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Wednesday, May 19
 

8:00am EDT

Poster Session 1
Posters

Integrated Reading Assistance in an Immersive Environment
Kojiro Yano
Osaka Institute of Technology, Japan

Relationship between Perceptions and Experiences on the Performance of Students in a Serious Game
Chioma Udeozor
Newcastle University, United Kingdom
Watch the presentation video

Virtual Learning for Virtual Times across the SUNY System
Roberta Sullivan(1), Alyssa Indelicato(2), Eileen O'Connor(3), Nicole Simon(5), Cynthia Tysick(6)
1: University at Buffalo, United States of America; 2: SUNY Upstate Medical University, United States of America; 3: Empire State College, United States of America; 5: Nassau Community College, United States of America; 6: University at Buffalo, United States of America
Watch the presentation video

Developing a Portfolio of Tools for Teaching Digital Logic
Harry Keith Edwards
University of Hawaii at Hilo, United States of America
Watch the presentation video

Game Design Informed by Learning Progressions for Science Practices
Shari Metcalf(1), Amanda Sommi(1), Sima Haddadin(1), Jennifer Scianna(2), David Gagnon(2)
1: Harvard University; 2: University of Wisconsin

Design and Evaluation of Mixed Reality Based Cybersecurity Curriculum for Middle School Students
Yan-Ming Chiou, Chrystalla Mouza, Teomara Rutherford, Chien-Chung Shen
University of Delaware, United States of America

Plant Cell Biology Education Using Advanced 3D Technologies for K-12 Students
Sayuri Tanabashi
The University of Tokyo, Japan

Virtual Geoscience Field Trip for Improved Physical Accessibility and Spatio-Temporal Reasoning
Matthew Donnelly(1), Adaobi Nebuwa(2), Jaclyn Baughman(1), Stacy Doore(2)
1: Bowdoin College, United States of America; 2: Colby College, United States of America
Watch the presentation video

Design Method of a Real-time Monitoring System for ICT Evaluation Process in Education Based on CesiumJS 3D Visualization
Chen Wu(1), Meng Chen(1), Di Wu(1), Jiman Ma(1), Jian Xu(1), Binbin Ma(2)
1: Central China Normal University, China, People's Republic of China; 2: South-Central University for Nationalities, China, People's Republic of China
Watch the presentation video

Language, Culture, and Heritage: The VR experience The Book of Distance and teaching the Family Folklore Project
Charles Willam MacQuarrie, Rachel Rebecca Tatro-Duarte
California State University Bakersfield, United States of America

Specific Heat of Water Experiment: Augmented Reality Chemistry Lab
Ryan Wirjadi, Alex Vuong, Frank Liu, Robert LiKamWa
Arizona State University, United States of America
Watch the presentation video

Building WaterWays: Investigating AR for Environmental Education
Corinne Brenner, Jessica Ochoa Hendrix, Mande Holford
Killer Snails, United States of America

Watershed Explorers: Designing a Virtual Reality Game to Promote Local Watershed Literacy
Robson Araujo-Junior(1), Alec Bodzin(1), Thomas Hammond(1), David Anastasio(1), Beigie Lam(1), Jeremy Mack(1), Daphne Mayer(2), Robert Neitz(3), Kathryn Semmens(4), Chad Schwartz(5), Jason Slipp(1)
1: Lehigh University, United States of America; 2: Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor National Canal Museum, United States of America; 3: Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center, United States of America; 4: Nurture Nature Center, United States of America; 5: Lehigh Gap Nature Center, United States of America
Watch the presentation video

Improve Spatial Learning by Chunking Navigation Instructions in Mixed Reality
Bing Liu(1), Zhicheng Zhan(2)
1: Technical University of Munich, Germany; 2: Ghent University, Belgium

Mathstation: A Grade School Math Supplement Serious Game
Jonathan Borowski, David Plecher
TU Munich, Germany


AR-supported Collaborative Game for Understanding Complex Systems
Man Su
Arizona State University, United States of America

Presenters
avatar for Man Su

Man Su

Research Assistant & Ph.D. Student, Arizona State University
My research focuses on the design, development, integration, and evaluation of immersive learning experience. Currently, I am conducting research on agent-based simulation to help students learn natural selection and understand nonlinear, decentralized, and emergent processes of complex... Read More →
DP

David Plecher

Technical University of Munich
avatar for Corinne Brenner

Corinne Brenner

Director of Learning, Killer Snails
Corinne Brenner is a researcher and learning scientist with Killer Snails, where she helps create and study games that inspire a love of science. She is also pursuing a PhD in Educational Communication and Technology at NYU. Corinne's research interests include applying quantitative... Read More →
avatar for Eileen O'Connor

Eileen O'Connor

Professor, SUNY Empire State College
Dr. Eileen O'Connor began her career in chemistry in government and industry in the 1970\'s and in technology at IBM in the 1980\'s. After pursuing a doctorate in science education and instructional technology, in the 1990's, she moved into the academic side of science and technology... Read More →
avatar for Nicole Simon

Nicole Simon

Professor - Stem & Oer Lead, Suny Nassau Cc
Dr. Nicole Simon teaches General Science Studies courses in the Engineering/Physics/Technology Department at Nassau Community College. She holds a doctorate in Educational Technology Management and Instructional Design. Her research has focused on the uses of technology within the... Read More →
CT

Cynthia Tysick

Librarian, University at Buffalo
AI

Alyssa Indelicato

SUNY Upstate Medical University
avatar for Kojiro Yano

Kojiro Yano

Associate Professor, Osaka Institute of Technology
I research and practice VR-assisted education. For more information, please follow my twitter account (@kojiriovr)!
avatar for Chioma Udeozor

Chioma Udeozor

Research Associate and Doctoral candidate, Newcastle University
Chioma Udeozor is a Marie-Curie research fellow based at Newcastle University, UK. Her research project is focused on assessments in immersive learning technologies. Her focus is specifically on the use of digital games, virtual realities and augmented realities for engineering education... Read More →
avatar for Roberta (Robin) Sullivan

Roberta (Robin) Sullivan

Teaching & Learning Strategist and Director of SUNY EmTech, University at Buffalo
I am a connector of people and ideas. My role within the University at Buffalo Libraries is as a Teaching and Learning Strategist. I conduct research regarding innovative digital pedagogy to assist students, faculty, and other stakeholders to explore and implement established and... Read More →
avatar for Harry Keith Edwards

Harry Keith Edwards

Professor - Computer Science, University of Hawaii at Hilo
I'm a teaching professor at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. I spend the majority of my time teaching students, but sometimes engage in a bit of research.“If there's a bright center to the universe, I'm on the campus that it's farthest from.”
SM

Shari Metcalf

Project Director, Harvard Graduate School of Education
ST

Sayuri Tanabashi

The University of Tokyo
MD

Matthew Donnelly

Student Lab Mgr - Bowdoin Emerging Tech. Lab, Bowdoin College
CW

Chen Wu

Central China Normal University
CW

Charles Willam MacQuarrie

Professor of English, California State University, Bakersfield
RW

Ryan Wirjadi

Undergraduate student, Arizona State University
Hi! I'm a computer science major at Arizona State University. Professionally, I enjoy mixed reality and the possibilities it provides along with the development process that resembles a huge brain teaser that hasn't been solved yet. Other than mixed reality, I'm also interested in... Read More →
avatar for Robson Araujo-Junior

Robson Araujo-Junior

Ph.D. Candidate, Lehigh University
avatar for Bing Liu

Bing Liu

Ph.D. Candidate, Technical University of Munich
In her Ph.D. study, Bing focuses on spatial learning during MR-based navigation. She is also experienced in using eye-tracking and fMRI in spatial ability and cognition research.


Wednesday May 19, 2021 8:00am - 9:00am EDT
Expo & Convention Center iLRN Virtual Campus, powered by Virbela

7:30pm EDT

Medical & Healthcare Education - Special Session 1: Co-Creative Virtual Reality Content Development in Healthcare: Tackling The Content Availability Problem
Co-Creative Virtual Reality Content Development in Healthcare: Tackling The Content Availability Problem
Panagiotis E. Antoniou(1), Stathis Th. Konstantinidis(2), Panagiotis D. Bamidis(1)
1: Lab of Medical Physics Aristotle University of Thessaloniki; 2: School of Health Sciences University of Nottingham
 
Virtual Reality (VR), blanket term used for all the reality-virtuality spectrum, is exploding in proliferation, especially in healthcare. The core challenge of this explosion is the timely and cost-effective provision of bespoke content. Co-creative approaches can facilitate this endeavor by making the educators active participants in the development process reducing development overheads and democratizing healthcare digital content creation. This panel session aims at health educators, VR technologists, developers and technology enthusiasts. It will present, and actively engage its audience with co-creative methods and approaches, providing them with the gateway experience that could become useful for introducing such methods in their institutions and workflows. The panelists are cross-disciplined educational technologists/medical educators with extensive experience in the field of technology enhanced learning (TEL) who have implemented such methodologies in practice. The workshop will follow a mixed format. A brief “observations from the field” introduction to the topics of VR TEL and co-creation will be followed by an introduction to real world healthcare VR projects and resources. In these, realistic examples, the participants will engage in hands-on storyboarding and non-technical design and development tasks, in order to acclimate with the co-creative process and become able to explore it for their own use cases.
 


Wednesday May 19, 2021 7:30pm - 8:30pm EDT
Circle of Scholars Assembly Hall iLRN Virtual Campus, powered by Virbela
 
Thursday, May 20
 

7:00am EDT

Medical & Healthcare Education - Oral Presentations 1
Presentations

Virtual Reality Applications For The Treatment Of Anxiety And Psychiatric Disorders
Saeed Safikhani, Johanna Pirker, Selina Wriessnegger
TU Graz, Austria
Watch the presentation video​​​

Virtual Reality (VR) environments are computer-generated mediums that try to provide the user a sense of presence. The use of VR term in science has a long history, but an increasing number of commercial cost-effective VR devices are creating new possibilities and applications for it. Regardless of entertainment, as the most widespread market for VR, the application of VR in medicine is attracting great attention in the scientific field. VR can be used as a tool for public healthcare, as a teaching environment for medical students or to improve the skills of experts, together with a well-accepted method for physical rehabilitation and mental therapies. The focus of this review paper is on the use of VR for psychiatric and anxiety disorders. Several empirical studies show the effectiveness of VR in improving the conditions of patients in a manner comparable to traditional methods and with long-lasting effects in their daily lives. However, a small number of case studies or the lack of a detailed comparison between VR and conventional methods is the shortcoming of current studies. In this paper, we review different VR applications focusing on the identification of the technologies used, the evaluation methods applied, and the results of the studies.

Presenters
avatar for Saeed Safikhani

Saeed Safikhani

University Project Assistant, Graz University of Technology


Thursday May 20, 2021 7:00am - 8:00am EDT
Circle of Scholars Assembly Hall iLRN Virtual Campus, powered by Virbela

8:00am EDT

Medical & Healthcare Education - Oral Presentations 2
Presentations

COVIDCampus Game: Making Safer Choices
Mina C. Johnson-Glenberg(1), Mehmet Kosa(2), Don Balanzat(2), Ricardo Nieland Zavala(2), Xavier Apostal(2), Jude Rayan(2), Hector Taylor(2), Hannah Bartolomea(2), Kapadia Anoosh(2)
1: Arizona State University and Embodied Games, United States of America; 2: Arizona State University, Tempe, United States of America
Watch the presentation video

This article highlights several game design choices made during the creation of a browser-based game on mitigation strategies for Covid-19. Additionally, it presents a within group comparison of learning gains and self-reported behavioral changes after playing the game. Results show that the short COVIDCampus game has the potential to change college-age players’ Covid-19 related mitigation behaviors and it significantly increased players’ confidence in asking important health-related questions (Cohen’s d = .27). Some implications are discussed.

A Medical Ontology Informed, User Experience Taxonomy To Support Co-creative Workflows for Authoring Mixed Reality Medical Education Spaces.
Panagiotis E. Antoniou(1), Evaggelos Chondrokostas(2), Charalampos Bratsas(2,3), Panagiotis Filippidis(2), Panagiotis Bamidis(1)
1: Medical Physics Lab, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece; 2: Open Knowledge Foundation Greece; 3: Mathematics Dept, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Watch the presentation video

Curriculum size constantly challenges healthcare education and training. Technology enhanced, immersive educational content like Virtual, Augmented, or Mixed Reality (VR/AR/MR collectively XR) constantly aims to facilitate knowledge retention and skills acquisition in the healthcare sector. Core challenge in this effort is the increasing costs, in time and resources, required for designing and developing XR immersive educational content. An approach to address this challenge is participatory design methods. Co-creation approaches distribute the burden of content development amongst the educators’ community and facilitate decentralized bottoms-up content creation. This approach requires data modeling approaches that facilitate digital asset discoverability, reusability and consumption through visual authoring tools. This work describes the conceptualization and implementation of a UX taxonomy for annotating immersive AR/VR/MR content at the asset level for maximum repurposing capacity. A brainstorming session between educational and technology experts was conducted and conceptual details of the terms of the taxonomy were described. The Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS) vocabulary was utilized to organize this devised taxonomy and link it with existing medical ontology terms, formulating an RDF endpoint of the nominated ENTICE ontology. This ontology was able to link medical terms with UX and educational properties in a data structure that can annotate and contextually encapsulate any XR digital asset. An example such term is described and presented as proof of application. The semantic modelling implemented in this work is directly applicable to a previously proposed visual data structure and subsequent authoring environment that could facilitate XR resource design and authoring from non-technical experts.

Presenters
avatar for Mehmet Kosa

Mehmet Kosa

Fulbright Postdoctoral Scholar, Arizona State University
avatar for Mina Johnson-Glenberg

Mina Johnson-Glenberg

President & CEO; Research Professor, Arizona State University, Embodied Games, LLC
Dr. Johnson-Glenberg is a Research Professor at Arizona State University in the Psychology department. She is also an entrepreneur and President of the award-winning learning technology company called Embodied Games, LLC. Her lab (and in the spinout company) create, research, and... Read More →


Thursday May 20, 2021 8:00am - 9:00am EDT
Circle of Scholars Assembly Hall iLRN Virtual Campus, powered by Virbela

9:00am EDT

Medical & Healthcare Education - Oral Presentations 3
Presentations

Modeling Teacher Use of Virtual Reality Simulations in Nursing Education Using Epistemic Network Analysis
Mamta Shah(1), Amanda L Siebert-Evenstone(2), Brendan R Eagan(2), Roxanne Holthaus(1)
1: Elsevier; 2: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Watch the presentation video​​​

Simulations are widely adopted in undergraduate nursing education because they offer low-risk, experiential ways to expose pre-licensure students to clinical environments, and to situate the development of requisite knowledge and skills for patient care. Virtual reality (VR) simulations present novel opportunities for clinical education; as such, research in this area is burgeoning around questions related to perception, adoption, and outcomes. In this paper, we demonstrate the application of epistemic network analysis, a quantitative ethnography technique, to model how one nursing educator facilitated clinical judgment and nurtured quality and safety education for nurses’ competencies through the use of Simulation Learning System with Virtual Reality (SLS with VR). We modeled the discourse obtained from three simulation sessions in October and November 2020, all involving a fundamental scenario requiring second-year nursing students to practice basic assessment and care management. Our work aims to advance research in medical and health education, particularly nursing education, using immersive learning environments by way of applying theory-backed learning analytic techniques.


CureQuest: A Digital Game for New Drug Discovery
Ben Chang, Shawn Lawson, Kathleen Ruiz, Mei Si
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, United States of America
Watch the presentation video

CureQuest is an educational adventure game about Clinical Translational Therapeutics, the process of discovery and development of new medical treatments, drugs, devices, and therapies. The game is being developed through a collaboration between faculty and students from a game design program and those from a medical school, with the goal of raising awareness and improving collaboration in the "bench to bedside" process. CureQuest aims to address this gap, first with medical students and ultimately for a general audience, with a game that instills wonder and inspires players with the challenges of drug discovery. In addition to the impact of the game when completed, the development process itself presents a novel case study in integrating the interdisciplinary fields of game development and “team science”. We present the current version of the game in development; the unique design challenges presented by the project; and the evolution of our collaborative process.

Presenters
avatar for Mamta Shah, Ph.D.

Mamta Shah, Ph.D.

Learning Scientist, Elsevier
Dr. Mamta Shah is a Learning Scientist at Elsevier, where she conducts research to support effective learning solutions and outcomes for nursing and health education. She is also an adjunct faculty member at Drexel University and University of Pennsylvania. Formerly, she was a postdoctoral... Read More →
avatar for Mei Si

Mei Si

Associate Professor, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute


Thursday May 20, 2021 9:00am - 10:00am EDT
Circle of Scholars Assembly Hall iLRN Virtual Campus, powered by Virbela
 
Saturday, May 22
 

9:00am EDT

Nature & Environmental Sciences - Oral Presentations 1
Presentations
 
Place-Based Learning through a Proxy – Variations in the Perceived Benefits of a Virtual Tour
Jan Oliver Wallgrün(1), Eric Knapp(2), Alan Taylor(3), Alexander Klippel(3), Jiayan Zhao(3), Pejman Sajjadi(3)
1: Independent Researcher; 2: US Forest Service; 3: Penn State University
Watch the presentation video​​​

Place-based and fieldwork learning play a key role in higher education in environmental sciences and other geo-spatial disciplines. We report on a study in which we evaluated a web-based virtual tour application for teaching natural resource management in fire-prone western forests in two undergraduate classes. The virtual tour uses 360°-image-based virtual scenes and pre-recorded audio commentary by a domain expert to lead participants through the Stanislaus-Tuolumne Experimental Forest where forest treatments were implemented to reduce fire hazard. We present results from assessing students’ overall perception of the virtual tour, their views towards its application in undergraduate education, and their feedback for improving the design of future virtual tours. Furthermore, we discuss the collected data from the perspective of gender differences and differences in familiarity with the topic of the tour.
 
 
Spatial Learning with Extended Reality - A Review of User Studies
Bing Liu(1), Linfang Ding(2), Liqiu Meng(1)
1: Chair of Cartography, Technical University of Munich, Germany; 2: KRDB Research Centre, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy
Watch the presentation video​​​

Spatial learning is a process of acquiring spatial knowledge and the foundation of our daily interactions with the living environment. Extended reality (XR) has been widely used in spatial learning research for decades with two representative types - Virtual reality (VR) and Augmented reality (AR). VR is often used to understand spatial learning behavior and spatial cognition process, and AR has great potential to assist spatial learning in real world. This short paper reviews the studies on the deployment of VR and AR to evaluate or assist spatial learning. We summarize the devices, technologies and analysis methods used, and identify factors that need to be considered in experimental design. Our work serves as a reference for new researchers who intend to design further user studies on spatial learning with VR and AR technologies.

Presenters
JZ

Jiayan Zhao

Postdoctoral Researcher, The Pennsylvania State University
avatar for Bing Liu

Bing Liu

Ph.D. Candidate, Technical University of Munich
In her Ph.D. study, Bing focuses on spatial learning during MR-based navigation. She is also experienced in using eye-tracking and fMRI in spatial ability and cognition research.


Saturday May 22, 2021 9:00am - 10:00am EDT
Circle of Scholars Assembly Hall iLRN Virtual Campus, powered by Virbela

11:00am EDT

Guided Virtual Adventure: Is the Amani Ready to Sail Safely?
Platform/environment website
https://www.kitely.com/virtual-world/Bethany-Winslow/Limiland
 
Tour guide(s)/leader(s)
Ms. Winslow, Bethany, bethany.winslow@sjsu.edu, San Jose State University
 
Tour group capacity
25
 
Description
Join a recon mission at Limiland, aboard a full scale cruise ship, in the OpenSim world of Kitely. This guided immersive virtual adventure was developed for cruise ship operations management students at a public university as an extra credit activity. Students who normally have the opportunity to visit a real cruise ship do not have this option during a pandemic. Also, online students have no such option at all. This large virtual cruise ship can be navigated with an avatar by anyone with a free OpenSim account and a free virtual world viewer. The purpose of this activity is to explore how immersive role play, the use of the provided inspector's checklist, and the embedded information in key locations on the ship helps students determine if the Amani is ready to sail in a post pandemic world. In particular, students are on the lookout for three COVID molecules with critical information about the lasting impact on the cruising industry in the areas of health, leadership, and finance.  Educators who attend this guided adventure will be able to see for themselves what desktop virtual worlds offer right now, compared with less accessible experiences designed solely for head mounted display use.
 
Target audience sector
Higher education, The target audience are educators who are interested in exploring and learning more about what different virtual world platforms offer in terms of immersive learning and engagement. This is particularly applicable to educators who want to see for themselves what desktop virtual worlds offers educators right now, compared with experiences designed solely for head-mounted display use.
 
Supported devices
Desktop/laptop - Windows, Desktop/laptop - Mac
 
Platform/environment access
To visit the Kitely virtual world you need a free account (Kitely or OpenSim) and a hypergrid enabled viewer. This is different from the one used to access Second life. (OpenSim worlds are the open-source versions of Second Life, so if you are familiar with SL you won't have any trouble in OS. If you have never used SL or a similar viewer, you will need time to get acquainted with this technology.) See the Google Doc linked below which walks you through how to choose between two options to visit us. You'll also find it has links to videos and other tutorials to help, if needed. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VMGayNnWzxvzBCiHoya1IlSn3DAGw2UNy7rbrPm7MZg/edit?usp=sharing

Presenters
avatar for Bethany Winslow

Bethany Winslow

Director of Online Learning, School of Information, San Jose State University
As director of online learning in our school of information, I work to continually improve teaching and learning in the online environment for faculty members and students.  I'm particularly interested in virtual worlds and social virtual reality, and how these technologies can be... Read More →


Saturday May 22, 2021 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT
Kitely
 
Sunday, May 23
 

11:00am EDT

Guided Virtual Adventure: Is the Amani Ready to Sail Safely?
Platform/environment website
https://www.kitely.com/virtual-world/Bethany-Winslow/Limiland
 
Tour guide(s)/leader(s)
Ms. Winslow, Bethany, bethany.winslow@sjsu.edu, San Jose State University
 
Tour group capacity
25
 
Description
Join a recon mission at Limiland, aboard a full scale cruise ship, in the OpenSim world of Kitely. This guided immersive virtual adventure was developed for cruise ship operations management students at a public university as an extra credit activity. Students who normally have the opportunity to visit a real cruise ship do not have this option during a pandemic. Also, online students have no such option at all. This large virtual cruise ship can be navigated with an avatar by anyone with a free OpenSim account and a free virtual world viewer. The purpose of this activity is to explore how immersive role play, the use of the provided inspector's checklist, and the embedded information in key locations on the ship helps students determine if the Amani is ready to sail in a post pandemic world. In particular, students are on the lookout for three COVID molecules with critical information about the lasting impact on the cruising industry in the areas of health, leadership, and finance.  Educators who attend this guided adventure will be able to see for themselves what desktop virtual worlds offer right now, compared with less accessible experiences designed solely for head mounted display use.
 
Target audience sector
Higher education, The target audience are educators who are interested in exploring and learning more about what different virtual world platforms offer in terms of immersive learning and engagement. This is particularly applicable to educators who want to see for themselves what desktop virtual worlds offers educators right now, compared with experiences designed solely for head-mounted display use.
 
Supported devices
Desktop/laptop - Windows, Desktop/laptop - Mac
 
Platform/environment access
To visit the Kitely virtual world you need a free account (Kitely or OpenSim) and a hypergrid enabled viewer. This is different from the one used to access Second life. (OpenSim worlds are the open-source versions of Second Life, so if you are familiar with SL you won't have any trouble in OS. If you have never used SL or a similar viewer, you will need time to get acquainted with this technology.) See the Google Doc linked below which walks you through how to choose between two options to visit us. You'll also find it has links to videos and other tutorials to help, if needed. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VMGayNnWzxvzBCiHoya1IlSn3DAGw2UNy7rbrPm7MZg/edit?usp=sharing

Presenters
avatar for Bethany Winslow

Bethany Winslow

Director of Online Learning, School of Information, San Jose State University
As director of online learning in our school of information, I work to continually improve teaching and learning in the online environment for faculty members and students.  I'm particularly interested in virtual worlds and social virtual reality, and how these technologies can be... Read More →


Sunday May 23, 2021 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT
Kitely
 
Tuesday, May 25
 

7:00am EDT

Assessment & Evaluation - Oral Presentations 1
Presentations
 
An Academic Conference In Virtual Reality? – Evaluation Of A SocialVR Conference
Miriam Mulders(1), Raphael Zender(2)
1: University of Duisburg Essen, Germany; 2: University of Potsdam, Germany
Watch the presentation video​​​

One of the first academic conferences in head-mounted display (HMD)-based Social Virtual Reality (SocialVR) was realized. The conference aims to support knowledge acquisition and informal exchange regarding the technology SocialVR itself and the use of Virtual and Augmented Reality technologies (VR/AR) in vocational education. The paper presents results of an explorative study of 75 conference participants. Results indicate that SocialVR is generally suited to host an academic conference. In some areas, it seems inferior or equivalent to other digital formats or face-to-face events. In other areas, it offers added value. Further research is needed to take advantage of these positive effects.
 
 
Evaluation Design Methodology for an AR App for English Literacy Skills
Jennifer Tiede(1), Farzin Matin(2), Rita Treacy(3), Silke Grafe(1), Eleni Mangina(2)
1: University of Würzburg, Germany; 2: University College Dublin, Ireland; 3: Wordsworthlearning, Ireland
Watch the presentation video​​​

Augmented Reality (AR) is a powerful tool for supporting students’ learning processes, but sound research findings regarding the systematic evaluation of AR-enhanced teaching and learning processes are scarce especially with regards to literacy attainment. Hence, against the background of a systematic literature review the evaluation approach in the European H2020 ARETE project is introduced. The effects of Augmented Reality (AR) on fourth to sixth grade primary school students’ literacy skills acquisition are assessed. The evaluation approach has been designed systematically to respond to important research desiderata such as the development of multimethod and multi-perspective evaluation approaches combining different target groups and measurements. The aim of this paper is the design clarification and the provision of the research desideratum of evaluation design and metrics that are suitable for systematically assessing students’ literacy attainment when utilising AR.
 
 
Using Support Vector Machine on EEG Signals for College Students' Immersive Learning Evaluation
Boxin Wan(1,2), Wenshan Huang(1), Ludi Bai(1,2), Junqi Guo(1,2)
1: School of Artificial Intelligence,Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China; 2: Center for Big Data Mining & Knowledge Engineering,Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
Watch the presentation video​​​

Conventional methods such as questionnaires and scales to evaluate learners’ learning immersion are influenced by individuals’ subjective factors. The non-synchronism between the learning state and after-learning investigation also reduces the accuracy. We propose a new method to evaluate learners’ learning immersion based on electroencephalogram (EEG) and support vector machine (SVM). We construct 2 learning scenarios to induce immersive senses: VR video learning for high-level immersion and online English word learning for low-level immersion. To distinguish two immersion levels, students' EEGs are collected. After entering their attention score, relaxation score, the synchronization rate between the 2 scores, high alpha and low beta wave into SVM model, the precision accuracy reaches 87.80%. Taken the classified results and the participants’ self-reports together, we find VR devices can create a more immersive environment which improves learners’ learning effect. Our findings provide evidence supporting the feasibility of predicting learning immersion levels by physiological recordings.

Presenters
avatar for Silke Grafe

Silke Grafe

Professor, University of Würzburg
avatar for Raphael Zender

Raphael Zender

University of Potsdam
I am a computer science researcher at the University of Potsdam with an interdisciplinary focus on teaching and learning with virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) technologies. I lead the VR/AR-related research projects at the Chair of Complex Multimedia Application Architectures... Read More →
avatar for Boxin Wan

Boxin Wan

Beijing Normal University
avatar for Miriam Mulders

Miriam Mulders

Research Assistant, University of Duisburg Essen
Hey, my name is Miriam Mulders. I am a research assistant at the Learning Lab/University of Duisburg-Essen/Germany. I am involved in teaching and learning in VR, for example in training as a vehicle painter.
avatar for Jennifer Tiede

Jennifer Tiede

Research Fellow, University of Würzburg
I specialize in research on media-related educational competencies of preservice teachers and teacher educators, in the benefits and challenges of AR and VR in education, and in the evaluation of pedagogical interventions on an international level. I am also strongly interested in... Read More →


Tuesday May 25, 2021 7:00am - 8:00am EDT
Circle of Scholars Assembly Hall iLRN Virtual Campus, powered by Virbela

8:00am EDT

Assessment & Evaluation - Oral Presentations 2
Presentations

Engagement in In-Game Questionnaires - Perspectives from Users and Experts
Alexander Steinmaurer, Martin Sackl, Christian Gütl
Graz University of Technology, Austria
Watch the presentation video

Questionnaires are important instruments to gather information from people in a wide range of application scenarios, such as analyzing the responses for evaluations, collecting preferences, or retrieving self-estimations in learning settings. However, based on the setting and design of a questionnaire participating can be boring or frustrating and consequently have a negative impact on results or disengage users. Literature reports negative findings in immersive simulations and learning games, where assessment and questionnaires are provided outside the learning experience. In this paper, we introduce an approach to integrate questionnaires into a game environment. Thereby, we want to provide learners with an engaging way to answer questions. To encourage them in participating, they receive rewards for completing questions. We performed two evaluations, an A/B study with 22 participants and an evaluation with 14 experts in subject-related fields. We could show that learners are more engaged in the in-game questionnaire and integrated questions make them more likely to respond. We could also identify strategies to obtain more reliable responses such as asking questions right after a task or including gamification elements. Findings can contribute to design more engaging applications or learning environments where evaluation and feedback have significance for both educators and learners.

Presenters
avatar for Alexander Steinmaurer

Alexander Steinmaurer

University Assistant & PhD Student, Graz University of Technology


Tuesday May 25, 2021 8:00am - 9:00am EDT
Circle of Scholars Assembly Hall iLRN Virtual Campus, powered by Virbela
 
Thursday, May 27
 

7:00am EDT

Language, Culture, & Heritage - Panel Session 2: Pluriversal Design Transitions for Higher Education Motivated by COVID-19
Pluriversal Design Transitions for Higher Education Motivated by COVID-19
Lupita Guillen Mandujano(1), Erdas Kuruc(2), Jun-Li Lu(3), Paola Sanoni(4), Xanat Vargas Meza(3)
1: Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, Campus Xochimilco, Mexico; 2: Eastern Mediterranean University, Cyprus; 3: University of Tsukuba, Japan; 4: Kyoto University, Japan
 
This panel seeks to overview how immersive learning technologies can be used for Higher Education (HE) in several non-westernized contexts amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the outline of pluriversal design combined with design transitions, we aim to explore how a world containing many coexisting worlds can resurge from the present educational challenges and become a fairer, sustainable place for everyone.

Presenters
LG

Lupita Guillen Mandujano

Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, Campus Xochimilco
avatar for Xanat Vargas Meza

Xanat Vargas Meza

Assistant Professor, University of Tsukuba
avatar for Erdas Kuruc

Erdas Kuruc

Senior Instructor/ Faculty member, Eastern Mediterranean University
PS

Paola Sanoni

Senior Lecturer, Kyoto University
JL

Jun-Li Lu

University of Tsukuba



Thursday May 27, 2021 7:00am - 8:00am EDT
Circle of Scholars Assembly Hall iLRN Virtual Campus, powered by Virbela
 
Saturday, May 29
 

11:00am EDT

Guided Virtual Adventure: Is the Amani Ready to Sail Safely?
Platform/environment website
https://www.kitely.com/virtual-world/Bethany-Winslow/Limiland
 
Tour guide(s)/leader(s)
Ms. Winslow, Bethany, bethany.winslow@sjsu.edu, San Jose State University
 
Tour group capacity
25
 
Description
Join a recon mission at Limiland, aboard a full scale cruise ship, in the OpenSim world of Kitely. This guided immersive virtual adventure was developed for cruise ship operations management students at a public university as an extra credit activity. Students who normally have the opportunity to visit a real cruise ship do not have this option during a pandemic. Also, online students have no such option at all. This large virtual cruise ship can be navigated with an avatar by anyone with a free OpenSim account and a free virtual world viewer. The purpose of this activity is to explore how immersive role play, the use of the provided inspector's checklist, and the embedded information in key locations on the ship helps students determine if the Amani is ready to sail in a post pandemic world. In particular, students are on the lookout for three COVID molecules with critical information about the lasting impact on the cruising industry in the areas of health, leadership, and finance.  Educators who attend this guided adventure will be able to see for themselves what desktop virtual worlds offer right now, compared with less accessible experiences designed solely for head mounted display use.
 
Target audience sector
Higher education, The target audience are educators who are interested in exploring and learning more about what different virtual world platforms offer in terms of immersive learning and engagement. This is particularly applicable to educators who want to see for themselves what desktop virtual worlds offers educators right now, compared with experiences designed solely for head-mounted display use.
 
Supported devices
Desktop/laptop - Windows, Desktop/laptop - Mac
 
Platform/environment access
To visit the Kitely virtual world you need a free account (Kitely or OpenSim) and a hypergrid enabled viewer. This is different from the one used to access Second life. (OpenSim worlds are the open-source versions of Second Life, so if you are familiar with SL you won't have any trouble in OS. If you have never used SL or a similar viewer, you will need time to get acquainted with this technology.) See the Google Doc linked below which walks you through how to choose between two options to visit us. You'll also find it has links to videos and other tutorials to help, if needed. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VMGayNnWzxvzBCiHoya1IlSn3DAGw2UNy7rbrPm7MZg/edit?usp=sharing

Presenters
avatar for Bethany Winslow

Bethany Winslow

Director of Online Learning, School of Information, San Jose State University
As director of online learning in our school of information, I work to continually improve teaching and learning in the online environment for faculty members and students.  I'm particularly interested in virtual worlds and social virtual reality, and how these technologies can be... Read More →


Saturday May 29, 2021 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT
Kitely
 
Monday, May 31
 

7:00am EDT

K-12 STEM Education - Oral Presentations 1
Presentations
 
Immersive Technology in the Public School Classroom: When a Class Meets
Samuel Williams(1), Rowena Enatsky(2), Holly Gillcash(2), James Murphy(2), Denis Gracanin(1)
1: Virginia Tech, United States of America; 2: CLS STEM+, United States of America
Watch the presentation video

Recent research suggests that students feel disconnected in distance educational environments. There is an immediate and sustained need for innovative approaches that provide personalized and interactive instruction, digital equity, and scale-up remote teaching. Shared, collaborative virtual spaces, such as Mozilla Hubs, can provide new learning modalities for educators and students, especially during the pandemic. We describe our experience with using Mozilla Hubs in formal and informal educational settings. We conducted several user studies to collect qualitative feedback from the participants. These studies include an educator workshop, a girl scout meeting, and a class gathering. The findings provide an insight how practical, useful, and entertaining such virtual spaces are to the participants.
 
 
Project Learn&Play: Piloting A Game-based Instruction For Students In Comparison To An Engineering Lecture
Anna Seidel, Franziska Weidle, Claudia Börner
Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, Germany
Watch the presentation video

Challenges stemming from change processes such as the climate crisis are ubiquitous. To address these challenges, highly skilled specialists are needed. However, engineering courses show a decrease in enrolment numbers and high drop-out rates. Furthermore, engineering students represent a rather homogeneous group. Since diverse groups are more innovative and effective in addressing future problems, it is desirable to increase not only the quantity but also the diversity of enrolments. Therefore, the project x utilises a game-based instruction to raise interest in engineering. To examine the effects of the game as well as differences in contrast to conventional instructions, a study in a within-subject-design was conducted. Regarding motivational variables, the self-concept of ability and cognition, only a main effect of cognition and an interaction effect for cognition and gender could be detected. Furthermore, recorded gameplay sessions gave useful insights into the engagement process as well as influential effects.

Presenters
avatar for Anna Seidel

Anna Seidel

Researcher, B-TU Cottbus-Senftenberg
SW

Samuel Williams

STEM+ by Commonwealth Learning Systems, LLC


Monday May 31, 2021 7:00am - 8:00am EDT
Circle of Scholars Assembly Hall iLRN Virtual Campus, powered by Virbela

10:00am EDT

Guided VR Experiences: The Missing Piece to School Adoption
Why is VR so hard to coordinate for classrooms and trainings? How do you teach with standalone VR if you can't see what your students are doing? How do you actively engage teachers in the VR learning process?
 
In this talk, Sean Strong, CEO & Co-Founder of Grove XR, will go over the lessons learned implementing and improving VR in learning contexts. This talk will cover how Grove XR's suite of experience guiding tools — including remote launching, screen streaming, and content curation — make VR easier to use for teachers, trainers, and groups.

Presenters
avatar for Sean Strong

Sean Strong

Co-founder & CEO of Grove XR, Grove XR
Sean Strong is the Co-Founder & CEO of Grove XR, where he works on making VR learning more accessible and effective. Sean studied Artificial Intelligence and VR Education at Stanford University. Professionally, Sean led an internal prototyping effort at Apple, worked at various education... Read More →



Monday May 31, 2021 10:00am - 11:00am EDT
Circle of Scholars Assembly Hall iLRN Virtual Campus, powered by Virbela
 
Tuesday, June 1
 

8:00am EDT

Poster Session - Synapse VR: Catalyzing Collaboration through Immersive Learning
Synapse VR: Catalyzing Collaboration through Immersive Learning
Cat Flynn, Seth Corrigan, Faby Gagne
Watch the presentation video



Presenters
SC

Seth Corrigan

Senior Director of Research and Development, Southern New Hampshire University


Tuesday June 1, 2021 8:00am - 9:00am EDT
Expo & Convention Center iLRN Virtual Campus, powered by Virbela

8:00am EDT

Poster Session 2
Please pardon our dust as we replaced this one Sched session with 29 individual sessions.  Please visit the booths in the Expo Hall!



Tuesday June 1, 2021 8:00am - 9:00am EDT
Expo & Convention Center iLRN Virtual Campus, powered by Virbela

9:00am EDT

Doctoral Colloquium 1
Presentations

Pandemic pirouettes: AR Ballet Exploring Data Ethics for the Computing Classroom
Genevieve Smith-Nunes(1), Alex Shaw(2)
1: University of Cambridge, United Kingdom; 2: Glaston Bridge Software
Watch the presentation video

This Doctoral Colloquium paper explores the pivot from in-person to virtual and digital means in developing an Augment Reality (AR) classical ballet experience due to Covid-19. This work-in-progress explores novel teaching and learning approaches to the computing concepts of data transmission, signal processing, and therefore necessarily data ethics through classical ballet and bio-metric data the body and brain waves as data artefacts, the data ethics implications of bio-metrics. Innovative approaches to subject knowledge, programming competency, and probing engender thinking of the field of computing if any. This study uses the emergent methodology of AgileDBR, a hybrid of design-based research (DBR) and Agile developed as part of author one's Ph.D.

Designing VR Environments For Distance Learning
Richard Ngu Leubou(1,2), Benoit Crespin(1), Marc Trestini(2)
1: XLIM UMR CNRS 7252, University of Limoges, France; 2: LISEC UR 2310, University of Strasbourg, France
Watch the presentation video

Virtual reality takes learner participation to a higher level of interaction, offering a real experience and a new way to acquire real-world in a distance learning device. Designing VR environments for distance learning leads to an examination of the technical and methodological choices to ensure a useful, usable and efficient tool. Our work is based on the design approaches and recommendations from existing works related to VR and/or distance learning, in order to formalize the design of collaborative VR environments specifically dedicated to distance learning.

A Qualitative Study to Explore the Use of Augmented Reality as Performance Support in Industries
Yao Huang
Florida State University, United States of America
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When augmented reality (AR) technology is used in the learning and development field, it is often viewed from a training perspective. Human Performance Technology (HPT) professionals start to explore the potential of adopting AR on mobile devices as a performance support tool to help field workers across industries. This paper captures the adoption of how mobile AR is used in organizations to address performance issues. The study will use the Critical Incident Technique (CIT) to interview ten organizations. The purpose is to uncover the critical events on why mobile AR is considered an appropriate intervention, what benefits and challenges the organizations encounter, what processes are followed when designing and implementing mobile AR, and what types and functions of mobile AR are used to assist job performance.

Immersive Media in Remote Schooling: “I was surprised at how engaged I was”
Eileen McGivney
Harvard University, United States of America
Watch the presentation video

With protracted school closures forcing young people to learn remotely, schools are in urgent need of innovative approaches that can keep students engaged in their education and support their learning. Immersive technologies like virtual reality (VR) and 360-degree videos have been shown to increase motivation to learn and student focus, but little is known about their effectiveness in a remote schooling model. This paper reports preliminary results of a mixed methods case study using 360-videos and Google Cardboard viewers in remote high school engineering classes. The students’ surveys and interviews indicate they find online learning difficult, but that 360-videos are more engaging than other instructional media and may be particularly useful for facilitating observational learning.

VeRdict: Imbuing VR Language Learning Applications with Dictionary Functionality
Louis Lecailliez, Noel H. Vincent
Kyoto University, Japan
Watch the presentation video

As VR hardware becomes increasingly performant and accessible, interest has grown among researchers regarding how to leverage its immersive qualities in an educational context. Immersion, however, often comes at the expense of multitasking functionality and use of supplementary learning resources. This presents an issue for language learners, who upon encountering an unfamiliar word in VR, may have to remove their goggles or switch applications to consult a dictionary. Thus, in order to make dictionary use more immersive and convenient for learners, we present VeRdict, a dictionary extension for VR learning applications that enables dictionary searches from directly within an application using motion controls. Its client-server architecture allows for the delivery of lexicographic content augmented with optional 3D object data, which can be used to display dictionary entries and accompanying 3D visuals. The dictionary can be used to perform manual vocabulary searches using a virtual keyboard, or be used through labels applied to elements within the virtual scene. Additionally, 3D objects loaded from the dictionary server can be used as virtual `props'—unlocking new gesture-based communicative possibilities.

Presenters
NH

Noel H. Vincent

PhD Student, Kyoto University
avatar for Genevieve Smith-Nunes

Genevieve Smith-Nunes

Ph.D. Candidate, University of Cambridge
Reimagining computing science education and data ethics through biometric data and classical ballet.
avatar for Benoit Crespin

Benoit Crespin

University of Limoges
Benoit Crespin is an assistant professor in Computer Science at the University of Limoges. His research interests include computer graphics, VR environments, GPU computing and computational fluid dynamics.
avatar for Richard Ngu Leubou

Richard Ngu Leubou

PhD Student, University of Limoges
avatar for Yao Huang

Yao Huang

Doctoral Candidate, Florida State University
Yao Huang is currently a doctoral candidate in the Instructional Systems and Learning Technologies program at Florida State University. Yao’s research focuses on Human Performance Improvement, especially how mobile and augmented reality technologies enhance performance support in... Read More →
avatar for Eileen McGivney

Eileen McGivney

Ph.D. Student, Harvard University


Tuesday June 1, 2021 9:00am - 10:00am EDT
Graduate Student Lounge & Meeting Room iLRN Virtual Campus, powered by Virbela
 
Wednesday, June 2
 

7:00am EDT

Galleries, Libraries, Archives, & Museums - Oral Presentations 1
Presentations

Great Paintings in Fully Immersive Virtual Reality
Hubert Cecotti
California State University, Fresno, United States of America
Watch the presentation video

Large collections of paintings have been digitized by museums (e.g. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New-York, USA) and companies such as Google. These resources can be provided to a wide audience through virtual reality as an instructional means to fully convey the size and the magnificence of these paintings. Accessing these resources in an immersive virtual environment can be beneficial to all the students who live far away from museums. In addition, making these resources available to a wide audience answers a current need related to the closure of many museums, because of the Covid-19 pandemic. This paper provides a description of a fully immersive virtual reality museum where paintings can be accessed in two modes: individually (one painting per room), or in galleries (multiple paintings in a room) that are generated procedurally. More importantly, the proposed application provides a means for museums and art instructors to insert their own collections of paintings. Such an approach aims at improving the transition of high resolution images of paintings into art galleries in virtual reality. The application has been deployed on the Steam platform, is available for free, and has been evaluated by users, suggesting a high interest for such an application.


Alternative Design For An Interactive Exhibit Learning In Museums: How Does User Experience Differ Across Different Technologies-VR, Tangible, And Gesture
Pornphan Phichai(1), Julie Williamson(2), Matthew Barr(3)
1: School of Computing Science, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom; 2: School of Computing Science, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom; 3: School of Computing Science, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom
Watch the presentation video

This paper investigates three types of user interfaces: VR, Gesture-based interface, and Tangible-based interface. We examine how user experience differs across different technology and what are the factors that make the experience difference. To find the answer we conduct an empirical study, in which we create three different interactive exhibits that apply these technologies to deliver the same scientific content about biotoxin in nature. The study uses a mixed-method, qualitative and quantitative, and measures two factors. First, user experience is measured by six dimensions of user experience: attractiveness, perspicuity, efficiency, dependability, simulation, and novelty. Second, attention holding power is measured by playing time. The study uses the semi-structured interview to emphasize the issue and learning media of each interface. Thirty-one subjects joined the study. The statistical results shows that there are significantly different user experiences when using a different type of interface. There are difference across five user experience dimensions, only novelty is relatively unchanged. Difference are primarily between VR and Gesture, and Tangible and Gesture. There is no significant difference in holding power between the three types of interface. The statistical analysis of result and interview feedback from participants suggest six aspects to focus on when choosing an alternative interface to create a new interactive exhibit: the novelty, user-friendly, precision of the input device, task and device design, multimodal of feedback, and quality of text in VR.


Communal Spaces As Ludic Resources Of Learning With Augmented Reality And Board Games
Kenneth Y. T. Lim(1), Yuk Yi Wong(2), Ahmed Hazyl Hilmy(1)
1: National Institute of Education, Singapore; 2: St Joseph's Institution, Singapore
Watch the presentation video

This paper describes a learning activity using Augmented Reality (AR) which seeks to take advantage of the potential for learning about history and culture through exploration. This is represented by a garden in a university campus that affords visitors a scaffolded experience comprising a game-driven narrative in which visitors to the garden may assume the roles of different protagonists. In addition, we also sought to design a paper-based board-game for visitors who are not yet able to visit the garden in person. Both aspects of the learning activity – namely, the game-driven narratives in the actual garden as well as in the board-game equivalent – were piloted in December 2020. The study suggests that a combination of Augmented Reality, storyline and role-play could increase the probability of encounters with spontaneous elements in learners’ local environments that encourage learning.

Presenters
avatar for Kenneth Y. T. Lim

Kenneth Y. T. Lim

Research Scientist, National Institute of Education
i am interested in the design of learning environments which foreground the intuitions of learners
avatar for Hubert Cecotti

Hubert Cecotti

Assistant Professor, Fresno State
avatar for Pornphan Phichai

Pornphan Phichai

PhD Student, University of Glasgow
I am a third-year PhD student in Computing Science at the School of Computing Science, the University of Glasgow, UK.  I am interested in novel technologies on how to bring them to create a new interactive interface for museums and public use. I am currently doing research in HCI... Read More →


Wednesday June 2, 2021 7:00am - 8:00am EDT
Circle of Scholars Assembly Hall iLRN Virtual Campus, powered by Virbela

9:00am EDT

Doctoral Colloquium 2
The second DC session will be used for open discussion and networking - if you are a (PhD) student taking part in the conference, please come and visit, even if you do not have a talk in the DC!

Wednesday June 2, 2021 9:00am - 10:00am EDT
Graduate Student Lounge & Meeting Room iLRN Virtual Campus, powered by Virbela
  Student Forum (DC / DTS), Multi-Track
 
Sunday, June 6
 

7:00am EDT

Basic Research & Theory - Oral Presentations 2
Presentations
 
A Taxonomy for Immersive Experience Design
J. J. Ruscella(1), Mohammad F. Obeid(2)
1: AccessVR, Winchester, VA, USA; 2: Division of Applied Technology, Shenandoah University, Winchester, USA, VA
Watch the presentation video

Immersive technology platforms such as virtual reality (VR) are used by many to create experiences that allow for efficient training, visceral encounters, and faithful reproduction of places and times. This work investigates the various elements that contribute to the design of an effective immersive experience and proposes a taxonomy that establishes levels (ranks) for each of these elements.
 
 
A Longitudinal Study Of Students’ Perceptions Of Immersive Virtual Reality Teaching Interventions
Tanya Hill, Hanneke du Preez
University of Pretoria, South Africa
Watch the presentation video

A series of virtual reality (VR) sessions was developed to explore students’ perceptions of the use of VR as a teaching intervention during lectures in an undergraduate taxation module. The study was based on the theoretical framework of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Educational Framework for immersive Learning (EFiL) and made use of a longitudinal multi-method research design approach. Data was gathered from 566 students over the academic year using three questionnaires which were statistically analyzed. Written reflections were also collected from students and these reflections were thematically analyzed.
The results show that students were positive about participating in a VR teaching intervention before they had been exposed to VR in the classroom and that they remained positive throughout the academic year as the VR interventions were rolled out on three different occasions. Students’ reflections were also overwhelmingly positive, and students believe that VR is an effective and innovative way to enhance learning.
The contribution of this research can be found in its use of a longitudinal study to provide understanding of the perceptions of undergraduate taxation students of the use of VR.
 
 
Integrating a Teaching Concept for the Use of Virtual Reality in University Teaching
Adrian Henrich(1), Tobias Schultze(1), Anette Weisbecker(1), Oliver Riedel(2)
1: IAT University of Stuttgart, Institute of Human Factors and Technology Management, Germany; 2: Fraunhofer IAO, Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering
Watch the presentation video

As many of the common mistakes made by engineering students are based on weak spatial imagination, the use of virtual reality could help to enhance those skills in undergraduate teaching. As part of a university lecture in product development that covers methods of product development and technical design, the use of virtual reality was integrated into an engineering exercise. Supplementing the usual technical tools like CAD, half of the 14 student groups were allowed to use a dedicated VR-application to review their machine designs in virtual reality. While the objective performance of those groups was not better in comparison to the “non-VR” groups, most of the student groups were able to identify design issues or mistakes through the use of VR, which they couldn’t find using only CAD. According to interviews, 69.7% of the VR-users reported that they were only able to experience and realize “the true spatial dimensions” through the use of VR.

Presenters
TS

Tobias Schultze

IAT University of Stuttgart
MF

Mohammad F. Obeid

Assistant Professor, Shenandoah University
avatar for Hanneke du Preez

Hanneke du Preez

Associate professor, University of Pretoria
I specializes in the fundamental principle of Taxation that includes the principles of equity, fairness, equality, simplicity, etc.  Her research also incorporates the history of Taxation with a focus on the African continent. In education, her interest is on blended learning with... Read More →



Sunday June 6, 2021 7:00am - 8:00am EDT
Circle of Scholars Assembly Hall iLRN Virtual Campus, powered by Virbela

8:00am EDT

Basic Research & Theory - Oral Presentations 3
Presentations

Logibot: Promoting Engagement through Visual Programming in Virtual Reality
Robert Matthew Sims, Nathan Rutherford, Prashanthy Sukumaran, Nikola Yotov, Thomas Smith
Lancaster University, United Kingdom
Watch the presentation video​​​

In this study we assess the effects of teaching fundamental programming concepts through a virtual reality (VR) visual block-based programming application and its impact on engagement. As a comparison study, participants played an existing desktop-based game (Lightbot) and the developed VR game (Logibot) covering similar gameplay mechanics and block-based programming. Initial results indicate that traditional desktop applications are currently more engaging than VR for teaching programming. We thus identify the need for careful design of interaction methods to support ease of use and reward factors to promote engagement in VR-based learning applications beyond the initial wow-factor.


Influence of HMD Type and Spatial Ability on Experiences and Learning in Place-based Education
Pejman Sajjadi, Jiayan Zhao, Jan Oliver Wallgrun, Peter La Femina, Alexander Klippel
The Pennsylvania State University, United States of America
Watch the presentation video

With the emergence of different types of Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs), researchers and educators must make informed decisions on what HMDs best support their needs. When performing experiments with relatively large populations, these decisions are largely affected by the sensing-scaling tradeoff between high-end tethered HMDs and lower-end standalone systems. Higher sensing affords a richer experience, but it is also associated with higher costs in terms of the HMD itself and the need for VR-ready computers. These limitations often impede instructors from using high-end HMDs in an efficient way with larger populations. We report on the results of a study in the context of place-based immersive VR (iVR) Geoscience education that compares the experiences and learning of 45 students after going through an immersive virtual field trip, using either a lower-sensing but scalable Oculus Quest or a higher-sensing but tethered HTC Vive Pro. Our results indicate that students who used the Quest reported significantly higher levels of satisfaction but also more simulator sickness (although still a very low number on average) compared to those who used an HTC Vive Pro. Our findings suggest that with content design considerations, standalone HMDs can be a viable replacement for high-end systems in large-scale studies. Furthermore, our results also suggest that in the context of place-based iVR education, the spatial abilities of students (i.e., sense-of-direction) can be a determining factor in their experiences and learning, and therefore an important topic of study for designing effective place-based iVR experiences.



Presenters
RM

Robert Matthew Sims

Lancaster University
avatar for Pejman Sajjadi

Pejman Sajjadi

Postdoctoral Researcher, The Pennsylvania State University


Sunday June 6, 2021 8:00am - 9:00am EDT
Circle of Scholars Assembly Hall iLRN Virtual Campus, powered by Virbela
 
Monday, June 7
 

7:00am EDT

Basic Research & Theory - Oral Presentations 4
Presentations

Failure and Success in Using Mozilla Hubs for Online Teaching in a Movie Production Course
Thommy Eriksson
Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
Watch the presentation video

In the autumn 2020 the course Digital Movie Making was given in a fully online mode, due to the restrictions and lockdowns related to the covid-19 pandemic. With the intention of avoiding Zoom fatigue and provide a more creative and engaging online teaching environment, the social VR platform Mozilla Hubs was chosen for all the lectures, seminars and supervision. The two main reasons for choosing Mozilla Hubs were the openness of the platform, providing wide opportunities for creating and setting up your own virtual space, as well as the option to access the platform via a web browser. However, Mozilla Hubs have a number of usability and technical flaws, making it clumsy to use, and the initial course introduction and guest lecture suffered severe technical issues when all 25 students attended simultaneously. A decision was made to only use Mozilla Hubs for supervision, and this meetings with few students turned out successful. Based on the observations from these learning activities, a number of advantages and disadvantages with VR in general and Mozilla Hubs specifically is presented and discussed.


The Effect of Spatial Design on User Memory Performance Using the Method of Loci in Virtual Reality
Pierre-François Gerard, Frederic Fol Leymarie, William Latham
Goldsmiths, United Kingdom
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Based on the Method of Loci, the following experiment compares the effect of two different virtual environments on participants' memory performance. The primary task consists of remembering a sequence of random playing cards. Each virtual environment is based on a different architectural style with a different layout. One is inspired by a Palladian style architecture, and the other by a Modern curved architecture.


Attention management in a 'Smart' Classroom
Maria Erofeeva, Nils Oliver Klowait
Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Russian Federation
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Today, technologies like interactive whiteboards, augmented and virtual reality serve as instructional aids to facilitate interactive learning. The aim of this paper is to study how the use of such technologies impacts the dynamics of classroom attention management. Employing a multimodal conversation-analytic framework, we analyze videorecordings of the first encounters with interactive whiteboards, augmented reality and virtual reality across twelve in-person classroom lessons set in four Russian secondary schools. This paper highlights how the teacher, faced with a breakdown of regular channels for managing attention (such as mutually-orientable gaze), uses their voice and body to facilitate the temporal coordination of student contributions, maintain focus on a given classroom activity, and visibly monitor classroom dynamics. The findings suggest means to alleviate tensions between new and old teaching methods, and provide further evidence on the need for a granular vocabulary for the analysis of body-orientation in a classroom context.

Presenters
avatar for Nils Oliver Klowait

Nils Oliver Klowait

Senior Research Fellow, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration
avatar for Pierre-François Gerard

Pierre-François Gerard

Director, Metaxu.studio
My background is in architecture and 3D visualisation. I also completed a PhD in Computing, Goldsmiths, University of London. My architectural approach leads me to explore the effect of spatial design on human experience in immersive virtual environments. I am also looking at the... Read More →
avatar for Thommy Eriksson

Thommy Eriksson

Chalmers University of Technology


Monday June 7, 2021 7:00am - 8:00am EDT
Circle of Scholars Assembly Hall iLRN Virtual Campus, powered by Virbela

8:00am EDT

Basic Research & Theory - Oral Presentations 5
Presentations
 
Implementing Decentralized Virtual Time in P2P Collaborative Learning Environment for Web XR
Nikolai Suslov
Krestianstvo.org, Russian Federation
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Virtual worlds and Web XR technologies offer to both programmers and domain experts nearly unlimited capabilities for creating novel computer-based simulated environments just in a web browser. Virtual time is becoming the new crucial concept of collaborative, immersive virtual learning environments (VLE). This paper explores the Croquet software architecture, which is known for its radical synchronization system with the notion of virtual time. It is ideal for developing collaborative serverless apps, but a tiny stateless server named reflector, on which Croquet heavily relies on still prevents doing that today. This paper presents the research, that transforms reflector into a peer-to-peer application Luminary, by implementing decentralized virtual time. The case study describes the prototype of a collaborative Rubik's Cube simulator, backed by three robots for kids. Finally showing how learners can easily experiment with augmenting physical reality, by creating fully synchronized, collaborative robots, operating in a P2P network.
 
 
METAL: Explorations into sharing 3D Educational content across Augmented Reality Headsets and Light Field Displays
Mengya Zheng, Xingyu Pan, Xuanhui Xu, Abraham Campbell
University College Dublin, Ireland
Watch the presentation video​​​

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality become increasingly popular in scientific visualization especially for education where they can support collaborative scientific visualization experiences in the classroom. However, the inherent limitations of head-mounted AR and VR tools are stemming the popularization of these existing content-sharing tools. Instead of sharing 3D educational content between AR/VR headsets, this paper proposes a novel prototype Mixed rEaliTy shAring pLatform (METAL) to allow for 3D educational content to be shared between a Microsoft HoloLens 2 and multiple Looking Glass displays which are a type of Light Field (Multi-view Autostereoscopic) display. This platform allows one teacher to use a HoloLens to manipulate and share different 3D contents with multiple student groups via the network, thus each student group can observe the synchronized 3D educational content with autostereoscopic experiences. Therefore, this proposed prototype enables a low-cost one-to-multiple 3D content sharing experience that allows intuitive 3D model interaction and seamless communication between the students and the teacher.
 
 
Design and Development of AR Applications in Online Higher Education A User-Centred Design Approach
Mitch Peters, Laura Calvet Liñan, Antoni Marín Amatller, Laura Porta Simó, Pierre Bourdin Kreitz
Open University of Catalonia, Spain
Watch the presentation video​​​

The exploration of augmented reality’s (AR) potential in higher education teaching and learning demonstrates an impressive scope of critical inquiry. Online higher education (OHE) represents a transformation in learning practices and educational paradigms on a global scale, with a significant opportunity for the application of AR through e-learning. The overarching goal of the current study is to understand how the presence of AR applications in an OHE multimedia program impacts student learning. The study aims to design and develop a user-centered, AR prototype application that could be used to enhance student learning in STEM education. Implementing a user-centred approach ensures that learners are taken into account from the beginning of the design process and throughout the iterative design lifecycle. The current paper presents the results from the first phase of a multi-stage research project. First, conceptually designed personas, scenario reviews, and user journey mappings were developed based on identified learner needs and AR system requirements previously identified. The results show the design decisions made while revising AR scenarios from the learner’s perspective and exploring design requirements to ensure the feasibility of the AR application. An implication of our study is to demonstrate the value of a range of evaluation techniques presented here using a user-centred design approach, which can be used to design and develop future AR and Xtended reality technologies in educational scenarios.

Presenters
avatar for Mitchell Joseph Peters

Mitchell Joseph Peters

Fundació per a la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
avatar for Nikolai Suslov

Nikolai Suslov

Software engineer, Krestianstvo.org
Nikolai Suslov is a software engineer and researcher in computer science. His work is focused on virtual worlds software architecture, user-oriented self-exploratory integrated development environments, live coding, human-computer interaction, virtual reality. He is the creator and... Read More →
avatar for Mengya Zheng

Mengya Zheng

Ph.D. Candidate, University College Dublin
I am currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Computer Science Department at University College Dublin. My Ph.D. thesis is using Augmented Reality to visualize current and historical data for Precise Farming decision support explanation.



Monday June 7, 2021 8:00am - 9:00am EDT
Circle of Scholars Assembly Hall iLRN Virtual Campus, powered by Virbela

12:00pm EDT

Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access, & Social Justice - Special Session 3: Student Engagement with Reduced Bias in a Virtual Classroom Environment
Student Engagement with Reduced Bias in a Virtual Classroom Environment
Esther Brandon(1), Raphael Freiwirth(2,3)
1: Brandeis University, United States of America; 2: Miramar College, United States of America; 3: The Commons XR, United States of America
 
To Transcend is critical, but the path must contain a mechanism to both combat dis-engagement and bias in a classroom environment. Why bias and engagement issues as one, because one can create an issue with the other. Not all engagement issues are bias-related, but many are. And not all bias issues may create dis-engagement, but certainly, there are many studies that seem to point that it can. Why not use tools in the classroom that can improve engagement and reduce both explicit and implicit bias? Virtual reality is one such tool if used correctly. Join us to explore the possibilities of a classroom environment that might help out the next generation of students to transcend the norms of today!
 

Presenters
avatar for Esther Brandon

Esther Brandon

Digital Literacy Specialist, Brandeis University
Esther Brandon is the Digital Literacy Specialist for undergraduate and graduate programs at Brandeis University. She is an enthusiastic seeker of new instructional technologies, focused on best teaching practices. Esther holds a Masters of Arts in Teaching in Secondary Education... Read More →


Monday June 7, 2021 12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT
Circle of Scholars Assembly Hall iLRN Virtual Campus, powered by Virbela
 
Tuesday, June 8
 

7:00am EDT

Basic Research & Theory - Oral Presentations 7
Presentations

Getting there? Together. Cultural Framing of Augmented and Virtual Reality for Art Education
Regina Maria Bäck(1), Rainer Wenrich(1), Birgit Dorner(2)
1: Katholische Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt; 2: Katholische Stiftungshochschule München
Watch the presentation video

Informal learning contexts of creating and exploring artefacts through Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are increasingly common. Nevertheless, insights on art educators` perspectives on potential for conceptualization and classroom implementation are scarce. In this study, both art educators a artists share their perspectives on a variety of AR/VR applications, from creating in multiplayer mode to exploring artefacts and loci in SocialVR.
Overall, twenty art educators were exploring a selection of AR/VR applications. The data was collected during online workshops with art teachers coming from diverse backgrounds (elementary and secondary school, special education). Interviews were conducted with six media artists, including pioneers of AR/VR art. Grounded Theory Methodology, specifically Situational Analysis as well as Visual Grounded Theory Methodology was applied. Results highlight media cultural perspectives in proximity and distance to AR/VR related "worlds", by classifying different journeys from first encounter to conceptualization and implementation.


Mobile Augmented Reality Applications in Teaching: A Proposed Technology Acceptance Model
George Koutromanos(1), Tassos A. Mikropoulos(2)
1: National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece; 2: University of Ioannina, Greece
Watch the presentation video​​​

This study proposed MARAM, a mobile augmented reality acceptance model that determines the factors that affect teachers’ intention to use AR applications in their teaching. MARAM extends TAM by adding the variables of perceived relative advantage, perceived enjoyment, facilitating conditions, and mobile self – efficacy. MARAM was tested in a pilot empirical study with 127 teachers who used educational mobile AR applications and developed their own ones. The results of regression analysis showed that MARAM can predict a satisfactory percentage of the variance in teachers’ intention, attitude, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. Attitude, perceived usefulness, and facilitating conditions affected intention. Both perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment affected attitude. Furthermore, perceived relative advantage and perceived enjoyment affected perceived usefulness. In addition, mobile self-efficacy and facilitating conditions affected perceived ease of use. However, perceived ease of use did not have any effect on attitude and perceived usefulness. MARAM could serve as the basis for future studies on teachers’ acceptance of mobile AR applications and be expanded through the addition of other variables.

Presenters
avatar for Regina Maria Bäck

Regina Maria Bäck

Ph.D. Candidate, KU / KSH
My research focusses on the potential and media cultural framing of XR in art educational contexts. Looking forward for exchange and inspiration when it comes to quality criteria also thinking of students, from creative potential to data protection.
avatar for George Koutromanos

George Koutromanos

Assistant Professor in ICT in Education, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens



Tuesday June 8, 2021 7:00am - 8:00am EDT
Circle of Scholars Assembly Hall iLRN Virtual Campus, powered by Virbela

11:00am EDT

ARETE Workshop: Authoring Tools for XR Applications in Education - Part 1
Authoring Tools for XR Applications in Education
Stefano Masneri(1), Ana Dominguez(1), Eleni Mangina(2)
1: Vicomtech, Spain; 2: University College Dublin, Ireland
 
In the last few years there has been a steady release of XR-based tools to enhance the learning experience. Until now the focus of researchers has been on the creation of content, but there is currently a lack of tools facilitating the creation of XR experiences for education. The objective of this workshop is to present the work fulfilled in the H2020 ARETE project and to stimulate the discussion around what has been done and what is still left to do to enable researchers and enterprises to easily create XR experiences.
 

Presenters
SM

Stefano Masneri

Research Associate - Digital Media, Vicomtech
avatar for Eleni Mangina

Eleni Mangina

Professor, University College Dublin
Eleni Mangina is currently project coordinator of two (2) H2020 projects (ARETE & AHA), one (1) Erasmus+ (FANTASIA) and partner within two other EU projects (BASE, RoboPisces). She is currently a funded investigator as part of SFI ESIPP, an academic collaborator with VistaMilk SFI... Read More →


Tuesday June 8, 2021 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT
Innovation Garden Studios iLRN Virtual Campus, powered by Virbela
  Workshops / Panels / Special Sessions
 
Wednesday, June 9
 

11:00am EDT

Guided Virtual Adventure: Is the Amani Ready to Sail Safely?
Platform/environment website
https://www.kitely.com/virtual-world/Bethany-Winslow/Limiland
 
Tour guide(s)/leader(s)
Ms. Winslow, Bethany, bethany.winslow@sjsu.edu, San Jose State University
 
Tour group capacity
25
 
Description
Join a recon mission at Limiland, aboard a full scale cruise ship, in the OpenSim world of Kitely. This guided immersive virtual adventure was developed for cruise ship operations management students at a public university as an extra credit activity. Students who normally have the opportunity to visit a real cruise ship do not have this option during a pandemic. Also, online students have no such option at all. This large virtual cruise ship can be navigated with an avatar by anyone with a free OpenSim account and a free virtual world viewer. The purpose of this activity is to explore how immersive role play, the use of the provided inspector's checklist, and the embedded information in key locations on the ship helps students determine if the Amani is ready to sail in a post pandemic world. In particular, students are on the lookout for three COVID molecules with critical information about the lasting impact on the cruising industry in the areas of health, leadership, and finance.  Educators who attend this guided adventure will be able to see for themselves what desktop virtual worlds offer right now, compared with less accessible experiences designed solely for head mounted display use.
 
Target audience sector
Higher education, The target audience are educators who are interested in exploring and learning more about what different virtual world platforms offer in terms of immersive learning and engagement. This is particularly applicable to educators who want to see for themselves what desktop virtual worlds offers educators right now, compared with experiences designed solely for head-mounted display use.
 
Supported devices
Desktop/laptop - Windows, Desktop/laptop - Mac
 
Platform/environment access
To visit the Kitely virtual world you need a free account (Kitely or OpenSim) and a hypergrid enabled viewer. This is different from the one used to access Second life. (OpenSim worlds are the open-source versions of Second Life, so if you are familiar with SL you won't have any trouble in OS. If you have never used SL or a similar viewer, you will need time to get acquainted with this technology.) See the Google Doc linked below which walks you through how to choose between two options to visit us. You'll also find it has links to videos and other tutorials to help, if needed. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VMGayNnWzxvzBCiHoya1IlSn3DAGw2UNy7rbrPm7MZg/edit?usp=sharing

Presenters
avatar for Bethany Winslow

Bethany Winslow

Director of Online Learning, School of Information, San Jose State University
As director of online learning in our school of information, I work to continually improve teaching and learning in the online environment for faculty members and students.  I'm particularly interested in virtual worlds and social virtual reality, and how these technologies can be... Read More →


Wednesday June 9, 2021 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT
Kitely
 

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