Title: Virtual reality in education: a tool for learning in the experience age

Authors: Elliot Hu-Au; Joey J. Lee

Addresses: Department of Communications, Media, Learning Technologies Design, Teachers College, Columbia University, 525 W 120th St. New York, 10027, USA ' Department of Communications, Media, Learning Technologies Design, Teachers College, Columbia University, 525 W 120th St. New York, 10027, USA

Abstract: Educators face major challenges as a result of the shift from the Information Age to the Experience Age (Wadhera, 2016). For example, students are passive and disengaged (Capps and Crawford, 2013) and may struggle to see the relevance of what they are learning to their lives (Gee, 2009); also, important skills needed for 21st century learners - such as empathy, systems thinking, creativity, computational literacy, and abstract reasoning - are difficult to teach (Smith and Hu, 2013). Virtual reality, an immersive, hands-on tool for learning, can play a unique role in addressing these educational challenges. In this paper, we present examples of how the affordances of virtual reality lead to new opportunities that support learners. We conclude with a discussion of recommendations and next steps.

Keywords: virtual reality; virtual environments; experience age; education; technology.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIIE.2017.091481

International Journal of Innovation in Education, 2017 Vol.4 No.4, pp.215 - 226

Received: 10 Apr 2017
Accepted: 07 Aug 2017
Published online: 02 May 2018 *

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