Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
to design a virtual exhibit. Certain elements about the
campus
that participants
felt were less pertinent, such as placement of specific virtual houses or signs,
they decided to work out through face-to-face interactions. Although at the time
participants and peer leaders felt that these were less pertinent as data, partici-
pants' experience would undoubtedly be different they were not afforded the
same opportunity. It could be that they were not able to organize a well-planned
virtual map and thus houses could not be easily accessed or objects may not
be placed appropriately as exhibits. These were in reality issues for other case
studies presented in this chapter but the ACT program enjoyed certain privileges
due to the access model inherent in the program.
(8)
Institutional context of usage.
The ACT program presents a unique case for dis-
cussing the institutional context of usage. As a program offered for university
students, the ACT program did not face the same level of challenge as other case
studies in terms of language, consent, and content appropriateness. Participants
were expected to have at least a minimal level of technical competence that was
sufficient for operating the Zora interface. And because it was held at a moni-
tored space, we received adequate IT support throughout the program. However,
due to the nature of an orientation program and the open-ended curriculum, par-
ticipants were free to interact with each other and with the virtual space as they
would like in Zora. This posed a problem for several participants who got dis-
tracted away from the curriculum. One participant, in particular, took pride in
leaving behind 3D objects in places where other participants were creating their
exhibits. Because the peer leaders were his peers and they did not feel comfort-
able “disciplining” this participant, the lead researcher had to step in and talk
with the participant. Even so, he did not feel obligated to collaborate with other
students because his felt that his ideas were not appreciated. The researcher
ended up giving him very specific tasks to work on that could contribute to
the overall design of the
campus
yet unobtrusive to other participants' parts of
the virtual world. This and other similar events might not have been as deli-
cate of an issue if this was part of a graded course or part of a program where
inappropriate participants could be disciplined.
Case Study 3: Transplant Program
Virtual communities have the potential to support the personal and social devel-
opment of youth with lifelong medical risk or chronic illness who due to their
condition, may not be able to attend school regularly and thus have difficulty form-
ing peer relationships (Bers et al., 2003). This case study examines how we can
leverage youths' interests in online technologies to create a psychoeducational inter-
vention to promote the overall well-being and health of pediatric posttransplant
youth. The goals of the pilot study were to:
1. Facilitate peer networking building amongst same age pediatric posttransplant
patients.
