Virtual Reality in Education:

An overview of the field.

Learning Technology Research Cluster
19th June 2018
by
Dorothy DeWitt
University Malaya, Malaysia
Visiting Scholar at Department of Educational Studies,
Macquarie University
Introduction

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Introduction
Virtual Reality in Education:
• Introduction
• Definition, Environments & Devices
• Philosophy and Characteristics of the Virtual World
• History of Virtual Reality
• Virtual Reality Environments
• Research on VR in education
• Affordances, Benefits, Issues and Limitations
• Recommendation for use
• Teachers and Students as Designers of VR
• VR Futures
• Hands-on VR
Virtual Reality: Introduction
• Immersive experience
• Entertainment industry
• Gaming
• Virtual tours of museums/art
galleries
• Locations in and out of this world
• Viewing real estate
Virtual Reality: Introduction
Applications in industry
• Design
• Manufacturing
• Engineering http://www.deakin.edu.au/engineering/cadet

• Medicine
• Education and training

https://cdn4.eonreality.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/swinburne_1.jpg

https://qrius.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/VR-companies-in-healthcare-3.jpg
Virtual Reality in Education:
• Introduction
• Definition, Environments & Devices
• Philosophy and Characteristics of the Virtual World
• History of Virtual Reality
• Virtual Reality Environments in education
• Research on VR in education
• Affordances, Benefits, Issues and Limitations
• Recommendation for use
• Teachers and Students as Designers of VR
• VR Futures
• Hands-on VR
Virtual Reality: Definition
• A tool for simulation in computer-generated
settings where users act in real-time at • Immersive experience
artificial locations interacting synchronously
via an interface that can track and display
the users actions (Innocenti, 2017).

• VR devices allows a user to experience the

virtual environment as the devices senses
the real-time reactions and motions of the
user, creating the illusion of interacting and
being immersed in the virtual world
(Tussyadiah, Wang, Jung, & tom Dieck,
2018).
Virtual Reality Environments
Innocenti (2017) differentiates two types of
environments based on the degree of
immersion of the user
• Low-immersive virtual environments (LIVE)
• Computer screen-based renderings of real
environments or virtual worlds
• Interact through avatars
• Second Life, World of Warcraft, EverQuest, The
Sims
• High-immersive virtual environments (HIVE)
• Enclosed boxes or head-mounted displays
(HMD)
• Images projected on multiple interior screens,
or specialized displays in a Cave Automatic
Virtual Environment.
• HMD such as Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear
VR or Google Cardboard,
• Augmented or mixed reality devices, like
Microsoft Holographic and HoloLens headsets

https://youtu.be/VDjFnuQTt8M?t=69
Devices for Virtual Reality
VR headsets:
• Untethered headsets (mobile VR).
• A mobile device
• The quality of the mobile device's processing power
for real-time 3D content may be a limitation.
• Samsung Gear VR, Google Cardboard, and Google
Daydream.
• Tethered devices.
• These headsets contain a display
• Internal and/or external sensors to track the user's
position.
• The user is attached to the personal computer (PC)
via a cable.
• The PC processes the superior quality graphics, for
real-time tracking and interactions, These devices
include the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and OSVR.
(Tussyadiah, Wang, Jung, & tom Dieck, 2018)
Virtual Reality in Education:
• Introduction
• Definition, Environments & Devices
• Philosophy and Characteristics of the Virtual World
• History of Virtual Reality
• Virtual Reality Environments in education
• Research on VR in education
• Affordances, Benefits, Issues and Limitations
• Recommendation for use
• Teachers and Students as Designers of VR
• VR Futures
• Hands-on VR
Philosophy of the Virtual World
• How real is the virtual world?
• The objects? The events?
• A real object and a virtual object?
• Are actions real? A real event?
“Virtual environments, and the digital
realm more generally, create
ontological confusion and challenge
us to draw and redraw the boundaries
between reality and fiction, and truth
and falsehood.” (Brey, 2014, p. 53).
 Characteristics of the Virtual
World
Representational Fidelity Learner Interaction

• Realistic display • Embodied actions

• Smooth display of view change, • Embodied verbal & non-verbal
object motion communications
• Consistency of object behaviour • Control of environment attributes &
• User representation behaviour
• Spatial audio • Construction/ scripting of object
• Kinaesthetic & tactile force feedback behaviour

sensory,
Presence Co- Presence Identity conceptual &
Sense of being Sense of being Constructed by
motivational
in a place in a place with the user's immersion
Dependent on other users embodied
the context & actions & social
psychological interactions Dalgarno, B. & M. J. W. Lee (2010). What are the learning affordances of
3-D virtual environments? British Journal of Educational
response of the within the virtual Technology, 41(1), 10–32. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8535.2009.01038.x
user environment.
Virtual Reality in Education:
• Introduction
• Definition, Environments & Devices
• Philosophy and Characteristics of the Virtual World
• History of Virtual Reality
• Virtual Reality Environments in education
• Research on VR in education
• Affordances, Benefits, Issues and Limitations
• Recommendation for use
• Teachers and Students as Designers of VR
• VR Futures
• Hands-on VR
History of Virtual Reality
• Steroscopes- handheld and boxed (1850)
• Simulators- commercial flight simulator (Edward
Link, 1929).
• Sensorama (Morton Heilig, 1956):
The Sensorama was a single user console for
a highly immersive experience (Merchant et al.,
2014)
• Telesphere Mask (Morton Heilig, 1960)
• The Ultimate Display (Ivan Sutherland, 1968)
• Artifical Reality (Myron Kruegere, 1969)
• Virtual Reality (Jaron Lanier, 1987)

Read more at https://wiki.mq.edu.au/display/vr/Virtual+Reality+History

History of Virtual Reality
• Movies and Games (Nintendo &
Sega) in virtual reality (1990s)
• Oculus Rift : (Palmer Luckey, 2010)
• Consumer-grade Oculus Rift CV1:
2016
• Gear VR

Read more at https://wiki.mq.edu.au/display/vr/Virtual+Reality+History

Virtual Reality in Education:
• Introduction
• Definition, Environments & Devices
• Philosophy and Characteristics of the Virtual World
• History of Virtual Reality
• Virtual Reality Environments in Education
• Research on VR in education
• Affordances, Benefits, Issues and Limitations
• Recommendation for use
• Teachers and Students as Designers of VR
• VR Futures
• Hands-on VR
Virtual Reality Environments:
360 degree videos and animations

https://youtu.be/34cXKlP39Pg

https://youtu.be/Tph_ntIJQxk?t=2
Highly Immersive Virtual Environments

https://youtu.be/NsHM1g6_Ehs?t=172 https://youtu.be/xPw6vLnNuSg
VR in Education

https://youtu.be/EXYzj6qwCCk

https://youtu.be/7Xv8A9vqeBw
Virtual Reality in Education:
• Introduction
• Definition, Environments & Devices
• Philosophy and Characteristics of the Virtual World
• History of Virtual Reality
• Virtual Reality Environments in education
• Research on VR in education
• Affordances, Benefits, Issues and Limitations
• Recommendation for use
• Teachers and Students as Designers of VR
• VR Futures
• Hands-on VR
VR in Education: Research
1. Children's cognitive modifiability by
dynamic assessment in 3D Immersive
Virtual Reality environments (Passig et
al., 2016)
2. Peer learning in virtual reality for
geometry problem solving (Hwang & Hu,
2014)
3. Direct manipulation in a 3D environment
compared to passive viewing for learning
anatomy (Jang et al., 2017)
4. Comparison between desktop-based
(Oculus Rift) and mobile-based (Gear VR)
virtual reality (Moro et al., 2017)
5. Designing mobile virtual reality learning
environments: DBR framework (Cochrane
et al., 2017)
 Children's cognitive modifiability in 3D
Immersive Virtual Reality environments

• Grades 1 & 2 students in 2 elementary schools in 2 cities in Israel

• Assigned randomly. 4 groups: VR with HDM- 3D Immersive VR
(IVR); 2D; tangible blocks; and a control.
• Learning process in a dynamic assessment: Analogical problem
solving for Cognitive Modifiability Battery

• The 3D IVR environment had the highest cognitive modifiability on

the transfer problems.

Passig, D., Tzuriel, D. & Eshel-Kedmi, E. (2016). Improving children's cognitive modifiability by dynamic assessment in 3D
Immersive Virtual Reality environments. Computers & Education, 95, 296-308
Peer learning in virtual reality for geometry
problem solving
• Fifth grade primary maths: Calculation of the volume and
surface area of 3-D objects over 8 weeks
• Experimental and control groups: 29 students in each group
• The Interactive Future Mathematics Classroom (IFMC) :
Collaborative Virtual Reality Learning Environment (CVRLE)
(Open Wonderland): table, white board, chat.
• Two representational tools: the virtual manipulative and a
white board

Results:
1.The experimental group performed significantly better than the control
group on geometric learning achievement.
2.Various peer learning behaviours with multiple representations lead to
different types of strategies for geometric problem solving in the IFMC.
Hwang, W-Y, & Hu, S-S. (2013). Analysis of peer learning behaviors using multiple representations in
virtual reality and their impacts on geometry problem solving. Computers & Education, 62, 308–319.
 Direct manipulation in a 3D environment
compared to passive viewing
• Medical students at a medical school in the United States in Year 1 to 4,
the majority (65%) aged between 22 - 24 years.
• A haptic input device (hand-held VR controller) coupled with direct
manipulation and exploration of the anatomical structures or “optimal view”
during passive viewing for learning gains.
• Mental Rotation Test (MRT), Building Memory Test of spatial ability,
Questionnaire
Results
1) Participants are capable of successfully embodying virtual
representations of internal anatomical structures if they can control
the presentation.
2) Participants who passively view the movement had limited
viewpoints.
3) In the VR environment, participants with low spatial ability benefit
most from the advantages of manipulation and interactivity, as
compared with those with high spatial ability.
Jang, S., Vitale, J. M., Jyung, R. W., & Black, J. B. (2017). Direct manipulation is better than passive viewing for
learning anatomy in a three-dimensional virtual reality environment. Computers & Education 106 (2017) 150-165
Comparison between desktop-based (Oculus
Rift) and mobile-based (Gear VR) virtual reality
• Desktop-based VR (the Oculus Rift) has considerably higher setup
costs.
• Mobile-based VR (Gear VR) cannot produce the quality of
environment due to its limited processing power.
However, 40% of participants
• 20 participants : Students of Faculty of Health Sciences and experienced significantly
Medicine at Bond University 17-28 years
higher rates of nausea and
• An identical lesson on spine anatomy was presented to subjects blurred vision when using
using either the Oculus Rift or Gear VR
the Gear VR (P < 0.05).

No significant differences observed in test scores from

participants using either device
Moro, C., Stromberga, Z., & Stirling, A, (2017). Virtualisation devices for student learning: Comparison between desktop-based (Oculus Rift) and mobile-
based (Gear VR) virtual reality in medical and health science education. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 33(6), 1-10.
https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.3840
Designing mobile virtual reality learning
environments: DBR framework Mesh360 project implementation
• The projects highlight the first two phases of a DBR
framework exploring mobile VR and 360-degree video
enhanced simulation environments for authentic
paramedicine and visual design education scenarios.
• Founded in pedagogical goals rather than technology-
focused.
• A community of practice (CoP) around each project for a
collaborative design-based research methodology. https://seekbeak.com/v/2lVjKrZzBby

• The design of the projects is guided by a set of design

principles identified from the literature. Augmenting the classroom project
implementation
• Curriculum design should explore new pedagogical
strategies that enable student-determined learning

Cochrane, T., Cook, S., Aiello, S., Christie, D., Sinfield, D., Steagall, M., & Aguayo, C. (2017). A DBR
framework for designing mobile virtual reality learning environments. Australasian Journal of Educational
Technology, 33(6), 54-68. https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.3613
VR in Education: Research
1. Children's cognitive modifiability by • 3D immersive VR environments and tangible
dynamic assessment in 3D Immersive blocks were better than 2D environments or
Virtual Reality environments (Passig et no tangibles.
al., 2016) • Virtual manipulatives and peer learning in a
2. Peer learning in virtual reality for virtual environment were effective
geometry problem solving (Hwang & Hu,
2014) • Embodied manipulation better than passive
viewing
3. Direct manipulation in a 3D environment • More cost effective mobile-based VR was
compared to passive viewing for learning just as suitable for teaching isolated-
anatomy (Jang et al., 2017) systems than the more expensive desktop-
4. Comparison between desktop-based based VR
(Oculus Rift) and mobile-based (Gear VR) • Curriculum design should explore new
virtual reality (Moro et al., 2017) pedagogical strategies that enable student-
5. Designing mobile virtual reality learning determined learning
environments: DBR framework (Cochrane
et al., 2017)
Virtual Reality in Education:
• Introduction
• Definition, Environments & Devices
• Philosophy and Characteristics of the Virtual World
• History of Virtual Reality
• Virtual Reality Environments in education
• Research on VR in education
• Affordances, Benefits, Issues and Limitations
• Recommendation for use
• Teachers and Students as Designers of VR
• VR Futures
Affordances of VR
Dalgarno and Lee (2010) have noted the Merchant, Goetz, Cifuentes, Keeney-
following affordances for learning in 3-D Kennicutt, & Davis (2014).
virtual environments: • the illusion of being in a 3-D space,
• Enhance the representation of spatial • ability to build and interact with the 3D
knowledge. objects,
• Facilitate learning tasks which may be • digital representation of learners in form
impractical or impossible in the real of avatar,
world.
• Increased intrinsic motivation and • ability to communicate with other
engagement. learners in the virtual worlds.
• Improved transfer of knowledge and • open-ended environments in which
skills to real situations through users design and create their own
contextualisation of learning. objects.
• Richer and more effective collaborative
learning than with 2-D alternatives
Benefits of VR in education
Benefits and potentials according to Bower (2017)
• Enabling and encouraging communication
Merchant et al. (2014) notes the benefits as
follows: • Facilitating collaborative learning
• Better student performance when in control of • Providing access to learning
navigation as compared to teacher control
• Gains in self efficacy • Embodiment and identity construction
• Improvement in skill-based measures because of • Representation of 3D environments
the open, unstructured virtual spaces affords
greater flexibility of the amount of time to be • Enabling simulation
spent in these environments
• Allowing student construction and modelling
• Not affected by retention interval as benefits of
virtual reality instruction are maintained over • Enabling role play
time or transferred to other contexts
• Facilitating situated and experiential learning
• Students learned better when simulations were
used in the form of practice sessions than when • Fostering presence, co-presence and immersion
they were used in a stand-alone format.
• Motivating and engaging learners
• Facilitating assessment
• Community building
• Engaging a wider community
Issues in using VR for education
Bower (2017)
• Technical constraints
• Fidelity • Need to be used in conjunction with other
methods of instruction/ with guidance and
• Student technical skills practice. (Merchant et al., 2014)
• Cognitive overload
• Communication and collaboration constraints
• Negative student dispositions
• Distraction
• Safety
• Assessment
• Teacher technical skills
• Negative educator disposition
• Time
• Institutional support
Virtual Reality in Education:
• Introduction
• Definition, Environments & Devices
• Philosophy and Characteristics of the Virtual World
• History of Virtual Reality
• Virtual Reality Environments in education
• Research on VR in education
• Affordances, Benefits, Issues and Limitations
• Recommendation for use
• Teachers and Students as Designers of VR
• VR Futures
Recommendations
Guided by pedagogy
• Traditional models of pedagogy
for immersive experiences:
passive viewing: for experience of
cultural, countries and situations
• Interactive models of pedagogy:
User manipulation and user-
control in simulations and virtual
worlds
• Creative model of pedagogy:
• Game-based learning
• Students as designers
Teachers and Students
as Designers of VR
Cospaces Edu
• Online VR creation.
• Free 3D objects provided to build on,
and other pre-made 3D objects which can
be purchased to be added.
• Motions and interactivity can be
programmed with Blockly or Javascript.
• There is class management to manage the
students assignments on Cospaces.
• Can be used on Android and iOS.

https://youtu.be/ZU9ZfUNU0t0
Virtual Reality in Education:
• Introduction
• Definition, Environments & Devices
• Philosophy and Characteristics of the Virtual World
• History of Virtual Reality
• Virtual Reality Environments in education
• Research on VR in education
• Affordances, Benefits, Issues and Limitations
• Recommendation for use
• Teachers and Students as Designers of VR
• VR Futures
• Hands-on VR
Virtual Reality Futures

A growth in VR arcades which are “big open spaces where

• Facebook’s platform for virtual reality
groups of people put on a backpack, a headset, and pick up
collaboration for users in “their FB groups”.
a big plastic gun and enter a virtual world
• Uses Oculus Rift or HTC VIVE. together” (Whitehead, 2017). These arcades provide
See https://www.facebook.com/spaces. multiplayer VR experiences and may popularise VR even
further.

https://youtu.be/B3ude0AUP3I?t=31
Virtual Reality Futures

https://youtu.be/_QIbI4Wtgug
Virtual Reality in Education:
• Introduction
• Definition, Environments & Devices
• Philosophy and Characteristics of the Virtual World
• History of Virtual Reality
• Virtual Reality Environments in education
• Research on VR in education
• Affordances, Benefits, Issues and Limitations
• Recommendation for use
• Teachers and Students as Designers of VR
• VR Futures
• Hands-on VR
More information

• https://wiki.mq.edu.au/display/vr/Virtual+Reality
Hands-on: Suggested apps
Samsung Gear VR
• Human Anatomy VR as part of medicine. Claims to have a unique Your Own Devices: Android (Google PlayStore)
approach of learning general anatomy and excellent graphics,
informative content and innovative features for a learning rich • WITHIN - VR (Virtual Reality). After downloading the app,
and engaging experience. download individual videos and insert your phone into the
• InCell game within the body using organelles and cell parts to viewer (Google Cardboard or other headset) to watch. Clouds
protect cell over Sidra. 360° video of a Syrian refugee camp
• InMind is an adventure VR game to experience the journey into • InMind is an adventure VR game to experience the journey into
the patient's brains in search of the neurons that cause mental the patient's brains in search of the neurons that cause mental
disorder
disorder (Download for Cardboard). You need to shoot
“disordered neurons” when travelling through the brain. An
experience of being in the brain at the cellular level.
Your Own Devices: iOS (Apple Store)
• Incell VR for iOS game within the body using organelles and cell
• WITHIN - VR (Virtual Reality). After downloading the app, parts to protect cells
download individual videos and insert your phone into the
viewer (Google Cardboard or other headset) to watch. Clouds • Bacteria Interactive learning by Mozaik Education, is a 3D
over Sidra. 360° video of a Syrian refugee camp interactive way to learn about bacteria.

• InMind is an adventure VR game to experience the journey into

the patient's brains in search of the neurons that cause mental
disorder (Download for Cardboard). You need to shoot
“disordered neurons” when travelling through the brain. An
experience of being in the brain at the cellular level.
• Incell VR for iOS game within the body using organelles and cell
parts to protect cells
 Thank you

• My sincere thanks and appreciation to A/Prof Dr Matt Bower for

his constant encouragement and pushing me to discover my
potential.
• Thank you to all my friends who have supported me in my
research project, in one way or another.
• Endeavour Executive Fellowship
References
• Brey, P. (2014). The Physical and Social Reality of Virtual Worlds. In M. Grimshaw (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Virtuality (pp. 42-54). Oxford University Press.
• Bower, M. (2017). Design of Technology-Enhanced Learning: Integrating Research and Practice. Bingley, UK: Emerald Publishing
• Cochrane, T., Cook, S., Aiello, S., Christie, D., Sinfield, D., Steagall, M., & Aguayo, C. (2017). A DBR framework for designing mobile virtual reality learning environments.
Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 33(6), 54-68. https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.3613
• Dalgarno, B. & M. J. W. Lee (2010). What are the learning affordances of 3-D virtual environments? British Journal of Educational Technology, 41(1), 10–32.
doi:10.1111/j.1467-8535.2009.01038.x
• Hwang, W-Y, & Hu, S-S. (2013). Analysis of peer learning behaviors using multiple representations in virtual reality and their impacts on geometry problem solving. Computers &
Education, 62, 308–319.
• Innocenti, A. (2017). Virtual reality experiments in economics. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 69, 71–77.
• Jang, S., Vitale, J. M., Jyung, R. W., & Black, J. B. (2017). Direct manipulation is better than passive viewing for learning anatomy in a three-dimensional virtual reality
environment. Computers & Education 106 (2017) 150-165
• Merchant, Z., Goetz, E. T., Cifuentes, L., Keeney-Kennicutt, W. & Davis, T. J. (2014). Effectiveness of virtual reality-based instruction on students’ learning outcomes in K-12 and
higher education: A meta-analysis. Computers & Education 70, 29–40
• Moro, C., Stromberga, Z., & Stirling, A, (2017). Virtualisation devices for student learning: Comparison between desktop-based (Oculus Rift) and mobile-based (Gear VR) virtual
reality in medical and health science education. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 33(6), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.3840
• Passig, D., Tzuriel, D. & Eshel-Kedmi, E. (2016). Improving children's cognitive modifiability by dynamic assessment in 3D Immersive Virtual Reality environments. Computers &
Education, 95, 296-308
• Tussyadiah, I. P., Wang, D., Jung, T. H. & tom Dieck, M. C. (2018). Virtual reality, presence, and attitude change: Empirical evidence from Tourism. Tourism Management, 66,
140-154
• The University of Sydney (2014). Virtual Empire: Stereo Photography In Britain And Australia 1851–1879. Retrieved from http://sydney.edu.au/museums/exhibitions-
events/virtual-empire.shtml
• Virtual Reality Society (2017). History of Virtual Reality. https://www.vrs.org.uk/virtual-reality/history.html
• Yang, J. C., Chen, C. H. & Jeng M. C. (2010). Integrating video-capture virtual reality technology into a physically interactive learning environment for English
learning. Computers & Education 55, 1346–1356