Imagine being transported into an entirely new world, or see the world you know being transformed in fantastical ways: that is what immersive experiences can deliver. Traditional classroom learning can be restrictive and boring, but VR, AR, and MR can offer transformative learning experiences that are novel, interactive, and exciting. There is nothing quite like the immersive experience that these technologies offer.
Immersive technologies are an emerging and booming market that is becoming increasingly mainstream. There are applications in not only education, but also entertainment, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, and the list goes on. We will no doubt see these technologies all around us in the near future, and it only makes sense that the field of education should keep up with this technological trend.
For our OER, we are honing in specifically on immersive experiences in Natural and Cultural History Education, in order to provide focus in this rapidly growing subject area. There are many examples of immersive experiences currently being used in this area, and we think that there is great potential in this area for the future. This serves as a great starting point for thinking about the inclusion of immersive experiences in other fields.
Here’s what you can expect from this week:
- An introduction to Immersive Experiences.
- Deep dive into three types of immersive experiences (market analysis, applications, cost of ownership, limitations, future potential, etc.):
- Virtual Reality (VR)
- Augmented Reality (AR)
- Mixed Reality (MR)
- Discussions and polls throughout.
- Future forecasting of Immersive Experiences and their accompanying technologies.
The Week 5 Team: Johannes, Yannick, Erica
Our OER Website:
Please include your name when posting to the discussion boards in the OER
**be sure to scroll down past course developers and into course content to start your learning journey by clicking on the Introduction button**
Welcome to our Immersive Experiences OER
Our A2 group – looking forward what you, Johannes, Yannick and Erica have created to help learn more about Immersive Experiences!
Thanks Alice. Looking forward to seeing your comments over on the OER.
Hi, Erica!
I wrote a comment on the OER, but I wanted to respond to you here as well,
A huge effort and a great course! It provided a thorough overview and more on AR/VR/ mixed media, and was particularly helpful for me as I’ve had little opportunity to use immersive technology for work. Despite some tech issues with the padlets, they saved me in helping me focus and absorb the information in each section. Great job!
Oh, that is wonderful to hear. Thanks Alice. And thank you for the comment on the OER.
Hi Week 5,
I really enjoyed your OER! It was well put together and covers each topic in great detail. I did however, run into an issue with the padlets failing to save my comments. About half the comments I left disappeared upon reloading the page. This may be a common issue as I noticed other students have commented on some padlets and not others.
Thanks for the head’s up on that, Adrian. I did actually find one of your comments stacked under another, which I think may have been due to the style of padlet I set up. I will see if I can switch it to the wall one and see if that resolves the issue.
I’ve been enjoying your comments in the padlets, by the way.
Thanks Erica! I’ll have another look and re-add any missing comments 🙂
Padlet is weird. If you add a comment from scratch (with the ‘+’), you just click off and it’s still there. However, if you reply to an existing comment, you need to press ‘enter’ for it to upload. Most comments I’ve ever lost on Padlet were replies. Perhaps this solves some of the mystery of missing comments?
Thanks Jessica. I also think some of Adrian’s might be because on two of the Padlets I decided to use a Canvas Board, which since he didn’t move and place his comment, meant they got stacked on top of one another. I’ll avoid using that board in future – unless with expressed instructions.
Hello Week 5 – VR, AR and MR. That was AMAZING! Super engaging and honestly very interesting. The flow was really great, I like that there was a variety of ways to learn. One comment I would make is whether there is something other than padlet to provide comments. Something like Flipgrid might make for a more interesting contribution method. Having said that I was very impressed with this whole project. Great design.
In terms of MR, my main concern in the field of education is always how will it be used uniformly? You guys did a great job of providing examples, I hope that there is quality assurance PD training for classroom teachers as well.
Thanks again. Well done!
Thanks Jamie. Yeah, embeddable forums has been an issue I have been muling on and experimenting with on the site, and I haven’t really got anything working yet in the way I wish it to. The site also has Buddy Press installed, but that is not as aesthetically pleasing and takes people out of the lesson and to a separate forum. I haven’t tried Flipgrid yet, so will give that a try. If you have any other suggestions on solutions for embeddable discussion boards, I’d greatly appreciate them.
Thank you.
Hi Week 5
The flow in Virtual Reality worked for me, as I read, voted, provided comments, submit responses, and went on VR tours.
In Augmented Reality, it was great to go over limitations especially the lack of pedagogical training as we explore the potential of AR in various fields.
In Mixed Reality, I am fascinated with HoloAnatomy, I went to a Microsoft workshop last year where there was a heavy discussion on using this technology. I have a background in Anatomy and Genetics, as such, I am attracted to bringing anatomical structures to life. The development of immersive experiences as an investment is risky because there are a lot of red tapes within the current system. For example; in education, teachers need to be trained, parents need to be on board, students need to have the skills to use the new technology. The biggest issue is the cost to implement across the board. I would imagine many moving pieces need to work together to ensure the success of any new technological implementation.
Great work! I enjoyed the interactive experience. Thanks!
Thanks Amanda. I am glad you enjoyed the experience.
And thanks for your reflections here on the different sections.
I’ve made it as far as your second page and just ordered a Google Cardboard to play with – arrives tomorrow! Very curious about what can actually be done with that – I’m thinking also COVID with not sharing equipment and the fact that you can order plans online and DIY with plain cardboard (fun STEM activity). PLUS if blended learning could build community by sharing immersive experiences with each other? Will update later this week. Is anyone already familiar with Cardboard and have resources to suggest?
On that note, I read an interesting article about the collapse of phone-based VR: https://hackaday.com/2019/11/13/ask-hackaday-is-anyone-sad-phone-vr-is-dead/
Which is kind of a shame. Seems like a really affordable technology that would be particularly useful in the classroom? Limits of interactability aside, I think the fact that it’s now open-source has a really cool potential for widespread accessibility, particularly in education. I notice that ImmerseMe (the VR language venture that was posted the other week) has recently launched on Cardboard as a platform… perhaps that means people will keep developing apps that work on it? Thoughts or expertise?
Hey Jessica, that’s great that you are going to try out Google Cardboard! I haven’t used it in a couple of years, but you can’t go wrong by browsing the app store https://play.google.com/store/search?q=cardboard%20apps&c=apps&hl=en_US
Be sure to try out Google Expeditions for one thing, and maybe try a roller coaster!
As well, yes I was considering adding in the information about the current state of Google Cardboard VR (any VR that uses a phone)… I like to think of it as a lull, and hopefully we will see a resurgence in the area. But yes, it is a more limited version of VR and there isn’t a lot of innovation happening in phone-based VR at the moment, but it is an excellent “gateway drug” into the technology. As well, it is cheap, affordable, and as you point out, can lead to a variety of tactile activities!
I’m excited to hear what you think of it!
Hi Week 5. Thank you very much for providing us with such an immersive experience in immersive devices; very thorough, a wonderful start to our opportunity forecasts, and a tough act to follow.
However appealing each of the technologies are in their own respect I cannot help but feel that VR, AR and MR is far, far away (if ever) from being sustainably used in schools. First, technology changes so rapidly that the devices may become obsolete in 5-7 years. Second is the price tag on such a time sensitive resource. Perhaps, the VR phone headsets would be an affordable choice; unfortunately, as Jessica’s post with the article points out, there is a demise of such devices. In retrospect, even with your convincing forecast, I cannot see these technologies (VR, AR and MR) entering the classroom any time soon. Instead, educational agencies such as museums could offer these devices in the same way as they offer their exhibits or IMAX experiences to schools whereby schools book and pay for rooms full of these devices and go on tours with their students.
Again, thanks for getting this rolling.
Neal
I hear you on the sustainability issue with rapidly changing technologies, Neal. It has been my hesitation in crafting some of my company’s storytelling experiences, and why I’ve been thinking some of the most sustainable experiences at present for natural and cultural history sites are in creating AR experiences that can be accessed via smartphones and tablets. In taking those experiences into the classroom my big stumbling block is making sure it is accessible with whatever virtual tech the schools eventually buy into, and with COVID-19 at present, purchasing devices that need to be shared does not seem like it will be high on the priority list.
Hi Erica,
Yes, I agree AR would be most cost effective; however, how does that work with a school like my own where students are not permitted personal devices from bell to bell? I am all for this ban, by the way. I feel that many students are not ready for the power that a handheld device yields, and I’m talking about the social aspect of it, which is a totally different topic. But how to bring the technology to the classroom, and what tech is the question here.
Hi Neil, My reference in terms of creating AR experiences that could be accessed via smart phones and tablets was specific to natural and cultural history sites. I am thinking in this bent in terms of the educational experiences that those sites deliver deliver, rather than those in schools. Although I have been pondering ways of then transporting those experiences from the cultural sites into into schools, which is what I was referencing with my last sentence on VR.
Good work! Beautiful site Erica, is this built with LearnDash or another WP LMS plugin? It looks great and works well on mobile too which was useful for reading through the sections whenever I had time through the week.
I found the course was quite descriptive and takes a fair amount of time to work through all the reading and videos. I do not think this is a bad thing, but might be useful to some learners (like me) to add an expected/recommended time to set aside for each lesson so the learner can make sure they have the time to sit down and really get into it. Personally, I would recommend each lesson be taken on a separate day to let the information soak in before participating in the reflection exercises.
I am personally fascinated by is the potential of immersive (sans headsets) environments for educational purposes and simulations, VR has done an amazing job at playing with our sense of depth, but more innately physical interactions let us play with weight and movement in (differently) deep ways (https://momentfactory.com/work/all/all/interactive-installation-canadian-museum-of-nature). I think this is used for entertainment more often, but it would be amazing to see more teachers learn software like TouchDesigner and build interactive environments in their classrooms without the expensive headsets.
Hey Ryan, thanks for the comment, I am glad you enjoyed our OER. Good feedback about roughly indicating the timesink of each section, as yes there are not really any “breathers” in the way we have it set up. Thanks for the link on the Canadian Museum of Nature, I do think that VR and other forms of XR are well suited for museums, or outdoor historical sites – perhaps this is where the tech will have a chance to shine further than what can be achieved in a classroom.
Yes, it is LearnDash, Ryan. I think there are more ways that I can manipulate it, but I got busy and had to put that tweaking on the back burner. I need to get back to it and do some more fine tuning to the site.
Really cool link to what they are doing at the Canadian Museum of Nature. Swiss Tourism sent me a link to an exhibit that is similarly interactive that I need to dive into deeper, as I like you am interested in these sans headset experiences. Really cool idea on creating such environments in the classroom. Thinking that that may be the answer I’ve been looking for for a WWII experience that I’ve been brainstorming around. Will have to dig deeper into TouchDesigner. Thanks for that.
Yes, it occurred to me that we might have too much and it might be too time intensive as well, but with getting everything ready in time, editing down our own and each other’s sections was one element that we didn’t quite get to. Adding ‘expected/recommended time’ for each lesson is a great idea. I suspect there may even be a LearnDash setting for that that I have yet to find.
Thanks Ryan.
Thank you so much for sharing! I liked the interactive feel that the padlet gave to your webspace. I was in the process of researching VR headsets for our school as I wanted to incorporate them in the classroom. Price point was a huge factor in determining which VR goggles to buy due to the budget constraints along along with functionality.
Hey Sarka, thanks for the comment, I am glad to hear our OER is interactive! Price is indeed probably the biggest hurdle in getting VR into classrooms, especially if we expect VR or other XR media to be mainstream in schools.
The activities and lessons have been great this week. I really enjoyed the format, it was very linear and easy to follow. Great job!
Thanks Michael. Been enjoying all of the thoughts that you’ve been sharing within the course.
Hello Yannick, Johannes and Erica!
What a nice, engaging and very informative OER. It is very clear that the information was very specific and detailed. I like that you focused on three applications and explore their usage and limitations very well. I also like how you gave us some opportunities to share our opinion. I would want to see other platforms other than padlet but considering that are the 1st group and there was not much time, I am very impressed with your work. Thank you very much
Thanks for the critique, Raffa! I understand what you mean about having more than padlet and I am looking forward to seeing some of the other communication apps that will be employed in the coming OER’s!
I was looking over the responses to the Google Forms app in the VR section of this OER and found a comment that I think many will find useful, so I am posting it here:
“The UBC Faculty of Education has created a virtual space called the Scarf Sandbox for the exchange of ideas and information surrounding technology and teaching. One section shares information about VR Tours and Literacy and specifically talks about DIY VR field trips using Google Tour Creator mentioned above. Check it out
https://scarfedigitalsandbox.teach.educ.ubc.ca/tag/vr/
Cheers ~ Jamie Tooze”
Great resource to be aware of. Thanks Jamie.
Thanks Yannick, Johannes and Erica! That was indeed interesting and informative. A good OER to get familiar with VR, AR and MR. There was quite good stuff I learnt newly from this great work of yours. The content was interactive, engaging and well designed.
Thanks so much for your kind feedback, Vijaya. I am glad you found the OER useful.
Hello Yannick, Johannes and Erica!
Thank you for putting such a comprehensive OER! It was very easy to navigate, though the padlets took some getting used to — a brief instruction on how to add a comment would have been helpful. I enjoyed how I could reply to and upvote comments that my mind squeeled “YES!” to. Fabulous work!
Thanks for your kind words and feedback, Laura. We took your advice and added in some simple instructions on the first couple of padlets. May update and add those instructions to all the padlets throughout.
Thank you Yannick, Johannes and Erica! It’s impressive that you could put such an engaging and educational OER in such short time. I really enjoyed to watching all the video clips and the questions that presented in different format also gave me the opportunity to check my understanding for the material.
Thanks Feng. It was an intense few days of work leading up to the launch, but we were lucky to have a previously built LMS site to create our OER on, which at least saved us a bit of design time.