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Project Details

Client

  • Jamie Pearson, Associate Professor of Special Education and Educational Equity, Department of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences, College of Education

    Team

    • Donnie Wrights, Project/Media Lead
    • Mike Cuales, Creative Director, VR Producer
    • Christopher Beeson, Instructional Design
    • Arthur Earnest, 360 Video Producer, Director
    • Stephen Waddell, Lead VR Developer
    • Rhett Hissan, VR Design/Production
    • Justin Kuhn, VR Audio Production
    • Michael Castro, Video Production Assistant

      Technologies

      • PlayPosit 360-degree video
      • Oculus Go virtual reality (VR) headsets

        Timeline

        • Fall 2021 — Spring 2022

ECI 416: Exploring the Impact of the Virtual Reality IEP Experience on Student Learning Outcomes

ECI 416: Teaching Exceptional Students in the Mainstreamed Classroom is a required course for all undergraduate education majors. The course provides future educators with knowledge of various handicapping conditions, as well as with techniques to assist exceptional students within the mainstreamed classroom. Part of this training includes preparing future teachers for individualized education program (IEP) meetings, a critical aspect often overlooked in general education. In an effort to address this critical area of need, instructor Jamie Pearson previously partnered with DELTA to develop and pilot a 20-minute model IEP meeting that teachers in training can experience in 3D, 360° virtual reality (VR) video. Pearson wanted to measure the effectiveness of this pilot program among her undergraduate pre-service students. To accomplish this, she turned to DELTA and support from an Exploratory Grant. 

Instructional Challenges

  • Refine and adapt the extant Playposit VR IEP training experience to ensure it is aligned with updated course learning objectives.
  • Work with the DELTA research team to develop tools for measuring student learning outcomes following the VR IEP experience. 
  • Streamline the remote distribution of VR headsets with a custom VR application developed in-house using the Unity game engine. The headsets were shipped to students with return labels.

Highlights/Solutions

  • Providing IEP simulations using VR with PlayPosit promoted scalability for the nearly 100 students annually to participate in the simulation, enhancing their learning experience and understanding.
  • Exploring additional applications for the technology helped the project team to scale their findings and share with institutions interested in adopting similar educational strategies. 
  • Embedding data hosting through PlayPosit about students’ use and performance enables instructors to assess usage patterns and refine content for greater engagement. 

Related Links

For more information about DELTA services, please contact LearnTech.