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Full-Text Articles in Education

Comparing Role-Playing Activities In Second Life And Face-To-Face Environments, Fei Gao, Jeongmin J. Noh, Matthew J. Koehler Oct 2009

Comparing Role-Playing Activities In Second Life And Face-To-Face Environments, Fei Gao, Jeongmin J. Noh, Matthew J. Koehler

Visual Communications and Technology Education Faculty Publications

This study compared student performances in role-playing activities in both a face-to-face (FTF) environment and a virtual 3D environment, Second Life (SL). We found that students produced a similar amount of communication in the two environments, but the communication styles were different. In SL role-playing activities, students took more conversational turns, but have shorter exchanges compared to the FTF environment. Students generated an equal amount of topic-related concepts in the two environments. They also reported role-playing activities in SL as more interesting and less formal. The educational implications for this study are discussed.


New Model Of Productive Online Discussion And Its Implications For Research And Instruction, Fei Gao, Charles Xiaoxue Wang, Yanling Sun Jan 2009

New Model Of Productive Online Discussion And Its Implications For Research And Instruction, Fei Gao, Charles Xiaoxue Wang, Yanling Sun

Visual Communications and Technology Education Faculty Publications

We develop a new model of productive online discussion based on a brief review of research literature on online discussion. As compared to previous discussion models, the new model provides a more systematic and comprehensive framework to understand how learning occurs through online discussion. Based on the new model, we propose several directions for research on improving the quality of online discussion and learning.