EdTech medic
EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY, ONE STEP AT A TIME
Teaching in the affective domain is arguably the most challenging and elusive of the domains. How do we teach feelings, emotions, empathy, attitudes and values? It’s easy to talk with students about these things and to share stories that will hopefully change perceptions - another thing entirely to actually shape perception. “Research suggest the affective domain is the gateway to learning, yet the cognitive and psychomotor domains take precedence” (Pierre, 2006). The reason for this is simple; it’s difficult to alter the way students feel, to help them to develop empathy or to shape what they value, and do so in a measureable way (Savickiene, 2009). Virtual reality (VR) is a tool that may very well revolutionize the way in which we teach in the affective domain. The social scientists at the Virtual Human Interaction Lab (VHIL) at Stanford University study human behaviour and explore how immersive virtual reality can change perception and ultimately human behaviour. “Virtual reality uses immersive technology to push the boundaries of people's emotional, physical, and intellectual capabilities” says VHIL Director Jeremy Bailenson (Novacic, 2015). Bailenson says that virtual reality is an experience. “Your brain is saying to you that this isn’t real, but the back of your head says ‘wow, this feels real to me’”. At the lab, they harness the experiential effects of VR to help people to better understand what it’s like to be someone else, for example, a refugee in a war zone, a person on the autism spectrum or someone suffering from PTSD (Scientific American article). Bailenson goes on to say that “in the lab’s “Empathy at Scale” studies, people who inhabit avatars of a different race in a virtual world later score lower in tests of subconscious racial bias (Kang, 2000), and young people who “wear” an elderly avatar are then more inclined to save for retirement” (Berdik, 2017; Hershfield, 2011). NYT VR provides free immersive 360 degree VR videos that place young students in the shoes of others who are suffering like the children of some African countries who have been displaced by war. This helps children develop both empathy and compassion in a way that film alone can’t do (Four Tools for Kids to Help Develop Compassion and Social Change).
VR treatment of PTSD Research into the full potential for VR is in its early days, but its potential as an educational tool is compelling, and a trend that should be on every educator’s radar. But how do we explore and harness the power of VR in the affective domain? The cost of VR is steadily declining, but it hasn’t declined quite enough to put it in every classroom. HTV Vive is a VR system that costs about $1200 (CDN). The PlayStation VR headset costs about $600 (CDN) and that doesn’t include the player itself. Oculus Rift, which is one of the better known VR headsets costs about $800 (CDN). But Oculus Rift is tethered to a computer and without getting into the type of processor, graphics card, video output, USB and operating system needed, as an educator, when I see headlines like “Building a PC for The Oculus Rift” or “Upgrading a PC for Oculus Rift isn’t as easy as you think”, it scares the gigabytes out of me! And I haven’t even touched on the cost of education apps. So how do we tap into this amazing medium for teaching in the affective domain? At the risk of stating the obvious, our libraries are the ideal location to create virtual and augmented reality spaces where students can learn and explore in a truly immersive environment. In the Voices of VR Podcast, Kent Bye said it best: “We are moving from an information age to an experiential age”. Educators and librarians need to collaborate to find the best tools and the best space(s) to turn libraries into immersive environments where learning can be contextual and experiential. The affective domain is only the tip of the iceberg. In future posts I will talk about the power of VR and AR for other forms of experiential learning. REFERENCES Berdik, C. (2017). Can Virtual Reality Teach Empathy? Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2017/02/can_virtual_reality_in_the_classroom_help_teach_empathy.html
Hershfield, H. E., Goldstein, D. G., Sharpe, W. F., Fox, J., Yeykelis, L., Carstensen, L. L., & Bailenson, J. N. (2011). Increasing Saving Behavior Through Age-Progressed Renderings of the Future Self. Journal of Marketing Research, 48(SPL). doi:10.1509/jmkr.48.spl.s23 Kang, J. (2000). Cyber-Race. Harvard Law Review, 113(5), 1130. doi:10.2307/1342340 Novacic, I. (2015). How might virtual reality change the world? Stanford lab peers into future. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-might-virtual-reality-change-the-world-stanford-lab-peers-into-future/ Pierre, E. J. (2006). The Affective Domain: Undiscovered Country. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ813766 Savickiene, I. (2009). Conception of Learning Outcomes in the Bloom's Taxonomy Affective Domain. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?q=challenge+of+teaching+in+the+affective+domain&id=EJ900258
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AuthorI am a paramedic educator and educational technology enthusiast. The "medic" part of this blog title simply refers to my paramedic background. Archives
October 2018
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