IMETC’08 Paper – Desktop Virtual Reality as an Educational Tool

Due to the requests from my friends, I have made my paper published in the proceedings of the 2nd International Malaysian Educational Technology Convention 2008 available for download. The convention was held in Kuantan, Malaysia from 5 to 7th November.

In line with the theme of the convention, I’m written on the usefulness of desktop virtual reality as an educational tool by focusing on the guiding instructional design and development model. Examples taken from my Master’s project (known as Virtual Simulated Traffics for Road Safety Education – ViSTREET) were also provided.

Well, here is the abstract:

The advancement in personal desktop computers and the advent of broadband Internet have prompted many researchers and educators to explore various learning opportunities through virtual reality particularly via desktop-based virtual environments. To fully uncover the potentials of virtual reality, one fundamental issue that needs further investigation and is addressed in this paper is to identify the appropriate instructional design models to guide its design and development. In this work, an instructional design and development framework is chosen to guide the design of an on-going project known as ViSTREET (Virtual Simulated Traffic for Road Safety Education), which aims to solve a learning problem related to children pedestrian safety skills through virtual learning environments. The paper provides an elaboration of how various components of the learning environments are designed in line with the prescribed framework. This study has managed to highlight the advantages of using the chosen framework to guide the design and development of virtual learning environments particularly its incorporation of constructivist principles and problem-based learning that can help to enhance learner’s learning experience. In addition, the outcomes of this work also provide further confirmation on the vast potentials of virtual reality technology for educational purposes.

The FULL PAPER is available HERE [PDF Format]