There are several issues that should be taken into account when using CVEs and developing CVEs in the future (Montoya et al., 2011; Liebregt, 2005, Bouras et al. 2008 and 2006). A brief statement of these issues is presented below:
- Instructors should be able to guide the learners.
- There are requirements for natural communication possibilities including realistic avatars and use of body language.
- It is essential to prevent the users from over-engagement with subtasks – not directly related to the main goal of the CVE.
- It is important to avoid frustration or distraction caused by unnecessarily complex interfaces
Further research problems of computer-mediated group learning could be summarized as follows (Montoya et al., 2011; Kirkwood, 2010; Hsi et al., 1997; Sweller, 1988):
- Reduced social presence-problem of social and cognitive orientation:
a. Group members tend to feel more as individuals than a group
b. The problem of “virtual group identity” leads to a depersonalization of group members
c. Low collaboration takes place
d. Reduced feeling of togetherness, group identity, and social presence
- Unnecessarily high amount of inessential load:
a. Split attention effect: separation of related information sources increase extraneous load
b. Poor use of working-memory capacity due to poor utilization of prior knowledge (rules and causal connections known from reality cannot be used)
The reader is referred to our previous discussion relating to the major pitfalls impeding achievement of the desired social interaction in collaborative e-learning environments.
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