Abstract
Despite the benefits of playful learning experiences to increase students’ motivation and learning, traditional classrooms lack opportunities to learn through play. Virtual reality (VR) is a promising tool to bring rich, playful contexts into classrooms, but designing instructional models that make the most of its affordances remains challenging. This paper describes a multi-year design process implementing VR field trips in high school engineering classrooms to highlight the benefits and challenges of using VR to promote playful learning in schools. In both remote and in-person classes we developed virtual field trip lessons using immersive videos and videogame-like environments. Over time, learning goals, activities, and assessments were adjusted to meet students’ needs as part of an iterative design process. The benefits of VR for playful learning are discussed, along with the importance of post-VR reflection and discussion, and the persistent challenges of educational content and class time.
Keywords
learning experience design; playful learning; virtual reality; education
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.945
Citation
McGivney, E. (2024) Designing for playful learning in formal education: a case study of virtual reality field trips, in Gray, C., Ciliotta Chehade, E., Hekkert, P., Forlano, L., Ciuccarelli, P., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2024: Boston, 23–28 June, Boston, USA. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.945
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Research Paper
Included in
Designing for playful learning in formal education: a case study of virtual reality field trips
Despite the benefits of playful learning experiences to increase students’ motivation and learning, traditional classrooms lack opportunities to learn through play. Virtual reality (VR) is a promising tool to bring rich, playful contexts into classrooms, but designing instructional models that make the most of its affordances remains challenging. This paper describes a multi-year design process implementing VR field trips in high school engineering classrooms to highlight the benefits and challenges of using VR to promote playful learning in schools. In both remote and in-person classes we developed virtual field trip lessons using immersive videos and videogame-like environments. Over time, learning goals, activities, and assessments were adjusted to meet students’ needs as part of an iterative design process. The benefits of VR for playful learning are discussed, along with the importance of post-VR reflection and discussion, and the persistent challenges of educational content and class time.