The Evaluation of a Cyber Campus to Support Distance Learning Activities

Abstract

There are many barriers that hinder access to education for some students, significantly affecting their learning experience. To mitigate the effects of such barriers e-learning technologies are widely used. One example of this is the use of cyber campuses. These are 3D environments where students can meet and share information, and synchronously communicate and collaborate. It has been suggested that the learning experience of students using these cyber campuses is related to their perceptions of presence, awareness, communication and sociability. However, a question remains as to what extent cyber campuses can support students experiencing barriers accessing education. To ascertain this, the SHU3DED (Sheffield Hallam University 3D Education) cyber campus has been developed, and empirical investigation of its ability to support students is on its way. An initial study evaluating the efficacy of the prototype to support synchronous distance learning activities is conducted. A series of collaborative studies were performed with the participation of remotely located users divided into teams. The activity outcome was to teach users how to design objects in the virtual world, in order to collaborate and build content together. Empirical data based on the users perceptions of presence, awareness, communication and sociability of the environment has been collected. The design of the virtual setting, productivity and satisfaction of the experience was also evaluated. The preliminary results indicate that the cyber campus can support synchronous participation in distance learning activities, and be a sound social space that supports effective social interaction. Further work is on its way to ascertain the extent to which a cyber campus can support students experiencing barriers accessing education. This will involve additional evaluation and qualitative investigation of the environment’s characteristics that could mitigate some of those barriers, to devise suggestions for the design of cyber campuses and educational activities to address them.