Unit 3 - Educational Applications of VR

Unit 3: Educational Applications of VR

3.3 VR and Situated Learning

Situated learning occurs when an activity, skill or knowledge is taught within the environment or setting that it naturally occurs. VR and VRLEs allow for situated learning because they allow for the creation of digital environments that replicate real world environments.

In Unit 1 we watched a video describing how VR was being used by the NYU Silver School of Social Work within field education, Virtual Reality Training for NYU Social Work Students. This project is an excellent example of how VR can be used to provide situated learning.

Please read the following article that provides more detail about how the program was developed and how it integrated the principles of Situated Learning Theory.

Lanzieri, N., McAlpin, E., Shilane, D. et al. (2021). Virtual Reality: An Immersive Tool for Social Work Students to Interact with Community Environments. Clin Soc Work J. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-021-00803-1

As you read the article think about:

  • How does VR support Situated Learning

  • How did the project developers integrate Situated Learning Theories into their project to make sure that the learning theories supported the project and their desired learning outcomes

  • Consider whether Situated Learning principles inform how you would use VR to teach the content within your course