Geography Education in a Collaborative Virtual Environment: A Qualitative Study on Geography Teachers

Kateřina Jochecová,Čeněk Šašinka,Michal Černý,Vojtěch Brůža,Alžběta Šašinková,Jiří Chmelík,Nicola Catherine Fořtová,Hana Švedová,Natálie Káčová,Ondřej Kvarda,Pavel Ugwitz,Zdeněk Stachoň

doi:10.3390/ijgi11030180

Kateřina Jochecová, Čeněk Šašinka + Show 10 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi11030180

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Abstract

The presented study aspires to utilize the gradually validated immense potential of collaborative immersive virtual environments (CIVEs) in higher education when designing and conducting geography lessons. These particular lessons focused on hypsography. A Research through Design approach and relevant qualitative methodology were used as we engaged two groups of domain experts (experienced geography teachers) to validate both the learning scenarios and the virtual environment we used. The lessons were administered via eDIVE—a novel platform for collaborative learning and teaching in virtual reality of our own design. The teachers underwent a hypsography virtual lesson and were randomly divided into two groups to be compared, which differed in the level of structure given to the lesson (one group received detailed instructions on what task they were to solve, while the other was given a free hand in exploring the environment and activities it afforded). The teachers’ experiences were then summarized in a post-lesson reflection and a subsequent focus group following the tasks. The participants’ expertise allowed insights to be gained into their first-hand experience as students, as well as their expert view of the lesson from an educational point of view. Virtual reality’s implementation into teaching practice was the key topic of the discussion.

Highlights

Technologies in education transform the processes by which education can take place and allow some topics to be taught more effectively [1–5], in a more fun way [6,7] or more interactively [8,9]
The findings showed a range of benefits and suggested that an immersive 3D visualization can increase learning effectiveness in higher education
When we focus on user experience (UX) findings, of the collaborative immersive virtual environments (CIVEs), the research moves from the level of application design to the level of lesson/course design, where VR is merely implemented to enhance teaching

Summary

Introduction

Technologies in education transform the processes by which education can take place and allow some topics to be taught more effectively [1–5], in a more fun way [6,7] or more interactively [8,9]. One of the technologies being discussed concerning new ways of working with education and new educational practices is immersive virtual environments (IVEs) [1,10,11]. Technology can serve as a tool to emphasize the constructivist elements of teaching [12,13], including collaboration, the ability to form one’s views and opinions on a particular issue [10,14,15], and the development of active learning. Working in virtual environments aims to support constructivist approaches that could otherwise be applied to a limited range of topics or would be difficult to employ. It is necessary to look for ways to create a suitable educational environment and activities that enable students to develop their knowledge. It could be said that concerning immersive virtual environments, we are challenged to find a way to properly carry out this educational transformation and to utilize the available research outputs to design necessary methodological recommendations and procedures. Sufficient empirical experience is still lacking [11,17]

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