Tag: BBC

  • Seeking Integrity in VR Educational Research 3: It keeps on happening

    Seeking Integrity in VR Educational Research 3: It keeps on happening

     

    It keeps on happening

    If I were you, by now, I’d be asking, “Heather, why are you doing this? Why are you stirring the pot? You claim to be pro-XR for education but you are reviving research from long ago just to pick on it. It’s old news.” 

    [To protect identity, I am PURPOSELY going to change some things by asking AI to rename and reword some of these statements.]

    Heather steps up the microphone and says “Within the past 3 weeks…

    New Journal

    We’ve seen the launch of the International Journal of Emerging and Disruptive Innovation in Education : VISIONARIUM

    Title proper: VISIONARIUM :

    Abbreviated key-title: Visionarium

    Other variant title: iJEDIE

    Other variant title: International journal of emerging and disruptive innovation in education

    Original alphabet of title: Basic roman

    Subject: Dewey : 371

    Subject: Education, teaching, training of special groups of persons. Special schools

    Corporate contributor: Lindenwood University.

    Publisher: [St. Charles Missouri]: Lindenwood University, 2023-

    Dates of publication: 2022- 9999

    Description: Began with: Volume 1, issue 1 (2023)

    Frequency: Three times a year

    Type of resource: Journal

    Language: English

    Country: United States

    Note: Volume 1, issue 1 (2023) (digitalcommons.lindenwood.edu viewed Aug. 8, 2023).

    Note: Volume 1, issue 1 (2023); title from cover image (digitalcommons.lindenwood.edu viewed Aug. 8, 2023).

    Medium: Online

    Indexed by: ROAD

    Journal summary: 

     

    The journal provides a diverse, interdisciplinary forum for the
    publication of original peer-reviewed scholarship, data, and research
    addressing intersections of education and technology. Education in all
    domains increasingly incorporates emerging technologies and their novel
    use in learning environments, such as current pedagogical explorations
    of gamification, mobile and adaptive learning, digital humanities,
    machine learning, blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and
    Immersive Realities    , to support innovative teaching methods and engaging
    learning experiences. With the rise of new educational platforms and
    metaverses, iJEDIE focuses on emerging trends in research to bridge the
    artificial divide between scholarship and innovative pedagogical
    applications. Submissions to iJEDIE will include, but are not limited
    to, the following themes of interest:

    • Emerging technology and pedagogical application in specific disciplines or learning environments
    • Issues and applications in secondary education
    • Issues and applications in post-secondary education
    • Application of education technology in enterprise, industry, and nonprofit environments

    I’m sorry, could you hit me over the head with the word application one more time?

    Published by Lindenwood University -a NOT regionally accredited
    institution, however, their Teacher education program (which this would
    appear to be under the auspices of) is CAEP accredited.  Unfortunately,
    it’s not a strong tie to claim that a particular university or
    institution’s reputation applies to the people within. It’s very
    possible (and I’ve seen it!) but it’s a weak link, IMO, as great
    researchers can be within poor institutions and vice versa.

    Interesting how the journal description looks like the panel it was derived from…

    “April 21, 2023, the Senior Editorial Board and organizing committee of the
    International Journal of Emerging and Disruptive Innovation in Education (iJEDIE)

    hosted a panel of speakers on Emerging Technologies and the Future of
    Education. The session invited researchers and practitioners from a wide
    range of fields, including Education Technology, Digital Humanities,
    Extended Reality (XR), Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, and
    more    . Speakers will discuss their recent research into how emerging
    technologies     may be used to disrupt, enhance, and/or revolutionize
    traditional approaches to education for the benefit of both teachers and
    learners.

    I italicized and/or bolded the similar wording between the panel and the journal.

    I don’t know about you, but I’m getting a very strong “applications” vibe here. Notice how application is contrasted to research. Hmm…can you say “chip on shoulder”?

    Speaking of the journal

    This is a quote from volume 1:

    “There is now clear evidence that virtual reality can greatly enhance academic performance and educational attainment for students in both academic and higher education institutions” (Rephrased via Microsoft AI).

    This sentence came from the end of a literature review section, which in fact, did NOT make this particular statement CLEAR with EVIDENCE. 

    Hello? Editors? A good editor would catch a claim like that NOT being substantiated in writing. You do plan to have editors in your edited journal, right?

    Gif from Jurassic Park with text: You do plan to have dinosaurs on your dinosaur tour, right?

    But wait there’s more

    No need to wait to read articles that contain this like of non-editing!  You can just read a special issue coming out next year that is dedicated to, ahem, utilization of XR. Membership in the parent organization is US$150/year.

    JAID special issue, sponsorted by AECT ($150/year membership):

    Journal of Applied Instructional Design (JAID)
    Special Issue: Designing Extended Reality (XR) for Authentic Learning

    Watch how the highlights are nearly all the same concept:

    For this special issue, we are interested in presenting current research in applied
    instructional design methods for utilizing VR, AR, MR, and other immersive
    technologies to foster authentic learning experiences. We are inviting articles that will
    provide readers with practical ideas, strategies, methods, and techniques on topics related
    to designing, implementing, and evaluating instruction using XR for authentic learning
    experiences.     Furthermore, we seek contributions that provide evidence about the efficacy
    of XR technologies, including the challenges encountered during their application in
    authentic settings. The articles should inform the study and practice of immersive
    learning in preschool, K-12, higher education, or work-based contexts. We invite
    scholar-practitioner perspectives as a means of disseminating and developing new ideas
    in instructional design. We aim to share expertise, success stories, and lessons learned
    from failure. 


    Everything old is new again

    Oh and do you think the PwC thing is old news?

    5 days ago on LinkedIn:

    Capture of recent post on Linked linking to a BBC article called Virtual Reality brings new vision to workplace training.

     

    and here is the luscious “4 times” quote! (If you’ve been reading along, you know this is the key phrase to look for.)

    Capture from BBC article with text: Staff learning via VR do so four times faster than if they are in a classroom, with note debunked. Also text: The report also found that employees were 1.5 times more focused in VR classes, with note: self-reported = garbage.


    And there there was this comment, saying “That study is gold”

    Screen capture of LI comment: That study is gold. I am using it in my dissertation researching the potential impact IVR learning platforms have on teaching presence! Thank you to PwC! Heather says the study has been debunked.



    It’s a report. It’s not research. It’s marketing. Say it with me “MAR-KET-TING”

    And the commenter is using it for their dissertation on “the potential impact of IVR learning platforms on teaching presence”?

    The PwC report did not measure presence, in any of the academically accepted ways, nor any of the man-on-the street ways. The word presence is in the report zero times.

    Summary

    Falling into the trap of thinking that just because it is published means that it’s fact-checked is false.

    Most of the volunteer reviewing jobs I’ve been on contain 2 reviewers and 1 editor. Rarely do I ever run into anyone else with an educational psychology research background that knows about research models that do not stand up to publishing scrutiny (methods like comparing non-comparable instructional methods or exposing learners to novelty effect). I know a source that ran a 91-93% acceptance rate on articles. Owch! That’s the “write your name at the top of the paper and you get an A” publication standard. Cringe!

    A person’s biases show up in their writing and editing– this happens to me just the same— no stones being thrown in glass houses here.

    But there has been an undercurrent that I’ve detected running for the past 3 years:

    1. Most folks are generally skeptical about learning in VR. It looks like a game.

    2. Pro-VR people realize that “published research” is a way of adding validity & gravitas to their pro-VR stance.

    3. Pro-VR people have been slipping pro-VR pieces of research into low publication standards sources and getting their overblown and hype statements like “staff learn 4x faster” flown right under radars.

    4. Pro-VR people sit back and say “The research proves it! Come and buy some VR for education!”

    This all happened in the past 3 weeks. August…August of 2023. Can you see way this Seeking Integrity series must continue?

    I just can’t face palm enough.

    Jean Luc Picard from Star Trek The Next Generation does a face palm.


    #VirtualReality #VR #XR #VRForLearning #Technology #Future #edtech #learning #education #InstructionalDesign #research #ComparisonResearch #Media #MediaForLearning #ImmersiveExperience #Design #ResearchIntegrity #publishing #review #editor #provr #journal #specialissue

    This blog post was updated on April 11, 2026 with an improved font.