Exploring active and other learning approaches

The present notes are done by a group of participants in MUVEnation members. I took part in the realisation of this outcome. In "Uncovering active and other learning approaches in Virtual Worlds", we chose to deal with the possibility to implement Problem-Base Learning in-world.

What is it?
Problem-based approach (PBL) is a constructivist approach to learning. It was created by Barrows (1986) and was meant to be used in medicine, but it was realized that it could also be applied in language teaching and other domains. PBL's philosophy to learning is to involve the learners into real-life experiences rather than learning sets of rules. They should be put into problematic situations and explore resources and use different materials to find solutions. It is learning by doing. There is a Chinese proverb, which had better illustrate this: “Tell me, I will forget; teach me, I will remember, but involve me I will learn”.
Therefore, PBL is any learning environment or, we can say, that pedagogical approach in which the problem drives the learning. That is, before students learn some knowledge they are given a problem. The problem is posed so that the students discover that they need to learn some new knowledge before they can solve the problem.

Why it is used?
Posing the problem before learning tends to MOTIVATE students. They know why they are learning the new knowledge. Learning in the context of the need-to-solve-a-problem also tends to store the knowledge in memory patterns that FACILITATE later RECALL for solving problems.
With a PBL approach, students should learn not only to incorporate the information that someone has already prepared for them, as in traditional teaching, but also to OBTAIN and COMPARE them through a critical analysis.
It is proved that not much learning takes place by learning grammatical rules and lists of vocabulary. PBL is a constructive way that can enhance learning better. The learners learn much better while solving problems. In language learning, it is not only the learning language while they explore real-life contexts and solving real-life problems, but they develop other skills and competencies as well. These skills are very important in an "information society".
Furthermore, there is a better integration between disciplines: “interdisciplinarity”.

What are its main characteristics?

Learning is driven by challenging, open-ended problems, which refer to meaningful, lifelike situations and that students should not have been able to solve immediately. There are some steps that students have to follow:
Define the problem
Describe the initial knowledge already in their possession,
Identify new skills to learn to solve the problem
Determine the next steps.
Usually but not always students work in small collaborative groups;
Teachers take on the role as "facilitators" of learning: they pose questions that guide and help the students in the course of research aimed at solving the problem (Ex. of guide questions: "What don't you know of this issue?"“, Where could you find this information?”, or "What do you think we should do now?");
Teachers have also to design the task and the learning environment to reflect the complexity of the environment in which people will be in future.

So we can summarize:
Constructivist approach to learning
Learning by doing
Learners are prompt to explore different sources and develop their knowledge in different domains by their own.
Tends to build different skills and competencies rather than merely focusing on language acquisition
Language is not taught for itself. It is considered as a vehicle to obtain and communicate information, express opinions, negotiate...
It develops the four language skills (reading, speaking, listening, and writing) effectively.
Learner-centered approach.
It offers much room for collaboration; learners can work together to solve problems.
It is a fertile land for both individual and group project work.
...


What are the main challenges to bring this practice to virtual worlds?

The main challenge is to be able to pose the problem in an interesting and understandable matter. I imagine that, in second life or in any other virtual world, you need to pose the problem using pragmatic language in order to drive the inworld collaboration: From my point of view and according to my experience of communication in SL, pragmatic language and pragmatic behaviour is the way in which communication can spread out fluently. I think that we can use a kind of brain storming using interactive board or conceptual maps. Another issue is using all kind of media especially the video I am concern with the possibility to use you-tube or to be able to redefine the problem in spiral and way a kind of ontological approach. I mean the problem have to spread out and especially redefined in order to negotiate the meanings and to boost the collaboration. To create this majestic moment is not very easy. From my experience in most cases, we need firstly in inworld communication to find a kind of empathetic approach that strength our need to be accepted from people that cannot give us the non-verbal or Para verbal feedback. This is an issue. In this case, the non-verbal or para verbal communication could be held by the ability to rez concepts or meaningful and pertinent object or environment that expresses our thoughts and ways of feeling the problem. In fact, it is very important to give a definition of the problem, especially for a visionary way of posing the problem and trying to solve it. This will enable to communicate the way in which each other feel the problem and for this is useful to be able to communicate the non-verbal or the preverbal beyond and around the way to fell the problem. In RL, this approach seems better driven out. However, I think rezzing concepts or virtual worlds, in which to draw the problem, is very challenging and could be very helpful in the problem-based approach.


Language aquisition works on four different dimmesions. There are four skills that should be taught along the way: listening, reading (receptive skills), speaking and writing (productive skills). Non-verbal communication is therefore important as it would boost some skills effectively. Interative boards, maps, diagrams, graphs, videos... are a fertile land to improve not only language, but other skills as well like critical thinking, knowledge... However, verbal communication is of no less importance. Speaking and communicationg with others is the primary goal of any language. I realise that one of the weak points of SL is the quality of the sound. It is not as clear as it should be or am I wrong? That's why I am thinking about the possibility to use other online tools, Skype as an example.
...

Case studies and examples of good practices:

There is a community in SL that started in 2007 working on this path of learning. It is one of the project partners in the JISC PREVIEW project. They have created a range of PBL scenarios within Second Life, and worked with Daden to produce a range of tools to support the development and deliver of scenarios - some of which are to be released to the public. This will be nice. You can get a taste of the tools here: http://learninggames.wordpress.com/2008/09/11/problem-based-learning-in-second-life/
preparation of a workshop in SL
Case studies and examples of bad practices
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Reference person
Jonassen D.H.
Duffy T.M.
Brown S.
Collins A.
Duguid P.
Wenger E.
Lave J.

Online resources
http://formare.erickson.it/archivio/dicembre_05/2_LANDRISCINA_01.html..
http://rea.ccdmd.qc.ca/en/pbl/resultat.asp?action=aboutApproach&endroitRetour=7&he=768
http://books.google.it/books?hl=it&lr=&id=1twOvFzEiGMC&oi=fnd&pg=RA1-PA165&dq=%22Jonassen%22+%22Mindtools:+Affording+multiple+knowledge+representations+...%22+&ots=Q9fUQdNfJ4&sig=8JHbQsMiGOLn1euPRYsU2vXP20I
http://www.exploratorium.edu/ifi/resources/museumeducation/situated.html
http://books.google.it/books?id=CAVIOrW3vYAC&dq=lave+wenger+situated&pg=PP1&ots=OzmGuu1FAl&source=bn&sig=cWCEli3z6uDKHCAWzoXgqrzVFwA&hl=it&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result#PPA9,M1
http://www.indiana.edu/~reading/ieo/digests/d132.html
http://www.studygs.net/pbl.htm
http://www.slideshare.net/lidfar/didamatica-2007

Inworld resources and tools
v Notes
v Overhead projector
v Questionnaires
v Diagrams
v Dispensations
Ideas for a successful practice in virtual worlds
Notecard
forum
Structured scenarios that somehow reproduce or represent the problem in order to a better visualization and grasp of it
Learning games
Simulations
Video tutorial
Video that can be useful to reflect on the decision taken to solve a problem and that could be revised
Blog and narrative storytelling in order to reflect on the process of decision making
Collaborative PBwikis in order to be able to discuss and to reflect on the process of decision making.