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2011 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

9. Virtual Environments Leadership: Do Physical Characteristics Matter?

Authors : S. Lynn Shollen, C. Cryss Brunner

Published in: Social Media Tools and Platforms in Learning Environments

Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg

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Abstract

Quantitative methods were employed to explore the effect that group member’s physical identity had on other member’s perceptions of those individuals as leaders during group work in a virtual context. Comparisons were made between perceptions of leadership after a session in which identity was highly anonymous and after a session in which identity was known via avatar photographs. Participants comprised 149 students engaged in a virtual learning environment, designed to develop a variety of leadership capabilities. The results give some indication that age and weight characteristics may affect perceptions of leadership. Overall, the introduction of physically identifying cues after groups had worked together anonymously for a period of time did not affect perceptions of leadership. Implications of these findings relative to availability of identifying cues, impression formation, status-based equalization, and leadership in virtual learning environments are discussed.

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previous chapter Building Institutional Capacity for the Use of Social Media

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Because the data used for this study are a subset of data from a larger study, material in the Methods and Design section is very similar, and at times verbatim, to other works presented, submitted, or published from the larger study.

An online leadership preparation process developed in 2001 by C. Cryss Brunner at the University of Minnesota. For a detailed description of the Experiential Simulations^© process, see Brunner et al. (2006).

Participants signed informed consent forms and were made aware that identity would shift as part of the learning experience.

Portions of the material in the Results section appeared verbatim previously in Shollen (2009).

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Title: Virtual Environments Leadership: Do Physical Characteristics Matter?
Authors: S. Lynn Shollen
C. Cryss Brunner
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Book: Social Media Tools and Platforms in Learning Environments
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-20391-6

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-642-20392-3

Copyright Year: 2011
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-20392-3_9

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