UAI Canvas: Empowering Teachers to Design Immersive VR Learning Games

Abstract

Context: Extended Reality technologies have been explored as tools that support the learning process, often through gamification or virtual environments that enable active learning through experimentation. But the content offered for students to experiment with can differ from what teachers need and there’s a lack of tools to support teachers in creating immersive interfaces for their classrooms. Objective: This work presents methods and materials so teachers outside the Computing area can design immersive virtual interfaces focused on content and learning objectives. As a material, we propose a UAI (Uniting, Authoring, and Immersion) Canvas for Educational Game Design. Method: We offered a workshop in which five basic education teachers participated in designing and documenting their games. Those teachers evaluated the Canvas, and their resulting projects were assessed by Computer experts. Furthermore, before the workshop, a Design expert evaluated the framework, and we applied a reverse engineering-like process. Results: The teachers used the Canvas to create a total of four projects of VR games, and reported how much they enjoyed using the framework during the design process. The evaluations were fundamental for the creation of the Canvas, and its descriptions may be helpful to other researchers. Conclusion: The results suggest that our Canvas can be a viable framework for teachers and technology professionals to co-design immersive games, with teachers having the main role in designing, while the technology professionals offered support and guidance when needed.