THE OPINIONS OF CHILDREN ABOUT VIRTUAL REALITY SOCIAL–EMOTIONAL LEARNING SKILLS PROGRAMME

Abstract

The purpose of this case study is to introduce Virtual Reality Social–Emotional Learning Skills Programme developed for Children (VRSELCHILD) and to reveal how children experience, perceive and react the two main components of VRSELCHILD including psychoeducation program and the software. The spread of virtual reality in recent years has accelerated the emergence of applications developed for children. For example, a child with high social anxiety will be anxious as in real life when exposed to vitrual reailty scenarios in order to better cope with the avoidance social environments. On the other hand, knowing that the virtual environment is not real allows the child to act more courageously and repeat the supported skill as often as desired. Thus, the child is better prepared for real life experience. VRSELCHILD, designed to support children's SEL skills, consists of two basic contents: "Psychoeducation Program" and "Software".This study recruited seven children (females = 4, males=3) aged between 9 and 10 years. VRSELCHILD was implemented individually with seven children during nine weeks. Researcher conducted semi-structured individual interviews with children after the implementation. Observations of counselor/researcher were also recorded via a researcher diary. The data obtained from the interviews and diaries was analyzed through descriptive analysis. The findings showed that VRSELCHILD supports the development of children’s social-emotional skills and children enjoyed learning the skills with such a programme. It has been seen that psychoeducation program, software, counselor and gamification effect dimensions within the scope of VRSELCHILD have important contributions to this development. The findings of the study are discussed regarding the effectiveness, benefits and side effects aspects of VRSELCHILD. Recommendations are provided for further program developers as well as researchers and practitioners.