My reflections on the Virtual Symposium

On March 28, 2022, I began my MA in learning and technology (MALAT) program at Royal Roads University. My passion for education, technology, and a desire for a lifelong learning brought me on this journey. The first for-credit course, began with a week long virtual symposium. I attended sessions led by professionals, specialists, and academics throughout the symposium, immersing myself in this world of education and technology. As a novice in this field, this was an excellent way for me to gain an understanding of the subject and industry trends.

I absolutely loved all the presentations and Q&A sessions, which were very informative. I enjoyed hearing final-year students present their work. They shared lots of pearls of wisdom. For instance, Guichon (2022), who presented his thesis on “Motivation, Engagement, and Effectiveness of Serious Games for Teaching Cyber Security and Database Defenses,” advised us to choose our thesis topic early on so that we can devote adequate time to it, allowing us to develop a deep knowledge base in that area prior to beginning our thesis. This struck a chord with me because I lack extensive prior knowledge in the educational technology space. I’m looking for ways to broaden my knowledge while also developing a focus area of research in a specific domain.

I was also inspired by MacKay (2022) thesis presentation, “Phenomenological Analysis of Purposeful Pedagogy, Design, and Virtual Reality”. He conducted research into the factors that contribute to the sense of presence in virtual reality simulations. I learned about the two theoretical frameworks that he used to support his thesis: constructivism and experiential learning. MacKay discovered four broad group themes in his initial findings, which included an awareness of one’s surroundings, an appreciation for learning, a sense of autonomy, and active engagement. I’m curious about his exhaustive research findings on presence, virtual learning environments, and the autonomy illusion. According to the researchers, virtual reality simulations help students better understand complex scientific phenomena because they use realistic graphics and interactions that are hard for students to experience in the real world (Georgiou et al, 2020).

Additionally, I’m curious about virtual reality and how we can use it to enhance education and well-being in a clinical context. According to Chaze et al. (2020), virtual reality (VR) may improve the physical, emotional, cognitive, and social well-being of long-term care residents, particularly those with dementia. As someone who works in a clinical educational setting with the geriatric population, this is a topic that interests me. I’m curious about how we can use learning technologies to improve care and quality of life for residents in long-term care facilities.

These presentations sparked my curiosity, provided a glimpse into the worlds of learning and technology, and introduced me to a wealth of new research in the field of educational technology. As I progress through this course, I look forward to learning more and developing a more nuanced understanding of the various pedagogical approaches and frameworks that can be used to make educational experiences more joyful and engaging for all learners.

References:

Chaze, F., Hayden, L., Azevedo, A., Kamath, A., Bucko, D., Kashlan, Y., Dube, M., De Paula, J., Jackson, A., Reyna, C., Dupuis, K., & Tsotsos, L. (2022). Virtual reality and well-being in older adults: Results from a pilot implementation of virtual reality in long-term care. Journal of rehabilitation and assistive technologies engineering, 9, 20556683211072384. https://doi.org/10.1177/20556683211072384

Georgiou, Y., Tsivitanidou, O. & Ioannou, A. Learning experience design with immersive virtual reality in physics education. Education Tech Research Dev 69, 3051–3080 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-021-10055-y

Guichon, P. (2022, April 11). Motivation, Engagement, and Effectiveness of Serious Games for Teaching Cyber Security and Database Defense. [Webinar]. Zoom.

MacKay, M. (2022, April 14). Phenomenological Analysis of Purposeful Pedagogy, Design, and Virtual Reality. [Webinar]. Zoom.