Creating Virtual Reality Artefacts to Enhance and Transform Digital Learning

Virtual reality provides users with an immersive environment in which to experience new or imaginary worlds. This paper shares research results of the TalkTech project, an ongoing investigation of how students learn about and with new technologies as members of international teams. In the TalkTech 2017 project, students from universities in the United State and Romania worked together to create, share, and discuss applications of virtual reality. The project required them to visit and research a location or topic, develop and animate a VR experience, and communicate and share their results with their international team members. This paper provides an analysis of the TalkTech 2017 project guided by the SAMR (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition) framework, as a pedagogy to promote digital learning by creating VR artefacts and demonstrating technology skills. The paper also presents the SAMR framework as applied to the TalkTech project, as a model for creating learning projects across other disciplines.