XR Projects and Use Cases - Teaching and Learning Services

Integrating XR into your Course
1. Considerations for XR Projects
Potential XR Projects
Innovation Fellowships
Resources
Book a Consultation
Teaching and Learning Support

Many educators are now exploring how to use Extended Reality (XR) technologies in their courses to support teaching and learning. Recent research has shown that immersive learning enhances student engagement and supports a range of benefits to learners, including practical skill acquisition and improved knowledge retention (EDUCAUSE 2019). Yet creating XR educational projects is complex and can be a daunting task.

Integrating XR into your Course

Instructors with an existing background in XR development may prefer to create XR experiences using programming platforms like Unity, Unreal Engine, or a web development platform like WebXR. For those who are new to XR technology or interested in shortening the development period, consider adopting an existing no-coding eLearning tool like EON-XR.

Considerations for XR Projects

Regardless of which route you choose, every XR project involves considering the interactions between users and the XR environment, and how these interactions can be designed to align with the course learning outcomes. Other considerations, such as accessibility or socialization should also be made in alignment with desired course outcomes and accessibility practices. The main considerations for any XR projects are:

Creation Platforms to create the XR experience.
Media assets such as 3D models, 360 images or video, spatial sounds, etc.
Hardware Platforms/Equipment for accessing the XR project (desktop PCs or Macs; ipad; VR headsets; etc).
Accessibility Considerations to ensure that the XR experience falls within XR accessibility best practices.

For more information on accessing these resources, please the Resources sections.

Potential XR Projects

XR has extensive potential applications in education. Some common uses of XR for education include:

Virtual Field Trips

One of the benefits of immersive media is that it allows learners to experience environments that are distant, restricted, or otherwise inaccessible. Take a series of 360 photographs of a real location. Then connect them, annotating the environments as needed, so an end user can navigate the environment. This style of project can also be used for conducting virtual orientations of a space, such as a museum gallery walkthrough or chemistry lab orientation.

Immersive Conversation

Sometimes learning is enhanced when it happens in an appropriate environment. Ask your students to develop and present a conversational scenario in Virtual Reality to practice their language skills. Construct or find a 3D environment that is appropriate for them to practice their conversation.

Ideation in Virtual Reality

Sometimes design solutions look great on paper but don’t work out in reality. One way to overcome this challenge is to take the solution directly to the space itself. Using a collaborative 3D sketching platform like Gravity Sketch, have design project participants engage in a virtual ideation session. Participants can work out their ideas by sketching in actual 3-dimensional spaces.

Real World Enhancement

While Virtual Reality can transport you to other places, Augmented Reality has the potential to transform the world around you. Consider engaging with and enhancing a specific site by creating an AR installation or writing project.

Order of Operations

Have a complicated piece of equipment or a process that must be performed in a particular sequence? Produce a 3D scan of the equipment or process (or find an existing model online using an asset library like Sketchfab or CG Trader) and have the user practice the steps required to perform the activity in sequence.

Encyclopedia Entry

Extended Reality offers numerous opportunities to rethink the format of written assignments. One example of this is an encyclopedia entry project. Have a student create an XR encyclopedia entry for a place, object, or concept. Once a topic has been identified the student must then select an asset that they arrange and annotate.

Innovation Fellowships

The Future Learning Innovation Fellowship program supports faculty members and instructors in the exploration and implementation of new and innovative teaching and learning practices. The Future Learning Innovation Fellowships are dedicated to innovation in teaching and learning, including incorporating XR, AI and other technologies into teaching. The fellowship provides recipients with a stipend and resources to develop and pilot new ideas and tools as well as opportunities for professional development and community building. This years recipients include Instructors who will be leveraging the power of VR at Carleton to create Immersive and Experiential Learning experiences.

The Experiential Learning Hub is proud to support fellowship recipients working in the areas of immersive technology, XR, and innovative digital media production, including the production of The Place of Sound in the Creation Suites.

Resources

Interested in creating an XR project, but not sure where to start? XR projects require Platforms, 3D Assets and XR Equipment. The Experiential Learning Hub has a number of resources that students and instructors may take advantage of.

Creation Platforms

EON-XR: TLS’s latest eLearning platform, EON is a cross-platform no-coding required and cloud-based system for creating and hosting experiences in Augmented or Virtual Reality. It has a low learning curve and supports annotation of 360 images and 3D models.

Swift Playgrounds: A no-coding iPad-based app for learning Apple’s Swift language. Swift Playgrounds can be used for Augmented Reality app development and testing and is currently installed in the Experiential Learning Hub’s iPad Pros.

Unity: A game engine that is available on a variety of platforms, including Windows and Macintosh devices. Unity is free for educators, students, and hobbyists to download and use. It is installed on the computers in the Experiential Learning Hub’s Creation Suites.

Unreal Engine: A game engine that is available on a variety of platforms, including Windows and Macintosh devices. Unreal Engine is known for its ability to handle photoreal graphics. Unreal Engine is free for educators, students, and hobbyists to download and use. It is installed on the computers in the Experiential Learning Hub’s Creation Suites.

Asset Libraries

Library Name	Assets included in Library
CGTrader	3D models
EON-XR	3D models; 360 images
Sketchfab	3D models
Unity Asset Store	2D and 3D models; game assets; sound effects; special effects; etc
Unreal Engine Marketplace	2D and 3D models; game assets; sound effects, etc

Equipment

In addition to equipment available on site in our Creation Suites, the Experiential Learning Hub offers equipment loan services via CTS. Visit the Learning Spaces equipment page to find out more about the equipment offered by CTS.

Book a Consultation

Book a consultation with the Experiential Learning Hub via the TLS Support Portal.

Teaching and Learning Support

Office Hours: Monday to Friday, 8:30-4:30
Educational technology support: Visit the TLS Support Portal to enter a tech support request, or fill out the course consultation request form
Course design or pedagogical support: Contact tls@carleton.ca

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