Abstract:

Even before the advent of the pandemic in 2020, researchers had identified the need to research the effectiveness of different approaches to online learning in polysynchronous spaces. With the shift to emergency remote teaching, the need for engaging and personalized learning in the online space became even more apparent. This study examines the experiences of teachers who participated in a fully immersive virtual reality professional development (training) experience that took place over multiple sessions during the pandemic.

It is important for researchers to build their understanding of the use of virtual reality in education in order to address identified gaps in the literature surrounding technology acceptance considerations in immersive environments. It is also important to recognize the practicalities and unlimited horizons that this type of immersion offers. In a virtual reality world, the user is immersed in the digital space and is interacting with others within that virtual space. It is important to study how participants respond when virtual reality is the focus of the course and document their experiences and impressions. The participants in this study were teachers who were geographically distant to each other but culturally connected. Research indicates that learning in polysynchronous online spaces needs to be both culturally and generationally-relevant to the population undertaking the training. The participants undertook this virtual reality training using head-mounted display devices and cloud-based virtual reality software.

This research reports initial findings from teacher volunteers who undertook the virtual reality training. Initial findings from this study indicate that virtual reality teacher training can be used to develop social presence as well as digital skills and collaborative professionalism. The researchers found that there are methods that can help to scaffold the immersion of participants into the virtual reality experience. There are also practical solutions that can be used to support the immersive training experience (e.g., a digital backchannel, video conference software as fallback options).

Keywords:

Virtual reality, immersive experience, online learning, teacher professional development.