Thoughts on the ubiquitous learning concept of immersive learning and virtual reality 

In their book “conceptualizing e-learning” (Cope & Kalantzis 2016), referring to digital technology, the authors state that:

^{“The objectives of learning are different in an age where we have these ubiquitous devices, these cognitive prostheses.” (Cope & Kalantzis 2016: 12)}

​Technology functions as protheses to augment and even change the human cognition, and hence also changes the objectives of learners every where. Following this logic i think it is important to reflect on and question, not only what kinds of changes a specific technology produces in the way something is learned, but also how it changes what is needed to be learned or known. The following is my thoughts on how a ubiquitous technology changes both the acquiring and the usage of skills and knowledge.

Virtual reality and immersive learning

An example of a ubiquitous technology that holds a potential for great change of the human cognition is virtual reality or VR. VR is a computer generated reality similar to that of 3D computer games, but instead of using a typical computer monitor, the virtual world is represented visually through a pair of special VR-glasses, accompanied by a auditory cues. The visual and auditory experience is hence claimed to be much more immersive than computer games, and the simulation may trigger certain reflexive behaviors, such as ducking or jumping to avoid obstacles in the virtual space (wikipedia.org: virtual reality). In addition to the VR-glasses and speakers to omit sound, different kinds of physical controllers maybe used to interact with the virtual world. Depending on the application of VR the controllers will be shaped differently both in their physical form, and the way they are represented in the virtual reality. The controllers could be shaped as a joystick with triggers in the physical world, and take the shape of a pair of complex surgical tongs and scissors in the simulation. This could be applied if the virtual reality was a simulation of an operation theater, and the person wearing the glasses poised as a surgeon operating on a virtual human body (see image). VR is also applied in flight simulation and pilot and astronaut training, engineering, and in technical repairing situations. 

This video is an example of medical VR training:

This video shows a VR surgical training project in development.

The way it VR is utilized in the examples mentioned above and in the videos has been dubbed immersive learning (See as examples the company immersivevreducation.com Link, and this article on immersive learning - Link). The idea of immersion is that the learner “steps into” the subject to be learned. They immerse themselves in a visual, auditory and tactile digital simulation of a given subject. 

VR in skill training and in immersive understanding of historic events

Being a rather new technology the examples of VR in education is to my knowledge somewhat limited, and there seem to be only two major ways of creating immersive VR learning experiences. The first one is in technial skill training, where the simulation is designed to mimic a complex but concrete situation in real life. This insures that the surgeon can train operating on a virtual representation of a body, the astronaut can train as if floating in outer space, and the pilot can train on the ground, neither situation risking any lives. Such situations are somewhat similar in the way that they all rely on a concrete and limited curriculum, and all operate as simulations that can be understood partly as learning games to be conquered (Cope & Kalantzis 2016: 14). Hence these ways of utilizing VR to make learning immersive can be understood along the lines of didactic pedagogy. The precise subject of learning is given beforehand, it is coded into the simulation. The learners don’t partake in any individual or collective knowledge production, but are separated in their own finite virtual reality, where they reproduce the actions that have been programmed.

The second way immersive VR is used in education is with simulation of historic events. The company Immersive Education offers VR simulations of the sinking Titanic and the launch and journey of the Apollo 11. See the following videos:

These scenarios don’t aim to teach the learner the necessary skills to man a space mission or survive a sinking ship, but uses VR to make the learner have a “first hand” experience of the historic event. Similar to the skill training version of VR, this usage of the technology seems to be didactic as well. The simulation functions as a digitized, dramatized and visualized textbook delivering a certain perspective on the subject to be learned. The learning experience is, although very different from a classic classroom setup, still a monologue. The creator of the virtual reality has, at least in the examples I found, created a virtual environment that only allows a minimum of interaction from the learner, and doesn’t support multiple learners in the same simulated reality. In this way the immersive simulation holds the pedagogical qualities as what you might expect from a museum style reenactment. The digital medium provides a convenience of the simulation and reenactment, but in my opinion it doesn’t fundamentally change relations betweens teachers and learners.

Didactic and reflexive pedagogical perspectives on VR and immersive learning 

As mentioned above the ways VR and immersive learning is used is somewhat similar to that of didactic pedagogy (Cope & Kalantzis 2016: 10-11). The simulation functions like the monologue of the didactic classroom in that it doesn’t change the relation between learner and teacher, or learner and learner. The learners continue to function as isolated units reproducing the curriculum of the teacher.

What is fundamentally changed is the convenience and availability of simulation training and historical reenactment. Simulation training and historical reenactment is normally something that requires special equipment and places reserved for certain kinds of training - Eg. educational operation theaters equipped with real utensils and animal tissue as stand its for human counterparts, or costumes, actors and a believable backdrop in the case of historic reenactment.

Apart from making simulation training and historic reenactment far more available, the convenience of VR might also change the objective of what needs to be learned. As with the convenience of google, wikipedia and other ubiquitous sources of instant knowledge, that makes long term knowledge less valuable and the skills for finding and evaluating knowledge more valuable, VR might make acquiring som technical skills a short termed endeavor. Eg. repairing a car requires a lot of technical skill and knowledge, but if the mechanic could acces both the techical diagrams and practice the procedure in a VR simulation on a case to case basis, long term skills would be less valuable.

In this way VR technology as it is used in the examples mentioned above might change the objective of what is to be learned, but since the relations between learner and teachers doesn’t change, the way it is learned isn’t changed in any fundamental way.

Reflexive pedagogical potentials of VR and immersive learning

As with other digital technologies, VR might hold a reflexive pedagogical potential. As I have described it above the main hindrance for the simulations in a reflexive didactical perspective is in the monologous relationship of teacher and learner. The creator of the simulation holds a great amount of control over how the virtual world is designed, and by this steers and directs the agency of the participating learners. If the technology was to be used in a more reflexive manner, and designed along the lines of the 7 new learning affordances (Cope & Kalantzis 2016: 15), the focus of the simulation designer would be to allow a dynamic relationship between the learner and the virtual world, as well as incorporating multiuser capabilities so as to allow for knowledge sharing and creation between learners.

An example of such a dynamic and multiuser virtual world can be found in the game Minecraft, a license currently owned by Microsoft. Although the game is normally accessed and manipulated via a keyboard and mouse setup, the world in which several players might cooperate to create and build anything they can think up, is highly interactive and dynamic. Anything and everything can be torn down, mined and build up to create houses, castles metallurgic foundries, enormous machines and almost anything imaginable. Users experiment, explore and gain knowledge about the Minecraft world, sharing it between each other to develop their skills at mining, building and exploring. A key quality of the virtual world of Minecraft is its non finite nature. Every version of the simulation is generated to be totally different from each other, allowing for new experiences every time the game is played. This places the players of the game in a cocreating position, as the virtual world provides the raw materials, but it lets the player construct and build it.

This video shows how Minecraft can be adapted into an educational format:

Code.org have created a version of Minecraft that teaches basic computer coding to high school kids (see education.minecraft.net, code.org) Although this isn’t a virtual reality application of Minecraft in education, i think i shows the pedagogical potential of the game.

But let me know what you think? Have missed any applications of the VR technology that changes relations between learners and teachers? I would love to hear your opions and comments on my thoughts.

Reference:

Cope, Bill & Kalantzis, Mary (ed.) (2016): e-Learning Ecologies, Routledge NY.