Next-generation learning environments (NGDLE) are being ushered in to supplant more didactic modicums for student engagement with content in blended learning, and invite us to actively engage in authentic learning experiences. Yet most educators in K-12 rarely identify what constitutes a NGDLE, or the technological tools or resources to create them. To fully understand this dimension of adaptive learning, we must therefore understand digital applications like virtual reality (VR), and how they are essential to the development of these platforms. Leveraging trusted technology and new applications, the workshop will illustrate ways to create NGDLE with VR to engage and motivate all students in various content areas.
Long before immersive experiences became literal opportunities to engage with content, virtual reality environments were being used as platforms to motivate and engage gamers. Sometimes regarded as “interactive, computer-generated experiences,” virtual reality has transformed in recent years to be considered by many educational researchers as integral for authentic, problem-based learning. Virtual reality is an emulation of reality, a 3D computer-generated environment that is explored or interacted with by an individual. It is an interactive, conceptual space that stimulates the senses and affords the user the illusion of reality.
Join Samantha Bahna for her version of creating next-generation digital learning environments (NGDLE) as they meet the world of virtual reality (VR). We’re all going to read an interactive story, complete with objectives, outcomes, and various multi-modal learning opportunities for all participants. By the end of the session, all attendees will have begun to create their own virtual reality environment for use with their students. Using effective and reliable technologies, as well as a few new suggestions, each instructor, faculty, and design thinker will possess all the necessary tools to craft their own, NGDLE. From developing objectives aligned to content standards to bridging learners to leverage the digital tools, this session is a must for those wanting to take their instruction to another “dimension.”