scholarly journals An exploratory student-centred approach to immersive virtual reality: Reflections and future directions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehrasa Alizadeh ◽  
Neil Cowie
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Immersive Virtual Reality ◽  
Educational Setting ◽  
Educational Values ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Teacher Observations ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Desktop Vr

Advancements in immersive virtual reality (VR) have encouraged educators to start looking for ways to leverage the potentials of this technology. This concise paper reports the preliminary findings of a study where VR was used in an educational setting. A small group of teachers and students explored free VR apps and investigated their usefulness for learning. Through this activity, they not only compiled a list of VR apps that could potentially be used by teachers but also co-investigated the benefits and challenges of implementing VR-powered activities. The study was backed up by student app reviews, teacher observations, and focus group interviews. The results revealed that students found VR engaging and stimulating and successfully explored the educational values of multiple apps; however, they experienced some degree of cybersickness. As a response to this concern, the next phase of the study will focus on desktop VR and learner-generated content.

Authentic Audio Visual Materials in Relation to Pronunciation Development

2021 ◽  
pp. 53-78
Author(s):  
Fatima A. Hmaid ◽  
Nada I. Shetwan ◽  
Hanan H. Eltaleb
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Visual Materials ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Listening And Speaking

The purpose of this research is to explore the perception, that is understanding based on awareness, knowledge and experiences, of teachers and students of the relationship between utilizing Authentic Audio Visual Materials (AAVMs) in the EFL classroom and pronunciation development. The total number of participants in this study is 26. The study employs the qualitative method of research and targets teachers and students who delivered/passed two specific courses, Phonetics I, II and Language Skills I, II ,III. These two courses are concerned with pronunciation teaching and development at the Faculty of Arts, Misurata University. While Phonetics targets pronunciation through linguistic knowledge, Language Skills are supposed to achieve that through listening and speaking activities. One-on-one detailed interviews, focus group interviews, open-ended questionnaires and observation sessions were the data collection instruments employed for this study. The findings of this study revealed that teachers and students have distinct perceptions of the relationship between utilizing AAVMs in the EFL classroom and pronunciation development. It was additionally attested that the lack of feedback and correction of pronunciation mistakes can have negative consequences on pronunciation development in the EFL classroom whereas providing students with feedback can have positive impacts on the pronunciation improvement process.

The Meditation Chamber

2011 ◽  
pp. 121-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Shaw ◽  
Diane Gromala ◽  
Meehae Song
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Pain ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Immersive Virtual Reality ◽  
Meditation Practice ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Scientific Methods ◽  
Immersive Virtual Environment ◽  
Methods Of Evaluation

The Meditation Chamber is an immersive virtual environment (VE), initially created to enhance and augment the existing methods of training users how to meditate, and by extension, to realize the benefits from meditation practice, including the reduction of stress, anxiety and pain. Its innovative combination of immersive virtual reality (VR) and biofeedback technologies added interoceptive or dimensions of inner senses to the already sensorially rich affordances of VR. Because the Meditation Chamber enabled users to become aware of autonomic senses that they are not normally conscious of, and to manipulate them in real-time, we found that it did enhance users’ abilities to learn how to meditate, particularly those who had never meditated. We describe the Meditation Chamber, scientific methods of evaluation and findings, and discuss first-person phenomenological aspects, its long-term applicability for users who have chronic pain, and future directions.

scholarly journals Megszólítási gyakorlatok és stratégiák az oktató-hallgató viszonyban

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
pp. 13-21
Author(s):  
Ágnes Domonkosi
Keyword(s):  
Joint Work ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Address Forms ◽  
Teacher Student ◽  
Teacher Student Relationship ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Student Relationship ◽  
High Degree

The aim of this paper is to show how Hungarian address practices are working in the context of higher education. The study also offers a description of interpretations and ideologies related to these practices. The research is based on questionnaires, individual and focus-group interviews conducted with teachers and students of a university institute training Hungarian teachers. The data reveal that the reciprocal use of V forms is the main strategy to convey respect and distance. They also show that a frequent practice is the non-reciprocal use of pronouns (Ön/Maga/te) and the comb inat i on of l ex i ca l forms encod ing var i ous degrees of social distance. The analysis points out that address practices in this community are shaped by the following factors: the hierarchical, role-dependent nature of the teacher-student relationship, the role of solidarity in joint work activities, and the adaptation of individual address repertoires to the norms of the practice community. The paper demonstrates that the non-reciprocal use of address forms does not indicate a high degree of hierarchy, but rather different ideologies and interpretations of address practices on the part of students and teachers.

scholarly journals PROTOTYPE OF A VIRTUAL REALITY APPROACH TO INTEGRATE MENTAL HEALTH ACROSS GERONTOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENTS

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S513-S513
Author(s):  
Daniel Velez Ortiz
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Puerto Rican ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Persuasive Communication ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Literacy Curriculum ◽  
Culturally Grounded ◽  
Depression Literacy ◽  
Group Interviews

Abstract Background: Puerto Ricans have the highest likelihood of psychiatric disorders among Latinos. This study developed and evaluated a prototype depression literacy curriculum; culturally grounded with perspectives and narratives of Puerto Rican older adults. The way a person determines need for services and decides to seek help has been found to be influenced by their perceptions of services and providers. McGuire (1989) presents the Communication Persuasion Model (CPM) that takes into account how persuasive communication changes attitudes and behaviors of consumers. Using the CPM as a theoretical foundation, this study presented a culturally grounded story through a Virtual Reality (VR) platform. Methods: A script was developed based on narratives of Puerto Rican older adults about depression. Filmed in 360° format and enhanced with supporting imagery, participants were presented two versions of the video, one with a VR headset and the other with a smartphone. Two focus group interviews were conducted with community-dwelling Puerto Rican older adults (n=14) in Orlando, FL. Results: Participants preferred the VR headset and found it was beneficial to educate about depression because it felt more immersive and encouraged an environment conducive to identifying their own experiences about depression. They noted that presenting the material with a case narrative was more culturally sensitive for the population. All participants needed minor assistance with operating technology. Conclusions and Implications: A narrative approach to depression literacy may be effective in personalizing messages. Assisted VR technology with supporting imagery may be efficacious and standardize positive messages to underrepresented and low resource populations.

scholarly journals Pedagogical experiences in a virtual exchange project using high-immersion virtual reality for intercultural language learning

2021 ◽  
pp. 155-160
Author(s):  
Kristi Jauregi-Ondarra ◽  
Alice Gruber ◽  
Silvia Canto
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Preliminary Results ◽  
The Social ◽  
Anxiety Levels ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Different Sources

Social Virtual Reality (VR) applications enable real-time interpersonal conversation and allow users to perform activities together. They have the potential of changing the ways learners practise speaking a foreign language. Following a previous study (Jauregi Ondarra, Gruber, & Canto, 2020), we designed the present study to explore how presence, immersion, and interactivity affect overall social experience. Students from Germany and the Netherlands engaged in High-immersion VR (HiVR) virtual exchange sessions, using Spanish as a lingua franca at A2 level. International dyads carried out four interaction tasks in AltspaceVR, using head-mounted devices. To examine students’ HiVR virtual exchange experiences, different sources of data were gathered: questionnaires, reflection diaries, recordings, and focus group interviews. The preliminary results, based on the surveys and reflection journals, show that students liked to use a social VR app to communicate in the target language with peers from other countries, as they felt completely immersed and co-present in the social interactive VR space. This might enhance engagement and lower anxiety levels.

Fostering Cultural Understanding with Virtual Reality

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-59
Author(s):  
Margherita Berti ◽  
Stefano Maranzana ◽  
Jacob Monzingo
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Immersive Virtual Reality ◽  
Educational Setting ◽  
Cultural Understanding ◽  
Foreign Culture ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Cultural Layers ◽  
Contextualized Learning

In virtual reality, language learners can experience the foreign culture by exploring authentic and contextualized learning environments. To date, there is a lack of studies investigating the use of highly immersive virtual reality for cultural understanding as well as learners' attitudes toward its implementation in the language classroom. This study addresses this gap by exploring language learners' stereotypes and generalizations of the foreign culture experienced in highly immersive virtual reality, and their beliefs regarding its use in the educational setting. Undergraduate students enrolled in beginner Italian courses viewed three ordinary Italian environments with the use of their smartphones, headphones, and Google Cardboard. Through surveys, written reflections, and a focus group interview participants shared their cultural understandings and attitudes toward virtual reality. Results show that virtual reality was positively perceived and helped learners discover new cultural layers generally not encountered in traditional pedagogical materials.

scholarly journals Teachers’ and Gifted Students’ Views Regarding the Implementation of the DSC in the COVID-19 Distance Education Process

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-132
Author(s):  
Özge Ceylan ◽  
Ünsal Umdu Topsakal
Keyword(s):  
Distance Education ◽  
Science Curriculum ◽  
Gifted Students ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Technical Issues ◽  
Positive Experiences ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Education Process

Teachers and students had to use distance education environments due to the COVID-19 pandemic that suddenly emerged globally. This research aims at obtaining the views of gifted students who took the differentiated science curriculum (DSC) and teachers who conducted the DSC on the distance education process. The research was designed as a case study. Twelve seventh-grade gifted students (aged 11-12), a researcher teacher, and an observer teacher participated in the research. Student diaries, teacher diaries, and online focus group interviews were used to collect data, which were then analyzed with thematic analysis. It was observed that the students had parallel expectations and goals to the DSC at the beginning of the process. Moreover, they had positive and negative views on the distance education process. The students stated that they achieved their DSC goals at the end of the process and generally had positive experiences. On the other hand, the teachers drew attention to the problems arising from the educational environment, students, and curriculum in the distance education process. These problems were like communication, technical issues, lack of motivation, and timing. At the end of the process, the teachers suggested solutions to the problems.

Pakistan sign language translation tool in educational setting: teachers perspective

2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Abbas ◽  
Summaira Sarfraz ◽  
Umbreen Tariq
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Language Translation ◽  
Private University ◽  
Deaf People ◽  
Educational Setting ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Deaf Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Group Interviews

PurposeThe current study aims to determine the viability of the tool developed by Abbas and Sarfraz (2018) to translate English speech and text to Pakistan Sign Language (PSL) with bilingual subtitles.Design/methodology/approachFocus group interviews of 30 teachers of a Pakistani private university were conducted; who used the PSL translation tool in their classrooms for lecture delivery and communication with the deaf students.FindingsThe findings of the study determined the viability of the developed tool and showed that it is helpful in teaching deaf students efficiently. With the availability of this tool, teachers are not dependent on human sign language (SL) interpreters in their classrooms.Originality/valueOverall, this tool is an effective addition to educational technology for special education. Due to the lack of Sign Language (SL) understanding, learning resources and availability of human SL interpreters in Pakistan, institutions feel dependency and scarcity to educate deaf students in a classroom. Unimpaired people and especially teachers face problems communicating with deaf people to arrange one interpreter for a student(s) in multiple classes at the same time which creates a communication gap between a teacher and a deaf student.

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