Online classes are typically conducted by using video conferencing software such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet. Research has identified drawbacks of online learning, such as “Zoom fatigue”, characterized by distractions and lack of engagement. This study presents the CUNY Affective and Responsive Virtual Environment (CARVE) Hub, a novel virtual reality hub that uses a facial emotion classification model to generate emojis for affective and informal responsive interaction in a 3D virtual classroom setting. A web-based machine learning model is employed for facial emotion classification, enabling students to communicate four basic emotions live through automated web camera capture in a virtual classroom without activating their cameras. The experiment is conducted in undergraduate classes on both Zoom and CARVE, and the results of a survey indicate that students have a positive perception of interactions in the proposed virtual classroom compared with Zoom. Correlations between automated emojis and interactions are also observed. This study discusses potential explanations for the improved interactions, including a decrease in pressure on students when they are not showing faces. In addition, video panels in traditional remote classrooms may be useful for communication but not for interaction. Students favor features in virtual reality, such as spatial audio and the ability to move around, with collaboration being identified as the most helpful feature.
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Evaluating Students' Perceptions of Online Learning with 2-D Virtual Spaces
The COVID-19 pandemic led the majority of educational institutions to rapidly shift to primarily conducting courses through online, remote delivery. Across different institutions, the tools used for synchronous online course delivery varied. They included traditional video conferencing tools like Zoom, Google Meet, and WebEx as well as non-traditional tools like Gather.Town, Gatherly, and YoTribe. The main distinguishing characteristic of these nontraditional tools is their utilization of 2-D maps to create virtual meeting spaces that mimic real-world spaces. In this work, we aim to explore how such tools are perceived by students in the context of learning. Our intuition is that utilizing a tool that features a 2-D virtual space that resembles a real world classroom has underlying benefits compared to the more traditional video conferencing tools. The results of our study indicate that students' perception of using a 2-D virtual classroom improved their interaction, collaboration and overall satisfaction with an online learning experience.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1757884
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10319110
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- SIGCSE 2022: Proceedings of the 53rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.1145/3478431.3499396
