Learning Outcomes of Fifth and Sixth Graders in a Computer Course Using a Virtual Reality Website for Learning (Educational Journal ; Vol.48, No.1)

In recent years, the use of virtual reality (VR) in games and teaching has become increasingly popular. The boundless nature of the Web and the uniqueness of multimedia in VR greatly enhance peer interaction as well as the interaction between learners and virtual objects on Webpages.

Elementary schoolchildren’s habits of using Webpages depends upon the navigation interface design of the Webpages. Therefore, understanding the effectiveness of schoolchildren’s visual interaction with Webpages will help implement VR into Websites for schoolchildren.

The purpose of this experiment was to explore the learning outcomes of 60 Taiwanese fifth and sixth graders in a computer course using VR Webpages. The experiment involved students learning through the tasks set on the VR Web platform “CoSpaces EDU.” The differences in their learning outcomes on the “5C key competencies” (i.e., communication and coordination skills, teamwork capabilities, problem-solving skills, independent thinking capabilities, and creativity) before and after the experiment were compared.

Based on the results of expert assessment and students’ self-evaluation, paired-samples t test was conducted to compare the learning outcomes before and after implementing the VR teaching. Results show that the fifth and sixth graders were found to exhibit excellent 5C competencies after the experiment.