The problem of communication between worlds

            In summary, there are three predominant issues that will be addressed by my project:

1. Abstract interfaces for collaboration are limited and difficult to use without a great deal of training.
2. The current implementation of the World Wide Web does not facilitate the growing and evolving needs of mass society.
3. Gamers and non-gamers need a common way to interact and collaborate

Because I am primarily interested in how any solution to address these three problems will affect teaching and learning on a large scale, the specific learning problem I have selected is the following:

Abstract networking technologies are not meeting the needs of diverse learning populations who have varying degrees of familiarity with technology but in essence have the same educational goals.  Uninitiated users need to develop schema to interact with more sophisticated users who need the support of traditional educators to effectively collaborate.

           In order to address these seemingly diverse problems, I propose a three phase approach.  The first phase will deal directly with those individuals who are unfamiliar with VR technologies that are currently state of the practice (as opposed to forthcoming technologies considered state-of-the-art).  This phase will entail devising a method of initiating these individuals so they will be better equipped to handle future interactions with the fully initiated technology savvy population.  The second phase of my project will target computer gamers in an attempt to bring together the two diverse populations.  This phase will focus on multi-modal collaboration between “real people” (non-gamers) and virtual representations (gamers) using simple technologies like projection monitors and voice-chat systems.  The third phase of my project will be the integration of these populations and technologies in a formal classroom setting.  This third phase will leverage all previous work done to inform the design of an immersive environment that takes the best of each disparate learning environment, walled classroom and virtual reality environment, and creates a multi-modal integrated semi-virtual classroom within which each population can feel comfortable and interact seamlessly with the other in organized activity.

Background on the Problem

           Before the time of the global network now known as the Internet, people still managed to collaborate and share ideas and information.  Collaboration was a simple matter of being in the same place at the same time.  Over time, distance became much less of an issue as communication technologies were developed to mediate collaboration.  As early as 150 B.C. man used smoke signals to facilitate ever more complex collaboration at a distance (Ackoff, 1958, Shoemaker, 1996).  Later the telegraph and eventually the telephone, television, and video were developed that furthered this long-standing trend.  Today we have a fully functioning network of computing resources available to facilitate a vast array of complex interaction among humans who wish to collaborate for a variety of reasons.  However, all of these communication mediums have one thing in common: they are varying degrees of abstraction of intentional personal collaboration that seems to be unique in the human species (Tomasello, 2005).  Smoke signals are absolutely meaningless beyond the intentions of the collaborators who designed the system of use.  If the system is designed to warn of impending dangers then that is the only possible message the system can mediate, an “imposed affordance.”  Herein lays one problem that I intend to address in my project.  To the uninitiated, abstract systems of communication and collaboration are often meaningless and confounding.  If the target system is intended as a limited use system, such as that of smoke signals, it is unavailable for use any other way.
            This problem is also prevalent in multi-use systems such as the Internet.  While the internet has been developed to support a wide variety of uses, the abstract interface of the browser and the associated protocols have few natural uses.  The functionality has largely been preconceived and designers are limited by these imposed affordances (buttons are for pushing, sliders are for dragging, drop-down boxes are for selecting, etc.). In order for a system to be usable by the masses and easily extensible to alternative functions as conceived by the users, the system should rely on natural mapping and affordances.  These should be based on knowledge that is held outside the head in the world around us (Norman, 1988).  The current implementation of the World Wide Web does not follow this guideline.  Observations from my teaching experience have led me to conclude that both younger children and older adults have difficulty using the browser interface to accomplish even the simplest goals.  This is the second problem that I intend to address in my project.  In order to fully utilize the capabilities of the Internet we must identify an interface that is grounded in nature and intuition.
            The third problem that I intend to address in my project is a social one.  Computer games have become incredibly popular and now have production budgets that rival those of big Hollywood movie productions (Jones, 2000).  This has lead to a large number of young people who spend inordinate amounts of time playing computer games.  The problem here is that a communication gap has developed between people who play computer games and those who do not, typically the parents and grandparents of said gamers.  These computer gamers are extremely engaged by their chosen game environments.  However, parents and educators find it difficult to communicate with gamers in meaningful ways.  Despite this, gamers have been identified as having valuable cognitive skills and technical abilities that are “reshaping business.” (Beck, 2004)  It is highly important to get these two groups of people communicating so that neither are left behind as society as a whole continues to progress.  It seems clear that each group holds something of value for the other.  Gamers offer knowledge of virtual reality environments and the goings on within while parents and educators offer traditional social values and engaging academic discourse.  Bringing these two populations together would facilitate integration of these areas of expertise that could lead to a new perspective on social collaboration and add a level of natural realism to existing computer networking.