Designing for Successful Educational Experiences in Virtual Reality Environments

Virtual Reality (VR) and immersive instruction hold great promise to alter instruction for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Yet, the voices of the direct users (e.g., the teachers and students) are often underutilized or not at all utilized in the creation of educational applications, particularly in the field of VR. The purpose of this study was to understand how teachers and students understand the design elements of future VR educational environments. We conducted interviews with middle school teachers of students with ASD and middle school students with ASD to understand the varying preferences of features and functions as future users of VR in their classrooms. Data analysis revealed three primary themes, engagement, motivation, and navigation, were crucial regarding the design and experience of virtual environments for the participants. Overall, we conclude and discuss that aligning the design of educational technology experience with the perspectives of direct users and aligning with elements of a research-based framework of UDL seems to offer great promise to improving future virtual experiences and student outcomes.