Are we ready for virtual reality in K–12 classrooms?

ABSTRACT

Virtual reality technology has existed since the late 1950s; however, its use in the educational sector has been limited because of the cost of the equipment, inaccessibility of the technology, issues of usability, and lack of appropriate educational content and educator training. New technological advances have resolved some of these limitations. Additionally, affordable virtual reality equipment that has been predominately used with adults shows compelling results, highlighting the potential of this technology when used with children for educational purposes. This article presents an overview of immersive virtual reality’s potential as a learning tool with children, highlighting its current uses, research with children for educational purposes, and the existing barriers for the applicability and implementation of immersive virtual reality in school settings.

KEYWORDS:

• Immersive virtual reality
• educational technology
• learning
• K–12 education

Acknowledgments

Paola Araiza-Alba express her gratitude to the Mexican National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT) and to Swinburne University of Technology for research scholarship funding that supported this research.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Paola Araiza-Alba

Paola Araiza-Alba recently finished her PhD doing research in developmental psychology and virtual reality at the Swinburne Babylab (cognitive neuroscience laboratory). Paola has a background in clinical psychology with more than four years of experience working in a mental health institution. She has experience in conducting scientific research and expertise in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data. Her research interests include clinical psychology and children’s cognitive and emotional development and technology.

Therese Keane

Therese Keane has been a stalwart for empowering girls in STEM for over 20 years. She is currently the Deputy Chair of the Department of Education at Swinburne University. She has worked in a variety of school settings where she has taught IT and led in K–12 education as the Director of ICT. At a national level, Therese works closely with the International Federation of Information Processing Technical Committee on Education. She has presented numerous seminars and workshops for teachers involved in the teaching of IT.

Jordy Kaufman

Jordy Kaufman obtained his PhD in Psychology at Duke University with Prof. Amy Needham. From there, he took a postdoctoral position with Prof. Mark Johnson at the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development at University of London studying infant brain development. In 2007, he moved to Swinburne University of Technology where his group established Australia’s first infant cognitive neuroscience laboratory. His main scientific interest can be summarised by the following question: how does the mental world of the infant differ from that of children and adults? Additionally, he is very interested in examining how technology usage influences learning and cognition in children.