Immersed online

Both teaching and learning are changing. As our society grows more digitized, so does our education. More digital tools are being promoted and incorporated in K-12 education, and more universities are offering more teacher education programs online. Though we recognize learning as a social act, it is not uncommon for learners in these environments to feel isolated and disconnected. Dr. Stephen Bronack, Associate Professor at the UNC Chapel Hill School of Education and Executive Director of LEARN NC, has been working with and researching digital learning environments for many years. In a recent publication, he explored the role of immersive media in online education.

Immersive media

Immersive media allows for a deep sense of social or physical presence. This sense of presence can allow educators to incorporate powerful pedagogical practices in online learning environments. Some key types of immersive media being used in education are simulations, serious games, virtual worlds, and augmented reality.

Simulations

Simulations are used to create an experience that is as realistic as possible but may be too difficult, too expensive, or too dangerous to physically experience. For instance, if a class is studying hurricanes, they may use a piece of software that enables them to manipulate weather scenarios to better understand meteorologic factors that impact hurricanes. This type of simulation would make an otherwise impossible experiment possible.

Serious games

These games are specifically designed and constructed for the purpose of training or learning specific content. These types of games are also referred to as educational games. These games may be used to teach the physics of electrostatics, as with the game Supercharged!, or to learn about biological processes of the human body, as with Immune Attack. In a previous post, we explored Dr. Anderson’s research into these types of games.

Virtual worlds

Virtual worlds are online social spaces where users represent themselves in various ways and interact with other individuals in the online space. Currently, in education, a program called Second Life is being explored and used as a virtual learning world. Whether it is serving as a virtual classroom space or a virtual representation of Shakespearean England, teachers and students are able to explore the created virtual world and interact with each other through avatars — digital representations of themselves.

Augmented reality

Augmented reality combines physical context with network-based information in order to provide an enhanced view of the world around us. New on the scene of education, augmented reality is not yet a commonly used thing in schools. A great example of an augmented reality application is Wikitude. Through the use of mobile devices, Wikitude creates a virtual overlay for the users physical surroundings with information from all over the web. One way to think about it is as curatorial comments for the world, not just pieces of art in a museum.

Teaching and learning in immersive media

While immersive media is exciting and new for education, Dr. Bronack points out that it is not the tools that are important, it is the pedagogical approaches that are used with these tools that are of the utmost significance. Dr. Bronack, along with many other scholars, identifies some of the most compelling pedagogical approaches employed with immersive media, including presence, immediacy, and immersion.

In immersive media, presence is created in multiple ways. There is an environmental presence, which refers to the degree and ways the digital space reacts to the presence of those participating in it. The interactions of those participants with each other through the digital space creates a social presence.

Immediacy plays a key role in creating a sense of proximity and fostering relationships. While individuals may be separated by a great physical distance, expedient and immediate reaction from individuals or software helps to break down the disconnected feeling that can often be associated with digital spaces.

Ultimately, immersion is created by the combination of physical and symbolic cues to create a realistic experience that causes the participant to willingly suspend disbelief that he or she is engaging in a mediated space. The participant simply becomes engulfed in the media.

So what?

With more education programs going online, it is imperative that we continue to explore the best possible ways to teach and learn in digital environments. Dr. Bronack reminds us that when it comes to teaching and learning in digital environments, it is the pedagogical approaches, not the tools in themselves, that are important. As such, it is imperative that we seek and use tools that allow us to employ pedagogical strategies that we know to be powerful.

Tips from Dr. Bronack

Don’t panic.

When it comes to technology in education, campfire horror stories and tall tales of a friend of a friend of a cousin seem to abound. Contrary to much of the folklore and popular news segments, incorporating new technologies into your classroom doesn’t mean changing everything you do. Just as you evolve your teaching style with every curriculum, available resources, and class of students, the same can be done with technology.

Allow yourself to explore.

Through some simple exploration online you can find communities of people who are eager to help teachers incorporate new technologies into their classroom. Engaging with these communities and exploring new technological tools will better prepare you to use technology in the classroom as well as give you some insight into what your students are talking about.

Recognize that students today have different expectations.

Today’s students are highly engaged in new technologies. Through this, they expect to engage in different ways in their learning. Sitting back and passively consuming information is not how they engage in learning in their personal lives and it is typically not what they want in their educational lives either. Today’s students prefer engaging in more self directed learning with constant and regular feedback.

Researcher bio

Dr. Stephen Bronack is Associate Professor and Executive Director of LEARN NC. His scholarship regarding the use of virtual worlds, simulations, games, and augmented reality is helping to guide the development of new educational systems and methods of instruction of the Journal of Virtual World Research and the International Journal of Gaming based on social and immersive media across the educational spectrum. Dr. Bronack also serves as associate editor of the International Journal of Virtual and Computer-Mediated Simulations, and also as a reviewer for journals such as Personal Learning Environments, and the International Journal of Online Pedagogy and Curriculum Development.

A full biography can be found on the LEARN NC website.