More on flow

31/12/2008 by lizit.

The more I read about flow, the more I find myself wondering if this is actually a serious concept or some kind of joke.  On the other hand, it is clearly taken seriously and a lot of work has been done relating the concept to VE, web usage, etc, etc.  There seems to be a general sense that it is when one is in a state of flow that there is maximum potential for learning.

I find I am questioning quite a lot of what I am reading - and some of it I am finding very difficult to take seriously - but if the basic assumption (and there does seem to be research to back it up) that learning is enhanced when in a flow state, then it is worth looking at in relation to SL and IVWs.

Thinking back to previous ideas about threshold concepts and stuckness, one of the aspects of flow is a sense of challenge (but challenge which is attainable rather than over-bearing).  Is there a connection between flow and being challenged appropriately so as to move beyond stuckness?

So using Chen (1999) as a model for considering what the attributes of flow might be in SL and Savin-Baden (2007) for what happens when stuckness occurs, how might this be related to SL and turned into something useful?

Chen, H., Wigand, R. T., & Nilan, M. S. (1999). Optimal experience of Web activities. Computers in Human Behavior, 15(5), 585-608.

Savin-Baden, M. (2007). Second Life PBL: liminality, liquidity and lurking. Paper presented at the Reinventing Problem-based learning, Republic Polytechnic, Singapore.

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