The viability of Virtual Reality Head- Mounted Displays in the teaching and learning of pre-service History teachers

Abstract

Due to the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and the necessary required 21st century skills, the present educational system is undergoing a process of methodological and pedagogical reform. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT’s) such as Virtual Reality (VR) and its accompanying technologies for instance the Head - Mounted Displays (HMDs) could aid the enrichment of the teaching and learning of pre-service History teachers in virtual learning environments (VLEs). This research study was aimed at discerning the viability of Virtual Reality Head-Mounted Displays (VR-HMDs) as an ICT pedagogical tool (or instructional technology) to support the teaching and learning of pre-service History teachers in VLEs. This study further aimed to determine if VLEs could foster students’ self-directed learning (SDL) skills. The research study was conducted in a classroom environment of a tertiary education institution where the preservice History teachers were engaged with VR to reach certain History lesson objectives. Anchored in constructive and interpretive paradigms, a single exploratory qualitative case study design with a non-probability purposive sampling and discourse analysis was followed. To a limited extent, and complementary and in support of the predominantly qualitative design, some quantitative data was also reported, necessary to better understand the phenomena under investigation. Different instruments were used to gather the research data from the 15 participants which included questionnaires, worksheets, focus group interviews and field notes. The findings of this study showed that VR-HMDs and VLEs are viable for the teaching and learning of preservice History teachers as the advantages of incorporating this emerging technology exceed its disadvantages by far. It was also found that by utilising VR-HMDs in the teaching and learning of pre-service history teachers fostered certain SDL skills such as goal setting, the regulation of own learning, motivation, critical thinking that includes the skills to question, inquire, analyse, debate and to keep an open mind to collect new and relevant information. In conclusion recommendations are made from this study for the effective incorporation VR-HMDs into the pedagogy of history education.