Zora: Implementing Virtual Communities of Learning and Care

David GroganManager, Curricular Technology Group

UIT, Tufts Universitydavid.grogan@tufts.edu

Keiko SatohGraduate Student / Research Assistant

Developmental Technologies Research Group, Tufts Universitykeiko.satoh@tufts.edu

Presentation Overview

• What is Zora?• Development and Architecture Overview• The Zora Studies• Next Steps• Q&A

What is Zora?

• It’s an interactive, multi-user, 3-D environment explicitly designed to help young people explore issues of identity and to promote positive development through the use of technology.

• Built upon ActiveWorlds VR Building Platform• Using .net, ASP, Cold Fusion, and MS-SQL

How it Began

• 2003: Prof. Bers won an APT grant awarding her 600 hours of R&D work from CTG.

• Goals:– Port conceptual design of Zora (built in the late 1990’s on top of

later-abondoned VR platform) to a more sustainable platform

based on a prioritized list of criteria.

– Build something easier to use and administrate.

The Main Criteria: Architectural Drivers

• Educational goals drove functional requirements• APT grant scope and state of industry made choosing a

viable platform difficult– older platforms disappearing

– newer platforms immature or missing functionality

– platform cannot be created from scratch and remain within

scope.

– functionality to be added to an existing platform must be

achievable within 600 hours of R&D and approximately $10,000.

The Main Criteria: Making the Choice

• Platform chosen must already support or facilitate the creation of

– multiple, persistent, isolated, and dynamic worlds that are multi-

user inhabitable

– real-time object building, annotation, and viewing tools built-in to

the world browser

– custom logging capabilities for data mining / research analysis

– easy to use interface (GUI, controls, tools) for end users,

principally children ages 7-18

The Main Criteria: Making the Choice

• Platform must be:

– acceptably easy to deploy and administrate (a sustainable

technology, client-side and server-side)

– acceptably easy to add new functionality in the future

The Architecture

The Information Flow

Context of the Research

Theoretical Design

Empirical

How to design and implement empowering technological tools to promote positive youth

development ?

How do youth, non-experts and communities use these technologies?

Design Elements

ConstructionismLearning with Technology

(Papert, 1982)

Applied Developmental Science

Frameworks on Positive Youth Development Positive assets to promote

youth development, (Lerner et al, 2005)

Technologies explicitly designed to promote Positive Technological Development (PTD)

Identity Construction Environments (ICE) (Bers, 2001)

KaleidostoriesSAGE Zora

PTD ComponentDefinition Zora’s design

featuresAfforded activities Measures

Competence

Ability to use technologies in a fluent way to create projects, communicate and express oneself

Authoring toolsProgramming environment

Multiple modes of interaction Youth as designers and programmers

PTDPYDZora logsInterviews

Connection

Having and maintaining good relationships with peers and adults through the use of technology

CommunicationVirtual spacesSupport group

Support networkDecision-making, self-organization

same

Character

A moral compass that guides behavior with technology; and values for succeeding in a tech world (perseverance, etc)

Heroes and VillainsValues dictionaryValuesVirtual spacesNarratives

IntrospectionValues and definitionsModels of identificationPerspective taking

same

Confidence

A sense of oneself as a person who can act successfully using technology

CommunicationZora’s creations and participation over time

Programming interactions for objectsZora experience

same

Caring Willingness to respond to needs of others in the technological environment

CommunicationVirtual spaces Cases

On-line interactionsCommunity building

same

Contribution

Orientation to contribute to civil society

CommunicationVirtual spacesValues dictionaryCases

Decision-makingCommunity buildingParticipationDiscussions

same

The Post-Transplant Study

• Transplant teams & Department of Psychiatry at the Children’s Hospital Boston

• Funded by NSF• To explore the potential of networked technologies to

improve the quality of life post-transplant– patient’s medical adherence to post-organ transplant regimens.– foster growth in Positive Technology Development.– relationship among technology use, youth development, and

medical adherence.

What is Happening?

• Emergent curriculum• Weekly group-activity sessions• What are being built…

Personal housesPress OfficeZooWrestling arenaSchoolRestaurantTransplant house etc.

Walk through

Research

• 15 children in the first group (7 boys; 8 girls)• 7 in the control group (starts in January)• 4 to 8 months using Zora• Qualitative & quantitative data from Zora (logs)• Short surveys and interviews (kids, parents and medical

staff)• Home visits• Follow-up 3 and 6 months after

Zora Log Parser

Next Steps for UIT

• Continue to support Zora.• Review field again.• Offer 3D VR service to Tufts community in 2007.