ERIC Number: EJ1166433
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017-Oct
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1093-023X
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Available Date: N/A
Conversations with Freudbot in Second Life: Mining the Virtuality of Relationship
Heller, Bob
Journal of Interactive Learning Research, v28 n4 p359-370 Oct 2017
The unstructured conversations of students who chatted with Freudbot in his Second Life virtual office over a 32-month period were examined in order to better understand the nature of the virtual relationship between students and conversational agents (CA) as historical figures. This research builds on past work that examined these conversations in relation to previously collected non-virtual conditions in order to isolate the possible effects of virtual world immersion on the conversational record (Heller, Procter, & Rose, 2016; Heller & Procter, 2014). Forty-nine of the longest conversations were selected and analyzed using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count software (Pennebaker, Booth, & Francis, 2007) in order to measure indices of social presence, a construct hypothesized to underlie relationships conducive to learning. Compared to a previously reported sample of shorter conversations from the same population, the long conversations in the present study were associated with significantly more positive emotions and personal pronouns. The discussion focuses on mechanisms of rapport building for CA as avatars in virtual worlds.
Descriptors: Computer Simulation, Computer Mediated Communication, Teaching Methods, Discourse Analysis, Computational Linguistics, Learning Processes, Role, Form Classes (Languages), Language Usage, Correlation, Comparative Analysis, Peer Relationship, Statistical Analysis, College Students
Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education. P.O. Box 1545, Chesapeake, VA 23327. Tel: 757-366-5606; Fax: 703-997-8760; e-mail: info@aace.org; Web site: http://www.aace.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: New Jersey
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A