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Virtual Reality

2/3/2014

2 Comments

 
This week I have been participating in the virtual worlds seminar as part of the OLTD 509 course. I was really interested in participating in this seminar as I have just finished exploring the world of augmented reality and to me, the two seemed like a logical link with one another. Augmented reality is taking the real world and adding a layer (or multiple layers) of digital content on top of it - whereas virtual reality is taking the real world and completely replacing it with digital media.

 The pros

With virtual reality, I have noticed that there are a lot of benefits when it is used with your students in a classroom. These benefits are also greatly increased when you are in a DL classroom. Virtual worlds allow you to create a space where you can build and insert content that you want to give to your students. It also allows everyone involved to have their own avatar and interact with each other in real time. Having a DL classroom where my students are all over the province and sometimes travelling and are all over the world, it would be a great way to still have a sense of community with everyone feeling connected.

 The cons

The biggest issue that I have come across so far - and it is something that I personally experienced - simulator sickness. I honestly didn't think it existed until I was playing around in a virtual world and was looking through the eyes of my avatar (instead of being able to see my avatar) and then all of the sudden, my stomach turned and my head started to spin! This is something that I can now be aware of and know that some of my students may experience the same thing, although if something is making me feel really ill, I probably won't be using it with my students. I will look for something where I can comfortably immerse myself in for at least an hour without having to go have a lay down.

 Considerations

Not all virtual worlds are the same, but neither are all textbooks or all chocolate chip cookies for that matter. You have to explore and find what works for you. You also have to be aware of all the ins and outs of a program before blindly giving it to your students to use. Something that is big right now is privacy, it always has been and always will be so knowing where the servers for the world are and what privacy laws they are under is something that you should know before introducing it to others.

In conclusion, find what works for you. Explore it. Learn all about it. After all that is done then share it with your students and see where they can take their learning using it!

2 Comments
Margot
2/12/2014 09:39:19 am

Let's try this again! ;-)

Thanks for this post--I read with interest as I played a bit with Second Life a few years ago. At the time, it wasn't really that easy to use and interaction was tricky (or so it seemed to me).

Several professors touted its fabulousness, but I just wasn't seeing how they could spend an entire weekend in Second Life. I looked back recently and see there are quite a few more worlds to hang out in--from education to errrr.... more exclusively adult areas.

At one point, VIU was exploring the idea of having a virtual campus so that students could become familiar with the physical layout before actually coming to class. Certainly there are positives to that as well as possible security issues/risks.

Was surprised by simulator sickness and can understand that may happen. Wonder if the same phenomenon happens with Google Glass as videos from that are from eye level....

Anyway, my question is do you think having an avatar could help some students increase participation in discussions? My thinking is that an avatar could be an alternate personality that could take on some traits that some students may want to try on for size.

And I agree with your final statement about playing with an application before using it in a class--I know my comfort level doesn't run to using a program with everyone before having a sense of what it's all about! :-)

Reply
Breanne
2/13/2014 06:19:09 am

Hey Margot,
I think that having an Avatar may help some students interact more but I am not completely sure. I know that some students may choose to not participate at all for fears of online bullying and that is something that I would need to make sure that I could monitor.

I, as the teacher, need to make sure that my students are all safe and so being able to moderate and access everything would be necessary in my opinion. I know that if I ran a virtual reality with my students, I would like to know that everything in the chat (public or private) is recorded, even if I am not in the world so I can check in. Anyways I am getting a little off topic...

Yes and avatar could help students try on traits, I know that mine would be a red-head :) It would come down to how comfortable students feel and how safe they feel to open up.

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    Breanne Quist is a student completing the Online Learning and Teaching program at Vancouver Island University.

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