Evaluating Participation in an International Bilingual Virtual World Educational Intervention for Youth

Authors

  • Laura Beals Tufts University
  • Marina Umaschi Bers Tufts University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4101/jvwr.v2i5.810

Keywords:

virtual world, evaluation, computer, technology, constructionism, youth, children

Abstract

This paper reports on an evaluation of participation in a complex, international, bilingual project called ClubZora. ClubZora was an eleven-month educational intervention in which the Zora virtual world was introduced to an international after-school community of youth spanning 11 countries and two languages, English and Spanish. Zora is a multi-user virtual environment that provides a safe space for youth. In Zora, users can create and populate a virtual city by making their own places and interactive creations, using 3D objects such as picture frames, movie screens, houses, interior decorations, message boards, and signs. Zora provides both a real-time chat system and a message-board system for communication. Each action performed by the participants in Zora is logged into a database and analyzed with a customized online log-parser. The log parser allows for easy exploration of population demographics and data related to software usage (i.e., logging on/off, conversations, object creation, etc.). In addition, a master registry of the objects created in Zora is contained within a file called a

Author Biographies

Laura Beals, Tufts University

PhD Candidate, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development

Marina Umaschi Bers, Tufts University

Associate Professor, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development


Adjunct Professor, Department of Computer Sciences

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Published

2010-02-09

Issue

Section

Peer Reviewed Research Papers