What are the best practices in designing immersive experiences?
Diverse and genuine circumstances to amplify opportunities and equality for all learners are attainable through using virtual and augmented reality. Additional research is necessary to illuminate how to initialize, employ successful pedagogies and instructional tools for immersive VR in a high school setting. These same tools can be adapted for use with elementary/primary students as well. Immersive Virtual Reality is less about the technology used and more about a careful method of including VR in these lessons with clear learning goals and objectives that are aligned to and appropriate for the curriculum (Pang, 2021).
Why AR & VR?
The reason to choose augmented and virtual reality in learning environments must always focus on the learner and the learning objectives. Does an augmented or virtual reality experience assist in reaching those goals? Who is the audience and what are their needs?
The advantages:
Experiences using VR/AR can provide opportunities that in the real world would be impossible. Authentic learning can occur within the virtual environment without the cost and challenges that arise when planning these encounters.
The challenges:
Two of the biggest issues in planning an AR or VR experience are 1. avoiding cognitive overload and 2. navigating conflicts with technology that may deter learning and create problems.
Best practices checklist:
Asking the RIGHT questions:
It is important to not only follow the best practices while designing immersive experiences but also ask the correct questions when approaching the structure and content of the environment.
Teaching a VR lesson: 5 questions to ask:
What is the goal of the VR lesson? How can VR help meet the objective?
What type of technology do your students have access to?
Who can I collaborate with?
What resources are available?
How do I know my VR lesson is successful? (Ofgang, 2022)
Resources:
There are several excellent VR and AR tools that can be used for engaging students in immersive lessons and activities that do not require expensive equipment or VR headsets. These AR & VR apps allow educators to create content and activities that can be added to existing lessons without a huge financial investment on the part of the school or district.
Xplore by TimeLooper is an immersive educational platform with content presented in augmented reality.com
Assemblr EDU helps you create interactive 3D/AR learning experiences with ease. Make use of our ready-to-use immersive lessons, hundreds of premade 3D models, or stimulate your students’ creativity with our 3D/AR Editor.
Halo AR is a free mobile app that empowers anyone to create with augmented reality by connecting digital content with the physical world. Join our diverse community of tens of thousands of artists, educators, and industry professionals across 194 countries using Halo AR to augment books, artwork, and everything else in the world around them.
disruptED exists to provide excellent interactive educational tools to children. We imagine a world in which learners of all types thrive as they engage deeply with content using the technology of tomorrow
The ideas set forth focus on the needs for an instructional design that is theory- based, include teacher professional development and reflections about accessibility to ensure equal availability and useability for all students. By understanding the obstacles, constraints, and vitality of these tools, it allows for clear choices about the best practices of immersive and augmented reality, to create appealing and effective educational experiences which nurture a generation of students who are both technologically agile and motivated by knowledge acquisition (Paliokas & Theodorou, 2024).
References:
Ask the question,be the answer. TimeLooper. (n.d.). https://www.timelooper.com/
Assemblr Edu: Fun & Interactive Learning in 3D & AR. Assemblr EDU | Fun &
Interactive Learning in 3D & AR. (n.d.). https://edu.assemblrworld.com/
Disrupted. disruptED. (2024). https://disruptedx.com/
Halo AR. Add augmented reality to anything in seconds!. Halo AR. (2024). https://haloar.app/
Ofgang, E. (2022, November 1). Teaching a VR lesson: 5 questions to ask: Proper planning can ensure an AR or VR lesson is a success, says immersive learning expert Jaime Donally. Tech & Learning, 28.
Pang, D. C. G. (2021). Immersive virtual reality (VR) classroom to enhance learning and increase interest and enjoyment in the secondary school science curriculum.
Paliokas, I., & Theodorou, P. (2024). Virtual/Augmented Reality Applications in Education & Life Long Learning. Electronics (2079-9292), 13(3), 618. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics13030618
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