The Promise and Pitfalls of Learning in Immersive Virtual Reality

Abstract

Can immersive virtual reality (IVR) serve as an effective venue for learning and training? The promise of learning in IVR lies in its affordances for motivating learners to engage in generative processing (i.e., cognitive processing aimed at making sense of the material). The pitfall of learning in IVR is that it can distract learners so they engage in extraneous processing (i.e., cognitive processing that does not support the instructional goal). This paper reviews (1) media comparison research we have conducted on the effectiveness of learning academic content and skills in IVR versus learning with conventional media and (2) value-added research we have conducted concerning which features can improve the instructional effectiveness of learning in IVR. The paper includes implications for practice and for further work in the area. Overall, the paper focuses on the challenges associated with determining how to reduce the distracting aspects of IVR, maintain the motivating aspects of IVR, and guide the learner towards the core instructional material.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

Preparation of this paper was supported from the Office of Naval Research by grant N000142112047.

Notes on contributors

Richard E. Mayer

Richard E. Mayer is Distinguished Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research focuses on applying the science of learning to education, which involves the intersection of cognition, instruction, and technology with a special focus on multimedia learning and learning with new media.

Guido Makransky

Guido Makransky is the founder of the Virtual Learning Lab at the Department Psychology, University of Copenhagen. His main topic of research is related to understanding the psychological mechanisms involved in using immersive technology such as Virtual Reality, for learning, training, and behavioral change interventions.

Jocelyn Parong

Jocelyn Parong is currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Learning and Transfer Lab in the Psychology Department at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Her research focuses on how people learn knowledge from various multimedia and how people learn cognitive skills through computerized training.