Background

Virtual Reality (VR) applications open up new pathways for knowledge dissemination, exchange, and communication. They enable interactive engagement and collaborative learning in settings that can be customized to individual needs and different situations. Users test out their creativity, can extend their natural limits of action, add personal content, and experiment with both self-perception and external perception by choosing different avatars. Hence, virtual environments can help to view problems from different angles or play with different perspectives, making them particularly suitable for conveying gender-sensitive content. In short, VR offers numerous opportunities for exploration, creating new experiences, and questioning (gender) stereotypes.

Project Content

Creating virtual learning spaces for education is still uncommon in Austria. VR technology is used almost exclusively to make exhibitions interactively accessible or to reconstruct physical spaces. One reason for this is that current VR systems lack key features needed for effective use as learning and teaching environments. In the research project TOVIES (Toolkit for Virtual Education Spaces) we address this gap.

We aim to develop a toolkit for collaborative learning in VR that provides youth- and gender-appropriate virtual formats for presenting content, learning, and working. Ensuring ease of use and accessibility for a wide audience are key priorities of our efforts. To achieve this, we follow multi-stage evaluation cycles to refine gender-didactically relevant content and design features. The ultimate goal is to create a tool that strengthens the self-efficacy of girls and boys aged 10 to 14.

Gaols and Research Questions

The TOVIES project addresses the following research questions:

• How can virtual environments be leveraged to enhance the self-efficacy of adolescents (aged 10 to 14), and how should gender stereotypes and gender identity be considered in this context?
• How do narrative elements and design features influence adolescents' interests? In what ways do they affect perceptions of self-efficacy?
• To what extent do the design and interaction concepts developed in the project effectively convey content that is typically found in museums or similar institutions?
• What gender-didactic interaction concepts for three-dimensional spaces facilitate intuitive representation and communication of museum content?
• How can the storytelling structures developed in the project be made highly adaptable?

Methodology and Approach

A prototype of a VR toolkit for collaborative learning is being developed. In addition to technical aspects related to setting up a virtual environment, it addresses how to present content in a playful, youth- and gender-appropriate manner. We also use the internationally recognized Art.Lector learning experience concept from our project partner Fluxguide. This concept consists of a three-phase model for digital knowledge transfer before, during, and after a museum visit. Participatory processes (Human-Centered and Gendered Design Research Process) are central to our project. We involve students aged 10 to 14, as well as stakeholders from the education sector (teachers) and the museum sector (art/cultural mediators).

Results

TOVIES leverages existing open-source Virtual Reality technologies to create three-dimensional spaces. On top of that, a framework with an innovative, gender-sensitive interaction concept is developed. This framework facilitates knowledge transfer and creation, experimentation with content and different settings, breaking down stereotypes and experiencing self-efficacy.

TOVIES not only opens the door to a state-of-the-art form of presenting scientific or artistic content, but also serves as a digital archive and knowledge resource. Overall, we provide a proof of concept and explore the potential of the developed framework for use in museums and schools. The industrial partner plans to further develop the proof of concept for market readiness after the completion of the project.

Project Partner

Funding