Envisioning the Future of Literature Learning: A Feasibility Study Exploring the Use of Virtual Reality to Help Students Better Understand Literature
Abbey Palmer, in collaboration with Anant Jani, Stuart Cole, Angela Jacob Bermudo, Michelle Johnson, Richard Smith, and Mattia Montanari, University of Oxford
17 June 2021
This talk introduces a study, conducted by the Oxford X-Reality Hub in collaboration with Oxfordshire County Council (OCC), which explores the use of scalable immersive technologies to improve educational attainment for children in care. These children are normally disproportionately affected when studies are interrupted and quality of education decreases. Researchers, in collaboration with OCC’s Virtual School, identified English literature, as the most difficult subject for this cohort which often lacks the cultural capital needed to engage with the literature. The study investigated whether virtual reality (VR) could help improve learning outcomes for children in care by designing a fully immersive VR app based on Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist. The results suggest VR is a potential scalable pedagogical modality for helping students achieve learning outcomes for English literature.
This presentation was delivered during the (en)coding Heritage Seminar Series, which brough together researchers working at the cutting edge of digital technologies, humanities and heritage science. The session was dedicated to Immersive Technologies: Transforming Education in the Digital Age. The programme can be found here.
Organised and chaired by Dr Lia Costiner (University of Oxford) and Dr Leonardo Impett (Durham University) for the (en)coding Heritage Network, in collaboration with the Oxford X-Reality Hub.
(en)coding Heritage Network, TORCH Networks
