Ethical Considerations of Virtual Reality in the College Classroom

Melody Bowdon is Professor and Director of Graduate Programs in the Department of Writing and Rhetoric at the University of Central Florida, USA.Kevin Yee is Director of the Faculty Center for Teaching & Learning at the University of Central Florida, USA.William Dorner is XML Developer/Analyst and former Instructional Specialist at the University of Central Florida, USA.

“Ethical Virtual Reality in the College Classroom represents an impressive global cohort of scholar-teachers who share detailed case studies of the ethical implementation of extended reality in diverse pedagogical contexts. Melody A. Bowdon, Kevin Yee, and William Dorner skillfully assemble a range of disciplinary perspectives, from biology, psychology, and medical education to humanities and social work, all designed to powerfully document the relative affordances of virtual, augmented, and mixed reality. Each contributor foregrounds numerous ethical dimensions, specifically accessibility and neuroinclusiveness, privacy, representation, and scalability, all while stressing an important balance between student and instructor needs. In aggregate, the chapters deploy an engaging set of heuristics for interdisciplinary audiences that address learning outcomes, expectations for student achievement, instructor learning curve, and practical strategies for curricular feasibility and sustainability. Regardless of approach, the takeaway from this innovative collection is to promote an ethic of care in implementing extended reality experiences that privilege both student learning and student well-being, along with hyper-awareness of the intended and unintended consequences of immersive technology in the classroom. In this way, the collection is an ambitious yet responsible and socially just introduction to the brave new world of virtual reality for college-level educators.” —Kristine L. Blair, Dean of Liberal Arts in the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts at Duquesne University, USA

• Section One: Introduction 1. Exploring the Intersection of Pedagogy and Ethics in the use of VR/XR in Higher Education 2. Extended Reality, Pedagogy, and the Ethics of Embodiment Section Two: The Case Studies 3. Teaching Conscientious Design: How Learning VR Development Can Lead to Greater Understanding of Sustainability 4. Virtual Reality Technology in Norwegian Teacher Education: Creating an Innovative Experience or Another Academic Elite? 5. Technology Sunset, Can We Pivot? by Eileen Grodziak, Kathleen Morgan, and Amy Kuntz 6. Building Student Capacity and Disciplinary Identity in an Immersive Media Course at a Small Liberal Arts College 7. Enacting Equity and Ethics through VR in the Public Speaking Classroom: The Virtual Martin Luther King Project 8. Using Virtual Reality to Immerse Students in the Middle Passage: Ethics, Challenges, and Benefits 9. Virtual Perception and the Accessible Implementation of VR/AR Technology in Psychology Education 10. A Virtual Reality App Created with CoSpaces: Student Perceptions and Attitudes 11. Access and Opportunity: Removing Barriers to a Discipline through Virtual Field Work 12. Conemaugh River Immersive Experience: A 360° Virtual Biology Field Trip 13. Pros, Cons, and Considerations of Implementing Live Virtual Reality in Medical Education 14. Digital Dinosaurs: Bringing Dinosaurs Back to Life with VR/AR in the College Classroom 15. Ethical Considerations in Using Virtual Reality to Support Competency-Based Education in Social Work 16. Mission, Morals and the Metaverse: How Morehouse College is Transforming Undergraduate Education in the Sciences and Humanities with Virtual Reality Section Three: Further Explorations 17. Boundaries, Informed Consent, and Learning 18. Post-Qualitative Virtuality: Assembling Reality as New Material for Teaching and Learning by Eleanor Dare 19. Ethical, Moral, and Philosophical Challenges of Creating and Evaluating the Impact of Virtual Reality Experiences