A person-artefact-task (PAT) model of flow antecedents in computer-mediated environments
International Journal of Human-Computer Studies - Special issue on HCI and MIS
Toward operationalization of 'flow' in mathematics learnware
Computers in Human Behavior
A Cross-Media Presence Questionnaire: The ITC-Sense of Presence Inventory
Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments
Flow on the net-detecting Web users' positive affects and their flow states
Computers in Human Behavior
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The military recognizes digital technology's powerful potential to enhance training, and desires to proactively explore emerging technology capabilities in order to remain on the forefront of serving our warfighter. Several branches of military service are currently developing in virtual world technologies. One popular world is Second Life (SL) in which the Air Force, Navy, and Army are using to develop training and further exploration. Because of SL's global presence and popularity, it is perceived to be a potentially powerful learning environment for serving our geographically dispersed military. In particular, it is professed to be a highly effective learning environment that targets interactivity and engagement. However these worlds have not been empirically tested. This paper presents results investigating the factors that contribute to engagement and performance in SL. The study was conducted on an Air Force SL island, developed for collaboration, teaming, and innovative research. 100 participants completed the activity. A self-directed, inquiry-based activity, tagged VWQuest, was taken from a grounded instructional framework and adapted for virtual worlds. Data were collected including performance measures and engagement levels using Csikszentmihalyi's Flow Theory. It was found previously that higher levels of engagement correlated with increased learning. The engagement factors, Sense of Control and Loss of Time were found to be the most significant contributors. This suggests that learners who perceive a sense of control over their learning, or if the learning opportunity is not bounded by time, may be engaged more. Having an engaging experience while learning in Second Life may in fact, contribute to an individuals' ability to learn. Results also indicated that technology was successfully integrated throughout. Its effective use contributed to the efficiency of the effort as well as a served as a successful case study for integrating emergent technologies into research. Results have significant implications for our military in terms of training, and further research in these complex learning environments.