Learning the Virtual, Learning Virtually (LVLV)

Description

The session addresses the theme of "teaching future" by presenting a recent funded research project Learning, the Virtual, Learning Virtually (LVLV). In the early years of the Bauhaus movement, it suggested a series of radical experimental in art and design thinking. Our session, following the footpath from this early year of Bauhaus, presents how technological transformation disrupted the way we practice our design subject matter. The session highlighted the outcome from the project: "if teaching the future has to be started from today, a students led initiative must be part of any pedagogic research project to have them sustain any radical approach to revolutionise our future curriculum researching".

Takeaway

The session will give the audience an opportunity to learn how students and staffs are co-creating Virtual Reality teaching and learning environment through a series of collaborative workshops. When it comes to using emerging technology in teaching and learning, we will share how we frame our research question, setting objectives and our approach of using this technology. Every radical change has its cost, we will present at what cost we have paid, what problems we have encountered and how we resolve them together. Audience will learn how VR technology is used in the research project to transform the process of spatial design and how this technology has disrupting the practice of the design thinking and its product. We will also present our speculation of the future in spatial design education.

Abstract

The Bauhaus Movement which started in 1919 is still highly influential today as it changed people's minds about what art was supposed to be. The movement encouraged a new way of teaching art which involved people working together to make everyday objects such as furniture, textiles and even buildings. The most significant impact was its experimental approaches to express their belief and explored radical ways of doing things.

The paper presents findings from a research project Learning the Virtual and Learning Virtually: The co-exploration of learning and teaching with and for Virtual Reality (VR) technology for curriculum development in Interior and Spatial Design.

Part 1 - Learning the Virtual: is a speculative question to explore with students the teaching and learning of complex digital technologies like Virtual Reality and how has it disrupted the way we practice spatial design. In a complex and rapidly changing field that requires a collaborative and shared approach to continue learn and adopt new design technology. Learning the Virtual provides participants a chance to be proactive, connected and curious in exploring this for consideration as part of current curriculum development and revalidation. What spaces do we need? What methods can best engage teams in effective learning and teaching of this field of spatial practice?

Part 2 - Virtual Learning: is to begin to explore how immersive tools like VR offer opportunities as a collaborative learning tool across local college sites and wider networked spaces. Can Virtual Reality offer us possibilities for online/remote collaborative teaching, learning and design in our spatial design programme? Can immersive technologies contribute to a future toolkit for online learning?

In the project, tutors and students engage their interaction by using VR as a platform to deliver design outcomes, nurturing collaborative design and offering its education without geographical limitation (e.g. the actual physical building or place). The presentation presents an exciting speculative outcome with our students when using VR its multiusers environment will change the way we educate, learn and share in spatial design education. But our presentation also includes a critical evaluation in this project by answering the following question when the use of VR is not trying to simulate our physical experience, what could be the potential and the future of the mediated presence between tutors and students in this unknown environment? How could this affect our physical pedagogy interaction, also what are the concerns which tutors, and students have discovered in this project?