{"id":23440,"date":"2023-03-13T18:39:05","date_gmt":"2023-03-13T17:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/media-and-learning.eu\/?p=23440"},"modified":"2023-03-29T13:30:36","modified_gmt":"2023-03-29T11:30:36","slug":"choosing-a-research-path-into-xr-for-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/media-and-learning.eu\/type\/featured-articles\/choosing-a-research-path-into-xr-for-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Choosing a research path into XR for education.."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Nicola Fern,<\/strong> Senior Digital Learning Developer, Durham University, UK. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

XR technologies have been on the cusp of mainstream adoption for several years now; this wave seems to be finally building toward more widespread use of these media in our personal, professional, and educational lives. While the earlier (and much more expensive) Oculus Rift hadn\u2019t hooked me in, due to its need for a powerful gaming level computer and tethered experience (I\u2019m very clumsy, and would definitely hurt myself with that one), the Oculus Quest did. I bought one shortly after it was released and haven\u2019t really looked back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I found it transformative. As someone who isn\u2019t a \u2018gamer\u2019, it has brought flat and unengaging 2D gaming into something much more immersive and less mediated – leaving me feeling like I\u2019d had a real experience, and been to a different place. It was particularly good for my mental health, both while finishing my Master\u2019s, and during the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is enormous potential in XR for learning – it can transport us to impossible-to-reach locations, let us see inside the workings of cells or travel the solar system. Improved interaction mechanics now allow us to rehearse skills in similar ways to real life, even using just our hands instead of controllers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve recently begun studying for a PhD focusing on immersive VR and its use as an educational medium in HE. It\u2019s a difficult subject to pin down in many ways, given the sheer volume of work going on in this space – there\u2019s certainly enough reading to do! As a subject, it encompasses multiple subject areas including game design, storytelling, pedagogy, and human-computer interaction. It is still a lightly-evidenced technology in HE – and it has a high barrier to entry in terms of development time and cost if you\u2019re going to build something bespoke. There are a number of pre-built games and applications worth evaluating, but most are not specifically designed for education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research gaps<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Defining the field<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the greatest challenges in a new field, especially one that sees so much technological change, is defining what exactly is meant by core terms. XR tech has evolved from desktop-based multimedia learning and games, and as such the research includes a mixture of terms that have become somewhat muddled. For example \u2018VR\u2019 as discussed in research can mean:<\/p>\n\n\n\n