ISTE Island: Aimee deNoyelles

“ SOMETHING ABOUT A VIRTUAL WORLD JUST RUBS ME THE WRONG WAY”: MEN GAMERS AND WOMEN NON-GAMERS IN A SECOND LIFE ACADEMIC LEARNING COMMUNITY Aimee M. deNoyelles Doctoral Candidate Instructional Design and Technology University of Cincinnati [email_address] SL: Amalia Yatsenko

Virtual Worlds – Second Life (SL) “ In a social medium class of its own” (Levinson, 2009, p. 4) Places in their own right Virtual = “approaching the actual without arriving there ” (Boellerstorff, 2008, p. 19). Gap Real World Virtual World

Virtual Worlds - Avatars “ Bodies root us and make us present to ourselves and to others” (Taylor, 2002, p. 42) “ It is not simply a uniform, but self-representation” (Loke, 2009, p. 148)

SL Learning Communities Community of Inquiry (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000) Share experiences Share perspectives Negotiate meaning Learner community

Research Question What are the similarities and differences between men gamers and women non-gamers in a learning community in SL, with regards to the following strategies? Social: the projection of personality through avatar and exchange of communication Cognitive: exploration and application of ideas Peer teaching: prompting others to generate new ideas and providing technical assistance

Review of Literature Lack of explicit consideration for gender in academic virtual world contexts Virtual world studies Online socialization (Edirisingha et al., 2009) Group collaboration in authentic settings Written reflection Gaming studies: gender disparities in experience, communication, and motivation

Methods: Participants 21 undergraduate communications majors enrolled in the 2009 Communications and Technology course at UC 8 of the 8 men were considered ‘gamers’, while 11 of the 13 women were considered ‘non-gamers’ Classification determined through content analysis of the data sources

Methods: Data Sources and Collection 5 ‘real world’ observations in the computer lab 4 interviews 82 individual blog entries Snapshots taken within SL 2 surveys at beginning and end of course

Methods: Data Analysis Grounded theory (Corbin & Strauss, 2008) Open coding: concepts are coded and organized into categories Axial coding: connections are drawn between codes and categories Selective coding: the relationships between the data are presented as an emerging model

Findings: Social Strategies Men gamers and women non-gamers approached socialization in different ways and were granted varying levels of access to the learning community identity conception/projection beliefs about the nature of the virtual world technical skill

Identity Conception/Projection Identity conception Individual beliefs about the construction of identity (‘real’ and ‘virtual’) must be identified, shared, and possibly revised “ My real identity is much different, the clothes I wear in SL are never anything I would wear…I really only relate to my avatar by the way she acts and how she interacts with other people.” -- Tina “ I am the Kool-Aid Man. I think it’s fun to be different. I like to have fun and I’m pretty outgoing.” -- Kevin

Virtual World Beliefs ‘ Virtual world view’: SL is like the ‘real world’ in essence All men gamers, 5 women non-gamers Online identity is blend of ‘real’ and ‘virtual’ Open to communicating with strangers Virtual communication protocol an issue with women non-gamers “ People in real life will change how they look or act just to fit in sometimes. That’s why I feel like there is no real difference between the physical environment and SL.” -- Kevin “ I had my first chat with a stranger and I felt so much anxiety. I was nervous about what to say and who to respond to.” -- Britney

Virtual World Beliefs ‘ Fake world view’: SL is in contrast to the ‘real world’ 6 women non-gamers Avatars incapable of projecting ‘real’ identity Little virtual communication “ My real identity isn’t coming out because I’m keeping myself from really being present in the virtual world. I am the type of person that thinks that if it is not broken, do not fix it meaning, I love living in the real world…the virtual world just is not for me….” -- Harriett “ It was still, like, more like their avatar, not really their real personality…” -- Mary

Technical Skill All women non-gamers had technical difficulties, regardless of virtual world beliefs Less connection to avatar Leave activities incomplete Less peer support “ I haven't really been able to expand my avatar…I feel like a character in a video game.” -- Britney “ Being left to leave the last project undone to just keep up and learn the world is something that I often have to do.” -- Uma

Findings: Similarities Collaborative activities Connecting virtual experiences to the ‘real world’ Use of voice Seeing each other in the world made them more connected Blogs “ Hearing [guest speaker]’s voice made me feel more connected than I have ever felt in-world.” -- Harriett “ I felt as though we were connected as a class to what [guest speaker] was talking about.” -- Oliver “ I felt like I respected him more as a professor. He wasn’t just a computer generated image.” -- Mary

Conclusion: Significance of Study Specifically considers the influence of gender in an academic virtual world setting Findings are generated and supported from the direct experiences of the learners Methods of instruction and support are better clarified Limitations

Current Dissertation Questions (1) How do women college students understand the psychological and contextual factors that influence their establishment of identity and interaction in a virtual world learning community? (2) Based on these factors, how can instructional design be tailored to support equal access and participation in virtual world learning communities?

Thanks! Contact: Aimee deNoyelles Email: [email_address] SL: Amalia Yatsenko

ISTE Island: Aimee deNoyelles

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