VIRTUAL WORLDS: A DEVELOPMENTAL TOOL FOR LEADERSHIP

Virtual worlds: A developmental tool for leadership education

Kathy L. Guthrie, Ph.D.

FloridaState University

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

113 Stone Building, PO Box 3064462

Tallahassee, FL 32306-4462

Kristen Phelps, M.A.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Illinois Leadership Center®

209 Illini Union, 1401 West Green Street

Urbana, IL 61801

Steve Downey, Ph.D.

University of South Florida

Department of Secondary Education

4202 E. Fowler Ave, EDU 162

Tampa, FL 33620-5650

Abstract

The use of games, role playing, and simulations as developmental tools have been used in education since the late 1800’s. An emerging form of collaborative game play are virtual worlds; however, the use of virtual worlds in leadership education has not been fully investigated. The purpose of this article is to (i) demonstrate how virtual worlds are a viable venue for leadership education; and, (ii) present a hierarchy of skills sets that can be developed in virtual world settings. In doing so, this article provides evidence that virtual worlds can be used as a new instructional delivery environment for leadership education as the appeal and intrinsic nature of virtual environments aligns well with the experiential framework of leadership education.

University students continue to use technology at increasing rates: to communicate with others, as educational tools, and also to develop communities. In doing so, students are developing and learning through these virtual communities more and more each day (Swan Shea,2005). Many of these communities are set within the applications and settings of online virtual worlds. For researchers and practitioners, it is important to understand the developmental potential of virtual worlds such as Second Life and World of Warcraft for leadership growth instead of merely dismissing them purely as distractions. This importance is driven by the fact that as more undergraduate students engaging in virtual worldsan increased interest in using these technologies for learning has surfaced (Barab, Hay, Barnett, & Squire, 2001; Barab, Gresalfi, Ingram-Noble, Jameson, Hickey, & Akram, 2009; Dede, Salzman, Loftin, & Ash, 1999; Gee, 2007; Gee, 2009; Gee & Levine, 2009; Steinkuehler, 2005; Steinkuehler, 2008; Steinkuehler & Duncan, in press;Whitton & Hollins, 2008). This paper explores how educational institutions can capitalize on these highly engaging environments to develop leadership skills of graduate and undergraduate students they serve. It does this by examining several key areas beginning with learning and development theories and continuing with use of gaming in educational settings, affordances of virtual worlds, and finally by presenting a framework for leadership development skills addressable in virtual world settings.

The potential for students’ leadership development opportunities within virtual worlds is beingrealized by combining the theory of situated learning (Lave, 1988) and experiential leaning (Kolb 1984). In situated learning, Lave (1988) argues that learning (as it normally occurs) is a function of the activity, context and culture in which the learning occurs or is situated. Social interaction is a critical component of situated learning — learners become involved in a "community of practice" which embodies certain beliefs and behaviours to be acquired. Brown, Collins and Duguid (1989) extend this idea with the notion of cognitive apprenticeships that supports learning by enabling students to acquire, develop and use cognitive tools through guided individual and group work. Learning, in turn, advances through these collaborative social interactions and constructions of knowledge. In terms of virtual worlds, these practices are manifested in the form of guilds and group-based content (i.e., ‘instance’ dungeons). Details on how these contribute to leadership education are provided later in this article.

Kolb (1984) sought to engage learners at a more personal level by addressing individual interests and needs. His experiential learning model has four main components including: experimenting, observing, reviewing, and finally action planning. Kolb argued that individuals do all four of these steps to learn new skills, ideas, attitudes or even ways of thinking. In virtual worlds, students are engaging in collaborative social networks to accomplish tasks and gain new knowledge through a process involving elements similar to that of Kolb’s experiential model.

Role Playing Simulations as Experience Building Tools

Role playing simulations provide opportunities for individuals to experience situations where leadership is demonstrated. Simulations provide an excellent source of learning in leadership development (Allen, 2008). Simulations tend to stimulate motivation and an increased interest to participate. Most role-playing simulations are experiential in nature (Curry Moutihno, 1992; Drew Davidson, 1993; Fripp, 1997; Keys Wolfe, 1990). These experiential simulations provide opportunities for participants to learn leadership processes and observe others leading as well.

Role playing simulations also provide rapid performance feedback which may influence players both in their continuance to participate and how they continue to take part (Drew Davidson, 1993; Keys Wolfe, 1990). Participants receiving rapid feedback in leadership processes are able to make meaning from the different leadership experiences they have in a variety of situations. Rapid feedback also allows participants to try various processes and styles in their leadership learning. In other words, the rapid feedback allows participants to make meaning from their experience and then partake in another type of experience testing out new skills, styles and processes.

In addition, role playing simulations provide an opportunity for teamwork (Fripp, 1997) which may be the most engaging aspect of the role playing simulations. While there is competition in most role-playing simulations, it is voluntary in nature and provides a rule governing structure that produces different outcomes (Fine, 1983) than seen in traditional leadership training. Since leadership is not something that happens in isolation, teamwork in role-playing simulations provides essentially a laboratory for leadership learning. Leadership is not defined by what people in formal positions do, but by what effective change agents do (Gardner, 1990), which can be any participant involved in the simulation.

Long History of Games in Education

Although used in comparatively small amounts relative to other instructional methods, the use of games in educational settings has a long and diverse history. From the youngest levels of instruction through advanced adult professional and technical training, games and simulations provide engaging methods of instruction for diverse learner populations. When Friedrich Wilhelm August Fröbel established the kindergarten in Blakenburg, Germany in 1837, learning games formed an important part of the school’s curriculum (Fröbel, Wheelock, Payne, & Michaelis, 1887). In the United States, Milton Bradley, one of the earliest publishers of board games in the U.S., set up shop in the 1860s. Bradley would eventually become a strong proponent of Fröbel’s kindergarten movement, publishing books and games specifically designed by Fröbel (History Channel, 2006). As an interesting side note, the Milton Bradley Company serves as a historical linchpin between Fröbel’s kindergarten work and today’s MMORPGs, as it was a publisher of Fröbel’s works as well as HeroQuest, a derivative of today’s Warhammer fantasy world.

While HeroQuest is not necessarily an educational game in the purest sense of the concept, innumerable examples exist over the years that illustrate a consistent and pervasive use of games in educational settings. Among the more prominent games of modern history are:

  • Oregon Trail (commercially released in 1974 by Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium) inspired U.S. children about the westward expansion in the 1800s;
  • Sudoku math puzzles which first appeared in 1979 (Pegg, 2005), builds math and logic skills for young and old alike;
  • Where In The World Is Carmen San Diego (released in 1985 by Broderbund) demonstrated to children that learning geography could be visual and engaging;
  • Reader Rabbit (released in 1986 by The Learning Company) aids young children in increasing their reading skills; and,
  • Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing (published by Software Toolworks in 1987) provided an early example of how drill-n-practice computer exercises could still be fun and lively.

Today, games have moved from the table-top and from the single-player computer environments into the dynamic and persistent realms of virtual worlds. Among the more prominent virtual world games specifically tuned to education are River City (Dede, Clarke, Ketelhut, Nelson, & Bowman, 2005) and Quest Atlantis (Barab, Thomas, Dodge, Carteaux, & Tuzun, 2005). In addition to these worlds, explorations ofSecond Lifeby the authors found that Second Life has become home to numerous educational settings and simulations. Even though it is not truly an education-oriented world, Second Life’s open policy towards user created content has inspired thousands of its users to create and host their own educational settings, recreations, simulations, and activities. As such, it is the most active environment for finding and creating virtual world based educational content.

Overview and History of Virtual Worlds

The concept of virtual environments, virtual worlds, and virtual space is continuously evolving as the technologies and users become increasingly sophisticated. While efforts are being made to identify taxonomy to distinguish among types (Downey, in press), as yet there is widely accepted way to delineate differences. However, in its simplest form, online virtual worlds containfive core aspects:

  • Synchronicity – activities occur through real-time communication and interaction
  • Persistence – virtual worlds exist regardless of player use time
  • Avatars – user created characters used to establish presence and interact in-world
  • Visualization – multi-dimensional (2D, 2½D, or 3D) visualization of the world
  • Massive Scale – thousands of users in-world simultaneously

Virtual worlds typically exist with a either game-oriented or social-oriented (Downey, in press; Sanchez, 2009; Wehner, Gump, & Downey, in press). Game-oriented worlds are generically referred to as Massively Multiplayer Onling Games (MMOGs) or Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs), depending on the nature of the game play. In these worlds, content typically is created by the game manufacturer with little/no for end users to add their content in world. Popular example include World of Warcraft, EverQuest, Star Wars Galaxies. Social-oriented worlds, generically referred to as Multi User Virtual Environments (MUVEs), typically do not employ game structures such as levels, experience points, player versus player combat, etc (Downey, in press). Also, these worlds typically offer more opportunities for end users to create their own in-world content. The end result being a highly diverse and ever growing range of content spanning the sciences, social issues, cultural celebrations, etc. Popular examples of social-oriented worlds include Second Life, Active Worlds, and Habbo.

Currently, one of the most well-known examples of a game-based virtual world is the highly popular World of Warcraft, a MMORPG which boasts over 11.5 million paying subscribers and is growing every year (Blizzard, 2008). Advancement in the game is achieved through the completion of tasks – either independently or in groups. As game play progresses, users increasingly rely on cooperation with other users in order to complete more difficult tasks that result in more significant rewards (Yee, 2006). The groups they form can range from 2-person to 40-person teams working collaboratively towards a singular goal. It is through these group interactions that individuals refine and enhance their leadership skills. Details on these interactions and their contributions to leadership development are provided later.

Leadership Theoretical Frameworks

For decades researchers have explored the multifaceted concept of leadership. Research studies have produced a variety of theoretical approaches that assist in explaining the complexities of leadership. Early researchers conceptualize leadership as a trait (Stogdill, 1948). Others have viewed leadership from situational perspectives (Blanchard, 1985), relationship standpoints (Graen Uhl-Bien, 1995) and as a behavior (Yammarino, 2000). Currently it is recognized that leadership involves a complex mix of skills including behavioral, social and cognitive (Zaccaro Klimoski, 2001). This mix of skills may developin learners at different ratescontingent upon their various learning experiences (Day Halpin, 2004; Zaccaro Klimoski, 2001).

As research in this area was conducted, there were many attempts to simply defineleadership. Gardner (1990) stated that there are over a 100 definitions of the word leadership. While each of us intuitively knows what the concept of leadership is for ourselves, the word itself can have different meanings to different people. For the purpose of this paper, we will define leadership as Daft (2008) defines it, as “an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes and outcomes that reflect their shared purpose.”

Leadership Education

Given the complex nature of leadership, providing developmental opportunities and sources of learning is a difficult task. It requires educators to seek out innovative methods and technologies to reach their audience and deliver effective instruction.

McCall (2004) suggests that the primarily source of learning leadership is experience. Facing adversity, struggling with unfamiliar situations, exposure to different people, problem solving activities and hardships (for example, making mistakes) are reported to be the most developmental types of experiences. However, in many cases (e.g., military training) providing these types of experiences can be costly and even dangerous.

Kolb (1984) introduced experiential learning theory which describes the process of making meaning from experiences. He argues that when learners experiencechallenges or difficult situations, the experience means nothing unless meaning is made and learned from that experience. Experiential learning theory defines learning as "the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience. Knowledge results from the combination of grasping and transforming experience" (Kolb,1984, p. 41). A growth-producing experience refers not only to a direct experience, but also to the total life experience which includes experiences of others (Kolb Kolb, 2005).

Often misunderstood, experiential learning is a set of techniques to provide learners with experiences from which they can learn. Kolb (1984) begins by stating how learning from experience occurs in a cycle. This cycle has four phases, which are: concrete experience, abstract conceptualization, reflective observation and active experimentation. Concrete experience is ‘learning by encounter’ which can be learning from specific experiences, relating to different people and their experiences, or being sensitive to feelings and people. Reflective observation is ‘learning by reflecting’. This can be done by carefully observing before making judgments, viewing issues from different perspectives and understanding the relationship between the meanings of things. Abstract conceptualization is ‘learning by thinking’, which can be logically analyzing ideas, planning systematically or acting on an intellectual understand of a situation. Active experimentation ‘learning by doing’, which may be in the form of showing ability to get things done, taking risks or influencing people and events through action (Kolb, 1984). The experiential learning theory provides a source of learning, as well as a basis for developing and implementing leadership education.

Virtual Worlds and Leadership Education

Much of the current research on skill acquisition in virtual worlds revolves around social interactions and general skills (Schrader McCreery, 2008). However, as the popularity and social acceptability of worlds like Second Life andWorld of Warcraft increases, they are becoming the ‘new’ technological environment for training and education with organizations such as Harvard Law (Harvard Law School, 2006), IBM (Linden Research, 2009), New Media Consortium (Linden Labs, 2009), and the United States Army (USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies, 2009) investing large sums of time and money into virtual world venues. Concurrently there is an increase in discussions about the appropriate ways to incorporate technology and pedagogy to improve student engagement and learning (Brown, 2004; Gee Levine, 2009; Moreno-Ger, Burgos, Martinez-Ortiz, Sierra, & Fernandez-Manjon, 2008; Whitton Hollins 2008;Woelfel, Murray, Hambright, 2004). In the field of leadership, the possible benefits of utilizing virtual worlds become increasingly salient as the technological familiarity and aptitude of students increases.

While still sparsecompared to established fields, research is growing on the impact virtual worlds have on user skill acquisition, particularly in regards to social interaction skills and cognitive skills (Schrader McCreery, 2008; Whitton Hollins, 2008; Yee, 2006). In his 2006 study, Yee collectively referred to social interactions, emotional investment and acquisition of social skills as ‘derived experiences’ (Yee, 2006). Leadership skills were the particular focus, with Yee asking participants to assess skill development in real-life based on game play; particularly in areas of conflict mediation, group motivation, and persuasion. Yee’s results showed that younger players (ages 20 – 24) credited MMOGs, specifically World of Warcraft, as improving their real-life leadership skills (Yee, 2006) – a result affirmed by Schrader McCreery’s 2008 study.

As a prospective avenue for leadership skill development, virtual worldsprovidegreat potential. Game-based virtual worlds, in particular,require both administrative (role delegation, reward disbursement, logistical planning, etc), and behavioral (member motivation, persuasion, group synergy, etc) leadership tasks, as well as the intrinsic aspects of working collaboratively to achieve a goal, there are ample scenarios in which to practice and develop leadership skills.

In addition, leadership development frameworks have been identified as being compatible with game-based designs (Mayo, 2007). Many of these approaches are not dissimilar to the outdoor adventure training utilized by the military for decades (Garvin, Nason, Otto, 1996) and popularized in mainstream management training during the 1990s (Dvir, Eden, Avolio, & Shamir, 2002; Priest & Glass, 2005; Smith, Smith, & Barnette, 1991). In outdoor adventure training, teams and leaders are presented with physical challenges (e.g., obstacles courses) that require group members to take on different roles within the team (e.g., leader, tactician, support, etc) in order to overcome each of the challenges. Only by developing their respective skill sets and fulfilling their roles within the group can the team overcome all of the challenges they face.

In the realm of virtual world games such as World of Warcraft, much of the group-based content exists in the form of ‘instance’ dungeons. These instances are the virtual world equivalent of adventure obstacle courses and are specifically designed for groups ranging from 5-person to 40-person teams. For teams to be successful, their leaders must develop and demonstrate proficiency in leadership skills including: technical knowledge, problem-solving, environment knowledge, organizational skills, instructional skills, and facilitation. A review of research on outdoor leadership skills by Priest and Glass (2005) identified similar sets of leadership skills recurring in multiple studies conducted throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Figure 1 illustrates how these skills build upon one another, both in-world and outdoors, and the narrative below details how each of these factors contribute to producing a successful leader.