Into another dimension
In the rush to 3D learning, the question is: how many dimensions does one learner need?
I was asked recently to preview a really excellent new book by Americans Karl Kapp and Tony O’Driscoll called “Learning in 3D: Adding a New Dimension to Enterprise Learning and Collaboration”. Now I’m not going to pretend that the use of 3D worlds for learning is a specialisation of mine. I’m not even much of a gamer, but I’ve had enough experience with 3D worlds to appreciate how they might successfully integrate with other learning and development activities and where they stand out as best for the job.
What I am determined not to do is regard 3D as intrinsically superior to 2D just because it has 50% more dimensions; any more than I feel a Flash web site is any better than one created in HTML. I know it’s a cliché but it really is ‘horses for courses’ when it comes to learning media. Just as plain old HTML does the job much better than Flash for 90% of websites (although admittedly e-learning is a big exception, because Flash really does win out here), 2D is likely to be the right choice for 90% of learning and collaborative environments. I may have exaggerated the percentages, but I doubt it.
None of this is to play down the importance of 3D environments, nor to underestimate the opportunities we are presented with now 3D has become less a matter of rocket science and more simply applied common sense.
Just how great those opportunities may be will depend on the type of 3D experience you are looking to create and the appropriateness of this experience to your learning goals.
The focus of most discussion concerning 3D worlds, at least in the education and training space, is related to the live, multi-player variety exemplified by Second Life.
But restricting our view of the scope and potential for 3D worlds to a single form is as unhelpful as regarding all conventional, ie 2D e-learning, as self-study. So what sorts of learning experiences are possible in 3D and how do these map to the 2D alternatives? I decided to explore the potential for 3D using the same attributes that you would use to describe 2D e-learning, ie whether it is designed primarily for individual or collaborative use, and whether it is essentially asynchronous (self-paced) or synchronous (live).
Compare and contrast
The left-hand part of the diagram below gives examples of the forms 2D e-learning can take when analysed against these dimensions.
The right-hand side applies the same dimensions to 3D e-learning. The collaborative/synchronous cell is typified by Second Life (in-world meetings, workshops, activities, etc) and Forterra (live, multi-player games and simulations); the individual/ asynchronous cell would include applications such as flight/driving simulators or the sort of problem-solving activities you could create using Caspian Learning’s excellent Thinking Worlds tool. The other two cells are relatively peripheral but are bound to be exploited further as 3D worlds continue to develop.
Why do these distinctions matter? Well, each has unique characteristics that make it more or less suited to particular requirements: asynchronous activities are self-paced and much more flexible in terms of scheduling; synchronous activities are immediate and energising; they also function as milestones in a course of study; individual activities require little in the way of co-ordination and are more easily orientated to the needs of the learner; collaborative activities facilitate shared experiences and perceptions; they allow interpersonal real-world tasks to be simulated; they also generate a degree of peer pressure/competition; 2D media are familiar, flexible and relatively easy to produce; 3D worlds are engaging, immersive, can provide the learner with a greater sense of control, and (if the world is matched to the subject matter) are more authentic.
Although it’s dangerous to generalise, it’s likely enterprises will be more attracted to asynchronous/ individual forms of 3D learning, simply because this is much easier to accommodate in busy working lives. There will of course be exceptions, where a 3D world may be used to host a meeting or stage an important multi-player simulation, but I can’t see these being everyday occurrences. The emphasis may switch in education, because learners will often be on-site and their time more easily co-ordinated. Whatever the case, it’s likely 3D learning will take many shapes, only a few of which have we so far been able to conceive.
Clive Shepherd is an independent e-learning consultant and chair of the eLearning Network.