Abstract
house, a supermarket, a café and a transport system. Evaluation of the project was concerned as much with the design of the virtual learning environments (VLEs), issues of usability and access as with monitoring skill learning and transfer to the real world. For three of the VLEs, Supermarket, Café and Transport, a test-retest experimental design method was used. This compared user performance in real world tasks with the same tasks presented in the VLE. Expert assessment was used to evaluate the Virtual House, looking at usability and appropriateness of the learning scenarios. It was found that VLEs can provide interesting, motivating learning environments, which are accessible to users with special needs. Individuals differed in the amount of support required to use the input devices and achieve task objectives in the VLE. Expert and user review methods indicated that the VLEs are seen to be representative of real world tasks and that users are able to learn some basic skills. However, it would be unrealistic to expect transfer of skill over a short experimental time. Further testing is needed to establish the longitudinal learning effects and to develop more reliable techniques to allow users to express their own opinions. Within this project the value of a user centred approach has been demonstrated. The groups involved have provided informed input at each stage of VE development. This has been enhanced by contributions from experts in the field of learning disabilities. The Virtual City has been developed in response to the needs of people with learning disabilities, not in response to their assumed needs.
Highlights
In the early 1990s researchers were beginning to consider the exciting potentials of Virtual Reality (VR) for education (Stuart & Thomas, 1991; Helsel, 1992)
If Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) are to have any contribution to skills training and transfer to the real world, it is vital that they do not present an additional barrier to learning through poor usability
In this project usability was assessed in three ways: tester control of the computer-input devices; tester behaviour in the VLE and response to instructions; and support worker assistance given during VLE use
Summary
In the early 1990s researchers were beginning to consider the exciting potentials of Virtual Reality (VR) for education (Stuart & Thomas, 1991; Helsel, 1992). Despite growing numbers of VR applications within special needs and mainstream education, there is still little evidence of research concerning the profitable use of VR with users with mental retardation and cognitive impairments (Darrow, 1995; Youngblut, 1998). This may be due to a combination of many factors but one particular knot in the problem may be due to the resources required when attempting to develop Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) for this particular user group. This is often used as a first step in the evaluation process (Jones, 1998; Jonassen, 1998)
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