Virtual reality e-learning : establishing metrics for measuring pedagogical effectiveness of VR learning technology

Abstract

Recently, a number of advances in virtual reality technology have shifted the focus to how this technology can be applied to enrich education and learning. The affordances of the technology itself empowers learners to take control of their actions whilst immersed in a three-dimensional environment. This dissertation presents a proposal for a set of metrics used for the measurement of the effectiveness of courses, whether traditional/blended, e-learning or VR-learning. The dissertation presents the use of virtual reality technology in learning as a use case to justify the need for a standard effectiveness evaluation framework, to be able to judge the quality of courses regardless of the medium chosen for their delivery. Further, a small-scale experiment was carried out to test the implementation of the metrics within a study scenario involving a computing topic. The results presented indicate that the metrics developed in this study can predict and confirm the relative effectiveness of different available delivery methods for delivered course of study.