Education Policy and Reform

Taking Charge of Technology.

LNT Perspectives. Rose, Osberg, & Hollander (1999).Avalable online at http://www.edc.org/LNT/news/Issue9/field1.htm

In this article, the authors describe the Virtual Reality Roving Vehicle project, which brought state-of-the-art virtual reality equipment into public schools. Although virtual reality technology holds great promise for blending tactile, auditory, and visual experiences into learning, our experience suggests that simply making high levels of technology available for classroom use will not necessarily improve education. Instead, we believe that these new technologies must be designed from inception with educational purposes in mind in order for educators and students to realize their full potential. And we suggest that educators can shape these future technologies to produce tools that will be better suited for teaching and learning.

Assessing Learning in VR: Towards Developing a Paradigm Virtual Reality in Roving Vehicles (VRRV) Project.

HITL Tech Report:TR-95-1-rose. Rose, H. (1995). (FH-hr-95-02) [RTF Document]

The question of how to assess VR is particularly significant because it exemplifies the broader, theoretical conflict between traditional and constructivist learning approaches. This report presents an example of how the VRRV Project is using VR in schools, and identifies significant factors for assessment. The issue of test reliability versus validity is addressed both in terms of general education, and specifically in using VR. The underlying psychological theories of information processing and constructivism and discussed in terms of developing a comprehensive paradigm to guide the application and research of VR. This discussion is followed by an overview of specific approaches for measuring learning in VR, along with hints and cautions about conducting educational assessment.

Taking Charge of Technology

By Howard Rose, M.Ed., Kimberley Osberg, Ph.D., and Ari Hollander, M.S.E. Imprint Interactive Technology LLC (former name of Firsthand Technology Inc.). Published in Leadership and the New Technologies Online Journal: Perspectives, Issue #9, May 1999.

Where do educational technologies come from? It is painfully obvious that educators and public school classrooms have not historically been the shapers of technology used for teaching and learning. Most of the technology we use in today's classroom has been conceived and shaped by the needs, values, skills, sense and attitudes of the military, scientific research and business automation. In this article, the authors describe the Virtual Reality Roving Vehicle project, which brought state-of-the-art virtual reality equipment into public schools. Although virtual reality technology holds great promise for blending tactile, auditory, and visual experiences into learning, our experience suggests that simply making high levels of technology available for classroom use will not necessarily improve education. Instead, we believe that these new technologies must be designed from inception with educational purposes in mind in order for educators and students to realize their full potential. And we suggest that educators can shape these future technologies to produce tools that will be better suited for teaching and learning.