This document discusses the design and development of ViSTREET, a desktop virtual reality (VR) learning environment for teaching road safety to school children in Malaysia. The authors used established instructional design models and a recursive development process to develop ViSTREET. They drew on research about road safety education and consulted experts to define the content and interface design. Rapid prototyping allowed for iterative refinement based on expert and learner feedback. The resulting ViSTREET prototype simulates real road scenarios using VR to motivate learners and allow them to freely explore and interact with authentic problems. The authors conclude that instructional design frameworks are key to unlocking the educational potential of VR tools.

1. 2nd International Malaysian Educational Technology Convention (IMETC 2008) Unleashing the Potentials of Desktop Virtual Reality as an Educational Tool: A Look into the Design and Development Process of ViSTREET Kee Man Chuah and Chwen Jen Chen Faculty of Cognitive Sciences and Human Development Universiti Malaysia Sarawak www.unimas.my

2. Introduction ICT tools have been greatly used in the field of education. These tools aim to make learning efficient, effective and engaging (e3) to the learners Virtual Reality (VR) is among the more recent technologies to be introduced as educational tool. VR should be accepted not just because of its novelty but its vast potentials in facilitating learning.

3. Virtual Reality a user-computer interface that involves real-time simulation and interactions through multiple sensorial channels (Burdea & Coiffet, 2003) two main types: immersive and non-immersive VR (desktop VR) the much lower cost that it incurs as compared to immersive VR has made desktop VR the preferred choice in education

4. Desktop VR: Educational Values supports experiential learning supports active learning supports collaborative learning allows learners to gain more control on their learning process. allows teachers to act as facilitators not as knowledge transmitters. How to unleash these potentials?

5. Instructional Design and Development Models a theoretical foundation that can be transformed into methods of instruction based on research about what works in instructional settings. helps the designer to visualize the problem, to break it down into manageable units Many models available - ADDIE, John Keller’s ARCS and Gagné’s nine instructional events ID models for VR-based learning environments/tools?

6. The ViSTREET Project Virtual Simulated Traffic for Road Safety Education - desktop VR-based learning environment for teaching school children pedestrian road safety skills. aims to complement the current road safety curriculum in Malaysian schools Why VR? able to simulate real road scenarios allows the presentation of authentic problems for the learners to “interact” allows free exploration – motivate learners

7. ViSTREET – ID Framework The framework proposed by Chen, Toh and Wan (2004)

8. ViSTREET – Development Recursive, Reflective Design and Development (R2D2) model was used. The R2D2 model as proposed by Willis (1995) contains three important guidelines: recursive, non-linear design reflective design participatory design Three focal points: Define, Design and Development and Dissemination

9. ViSTREET – Development Define focus: review on available resources on road safety education in Malaysia and other countries Materials from MIROS and JKJR were obtained Development environment: flexible and proven VRML software programmes were selected. Rapid prototyping based on the chosen ID model. On-going review from experts (content, interface design, technical, etc) and target learners.

10. ViSTREET Prototype

11. ViSTREET Prototype

12. ViSTREET Prototype

13. Conclusions Highlights the feasibility of using the constructivist theoretical framework proposed by Chen, Toh and Wan (2004) as well as the R2D2 model. The guiding instructional design and development framework in the design of VR-based learning environments plays a major role in unleashing its vast potentials for educational purposes