As a key professional competence of teachers, empathy involves whether teachers can stand in the student's position to pay attention, understand their behavior, and make reasonable judgment and explanation of it. Researchers have discovered that 360° virtual reality (360° VR), a relatively recent form of media, can be particularly powerful in…

With virtual reality (VR) tools becoming increasingly prevalent in K-12 schools today, educators now possess the means to transport students to digitally simulated times and places without ever leaving the classroom. However, current application of this experiential technology is in its nascent stage and subsequent research is often limited to…

Understanding blindness or imagining being blind can be challenging for individuals without visual impairments. One of the affordances of high-immersion virtual reality (VR) is its ability to build empathy and facilitate perspective-taking. VR can be potent when providing narrative, experience-laden education that exposes users to ideas and…

This study brings empathy to the centre of literacy practice by investigating children's augmented storying as it was related to empathetic encounters across the human and more-than-human worlds. The study applies sociomaterial theorising that defines empathy as relational and emergent across human-material-spatial-temporal assemblages. The…

Empathy is a key contributor to moral, pro-social behaviour and an important element of socio-emotional learning (SEL). Schools deliver SEL programmes during adolescence to develop a range of skills including empathy. As education becomes increasingly digital, more research is needed to understand the role digital technologies may play in…

The term "charismatic" refers to visually or empathetically appealing animals. They act as flagship species to garner interest and participation. This study explored the impact of charismatic animals featured in three virtual reality (VR) tours of an estuary system on youths' learning, connectedness to water (CTW), and tour perceptions.…

Getting to the strong home-school partnership students and families deserve requires teachers who are prepared to engage with caregivers human-to-human, not just teacher-to-caregiver. In this study, we analyzed survey responses, coaching transcripts, and pre- and post-coaching transcripts from 19 preservice teachers' (PSTs) simulated…

Purpose: The aim of the study was to explore aspects of learning in terms of gain in knowledge, confidence and empathy with immersive virtual reality (VR) from the patient perspective in undergraduate nursing students. Design/methodology/approach: A pilot study integrating immersive VR experiences during clinical courses was facilitated based on…

Worldwide, 50 million people live with dementia. There is a failure to identify best practices for teaching students to identify the common features of dementia and to determine effective ways to prevent behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia. The purpose of this quantitative quasi-experimental study was to examine whether exposure to a…

While virtual reality (VR) technology can provide students with first-hand and situational learning experiences, limited studies have integrated VR in a K-12 classroom, resulting in the lack of understanding of the benefits and challenges of VR use in classroom settings. To examine the impact of VR on student learning, this study employed a…

In an effort to create meaningful user experiences, instructional designers participate in continuous projection and reflection during design. Empathic design draws on instructional designers' sensitivity toward their learners as a reference for design. Empathic forecasting, or predictions about an emotional reaction to future events, is an…

Digital games are currently viewed, by many within the field of education, as a way to engage and motivate students, and to assist them in acquiring content knowledge and skills. Despite the growing interest in using digital games, including serious games, this is the first critical review of the literature on the effectiveness of digital…

"Social Europe Days" is a collaborative four-day international seminar held yearly near Brussels, Belgium, by a network of ten European universities from eight different countries. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the seminar had to be offered virtually and redesigned. The final design included synchronous and asynchronous activities,…

Spatial design as a discipline relies on the psychological construct of space. In the light of shortcomings and challenges faced by traditional approaches to spatial design learning, this paper investigates the role and value of Virtual Reality (VR) as a pedagogic vehicle. Based on understandings informed by action-research using VR with learners…

Equipping students with graduate attributes that ensure they are ready to work in complex health environments is highly important. Recently there has been increased use of simulation in health education to assist in the acquisition of graduate attributes, and to provide meaningful and authentic learning opportunities. The Deakin University…