Overcoming Objections to MUVEs in Education - Teaching through Multi-User Virtual Environments - page 11

Objection: mUVes Promote
mental Laziness

MUVE. The contents of the chapter are intended
to help prepare the reader to succeed in that effort.
It may be helpful to think about the effort to
win support for the educational use of a MUVE as
a game. One feature of computer and video games
is the ability to repeatedly fail on the way to even-
tually succeeding. An obstacle that is particularly
difficult may require numerous tries to overcome;
it is the eventual success rather than the number
of failed attempts that ultimately matters. When
it comes to getting approval to try an innovative
approach, the sales adage “ten nos and a yes is
still a yes” is true.
While the end point of making the case for
implementing a MUVE in an education setting
is ultimately implementation and unqualified
support, it should be considered an acceptable
outcome to garner enough support for a trial
implementation. Careful selection of metrics,
intelligent use of the MUVE and fostering rea-
sonable expectations should result in a successful
pilot. The trial implementation will also provide
the chance to educate the target audience about
MUVEs and, through exposure and expanded un-
derstanding, build greater support. Once a MUVE
is in place, it will be easier to continue using than
it was to initially implement. It will represent the
new status quo with all of the resistance to change
that comes with that position.

This objection may be more of a generalization
based on an attitude about the deleterious effects
of popular culture than a specific charge against
MUVEs. There is a widely held belief that young
people spend too much time online and using
electronic devices that dull their minds (Stoll,
1995). Since MUVEs are an online medium, they
are often viewed with the same general suspicion
as other computer-based activities.
The fundamental flaw in this charge against
computers (as well as television before computers)
is that young people's minds are not being dulled.
Rather IQ scores have been increasing an average
of three points a decade (Flynn, 1998). There is no
reason to seek a cause for decreasing intelligence,
when mentally abilities are actually increasing.
The assertion that digital entertainment is a waste
land is hard to support. Johnson (2005) asserts that
anyone holding the view that computer games and
virtual environments are mindless entertainment
pandering to a desire for instant gratification is
unlikely to have any significant experience of these
complex and demanding digital media. While read-
ing is often held to be a more worthy intellectual
pursuit, MUVEs require active engagement and
should be expected to be more mentally stimulat-
ing. Complex virtual environments are inherently
mentally challenging. It is counter intuitive to
believe that things that are mentally challenging
promote mental decline or laziness.

ReFeReNCeS

Anderson, C. A., Berkowitz, L., Donnerstein, E.,
Huesmann, R. L., Johnson, J., & Linz, D. (2003).
The influence of media violence on youth. Psycho-
logical Science in the Public Interest , 4 , 81-110.

mAkINg THe CASe FOR
mUVeS IN eDUCATION

Anderson, C. A., & Bushman, B. J. (2001).
Effects of violent video games on aggressive
behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive af-
fect, physiological arousal, and prosocial be-
havior: A meta-analytic review of the scientific
literature. Psychological Science , 12 , 353-359.
doi:10.1111/1467-9280.00366

This chapter does not contain arguments for
choosing to use MUVEs in education. Rather it
offers counter arguments to the objections that are
likely to be raised in opposition to using MUVEs
in education. The assumption here is that the
reader is preparing to undertake the challenge
of winning support for the educational use of a