By Ruth Clark

I think we all agree that new technology will continue to offer us interesting and challenging instructional environments.  As learning professionals our challenge is to use these new technologies in ways that accommodate old brains.  I’m not just talking about my really old brain but about the old brains we have all inherited – no matter your age.  Our brains have evolved to have limited capacity to absorb visual and auditory information.  These limitations probably protect us from sudden information overloads that could be hazardous to our survival.

Let’s consider Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR). IVR refers to computer created artificial 3D environments that prime a feeling of presence  - a presence that makes you feel “there”.  Some organizations such as Meta are making big bets on the future potential of IVR.  How effective is IVR for learning outcomes?

Take a look at the example screenshot. This biology IVR lesson immerses the learner in the blood stream and in a cell. The learner experiences an environment in a way they could not in the real world. Do you think learning biology content in this 3D environment would result in better learning compared to viewing a set of slides with similar words and traditional 2D graphics? 

Controlled evidence on the instructional benefits of IVR compared to traditional media is just emerging.  But we do have sufficient data to draw some early conclusions. Mayer et al (2022) summarize what they have learned so far from their research on IVR.   You might be surprised to learn that in 2 experiments comparing the biology lesson in IVR with a slide version college students learned better from the slides. In their review of 13 experiments the authors conclude that “there is not yet compelling evidence to simply convert multimedia lessons into IVR-based lessons”(p.4).

Why do you think old fashioned slides were more effective?  Perhaps the learners were unfamiliar with IVR and would get more advantage from it with more experience.  Alternatively the amount of visual information IVR can offer can overload our old brains in ways that distract from the content.  Third, maybe the immersive experience did not contribute to learning academic content such as biology concepts but might be effective for learning procedures that can simulate real-world hands-on learning.  It is possible that all three of these factors played a role.

How can we adapt new technology such as IVR to accommodate our old brains?  Researchers have just started evaluating different versions of IVR lessons in which one version added instructional support.  One promising technique is providing pre-training in the major concepts of the lesson.  One experiment found that the immersive biology lesson led to better learning when it was preceded by a simple labelled diagram of cell structure.  Another technique involves pausing the IVR periodically and asking learners to summarize or answer questions about what they have just experienced.  We will look forward to additional research regarding when and how to best use IVR. 

When considering any new technology, ask yourself:

1. What are the best applications of the new technology in my context?

2. How can we best adapt the features of the new technology to our old brains?

To Read More

Mayer, Makransky & Parong (2022) The promise and pitfalls of learning in immersive virtual reality. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction. https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2022.2108563

Parong (2022). Multimedia learning in virtual and mixed reality.  In Mayer & Fiorella (eds). The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning – 3rd Ed.