| Abstrakt: |
This paper presents conceptual reflexions and technological recommendations for the development of virtual environments (VE) in the context of collaborative and experience-based learning. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for remote collaborative virtual reality environments (VRE) in the educational sector significantly raised, therefore the ongoing research and development efforts increased especially on VRE for student learning groups. Hence, we reflect on social presence as a key factor for the design of virtual laboratories to support experience-based learning in groups. The concept of social presence is an important factor for trust in remote teams as a basis for meaningful experiences in learning labs. In this context, we develop conceptual structure to design a VR-Lab by following three steps. First, discussing theoretical and empirical findings on social presence with respect to learning processes and group work. Concerning these findings, we explore the relevance of design components for social presence in VRE. Second, we derive an analysis grid of components and their dimensions of design concepts for social presence in VRE. Additionally, we rate their potential to support collaborative and experience-based learning. Third, based on the evolved analytical framework we discuss existing technological concepts, prototypes and use cases to implement collaborative VRE with regards to their effect on social presence within learning processes. Summarizing all these findings leads to a set of conceptual recommendations for the design and realization of a VR-Lab for learning groups with a focus on social presence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
