Virtual Reality and its Learning Potential

This past year, I and Dr. Joey Lee published a short literature review on the educational potential of virtual reality. In the paper, we discuss how VR can play a unique role in addressing certain educational challenges. We look at the affordances of VR and how they can be used to support diverse learners. The main points are:

• VR leads to increased student engagement
• VR allows for constructivist learning
• VR provides authentic experiences to impact student identity
• VR affords new perspective taking and empathy
• VR affords creativity and the ability to visualize difficult models

If you’re interested in reading the full document, I can finally share it since its past the journal’s publication waiting period. Though it was written and submitted over a year ago, the content and references can be useful to anyone interested in the question of “Can VR actually be helpful in education?” The paper is peer-reviewed and published in the International Journal of Innovation in Education.

In addition, be prepared for future posts updating my own research on the results of learning and practicing science in VR! Feel free to share the article with any interested party.

HuAu_Lee_2017_VRinEd