Virtual Reality in the Classroom to Enhance Storytelling and Empathy
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Virtual Reality in the Classroom to Enhance Storytelling and Empathy
Using VR to create narrative based learning experiences about Japanese incarceration in the United States during WWII for students, to practice empathy and perspective taking.
Virtual Reality is commonly known as an “empathy machine”. But how do you incorporate VR into a learning experience in a way that is effective and produces authentic learning? In this case study, I researched the impact of virtual reality in teaching about the history of Japanese incarceration in the U.S. during WWII in the classroom.
ROLES
Researcher
In the United States there is no nation-wide history curriculum, leaving mandates of what topics or historical figures students learn about to state social studies standards. While states create learning expectations, it is ultimately up to individual districts in choosing what to teach and how. (Duncan et al., 2020) This can make it difficult to track what students across the nation are being taught. Waxman talks about this in her TIME article, mentioning that there is no central database of what Asian-American history looks like in state standards. And while curricula will often teach about 19th century Chinese immigration, the role of Chinese laborers in building the transcontinental railroad, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, and Japanese incarceration, it often falls short in depth of content, and educators say that it doesn't provide an accurate depiction of the Asian-American experience. (Waxman, 2021)
BACKGROUND
To develop a framework that synthesizes the merits, barriers to implementation, impact, and evolution of VR in the classroom, specifically around the topic of Japanese incarceration
GOAL
Throughout my research on VR, I examine projects and productions that currently exist on the topic of Japanese incarceration and community stories. I further explore what I would imagine an immersive experience to look like where students visit an incarceration site, as the majority of the structures are no longer standing.
This technology can help to create learning experiences that immerse students in this history and help to promote empathy and perspective taking. What makes an experience like this transformative is that students can connect these experiences to current or other social injustices, and larger themes of racism, xenophobia, and stereotypes such as the model minority myth.
In tandem with classroom curriculum students will be able to learn about and connect with this history. Through VR experiences that focus on community and personal narratives, students will gain invaluable insight on the Japanese community, their stories, and their resilience.
Process:
Extensive research on the U.S. school system examining how Japanese incarceration is (or isn’t) taught, and the affordances of VR in addressing these education gaps
SME interviews with VR experts, classroom teachers and curriculum designers
Research on designing VR for impact in the classroom, and considerations for scaling use both in the U.S. education system and with technology capabilities
DESIGN PROCESS
I created slides that synthesized my research and highlight the main points in each section of my project:
This research project thoroughly examines and analyzes existing VR research, the theoretical and empirical framework for VR, theories of learning and teaching that VR exemplifies, strength and barriers to widespread adoption of VR use in the classroom, and implications for scaling and future use in this context.
PRODUCT
Review the full review here: