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By Megan Mize

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There is a growing interest in incorporating emerging technologies into active learning strategies to enhance student learning. Experiential learning is one approach to active learning that immerses students in hands-on experiences to apply classroom knowledge in real-world scenarios. Extended reality, or XR, offers new technologies that can facilitate this type of learning through interactive and immersive simulations, transcending the boundaries of traditional classroom settings. These technologies include virtual reality (VR), which creates an immersive, computer-generated environment, and augmented reality (AR), which overlays digital information onto the real world. When designed with the pedagogical framework of high impact practices (HIP), XR has the potential to support learning outcomes such as increased student engagement, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. From virtual field trips to remote labs and simulations, XR has the potential to transform teaching and learning strategies, opening new possibilities for experiential learning and student success.

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As XR technologies become more commercially available and accessible, some 51�鱨վ faculty and staff have already integrated them into teaching and learning efforts. Throughout 51�鱨վ, units such as the Academic Success Center (ASC), the Center for Faculty Development (CFD), and the Virginia Modeling, Analysis & Simulation Center (VMASC), among others, have likewise begun building out support mechanisms for such efforts.

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For example, in 2020, ASC and CFD launched the "HIP-XR" initiative to explore how high-impact pedagogy can enhance experiential learning through XR. The initiative introduces faculty to commercially available XR tools, covering augmented and virtual reality. Faculty design low stakes assignments that incorporate interactive and immersive learning experiences. Some resulting projects used 360 VR videos and Google Cardboard headsets to immerse students in course content and foster empathy via experiences unfamiliar to them. Other activities invited students to play with augmented content, such as a virtual Jenga tower or an interactive 3D version of the Globe Theatre. As such, students moved beyond passively receiving information, instead engaging with course content through interactive objects they could manipulate or experiences not typically available to them.

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To expand the potential of XR use for experiential learning, some faculty members have moved beyond the commercially available options, designing unique XR experiences of their own.�� For instance, in QUST 303/ WMST 303 Queer Studies course, Cathleen Rhodes, Director of Gay Cultural Studies, invites her students to investigate local spaces with connections to the LGBTQ+ community. They then compose and conduct live walking tours of these spaces, sharing and preserving narratives they have helped to recover. However, Rhodes recognizes the ephemeral nature of such tours, especially when locations have been significantly altered over time.�� As such, she envisioned a virtual exhibit that would extend the impact of these tours by recreating important local LGBTQ+ spaces from the past as virtual spaces. In spring 2022 Rhodes received an 51�鱨վ Course-based Undergraduate Research Grant (CURE) to develop a project��entitled "Queering the Tidewater: An Immersive Virtual Tour of the Sights, Sounds, and Experiences of Tidewater's LGBTQ Past."��This project is based on extensive research with archives and oral histories and uses video equipment to create an immersive virtual reality walking tour of the local LGBTQ community and the recovery of spaces associated with that history but long lost to time. The end product makes the LGBTQ+ tour and history accessible to a wider audience.

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Rhodes claims, “Sensory experiences of the past – when history moves from static words on a page to inhabiting spaces around us – are powerful, yet they happen infrequently for marginalized communities whose connections to a shared history have been erased or ignored… A virtual tour cannot bring these spaces back, but it can provide an opportunity to experience them again.” To support such an endeavor, in 2022 she also sought and was awarded a Virginia Beach Historic Preservation Commission Historical Research Grant.�� The initial goal of this virtual exhibit, titled “Our Own Spaces,” is to create three immersive spaces connected to local LGBTQ+ history. Visitors will be invited to: experience the controversy connected to the distribution of the local LGBTQ+ paper, Our Own, in the former VA Beach Public Library; shop at Outright Books, browsing for materials related to the LGBTQ+ community and political advocacy; and enjoy the last night at the Rainbow Cactus bar before it changed locations, taking in a drag performance while considering events that invited a community to unwind together.

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Furthermore, Rhodes’ projects offer compelling examples of how interdisciplinary approaches can connect various courses when centered on the principles of experiential learning and XR use, as Game Studies students are helping to produce these immersive spaces, drawing on the archival materials, interviews, and documentaries generated within the Queer Studies course. John Shull, the Assistant Director of Technology for Collaborative Spaces at VMASC, facilitates the collaboration between students and the project team via his GAME 395: Software Architecture and Game Engines course, encouraging them to work with the grant team.

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Shull describes this collaboration, “For the Queer History Project we adopted a Unity3D workflow model utilizing GitHub and version control practices tied to specific ‘scenes’ in which a Unity Scene file is generated per location of interest. This approach is ideal for using Unity and for these quicker turnaround projects… This is a common approach to prototype VR software within a Unity3D game engine.” As students produce 3D objects and design spaces for the different sites, they also gain valuable experience with technologies commonly used in the gaming industry, collaborative projects, project management strategies, development workflow, and client interaction. As such, the Game Studies students have the opportunity to apply their skills to a project that extends beyond the confines of the course, both in terms of professional development but also as a contribution to the local community.

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Such projects suggest ways in which XR technologies may become an essential component of the educational experience, offering exciting opportunities for experiential learning. By providing an immersive and interactive environment, XR can help students gain real-world experiences and develop practical skills that can be transferred beyond the classroom, ultimately contributing to their academic and career success.