grade (10 pupils) at Eltang centralskole, Denmark.
Kristin Kolbeinsdóttir - teacher at Hrafnagilsskoli
8th grade at Hrafnagilsskóli, Iceland.
Krista Kindt-Sarojärvi - teacher at Yhtenäisskoulu
7th grade at Yhtenäiskoulu, Finland.
Students at University of Southern Denmark, SDU
Contact Finland and Denmark:
Lau Korsgaard
Responsibility, mainly: Functional graphics and technology in D-Tale. Lau will also videotape the pupils in Finland.
Contact Iceland and Denmark:
Yvonne Eriksen
- responsibility: Weblogs, wikis and detailed description.
Pernille Hansen
Responsibility: Description of the course of events and practical organizer.
Responsibility - both, mainly: Project managers and didactics.
Others
Loba van Heugten as Lady Di, Friday Heugten@lit+p9tcul.sdu.dk
Kenneth Jensen as Alfadur, The Wizard of Eduverse.
- Ma. stud. at University of Copenhagen
Rocio Chongtay - Adjunkt at University of Southern Denmark
- Setup of an onsite adaptable virtual agent (“Harry Potter”), adjusting agent’s role
according with the local pupil’s reactions.
- Video documenting the pupil’s motivation or de-motivation to participate
and collaborate with their virtual classmates and the virtual agents (remote or onsite).
Christopher Kjær - Ph.d. student at University of Southern Denmark
Christopher will videotape the activities in Eltang Friday.
· The Teacher’s Roles:
The intention is that Kristin, the teacher in Iceland, and Krista, the teacher in Finland, support and instruct pupils in the class room when they solve their assignments (write their parts of a story). Karin, the teacher in Denmark, helps the pupils in Eltang understand what they have to do as instructors. Every teacher will receive detailed information on this later.
The teachers are free to participate as they find relevant. If any of the teachers have suggestions or questions to the course of events they are welcome to send an email to one of us – Lau, Pernille or Yvonne.
· Settings:
Time frame: Week 10. 9 lessons á 45 minutes.
Tuesday 2/3 - Introduction at each school (No specific time).
Wednesday 3/3 - Interactivity between the 3 countries.
(Iceland: 10-13. Denmark: 11-14. Finland: 12-15)
Friday 5/3 – Interactivity between the 3 countries
(Iceland: 9-12. Denmark: 10-13. Finland: 11-14)
The classes: Denmark: 10 pupils
Iceland: 21 pupils
Finland: 16 pupils
Groups: 2 Danish pupil instructors.
Team A / Team BCharlie-group:
(Mikkel B. & Emil)
Knight of Ice / 3 Icelandic pupils
Agnar Ari & Hrund & Sara María / 2 Icelandic pupils Arna Viðey &
Jón Elvar
Knight of Fin / 2 Finnish pupils
Aino & Olli / 2 Finnish pupils
Ville & Kaisla
Driver-group:
(Mikkel G. &
Kasper)
Ice Mechanic / 2 Icelandic pupils
Baldvin Þór &
Linda Brá / 2 Icelandic pupils Bjarni Snævar &
Rita Rós
Fin Mechanic / 2 Finnish pupils
Toni & Jenni / 1 Finnish pupils
Eero
Eltang John-group:
(Klavs-Ole & Mick)
Ice Musician / 2 Icelandic pupils
Guðný Valborg & Pétur / 2 Icelandic pupils Guðrún Anna & Kristján
Fin Musician / 1 Finnish pupils
Julle / 2 Finnish pupils
Elsa & Oscar
Tony Blaer-group:
(Tobias & Peter)
Ice Official / 2 Icelandic pupils
Jófríður &
Róbert Jón / 2 Icelandic pupils Linda Björg & Jóhann
Fin Official / 2 Finnish pupils
Kia & Antto / 1 Finnish pupils
Matt
Queen-group:
(Mette & Diana)
Lady of Ice / 2 Icelandic pupils Skarphéðinn &
Sonja Dögg / 2 Icelandic pupils Unnur & Kristín
Lady of Fin / 1 Finnish pupils
Roope / 2 Finnish pupils
Heidi & Mirko
Accommodation: A classroom and a computer room.
- In Denmark 10 computers are available
- In Iceland 14 computers are available
- In Finland 20 computers are available
· Aim:
- Improve the pupil’s proficiency in reading and writing English.
- Challenge and improve the pupil’s ability to observe and communicate
o writing narrative texts in collaboration and
o in dialogue and interaction with other participants in the studies.
- Development of insight and qualifications to uncover and use narrative structures
with the purpose of developing certain reflective knowledge.
- Practice and improvment of digital competence.
- To be productive of experience with a didactive design facilitating reflective knowledge by means of digital tools in the form of a virtual world, wikis and weblogs.
· The course of events:
The Danish pupils are, in groups of two, going to be instructors for the pupils in Iceland and Finland. The pupil avatars from the pilot study in Denmark – Charlie, Queen, Eltang John, Tony Blaer and Driver – continue in the D-Tale2 study as head avatars, each instructing about eight pupils distributed in two groups of three to five pupils, one from each of the two other countries. Each group of about four pupils is divided into two teams, A and B.
These teams switch between on the one hand acting in the role of an assistant avatar solving assignments and in the end of each session writing a log in their group weblog (named by the group head avatar) of their activities in D-Tale on the other hand solving assignments writing parts of a story in the classroom to be entered in their group wiki (also named by the group head avatar) in the beginning or the end of their next session in D-Tale.
It is acting in the role of one of the avatars from the pilot study that the Danish pupils are going to be instructors. The pupils from Iceland and Finland are going to act as avatars being assistants for the leader avatars. The assistant avatars have names related to the leader avatar they are attached to and to the country of the pupils who plays the avatar. Each assistant avatar is attached to a team A and a team B, from Iceland or Finland.
Every session begins with the Danish pupils introducing the Icelandic and Finnish teams to the assignments they have to solve in the particular session. Therefore the Danish pupils need to know the assignments of the other pupils to be able to give this information to them. They also need information about different features in D-Tale to be able to help and instruct when needed. Lau is making a description of features (a ‘handbook’) and an environment in D-Tale for the Danish pupils where they can get this information to know what to say and do to instruct their companions.
The Danish pupils also have to fill in forms of information about the role of the (avatar) they are going to play in the D-Tale2 study. This information will be placed as boards in the room of their avatar in Alder Tongs Castle. The reason we want them to do this is to make them reflect on the identity of the character they are playing and to make it possible for the other pupils to create an image of the leader avatars. It might also cause reflection and communication. It could serve as background information and inspiration for the stories the pupils from Iceland and Finland have to write, too, but not necessarily.