Virtual Reality: Advancing the Pedagogical Toolkit

In spring 2016, we were approached by a faculty member who wanted to make her Art History 101/102 courses more engaging and improve her students' retention. We had an opportunity to forge a different path and to try something beyond traditional online tools or standard pedagogical practices. At the time, virtual reality was becoming commercially available, and its transformative potential for the academic community stood out. We will take a deeper look at how VR can shape classrooms from faculty, student, and academic technology perspectives and discuss what many institutions are struggling with: expense and space justification for a technology that is still breaking out of the trough of disillusionment.

Outcomes: Identify VR's greatest areas of pedagogical impact ("solve a problem") * Address logistics (hardware and software costs, finding and setting up space) * Learn how to integrate VR at the assignment, course, and curriculum levels * Assess the impact of VR on student learning and engagement