Prof. Alberto Fornasari of the University of Bari talks about the potential of virtual reality in traditional school learning and the importance of offering different cultural stimuli to students.

The emergeing digital technologies has determined a much more immersive, multisensory and participatory approach to knowledge; ICT offers the opportunity to rethink the educational approach according to the students characteristic, in a more engaging way, with a synergy between different approaches, traditional ones alongside multimedia ones.

It is important to help students build intercultural competences; through the enhancement of different cultures they acquire a cognitive and emotional decentralization that helps them to adopt a plurality of points of view, to see themself with the eyes of others and to analyse the reality in a multi-perspective dimension, to appreciate diversity as a citizenship value, and build cosmopolitan skills necessary to live in a global society.

Paloma Díaz, professor at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, belongs to the Interactive Systems research group, in the Department of Computer Science.

Paloma believes that Virtual Reality can be a very powerful tool for teenagers when dealing with interculturality, as it provides opportunities to enjoy cultural sites without the need to be there. Also, it allows for more interaction with elements, as interactive activities can be included. Finally, Paloma emphasizes that Virtual Reality in no way replaces reality, but is compatible with its activities.

Dorien Quik is the chairman of the Buddhist foundation, who contributed to the ART project by visualizing their temple and library for the students participating in this project.

Dorien also worked closely with PRO WORK to develop the teaching materials and in the interview we discussed the importance of this project for these students including our teaching materials. Here we focused on feeling safe with yourself (even through meditations!) but also being resilient to the opinions/expressions of others. We discussed this again in the interview and Dorien indicated that it is very important to pass this on to young people early on. The VR aspect makes this 'journey' even more interesting as far as she is concerned and ensures that the 'old' can meet the 'new' and continue in a beautiful new future. A very interesting collaboration and a nice interview, in which the value of this project is once again established.

Siglo22 is the partner in charge of producing content related to Islamic culture in the ART project.

For the moment, content has been created in many monuments and institutions, such as the Islamic Wall of Madrid, the Regional Archaeological Museum or the Tower of Tauste.

This has been possible thanks to the collaboration between Siglo22 and the Islamic Culture Foundation (FUNCI), which the Spanish organisation contacted at the beginning of the project.

Thanks to FUNCI we have been able to go to many places to take photos, and we still have many more to go. Thank you for this collaboration!

Islamic Culture Foundation official website: https://funci.org/

First, you will see some atmospheric images of the pilots at BenedictusPoort in Ledeberg. On 8 March, we tested the VR material with fourth-year students of flow-through finality (this means these students will attend higher education) and double finality (these students receive a diploma that allows them to explore the job market or attend higher education). The students were very enthusiastic about the designed materials and got along smoothly with the VR technology.

 The second part follows an interview with Korneel Vandamme. Korneel is a history and economics teacher at Oudenaarde's Bernardus College. His pupils also took part in the first Belgian pilot in May 2022. Again, these were fourth-year pupils, but from a different finality (transfer - cross-domain; the most theoretical/abstract directions). Like the pupils of BenedictusPoort Ledeberg, they also appreciated the virtual visit.

According to history teacher, the ART VR method has major added value. It makes it possible to visit different (historically relevant) places without him and his classes having to move. Moreover, the pupils were quick to get used to the VR glasses. Through the questions and tasks in the cubes, they were challenged to look attentively. This resulted in a better retention of the content.

Korneel says that the ART VR environment is perfectly usable in his classes. According to him, a visit 'for the sake of visiting' does not offer any added value. It is all the more interesting - and the students also indicated this - if the material can be linked to the learning content the students cover in regular lessons. He likes to link the visit to the Protestant church in the Geuzenhoek (BE), to lessons on the Reformation. The Romanesque art that Siglo 22 (SP) included in the VR environment fits in with his art history lessons. He lets his pupils explore the materials related to Islamic Spain in the lessons about the Conquista and Reconquista. Moreover, he advises his colleagues to see what visits they can do within their lessons.

An extra plus for Korneel is the inclusion of (world) citizenship competencies within the virtual environment. The questions not only instil critical thinking in students, they also aid them in the adaptation of international attitudes. This includes forming opinions and showing respect for 'the other' (e.g. other religions and cultures).

Finally, we asked Korneel for other topics VR could add value to his lessons. Since there is also a key competence 'citizenship' in Flemish education and these goals are partly included in the history curriculum, it seems fascinating for Korneel to make the workings of different governance institutions accessible through VR.

 The third section features Renzo and Jelle, two first-year students of the Educational Bachelor of Primary Education (Artevelde University of Applied Sciences). They were introduced to ART at the International Days of their course (the first Belgian Multiplier Event). They too were hugely enthusiastic about the material. In the interview, they tell what the advantages of the VR environment are for them.

 Enjoy the video!