The usability and reception of virtualreality- and geomedia -based learning materials in the teaching of history in high school

Authors

• Anssi Männistö Tampereen yliopisto

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33350/ka.89072

Keywords:

geomedia, high schools, teaching of history, virtual reality, Second World War

Abstract

This article examines the usability and reception of virtual reality- (VR) and geomedia-based learning materials in the teaching of history. The findings are from a user study of high school students in spring 2019 in Tampere, Finland. The study used these new learning materials together with traditional materials. VR is considered to be a growing area in learning technologies, but its use and usability has been studied rather little, whereas in the context of, for example, gaming and journalism, VR has been extensively studied. Thus, the theoretical and methodological framework of this study leans partly on findings in immersive journalism. The article shows that different kinds of VR content can reinforce each other’s influence. It is even possible that studying certain themes using materials that emphasize the dimension of empathy may help raise the reasoning to a higher level. Validating this hypothesis requires a more sophisticated research setting.