Extended Reality (XR) has been growing larger year over year with (VR)Intellegence (2018) finding that the majority of growth is present in the educational field. This growth is in both the Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) fields to help create immersive experiences for learners to help create a new environment where Bonasio (2017) describes how learners can be put into experiences where they interact directly with numerous cultures, ethnicities, and genders.
My experience with the XR field has been primarily in the consumer and entertainment realm. When looking at the value currently being spent on this technology in the report by Jenny Scribani (2019) it is easy to see that this is currently the field with the most investment. Through my work at Bow Valley College, I have also had the opportunity to be involved and see how simulations in healthcare can be used to better emulate real-life experiences such as checking an elderly patient for pneumonia.
Through my work at Royal Roads, I worked with Alastair Lind to explore the use of VR in education. Clemens and Linds (2018) explored the materials available in the field of education based around Weller’s (2011) Pedagogy of Abundance framework. Through this analysis, we found that many of the requirements for abundance was present but with technology being new and expensive there is a potential for that to be a barrier.
To expand on my exploration into XR technology I will be looking at how these tools (primarily VR) can be used as a tool to help teach culture and art in an educational setting. The reason for this is my involvement in the program development at Bow Valley College and primarily in the Digital Design program. This program focuses on using digital technologies to create new forms of art and as such the XR technologies have the potential to be a very valuable addition to increasing learner knowledge and engagement. Serio, Á D., Ibáñez, M. B., & Kloos, C. D. (2013) explored the effect of motivation in a visual arts course using XR technologies and found that there was an increase in the attention and motivation when using these technologies within the class. While cost still remains a factor the exploration found that most other adoption barriers that could have been present were negated through enthusiasm from the participants.
The exploration will also look into how the engagements between learner and student will be changed through the use of technology. Julia Gaimster, (2008) explores these interactions and looks at how losing body language and other cues through technology will affect the ability to deliver positive and effective critical feedback.
This program is also looking at ways to implement further learning into cultural experiences such as indigenous or international perspectives. O’Brien, M. G., & Levy, R. M. (2008) explored the usage of VR in a language learning classroom and how it allowed learners the ability to be fully immersed in the cultural experience and the effects that were found with this immersion. The exploration of how a better understanding or potential interaction can be implemented in this program using XR will be assessed.
References:
Anonymous. (2018, August 9). XR Industry Survey Report. Retrieved from https://www.vr-intelligence.com/xr-industry-survey-report
Bonasio, A. (2017, December 18). How VR Will Change Soft Skills Training [blog post]. Retrieved from https://medium.com/edtech-trends/how-vr-will-change-soft-skills-training-67e9ac07518f
Clemens, J., & Linds, A. (2018, September 29). VR in First Hand Learning. Retrieved from https://malat-webspace.royalroads.ca/rru0051/vr-in-first-hand-learning/
Gaimster, J. (2008). Reflections on Interactions in virtual worlds and their implication for learning art and design. Art, Design & Communication in Higher Education,6(3), 187-199. doi:10.1386/adch.6.3.187_1
O’Brien, M. G., & Levy, R. M. (2008). Exploration through Virtual Reality: Encounters with the Target Culture. Canadian Modern Language Review,64(4), 663-691. doi:10.3138/cmlr.64.4.663
Scribani, J. (2019, March 12). What is Extended Reality (XR)? Retrieved from https://www.visualcapitalist.com/extended-reality-xr/
Serio, Á D., Ibáñez, M. B., & Kloos, C. D. (2013). Impact of an augmented reality system on students motivation for a visual art course. Computers & Education,68, 586-596. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2012.03.002
Weller, Martin (2011). A pedagogy of abundance. Spanish Journal of Pedagogy, 249 pp. 223–236.
April 23, 2019 at 12:34 pm
There is no shortage of themes to explore here. Your description of the cost factor is an element worth including in your research as well; while enthusiasm may compensate for some of this, are there situations where this factor makes access prohibitive for some to use? How do institutions deal with implementing technologies that not all learners are able to access? The other area to explore that could deepen your critical analysis would be how developers might go about bringing different (or non-dominant) cultures into XR in an inclusive and respectful manner. These are a few ideas for possible consideration to include in your analysis.
April 23, 2019 at 7:49 pm
I find the cost factor to be the one that I often look at first. I’m personally very interested in VR and so my own enthusiasm has to be tempered and that seems to help.
That is a very interesting idea on bringing in other cultures. We’re often exploring ways to make our learning more inclusionary through things like indigenization. I wonder if approaching a subject like that would have an effect in either direction.
Thank you for the interesting things to consider.