Essential Question: How can immersive virtual reality enhance gamification? Essential Question: How can immersive virtual reality enhance gamification? According to Merry (2016) "immersive VR will help increase retention among students taking distance learning courses." He goes on to clarify that gamification with VR can help students to take part in things they can't experience rather than just looking at them in 2-D. One option to use VR to make lessons come to life is through the use of "Google’s virtual reality field trip kit called Expeditions." This program allows teachers to take students on VR field trips to places like Mars or Mount Everest. One issue with this technology according to Castaneda, Cechony, & Swanson (2016) is that "users of VR bring their life experiences, emotions and fears into the immersion with them. Previous research along with our experiences with elementary aged students have shown that they may have difficulty separating virtual reality from actual reality." However as the teacher it is our duty to keep this in mind to try to create an atmosphere where students can explore and learn. VR can challenge students and encourage them to do things they wouldn't normally do. "Being able to be fully immersed and interact with the virtual environments takes courage for youth because, as one teacher puts it, 'They are willing to do things that would look goofy even without the goggles on because they are so excited and immersed in the experience.' This kind of comfort and safety to explore that environment comes from a strong set of teacher and student expectations for shared behaviors and norms" (Castaneda, Cechony, & Swanson 2016). Another comment that was more of a concern. is that a student didn't want teachers to ruin this technology of VR like other previous technologies. He said "I would like teachers to understand that VR doesn’t have to be the same as current schooling...students should explore instead of mindlessly following paths where they don’t even need to think to understand” (Castaneda, Cechony, & Swanson 2016). I think this is such a great point. Student need to explore. They need to creat their own path. One example is when VR was used to teach special relativity. It was described as "a software package is used to introduce concepts of special relativity to students in a game-like environment where users experience the effects of travelling at near light speeds" (McGrath, Wegner, & Savage 2009). This is a tough concept to be grasped for any student. In the end "Students found the simulation to be a positive learning experience and described the subject area as being less abstract after its use. Also, students were more capable of correctly answering concept questions relating to special relativity, and a small but measurable improvement was observed in the final exam" (McGrath, Wegner, & Savage 2009). Another key feature McGrath, Wegner, & Savage (2009) mention is that the special relativity VR experience challenged misconceptions that the lab did no target. Students were able to experience something that they could not experience in their everyday life. In the end all studies that I read found VR to be a positive experience. The study by Castaneda, Cechony, & Swanson (2016) found that "contrary to some concerns that VR would be isolating, the students and teachers in our study found it to be an excellent mechanism for shared experience, dialogue and bonding." They also found that VR "sparked further interest in pursuing tech courses for some of the young women who were already enrolled. Students and teachers in VR classes were eager to share the technology with the wider school community, and many students even became local experts in running and supporting VR." McGrath, Wegner, & Savage (2009) found VR to increase understanding and confidence in spatial relativity. Merry (2016) listed ideas for incorporating VR that could help student retention. He mentions Time Machine to help students experience dinosaurs. I cannot wait to get my own Cardboard to experience this. Sources
Castaneda, L., Cechony, A., & Swanson, T. (2016). Implications of Virtual Reality in Applied Educational Settings. Retrieved September 30, 2016, from http://foundry10.org/dev/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Implications-of-Virtual-Reality-in-Applied-Educational-Settings.pdf McGrath, D., Wegner, M., & Savage, C. (2009, November 2). Student experiences of virtual reality - a case study in learning special relativity. Retrieved September 30, 2016, from https://arxiv.org/pdf/0911.0226.pdf Merry, P. (2016, September 29). Immersive Virtual Reality: Online Education for the Next Generation. Retrieved October 01, 2016, from http://www.centerdigitaled.com/blog/immersive-virtual-reality-online-education-for-the-next-generation.html
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Thanks for sharing the research on how elementary-aged children can have a difficult time separating VR experiences from actual reality. I can see this being a big issue for some students, and needing to do a lot of preteaching as well as providing support along the way to help ensure that students do not become overwhelmed by the experience.
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