Integration wasn’t really that impactful, hence why I adopted the kit upon my arrival. I approach the digital curriculum integration through a scaffolded induction of the kit to enable positive adoption with academics, and student involvement. Full details in my blog post 'Virtual Reality wall', and additional information about the VR suites in my presentation 'Enabling positive Virtual Reality and immersive learning adoption: a journey of integrating VR walls'. My newer role is focused on the academic leadership of such technology in the healthcare context, and I will be making headway with immersive pedagogy. Details of this in my blog post 'Exploring a pedagogical rationale for VR and immersive learning' and 'What is Immersive Learning and VR?'. We don’t require headsets for such immersive experience, mostly non-interactive VR, but we have plans to purchase some for exploratory VR experiences. This is centered around a pilot with Oxford Medical Simulations - details in 'Trialling VR scenarios in the curriculum'.
These VR suites are new to me, and many of our academics and technicians who have varying degrees of digital capabilities using learning technologies. As well as keeping informed and updated on healthcare matters via lecturers, technicians and students that I work with on a daily basis, and the NHS and Higher Education England communications circulated by my Head. Therefore, I need to develop and update my expertise in VR and immersive learning. Moreover, I am not aware anyone in department has an active interest in such specialism, and the care of it, and I see this firmly sitting within my role to further our approaches. I established a small informal bi-monthly VR and immersive learning working group in July 2022, replacing and repurposing an existing reoccurring catch up with a learning designer. Later inviting a couple more learning designers from the central learning design team. To co-collaborate on developing our understanding and practice in this area and to disseminate our outcomes with the wider university. On 9th March 2023 I submitted a proposal to scope the possibility of converting this into a NTU Trent Institute for Learning and Teaching (TILT) practice and scholarship group that I hoped to chair, having previously co-chaired the TILT Flexible and Online Learning Group in 2020.
Another driving force in the creation of this group is that VR and immersive learning technical and scholarly practice is not well-supported at NTU. By way of building community and support, it aims to;
"Virtual Reality (VR) (including Extended Reality (XR) and Immersive Learning is a growing specialist area across HE. Therefore, this practice and scholarship special interest group aims to explore the potential, current practices and review related literature to develop expertise and support." NTU TILT
As I lead and progress this group, I hope to further refine our scholarship philosophy.
The group is particularly useful to those that design and/or support immersive learning. The group contains 34 members, excluding TILT administrators/coordinators and chair. The group first met on 7th September 2023. It includes a diverse range of roles and this is proving to be a successful and valuable group. Frequency and other roles are yet to be determined once group outputs are confirmed at the second meeting on 22nd November 2023. Regarding active and passive members. My stance is that some members may want to just be silent engagers e.g. passively keeping up to date with topics - we all do this and it is fine. Active members should only matter depending on what outputs/projects are agreed, and who does what etc, of which might not be for everyone.
Role, department and school representation, again excluding TILT administrators/coordinators and chair, numbers denote individuals:
I'll update this blog post as the group develops through my leadership.
Meeting agenda and summary:
- Meeting 1 agenda, 7th September 2023
- Welcome and aims of the group
- Member introductions (your role, reasons for joining, VR and immersive learning experience, and/or any requirements/challenges from your department
- Review and discussion of Terms of reference
- Group logistics (format, frequency, contributing, Teams space etc), growing membership
- What would we like the focus of the group to be? Discuss potential outputs
- Topics for future meetings and/or guest speakers and/or ideas for work for the group
- Short presentations introducing the current VR and immersive learning landscape across the sector, and what's happening at NTU
- REALM – A VR project for the School of Social Sciences. Bjorn Le Roux and David Roach, Flexible Learning Team, Nottingham Trent University
- Use of VR walls in the Institute of Health and Allied Professions. Daniel Scott-Purdy, Institute of Health and Allied Professions, Nottingham Trent University
- Lot's of interest, energy, opportunities and potential group focus ideas and outputs were discussed - to be confirmed in the next meeting on 22nd November
- Katalin Butt-Bethlendy - "Thanks again for setting up the group - it is a such an exciting and promising field!"
- Meeting 2 agenda, 22nd November 2023
- Pre-meeting preparation – review the group’s suggested outputs from meeting 1
- Group welcome
- Discuss and agree the suggested group output; development of a Thrive learning pathway
- Short presentations:
- David Jeckells, Learning & Teaching Technology Manager – widening access to creating H5P virtual tours (15 mins)
- Pamela Henderson, Senior Lecturer – sharing digital escape rooms idea (15 mins)
- Confirmed main output for this academic year to be the development of a Thrive learning pathway, and ways we can begin to flesh this out and divide roles
- Meeting 3 agenda, 25 January 2024
- Confirm the Thrive content pathway outline (circulated ahead of the meeting), and confirm role(s), contribution and required presence at sub-groups
- Meeting 4 agenda, 20 March 2024
- Member update on device management and streamlining some of the headset onboarding allowing single sign-on.
- Reviewed draft Thrive content pathway outline
- TILT VRIL presence at NTU TILT Annual Learning and Teaching Conference
- Member question - a session to focus on practically developing and incorporating VR in the classroom and assessment activities too
- Meeting 5 agenda, 20 June 2024
- TBC
EDIT:
In November 2023:
Me - "Hello Edward, Sharon and Jane, [University Executive Team]
I attended your live VC Q&A on 21 November 2023. Towards the end, you answered an audience question regarding NTU’s unique selling point. You had a brief discussion about immersive technology at your recent away day; what have NTU got that we could make more of etc, and what we could do as a university in this space to showcase etc.
I’d like to take the opportunity to make you aware of the brand-new TILT Virtual Reality and Immersive Learning practice and scholarship group – we first met in September. I established and chair this group by way of building community to address the lack of support available. It aims to explore the potential, current practices and review related literature to develop expertise and support.
As you continue to explore our immersive technology offer, this group can help you find out what is available and what great work is being done across NTU. As the chair of the group, I’d be happy to take and coordinate any questions and collect other information as required."
Jane McNeil, Pro Vice-Chancellor - "Thank you for reaching out and for taking the initiative to set up a TILT group. This is exactly what we hope TILT will achieve - supporting colleagues like you to create opportunities for exploration and innovation. It’s great news that you are leading this. I’d be very interested to hear about the work. Shall we meet up to discuss?"
Me - "Thank you Jane, yes that would be great. The group is very much in its early development stages having met twice now, but has clear outputs. Let me know your availability and we can discuss in further detail."
Michael Greenwell, Senior Lecturer – "Thanks Dan, appreciate your time and work."
