Education in the Digital Age: Learning Experience in Virtual and Mixed Realities

Freeha Azmat,Devon Allcoat,Derrick Watson,Adrian Von Mühlenen,Kim Stansfield,Tim Hatchard

doi:10.1177/0735633120985120

Freeha Azmat, Devon Allcoat + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.1177/0735633120985120

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Abstract

In recent years Virtual Reality has been revitalized, having gained and lost popularity between the 1960s and 1990s, and is now widely used for entertainment purposes. However, Virtual Reality, along with Mixed Reality and Augmented Reality, has broader application possibilities, thanks to significant advances in technology and accessibility. In the current study, we examined the effectiveness of these new technologies for use in education. We found that learning in both virtual and mixed environments resulted in similar levels of performance to traditional learning. However, participants reported higher levels of engagement in both Virtual Reality and Mixed Reality conditions compared to the traditional learning condition, and higher levels of positive emotions in the Virtual Reality condition. No simulator sickness was found from using either headset, and both headsets scored similarly for system usability and user acceptance of the technology. Virtual Reality, however, did produce a higher sense of presence than Mixed Reality. Overall, the findings suggest that some benefits can be gained from using Virtual and Mixed Realities for education.

Highlights

In recent years Virtual Reality has been revitalized, having gained and lost popularity between the 1960s and 1990s, and is widely used for entertainment purposes
There was a trend for more learning in the virtual reality (VR) condition and less learning in the Mixed Reality (MR) condition, this difference did not reach significance, 2-way interaction, F(2,67) 1⁄4 2.13, p 1⁄4 .13, gp2 1⁄4
Further analysis of the knowledge data showed that the amount of learning did not depend on prior computer skills or gaming skills (r 1⁄4 .22, p 1⁄4 .07), nor did it depend on the amount of previous headset experience (r 1⁄4 .14, p 1⁄4 25)

Summary

Introduction

In recent years Virtual Reality has been revitalized, having gained and lost popularity between the 1960s and 1990s, and is widely used for entertainment purposes. Allcoat and von Muhlenen (2018) compared learning in a VR condition with traditional and video conditions They found improved learning for VR, but VR participants reported higher engagement and more positive emotions than those in the other conditions. Kay found an improvement in pre- vs post-test scores on remembering, understanding, application, and analysis when using WBLT compared to standard methods of teaching These categories were derived from the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy (Bloom, 1956; see Anderson et al, 2001). This is a model used to classify educational learning objectives based on cognitive principles and suggests that there is not one way in which information is processed and learnt, instead proposing a hierarchy of learning. This hierarchy consists of six stages of cognitive processing from simplest to most complex: remember, understand, apply, analyse, evaluate, and create

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