Open and distance learning became a global household term as it came to the forefront of education and work due to the proliferation of remote emergency teaching imposed by the pandemic's social distancing. Virtual reality (VR) is a technology that can transform distance education by overcoming the shortcomings of 2D web-based systems such as learning management systems and web-conferencing platforms. VR-powered teaching can support educators in implementing game-based methods, such as playful design, gamification, and serious games (e.g., educational escape rooms that promote intrinsic motivation towards sustainable engagement for durable, deeper learning). However, a transition from 2D to 3D teaching in the context of the Metaverse is not straightforward or intuitive as it requires a mental and paradigm shift. This chapter presents practical examples of applications and recommendations for practitioners.
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In the fictional two-dimensional world of Flatland in E. Abbot’s mathematical novel (Abbott, 1885), citizens have the shape of 2-D geometric shapes such as triangles, squares, and circles. They live in private, pentagon houses, create families and work in regular jobs. They are certain about the reality they experience around them: the world and the universe consist of the familiar two dimensions of a flat surface. Alpha is an open-minded gentleman, a square, who is introduced to the evasive third dimension and the sense of a three-dimensional space in the eve of a new millennium. He meets a messenger in the form of a sphere who shows him the 3-D Spaceland and convinces him empirically: there is a third dimension after all. Subsequently, he sets to share the news and inform the perceptions of his fellow countrymen based on his ground-breaking and reality-altering discovery that opens new avenues for exploration and communication. Unfortunately, the regime accuses and condemns Alpha of heresy. He is imprisoned and the truth is suppressed to maintain the status quo and peace in Flatland.
This novella could be relevant to contemporary education. The recent COVID-19 pandemic disrupted physical activities and forced emergency remote teaching in all levels of education (Christopoulos & Sprangers, 2021). However, educational institutions were not prepared, and teachers were not trained and skilled to teach from a distance. As a result, remote emergency teaching faced many problems and did not manage to achieve high quality of teaching and learning (Schultz & DeMers, 2020). Students in all levels of education reported lack of interest, motivation, low levels of engagement, participation, achievement, performance. Many times, school pupils’ participation was nominal, they appeared present in the virtual classrooms while not paying attention during teachers’ monologues. Additionally, teachers, students, and workers reported sentiments labeled as “Zoom fatigue”, an overload due to long and repetitive online meetings (Bailenson, 2021). As a result, this outbreak increased the anxiety levels of students (Wang & Zhao, 2020) and deteriorated mental health (Wheaton et al., 2021). Indeed, although there is abundant knowledge on how to organize online learning effectively, web-based solutions have their limitations due to their technological affordances. As a result, to the minds of some people, online learning, confused with improvised emergency remote teaching, becomes a synonym of monologue, boredom, a desert of closed microphones among a forest of abandoned cameras. These experiences constitute potentially a threat to how young people, teachers and parents perceive open and distance learning. The philosophy of open learning, closely associated to life-long learning is paramount is today’s information age (Mystakidis & Berki, 2014). Distance education is also essential for flexible, continuous online professional development (Bragg et al., 2021). During the pandemic, notable initiatives were recorded accelerating the digital transformation of education (Ball et al., 2021). A comprehensive literature review revealed that online teaching practices need a comprehensive view of the pedagogy of online education that integrates technology to support teaching and learning (Carrillo & Flores, 2020). More specific, teaching presence depends on pedagogy, learning design, and facilitation practices; cognitive presence requires experience, action, contextualization, and conceptualization; social presence is related to interaction, participation, and belongingness. Interestingly, one study focusing on the barriers preventing the integration of educational technology into education suggested the exploration of gamification beyond primary schools also for secondary and higher education (Christopoulos & Sprangers, 2021). This trend was also observed in dental education through the adoption of serious games to improve online learning (Sipiyaruk et al., 2021).