Virtual Reality in the Classroom

Virtual Reality in the Language Classroom

As technology advances to meet future needs, education is presented with how it will address the latest use of technology in the classroom. In particular, language teachers must consider how implementing new technologies in the language classroom will affect students and benefit their learning through practical activities that promote the use of the target language in more authentic and meaningful contexts. Teachers should also continue to strive for more interactive learning activities that use technology to inspire and motivate students.

Kim (2010) wrote an article featured in the Korean Times about a trial using virtual reality in the English classroom. The software was developed by Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) who saw virtual reality as a tool to bring a real-time interactive program to students in the English classroom in Korea. This essay addresses the use of virtual reality (VR) in the language classroom by defining virtual reality and reviewing some of its uses. This essay will also cover how VR is used to support learning and teaching, opportunities it affords, and the implications for its use in language classrooms.

Definition of Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality is defined as the use of computer graphics in conjunction with various displays that are interfaced to give the perception of being immersed in a 3D computer-generated environment and is totally interactive (Pan, Cheok, Yang, Zhu and Shi, 2006). Pantelidis, as cited in Schwienhorst (1998), described it as a computer-based environment that incorporates multimedia so that the user can become a participant in the highly interactive virtual world. A person is able to move around in the virtual world, viewing it from different angles and interacting with the environment. Virtual reality uses head-mounted displays (goggles or helmets), boom-mounted displays or surround-screen projection-based displays to view the virtual environment. A boom-mount display is suspended from an articulated arm and is held to the user’s head.

Virtual learning environment (VLE) is a system that supports teaching and learning in an educational setting through use of 3D virtual learning spaces. The variety of places that people can explore and experience is unlimited due to the capability to represent the past, present and/or future. For example, students can learn about ancient England by walking its streets, visiting castles, and interacting with its people.

Uses in Virtual Reality

Virtual reality is used in many fields to train professionals in realistic environments but without the cost or risk of actually performing the task in real life. Medical students can perform zero-risk surgeries and automotive students can build engines, transmissions, or whole cars. Commercial Airlines use VR to train pilots in flight simulators presenting them with various problems to solve during the flight whereas the US military uses it to train soldiers in war game simulations. The Virtual Reality Medical Center in California employs VR as an exposure therapy to treat panic and anxiety disorders (McMenemy and Ferguson, 2007).

Virtual reality technology is still rather expensive so many schools have not yet explored its use in classrooms. In the article from the Korean Times (2010), virtual reality has just started surfacing in Korea but has made such a substantial impact on the English language teaching community that it is spreading to other schools throughout the country. They aimed to provide a more efficient way to teach English to Korean students and provide them with life-like interaction with foreigners especially since many schools are without native English teachers. The pilot began with one elementary school in Daejeon, South Korea in 2009 but eventually 13 more schools adopted the program because they thought it provided a useful and helpful way for students to practice their English. South Greenville Elementary School in North Carolina uses VR with advanced students who are in the Young Einstein Club. They collaborated to design and build their own learning environment using Virtus Walk Through Pro. The University of Luebeck in Germany undertook a study in which they had a 3rd grade class use virtual reality to create an augmented reality type environment. Pan et al. (2006) described this as an incorporation of virtual objects, produced by computer graphics, into a real three dimensional scene. The class used LEGO software to build their virtual environment and in the process increased knowledge about the arts and computer science.

VR Support of Learning and Teaching

While there is no real substitution for human-to-human interaction where they meet in the same physical space to share their hopes, fears, dreams, aspirations and experiences, there are alternative ways to share (Harmer, 2007). Virtual reality allows students to use the language in simulated situations where they can interact with people within the environment. In some VRE students are exposed to authentic language. Harmer (2007) defines authentic language as normal and natural language used by native speakers where no allowance is made to foreign speakers. According to Sekiguchi, Gruba and Al-Asmari (2006), it has the potential to introduce culture in the language classroom using VR. They noted that cultural learning was made possible through exchanges and interaction that could not be found in books that included such things as concepts and personal observations. Mitchell and Myles (2004) contend that language and culture are inseparable, but are acquired simultaneously. Learners are exposed to rich learning environments that are interactive and learner-centered. With virtual reality, students put themselves in various realistic settings and learn the language by experimenting with the language and taking an active role the learning process. Teachers can use virtual reality to provide a less formal way to study that is fun and more realistic than pictures, dialogues and texts from a course book. Jung (2002) suggests learners may learn not only the target language but also new ways of thinking. Additionally, students may be able to use a variety of multimedia to communicate, e.g. text or audio chat system, that allow users to engage in meaningful language exchanges.

Opportunities

Using virtual reality in the classroom gives the teacher the opportunity to have greater participation from students. Vygotsky, as cited in Daniels (2001), stated that learning is social and using VR in the class allows continued social interaction necessary for developing language skills. The teacher can adapt the virtual learning environments based on the needs of different users and because virtual reality offers such diversity, it stimulates students’ interests and provides motivation to learn (Schwienhorst, 1998). An additional benefit is it can help teachers overcome problems associated with traditional language classrooms that rely so heavily on textbooks and local resources (Jung, 2002). Another use is collaborative learning in which students become responsible for their own learning and the teacher acts as a facilitator of the learning experience (Kirner, Kirner, Kawamoto, Cantao, Pinto and Wazlawick, 2001).

Practical Implications

Virtual reality facilitates language learning by exposing students to large quantities of comprehensible input, keeping students actively engaged and instituting positive learning environments (Jung, 2002). The simulated learning invites students to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills through collaborative and authentic communication. The development of learner autonomy can be supported by VR because of the generous amount of interaction with native speakers and the environment (Schwienhorst, 1998).

A hot topic within research on VR is that of distributed Virtual Reality. This means that we can run a simulation on one computer in one place as well as run that same simulation on several connected computers around the world. This enables people from all over the world to connect and converse within the same virtual environment (McMenemy et al., 2007). Teachers can use this technology as an extension of classroom lessons where students are given time to investigate during class or as homework on a virtual website. It can be used to develop vocabulary skills, improve speaking and fluency, and/or to explore certain topics in more depth while engaging in the use of the target language and in the learning process.

There are several issues that need to be addressed before using VR in the classroom. First, it is still relatively expensive and many schools will not be able to afford it. Rich school district may be more likely to purchase such technology while poor school districts may not be able to provide for their learners. It may also cause mild health problems especially if it is used for more than 15 minutes. These may include increase in heart rate and blood pressure, vision-induced motion sickness due to disorientation from lag time (McMenemy et al., 2007). Cromby and Win, as cited in Jung (2002), suggested that students who spend a large quantity of time in virtual reality might experience withdrawal from real-life situations or become socially isolated. Another serious problem, Jung suggests, is students might pick up on social prejudices such as racism or sexism because of the designers’ programming.

Conclusion

Virtual reality is about trying to trick users into believing that they are in a different environment that consists of numerous engaging activities to get users to interact and communicate in the target language. Virtual reality benefits students because it provides features that support student motivation, socialization and interaction. Students have the opportunity to engage in the learning process by experimenting with language in specific contexts. Harmer (2007) believes learning takes place when students use and interact with the language. Students can present themselves as avatars, collaborate to build virtual structures, or interact with others through conversations. Teachers benefit as well, because virtual reality assists teachers in enabling students, through learner-centered activities, to use prior knowledge obtained in lessons.

References:

Daniels, H 2001, Vygotsky and Pedagogy, RoutledgeFalmer, New York.

Harmer, J 2007, The Practice of English Language Teaching, 4th edn, Pearson Education, Harlow, England.

Jung, HJ 2002, ‘Virtual Reality Modeling Language’, The Internet TESL Journal,vol 8, no. 10, October, accessed 12/09/2010. http://iteslj.org/Articles/Jung-VR.html

Kim, TG 2010, ‘Students Learn English Using Virtual Reality’, Korean Times, accessed 03/09/2010. http://www.koreantimes.co.kr/www/new/biz/2010/02/123_72515.html

Kirner, TG, Kirner, C, Kawamoto, ALS, Cantao,J, Pinto,A & Wazlawick,RS 2001,‘Development of a collaborative virtual environment for educational applications, in Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on 3D Web Technology, 19-22 February, Paderbon, Germany.

McMenemy, K & Ferguson, S 2007, A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Virtual Reality, A K Peters, Ltd, Wellesley, Massachusetts.

Mitchell, R & Myles, F 2004, Second Language Learning Theories, 2nd edn, Hodder Education, London.

Pan, Z, Cheok, AD, Yang, H, Zhu, J & Shi, J 2005, ‘Virtual reality and mixed reality for virtual learning environments’, Computer & Graphics, vol. 3, pp20-28.

Schwienhorst, K 1998, ‘The ‘third place’ – virtual reality applications for second language learning’, ReCall, vol. 10, no. 1, May, pp118-126.

Sekiguchi, S, Gruba, P & Al-Asmari, AR 2006, ‘Integrating culture in the second language curriculum through a three-dimensional virtual reality environment’, in Proceedings of the 23rd Annual Australian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE) Conference: Who’s learning? Whose technology?, Sydney, Australia, 3-6 December 2006.