Alblehai Fahad
Computer Science Department, Community College, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Educ Inf Technol (Dordr). 2022;27(9):12363-12379. doi: 10.1007/s10639-022-11111-7. Epub 2022 May 28.
Virtual learning environments have been recognized as an area of particular importance by which educators can use to improve desirable learning behaviours. Investigating the impact of different virtual environments on learners' behaviours has become the centre of attention of researchers, especially during COVID-19. The homophily effect of avatar-identity on individuals' perceptions of an environment can be a key for understanding their learning behaviours. This study examined the relationship between key constructs related to avatar homophily (background and attitude) and learners' flow and exploratory behaviour. An online survey was distributed to 157 students (93 males and 64 females with age ranging from 19 to 21 years) who took part in an online learning activity using an avatar-mediated environment (Second Life). The results showed that users' flow experience can be influenced by the function of perceived background and attitude homophily in an avatar-mediated environment. Flow experience was found to mediate the relationship between avatar homophily and learners' exploratory behaviour. This study offers a conceptual understanding of the relationship between homophily and individual's flow state.
虚拟学习环境已被视为一个特别重要的领域，教育工作者可以利用它来促进理想的学习行为。研究不同虚拟环境对学习者行为的影响已成为研究人员关注的焦点，尤其是在新冠疫情期间。虚拟形象身份的同质性效应对于理解个体在环境中的学习行为至关重要。本研究考察了与虚拟形象同质性相关的关键构念（背景和态度）与学习者的心流体验及探索行为之间的关系。对157名学生（93名男性和64名女性，年龄在19至21岁之间）进行了一项在线调查，这些学生参与了一项使用虚拟形象介导环境（第二人生）的在线学习活动。结果表明，在虚拟形象介导的环境中，用户的心流体验会受到感知到的背景和态度同质性的影响。研究发现，心流体验在虚拟形象同质性与学习者探索行为之间起中介作用。本研究为同质性与个体心流状态之间的关系提供了概念性理解。
