Unit 4 - Developing Learning Activities Using VR

Unit 4: Developing Learning Activities Using VR

4.4 Design the Learning Activity

Now that you have established your learning outcomes and how you are going to assess your students in how well they achieve those outcomes, we can start to define the specific learning activity that you will have them perform.


Situational Factors

During this portion of the design process you need to consider the situational factors that will impact the design of your learning activity. Some of the factors that you need to consider include:

  • What type of VR device will the students have access to

    • Will they access this on their own devices

    • Will they access it through a VR lab supported on your campus

  • What apps will they have access to

    • Will they use apps that are publically available

    • Will you need to create your own app

  • What tech supports will your students need

    • If they are in a lab will staff be there to help them

    • If they are on their own, will they have a contact if they run into issues

    • Will there be any training or videos explaining how to access the device and apps you expect them to use


Integration with Course Content

Another important thing to consider is how you will integrate this learning activity with the course content that you want your learners to understand. For this portion of the activity you need to think about what information they need to know before using the VR experience.

  • How will you frame the activity within the scope of the entire course

  • What knowledge or experiences do they need prior to entering the VR

    • Are there specific readings or materials they should review before using the VR

    • Are there curriculum specific skills they should practice ahead of time

  • Once the activity is completed how will you summarize the experience and tie it back to your overall objectives


Reflecting upon your Design

As you think about the above considerations, start to fill in parts four, five and six on your worksheet. If you need ideas, it may be good to review the articles we have read in this unit and the sample assignment. Each of these provides different examples of how VR was used in an educational setting. They each used VR in different contexts, used differing technologies, and each needed different supports.