Understanding students’ learning of technology through interaction supported by virtual reality

Abstract

Given the profound influence that technology has on society, shaping our behaviours, conversations, and decisions, it is essential to understand its development and nature. Obtaining a complete understanding of technology requires us to explore both the nature of technology and its historical aspects. This study examines how using supportive images in a virtual reality (VR) learning environment, combined with verbal interactions, supports students aged eight and nine in developing an understanding of the nature of technology.

Data were collected during an ordinary technology teaching activity and the analysis highlighted that these students, through interactions and VR images, demonstrated knowledge of all dimensions of technology, as described by DiGironimo (2011). The analysis of the findings indicated that the students’ knowledge could be categorized, but there seemed to be more complexity in their utterances than DiGironimo’s model could capture. Additionally, I employed a discursive analysis to achieve a deeper comprehension of the students’ perceptions of the history of technology. Here, the findings indicate that VR images can promote students’ interaction related to the history of technology, which often leads to exploratory conversations.

The findings have the potential to support teachers in planning and conducting technology activities in primary schools, where images and verbal interactions could provide decisive support for developing an understanding of the nature of technology, especially the historical dimension of technology.