I watched, ‘Infinite Reality: Avatars, Eternal Life, and New Worlds’ with Dr. Jeremy Bailenson.
Dr. Bailenson studies avatars from a psychological perspective and as I considered my students in context of what he said my thoughts were largely on the psychological effects of their using avatars. Dr. Bailenson described the ways that avatars alter the decisions people make. He talked about meshing voters’ faces with candidate faces making them more likely to vote for the candidate, showing avatars losing weight motivating people to keep exercising, and people making better sustainability choices if they perceive themselves cutting down a tree. The psychological motivation factor was amazing. I liked the idea that seeing something can be so powerfully motivating. I could see the weight loss example being used to keep students motivated to keep working. When I work with my students I’m always calculating their level of mastery. I have the complete chart in my mind and know when a student can stop practicing. I think they’d be more motivated and be more cognitively aware of their own learning if they can see it and begin to develop a sense of when they have mastered something.
Dr. Bailenson also talked about using an avatar to share body space. A tai chi student was able to walk into his instructor’s body and align his movements with those of the instructor. For anyone teaching a physical lesson this is very valuable, but I think students could benefit psychologically from standing in their classmates’ space. Confident children stand and walk a different way than insecure children. Helping a fearful child see how to walk and stand to let others see that they respect themselves could be helpful. I’ve read that smiling alone can make a person happier. If a student could learn to walk like the president or a respected classmate, they might see themselves differently.
The last thing that stuck out to me from Dr. Bailenson’s presentation was what he said about avatar mimicry. In their study they introduced a person into a world with an avatar that looked like themselves. They were asked to gesture in a mirror and then move away from the mirror. When they returned to the mirror, they were an avatar very different from themselves. The avatar was a different race and/or gender. When they looked like someone else, their behavior changed to match what they looked like.
Other studies showed that when the person was given a taller or more attractive avatar it made them behave more confidently even an hour or so after the experience than someone who had been working with a less attractive or shorter avatar. I love the idea of being able to give my students avatars that will make them feel that whatever their life circumstances might have been, and whatever they look like, they can be respected for what they say and do. I think that erasing other factors might allow students to connect with classmates and understand other’s ideas that might not happen with the physical differences of the real world.
I was concerned at the ethical implications of the kind unconscious persuasion that can occur using virtual worlds. I was surprised that in many of the studies they did, participants were not aware that their behavior had been affected. He talked about the digital footprint that we leave behind every time we go online and student privacy concerns came to mind.
The research he presented was fascinating! The statistics demonstrated the appeal of virtual worlds and promised their continued development.