Embodiment between Physical and Virtual workd in a France college
Abstract
- The purpose of the present study was to examine the implications of the students and teachers embodied configuration with Virtual World in middle school. The context is an experimental middle school (students age 11-15) adopting MUVEs as immersive 3D virtual. We conducted participant observation, collecting video-audio records of the teachers and students ‘activity, supported by a student focus group and teacher interviews. The analysis identified some implications of embodied configuration that appear tightly connected to the specific space-time setting: overlap and negotiation of real and virtual bodies boundaries; multimodality in action: distributed disruptions and recalls; searching meaning by situated exploration. Our results highlight the dynamic ways in which the arrangement of body and material acted as mediational means between real and virtual setting.