Computer animation for virtual humans.

YesAdvances in computer animation techniques have spurred increasing levels of realism and movement in virtual characters that closely mimic physical reality. Increases in computational power and control methods enable the creation of 3D virtual humans for real-time interactive applications. Artificial intelligence techniques and autonomous agents give computer-generated characters a life of their own and let them interact with other characters in virtual worlds. Developments and advances in networking and virtual reality (VR) let multiple participants share virtual worlds and interact with applications or each other

Qualitative research methods to analyze Learning 2.0 processes: Categorization, recurrence, saturation and multimedia triangulation

The developments of the Web have generated new modalities and contexts of learning, shaping what is nowadays called “Learning 2.0”. Within this new phenomenon it arises a trend of moving out from the linearity of written word toward new multimedia complexities, that lead to a parallel semiotic complexity lying behind them. Understanding the above mentioned complexities implies to preserve and make explicit the collaboratory construction of knowledge through the identification of events, instruments, signs. This identification is in fact an analytic process, where the researcher divides the raw data into units of meaning making that must be read both in the specific contribution made by every mode (text, images, audio) as well as a whole. This is possible through an inverse process of analysis and interpretation that depends on specific instruments regarding the qualitative methodological approach. These last must be, in fact, appropriated to the new environments and phenomena. In this work the authors introduce several examples of educational research practice where categorization and triangulation were implemented on data collected from interactive processes in online learning environments, to further obtain recurrences and saturation of data. In second place, going a step further on the discussion of appropriated methods to Learning 2.0 analysis, the so called “multimedia triangulation” is presented, on the basis of analysis of data collected inside the same case study.Fil: Constantino, Gustavo Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Antropología Filosófica y Cultural; ArgentinaFil: Raffaghelli, Juliana Elisa. Universita' Ca' Foscari Di Venezia; ItaliaFil: Alvarez, Guadalupe. Centro de Investigaciones en Antropología Filosófica y Cultural; ArgentinaFil: Moran, Lourdes. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Antropología Filosófica y Cultural; Argentin

Collaborative learning and co-author students in online higher education: a-REAeduca – collaborative learning and co-authors

The technologies themselves cannot be analyzed as instruments per se, nor can they be exhausted in their relation with science. There is a social and even an individual dimension that affects our own way of relating to society. It is in open education that we have been developing our educational practices. This chapter presents a collaborative learning activity, the curricular unit Materiais e Recursos para eLearning, part of an on-line Master in Pedagogy of eLearning, Universidade Aberta, Portugal. In the present work, the authors dedicate their attention to co-learning and co-research, as processes that help to exemplify some situations, the a-REAeduca. The data collection was supported essentially by the content analysis technique.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Social networking and digital gaming media convergence : classification and its consequences for appropriation

Within the field of Information Systems, a good proportion of research is concerned with the work organisation and this has, to some extent, restricted the kind of application areas given consideration. Yet, it is clear that information and communication technology deployments beyond the work organisation are acquiring increased importance in our lives. With this in mind, we offer a field study of the appropriation of an online play space known as Habbo Hotel. Habbo Hotel, as a site of media convergence, incorporates social networking and digital gaming functionality. Our research highlights the ethical problems such a dual classification of technology may bring. We focus upon a particular set of activities undertaken within and facilitated by the space – scamming. Scammers dupe members with respect to their ‘Furni’, virtual objects that have online and offline economic value. Through our analysis we show that sometimes, online activities are bracketed off from those defined as offline and that this can be related to how the technology is classified by members – as a social networking site and/or a digital game. In turn, this may affect members’ beliefs about rights and wrongs. We conclude that given increasing media convergence, the way forward is to continue the project of educating people regarding the difficulties of determining rights and wrongs, and how rights and wrongs may be acted out with respect to new technologies of play online and offline

Emerging and scripted roles in computer-supported collaborative learning

Emerging and scripted roles pose an intriguing approach to analysing and facilitating CSCL. The concept of emerging roles provides a perspective on how learners structure and self-regulate their CSCL processes. Emerging roles appear to be dynamic over longer periods of time in relation to learners’ advancing knowledge, but are often unequally distributed in ad hoc CSCL settings, e.g. a learner being the ‘typist’ and another being the ‘thinker’. Empirical findings show that learners benefit from structuring or scripting CSCL. Scripts can specify roles and facilitate role rotation for learners to equally engage in relevant learning roles and activities. Scripted roles can, however, collide with emerging roles and therefore need to be carefully attuned to the advancing capabilities of the learners