scholarly journals Supporting STEAM learning through student-developed Mixed Reality (MR) experiences

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-7
Author(s):  
Kathryn MacCallum

Mixed reality (MR) provides new opportunities for creative and innovative learning. MR supports the merging of real and virtual worlds to produce new environments and visualisations where physical and digital objects co-exist and interact in real-time (MacCallum & Jamieson, 2017). The MR continuum links both virtual and augmented reality, whereby virtual reality (VR) enables learners to be immersed within a completely virtual world, while augmented reality (AR) blend the real and the virtual world. MR embraces the spectrum between the real and the virtual; the mix of the virtual and real worlds may vary depending on the application. The integration of MR into education provides specific affordances which make it specifically unique in supporting learning (Parson & MacCallum, 2020; Bacca, Baldiris, Fabregat, Graf & Kinshuk, 2014). These affordance enable students to support unique opportunities to support learning and develop 21st-century learning capabilities (Schrier, 2006; Bower, Howe, McCredie, Robinson, & Grover, 2014).   In general, most integration of MR in the classroom tend to be focused on students being the consumers of these experiences. However by enabling student to create their own experiences enables a wider range of learning outcomes to be incorporated into the learning experience. By enabling student to be creators and designers of their own MR experiences provides a unique opportunity to integrate learning across the curriculum and supports the develop of computational thinking and stronger digital skills. The integration of student-created artefacts has particularly been shown to provide greater engagement and outcomes for all students (Ananiadou & Claro, 2009).   In the past, the development of student-created MR experiences has been difficult, especially due to the steep learning curve of technology adoption and the overall expense of acquiring the necessary tools to develop these experiences. The recent development of low-cost mobile and online MR tools and technologies have, however, provided new opportunities to provide a scaffolded approach to the development of student-driven artefacts that do not require significant technical ability (MacCallum & Jamieson, 2017). Due to these advances, students can now create their own MR digital experiences which can drive learning across the curriculum.   This presentation explores how teachers at two high schools in NZ have started to explore and integrate MR into their STEAM classes.  This presentation draws on the results of a Teaching and Learning Research Initiative (TLRI) project, investigating the experiences and reflections of a group of secondary teachers exploring the use and adoption of mixed reality (augmented and virtual reality) for cross-curricular teaching. The presentation will explore how these teachers have started to engage with MR to support the principles of student-created digital experiences integrated into STEAM domains.

Lex Russica ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 86-96
Author(s):  
E. E. Bogdanova

In the paper, the author notes that the development of modern technologies, including artificial intelligence, unmanned transport, robotics, portable and embedded digital devices, already has a great impact on the daily life of a person and can fundamentally change the existing social order in the near future.Virtual reality as a technology was born in the cross-section of research in the field of three-dimensional computer graphics and human-machine interaction. The spectrum of mixed reality includes the real world itself, the one that is before our eyes, the world of augmented reality — an improved reality that results from the introduction of sensory data into the field of perception in order to supplement information about the surrounding world and improve the perception of information; the world of virtual reality, which is created using technologies that provide full immersion in the environment. In some studies, augmented virtuality is also included in the spectrum, which implies the addition of virtual reality with elements of the real world (combining the virtual and real world).The paper substantiates the conclusion that in the near future both the legislator and judicial practice will have to find a balance between the interests of the creators of virtual worlds and virtual artists exclusive control over their virtual works, on the one hand, and society in using these virtual works and their development, on the other hand. It is necessary to allow users to participate, interact and create new forms of creative expression in the virtual environment.The author concludes that a broader interpretation of the fair use doctrine should be applied in this area, especially for those virtual worlds and virtual objects that imitate the real world and reality. However, it is necessary to distinguish between cases where the protection of such objects justifies licensing and those where it is advisable to encourage unrestricted use of the results for the further development of new technologies. 


Author(s):  
Stefan Bittmann

Virtual reality (VR) is the term used to describe representation and perception in a computer-generated, virtual environment. The term was coined by author Damien Broderick in his 1982 novel “The Judas Mandala". The term "Mixed Reality" describes the mixing of virtual reality with pure reality. The term "hyper-reality" is also used. Immersion plays a major role here. Immersion describes the embedding of the user in the virtual world. A virtual world is considered plausible if the interaction is logical in itself. This interactivity creates the illusion that what seems to be happening is actually happening. A common problem with VR is "motion sickness." To create a sense of immersion, special output devices are needed to display virtual worlds. Here, "head-mounted displays", CAVE and shutter glasses are mainly used. Input devices are needed for interaction: 3D mouse, data glove, flystick as well as the omnidirectional treadmill, with which walking in virtual space is controlled by real walking movements, play a role here.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 32-38
Author(s):  
Fakhriddin Nuraliev ◽  
◽  
Ulugbek Giyosov

Since the last few decades, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) interfaces have shown the potential to enhance teaching and learning, by combining physical and virtual worlds and leveraging the advantages of both. Conservative techniques of content presentation (fixed video, audio, scripts) lack personalization and interaction.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-10
Author(s):  
Rehan Ahmed Khan

In the field of surgery, major changes that have occurred include the advent of minimally invasive surgery and the realization of the importance of the ‘systems’ in the surgical care of the patient (Pierorazio & Allaf, 2009). Challenges in surgical training are two-fold: (i) to train the surgical residents to manage a patient clinically (ii) to train them in operative skills (Singh & Darzi,2013). In Pakistan, another issue with surgical training is that we have the shortest duration of surgical training in general surgery of four years only, compared to six to eight years in Europe and America (Zafar & Rana, 2013). Along with it, the smaller number of patients to surgical residents’ ratio is also an issue in surgical training. This warrants formal training outside the operation room. It has been reported by many authors that changes are required in the current surgical training system due to the significant deficiencies in the graduating surgeon (Carlsen et al., 2014; Jarman et al., 2009; Parsons, Blencowe, Hollowood, & Grant, 2011). Considering surgical training, it is imperative that a surgeon is competent in clinical management and operative skills at the end of the surgical training. To achieve this outcome in this challenging scenario, a resident surgeon should be provided with the opportunities of training outside the operation theatre, before s/he can perform procedures on a real patient. The need for this training was felt more when the Institute of Medicine in the USA published a report, ‘To Err is Human’ (Stelfox, Palmisani, Scurlock, Orav, & Bates, 2006), with an aim to reduce medical errors. This is required for better training and objective assessment of the surgical residents. The options for this training include but are not limited to the use of mannequins, virtual patients, virtual simulators, virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality. Simulation is a technique to substitute or add to real experiences with guided ones, often immersive in nature, that reproduce substantial aspects of the real world in a fully interactive way. Mannequins, virtual simulators are in use for a long time now. They are available in low fidelity to high fidelity mannequins and virtual simulators and help residents understand the surgical anatomy, operative site and practice their skills. Virtual patients can be discussed with students in a simple format of the text, pictures, and videos as case files available online, or in the form of customized software applications based on algorithms. In a study done by Courtielle et al, they reported that knowledge retention is increased in residents when it is delivered through virtual patients as compared to lecturing (Courteille et al., 2018).But learning the skills component requires hands-on practice. This gap can be bridged with virtual, augmented, or mixed reality. There are three types of virtual reality (VR) technologies: (i) non-immersive, (ii) semi-immersive, and (iii) fully immersive. Non-immersive (VR) involves the use of software and computers. In semi-immersive and immersive VR, the virtual image is presented through the head-mounted display(HMD), the difference being that in the fully immersive type, the virtual image is completely obscured from the actual world. Using handheld devices with haptic feedback the trainee can perform a procedure in the virtual environment (Douglas, Wilke, Gibson, Petricoin, & Liotta, 2017). Augmented reality (AR) can be divided into complete AR or mixed reality (MR). Through AR and MR, a trainee can see a virtual and a real-world image at the same time, making it easy for the supervisor to explain the steps of the surgery. Similar to VR, in AR and MR the user wears an HMD that shows both images. In AR, the virtual image is transparent whereas, in MR, it appears solid (Douglas et al., 2017). Virtual augmented and mixed reality has more potential to train surgeons as they provide fidelity very close to the real situation and require fewer physical resources and space compared to the simulators. But they are costlier, and affordability is an issue. To overcome this, low-cost solutions to virtual reality have been developed. It is high time that we also start thinking on the same lines and develop this means of training our surgeons at an affordable cost.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Regan Petrie

<p>Early, intense practice of functional, repetitive rehabilitation interventions has shown positive results towards lower-limb recovery for stroke patients. However, long-term engagement in daily physical activity is necessary to maximise the physical and cognitive benefits of rehabilitation. The mundane, repetitive nature of traditional physiotherapy interventions and other personal, environmental and physical elements create barriers to participation. It is well documented that stroke patients engage in as little as 30% of their rehabilitation therapies. Digital gamified systems have shown positive results towards addressing these barriers of engagement in rehabilitation, but there is a lack of low-cost commercially available systems that are designed and personalised for home use. At the same time, emerging mixed reality technologies offer the ability to seamlessly integrate digital objects into the real world, generating an immersive, unique virtual world that leverages the physicality of the real world for a personalised, engaging experience.  This thesis explored how the design of an augmented reality exergame can facilitate engagement in independent lower-limb stroke rehabilitation. Our system converted prescribed exercises into active gameplay using commercially available augmented reality mobile technology. Such a system introduced an engaging, interactive alternative to existing mundane physiotherapy exercises.  The development of the system was based on a user-centered iterative design process. The involvement of health care professionals and stroke patients throughout each stage of the design and development process helped understand users’ needs, requirements and environment to refine the system and ensure its validity as a substitute for traditional rehabilitation interventions.  The final output was an augmented reality exergame that progressively facilitates sit-to-stand exercises by offering immersive interactions with digital exotic wildlife. We hypothesize that the immersive, active nature of a mobile, mixed reality exergame will increase engagement in independent task training for lower-limb rehabilitation.</p>


Author(s):  
Plamen Miltenoff ◽  
Kate Borowske

This chapter presents and discusses a review and comparison of low-end 360-degree and extended reality (XR) practices. The goal of the chapter is to assist both technologically and organizationally with the ubiquitous acceptance of these two technologies as part of the move toward immersive teaching and learning. The chapter shares an overview of rather fluctuant terminology: 360-degree videos and images, virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, extended reality, immersive teaching, and immersive learning. Fostering and accepting a standardized and understandable terminology is an important part of the application process of these technologies to enable immersive teaching and learning. Furthermore, this chapter will argue the importance of a low-end approach toward immersive teaching and learning due to constraints of various characters and as a part of the scalable construct of immersive teaching and learning in academic libraries and respectively on campus.


Author(s):  
Mark Pegrum

What is it? Augmented Reality (AR) bridges the real and the digital. It is part of the Extended Reality (XR) spectrum of immersive technological interfaces. At one end of the continuum, Virtual Reality (VR) immerses users in fully digital simulations which effectively substitute for the real world. At the other end of the continuum, AR allows users to remain immersed in the real world while superimposing digital overlays on the world. The term mixed reality, meanwhile, is sometimes used as an alternative to AR and sometimes as an alternative to XR.


Author(s):  
Bhagyashri Pacherkar

Abstract: Augmented Reality is a combination of a real and a computer-generated or virtual world. It is achieved by augmenting computer-generated images on real world. It is of four types namely marker based, marker less, projection based and superimposition based augmented reality. It has many applications in the real world. AR is used in various fields such as medical, education, manufacturing, robotics and entertainment. Augmented reality comes under the field of mixed reality. It can be considered as an inverse reflection of Virtual Reality. They both have certain similarities and differences. This paper gives information about Augmented Reality and how it started. It analyses various types of augmented reality, its applications and its advantages and disadvantages. This paper also gives us knowledge regarding those major threats that augmented reality will face in the near future and about its current and future applications. It gives us a comparison between the two related topics, Augmented reality and Virtual reality. The following paper also helps us know about the effect of Augmented Reality on the human life.


Author(s):  
Dian Ernawati ◽  
Jaslin Ikhsan

Titration was one of the chemistry concepts that require practicum in the learning process. But, many obstacles in the real laboratory such as lack of material, tools, and times made the real laboratory less optimal. These lacks could be solved by used Virtual Reality (VR) technology. VR made a big contribution to the education sector. One of them was implementing it in the development virtual laboratory. Virtual laboratory plays an important role in the learning process. It was possible to manipulate 2D (virtual world) objects similar to 3D (real world) objects. This study developed Virtual Reality Laboratory (VRL) to analyze its characteristics, quality, and impact on students' cognitive achievement. A research and development (R&D) method with a post-test design was used in this study. The subjects of this study were 102 high school students in class XI. The samples were divided into 3 classes, namely CC (real laboratory); EC-1 (VRL); and EC-2 (real laboratory and VRL). The results of students' cognitive achievement were analyzed using ANOVA and it was found that there were significant differences in students' cognitive achievement in the three classes. Students who used VRL had higher cognitive achievement than students who used real laboratory. VRL also received excellent grades from chemistry educators. Thus VRL is very useful as a supplement in the teaching and learning process.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2018 (1) ◽  
pp. 360
Author(s):  
Mehrasa Alizadeh

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are expanding into various fields of education. Thanks to AR and VR, teachers can bring a whole new dimension to the realm of language education, resulting in enhanced learning and increased motivation and engagement. With smartphones and inexpensive VR headsets, teachers are able to take a step forward in blurring the boundaries between the real and virtual worlds, giving their students immersive learning experiences. However, many ELT practitioners are not familiar with or keen on integrating AR/VR-related learning tools and resources into their classes (Bonner & Reinders, 2018; Santos et al., 2016). To get readers more acquainted with AR/VR uses in language education, the author first outlines the basic concepts within this area of research and practice. An AR/VR application is introduced in detail, followed by discussion on the use of this app in language learning. 拡張現実(AR)および仮想現実(VR)は絶えず様々な教育分野に拡大している。ARとVRによって、学習の強化やモチベーションとエンゲージメントの向上が可能となり、言語教育の領域に全く新しい次元をもたらすことができる。スマートフォンや安価なVRヘッドセットの使用によって、現実世界と仮想世界の境界を曖昧にすることで、学生は没入型の学習体験を得られる。しかし、ELT実務家の多くは、AR・VR関連の学習ツールとリソースを教育実践に統合する方法に馴染みがなかったり、統合自体に関心がない現状がある(Bonner & Reinders, 2018; Santos et al., 2016)。読者の言語教育におけるAR・VRの使用法に関する詳細な理解を深めるために、まずこの分野の研究と実践の基本的な概念を概説する。また、AR及びVRアプリケーションについて詳しく説明した上で、このアプリケーションを言語学習に使用する方法について説明する。


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