Digital Food Marketing to Children and Adolescents: Problematic Practices and Policy Interventions

Examines trends in digital marketing to youth that uses "immersive" techniques, social media, behavioral profiling, location targeting and mobile marketing, and neuroscience methods. Recommends principles for regulating inappropriate advertising to youth

Innovating Pedagogy 2024

In this series of annual reports, we continue to explore new forms of teaching, learning, and assessment for an interactive world, to guide teachers and policy makers in productive innovation. This twelfth report proposes another ten innovations which are already in currency but have the potential to exert a greater influence on education. To produce the report, a group of academics at the Institute of Educational Technology at The Open University (UK) collaborated with researchers and practitioners from the LIVE Initiative at Vanderbilt University in the US. A wide range of pedagogical innovations were proposed by the authors and then, in a process of collective discussion of major themes and associated research, ten ideas were developed through multiple drafts and peer review, with reference to published studies and other sources from research and practice. This twelfth report covers: 1. Speculative worlds 2. Pedagogies of peace 3. Climate action pedagogy 4. Learning in conversation with generative AI  5. Talking AI ethics with young people 6. AI enhanced multimodal writing 7. Intelligent textbooks 8. Assessments through extended reality 9. Immersive language and culture 10. Exploring scientific models from the insid

A Youthful Metaverse: Towards Designing Safe, Equitable, and Emotionally Fulfilling Social Virtual Reality Spaces for Younger Users

Social virtual reality (VR) represents the modern rendition of the metaverse, this dissertation aims to fill the research gaps while highlighting trends of youth in VR. The scientific contributions of this research include 1) expanding the current HCI understanding of the social dynamics and the interactions of teens in emerging novel online digital spaces; 2) bridging two research areas that have not been widely studied in HCI, social VR and young users in social VR; and 3) generating design implications to inform the design of future social VR platforms to better support and protect teens’ online social experiences, results which may also apply to other emerging online socio-technical spaces such as augmented reality (AR) social interactions. In summary, this work presents one of the first empirical investigations into youth, immersive technology, and broader metaverse

Nordic Childhoods in the Digital Age

"This book adds to the international research literature on contemporary Nordic childhoods in the context of fast-evolving technologies. It draws on the workshop program of the Nordic Research Network on Digital Childhoods funded by the Joint Committee for Nordic research councils in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NOS-HS) during the years 2019–2021. Bringing together researchers from Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland, the book addresses pressing issues around children’s communication, learning and education in the digital age. The volume sheds light on cultural values, educational policies and conceptions of children and childhood, and child–media relationships inherent in Nordic societies. The book argues for the importance of understanding local cultures, values and communication practices that make up contemporary digital childhoods and extends current discourses on children’s screen time to bring in new insights about the nature of children’s digital engagement. This book will appeal to researchers, graduate students, educators and policy makers in the fields of childhood education, educational technology and communication.

Brief report: A pilot study of the use of a virtual reality headset in autism populations

The application of virtual reality technologies (VRTs) for users with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been studied for decades. However, a gap remains in our understanding surrounding VRT head-mounted displays (HMDs). As newly designed HMDs have become commercially available (in this study the Oculus Rift™) the need to investigate newer devices is immediate. This study explored willingness, acceptance, sense of presence and immersion of ASD participants. Results revealed that all 29 participants (mean age=32; 33% with IQ< 70) were willing to wear the HMD. The majority of the participants reported an enjoyable experience, high levels of ‘presence’, and were likely to use HMDs again. IQ was found to be independent of the willingness to use HMDs and related VRT immersion experience

Virtuaaliluokkaretki : virtuaalitodellisuusteknologian koulukäytön mahdollisuudet ja kokemukset

Tavoitteet. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena on tutkia virtuaalitodellisuusteknologian (VR) soveltamista osana ympäristöopin projektia kompleksisessa koulutodellisuudessa ja raportoida niin oppilaiden kuin opettajienkin kokemuksia ja havaintoja sen käytöstä. Tutkimuksen keskiössä ovat VR teknologian havaitut toiminnan mahdollisuudet ja käyttäjien kokemukset. Vastaavaa on tutkittu aiemmin lähinnä kliinisissä olosuhteissa. Menetelmät. Tutkimukseen osallistui kolme opettajaa ja 59 5.-6. luokkalaista oppilasta kahdesta eri koulusta. Osanottajat olivat vapaaehtoisia VISIOT-hankkeeseen osallistujia. Hanke on valtakunnallinen ponnistus kokeilla ja kehittää virtuaalitodellisuuteen-, lisättyyn todellisuuteen ja esineiden Internettiin liittyvien teknologioiden opetuskäyttöä. Hanketta koordinoi valtakunnallinen Innokas-verkosto. Tutkija ja kaksi opettajaa suunnittelivat yhteistyössä ja designtutkimuksen periaatteita noudattaen VR-teknologiaa soveltavan oppimisprojektin. Opettajat ottivat käyttöön VR-järjestelmän, joka koostui HTC Vive -laitteesta ja Google Earth VR -sovelluksesta. Aineiston keruu tapahtui pääasiassa verkkokyselyin projektin alussa, sen aikana ja projektin päätyttyä. Lisäksi tutkimuksessa mitattiin oppilaiden avaruudellista hahmotuskykyä, ja kuultiin opettajien havaintoja innovatiivisten verkkohaastatteluiden avulla. Pääsääntöisesti laadullista aineistoa analysoitiin sisällönanalyysin varassa teemoitellen aineistoa, ja analysoiden eroja ja yhtäläisyyksiä osanottajien kirjallisesti kuvaamissa kokemuksissa. Tutkimuksessa seurattiin kuinka opettajat keksivät soveltaa VR-järjestelmää osana ympäristöopin projektia. Projekti alkoi joulukuussa 2017 ja päättyi huhtikuussa 2018. Oppilaat arvioivat VR-järjestelmän käyttöä ja siihen liittyviä omia kokemuksiaan niin projektin aikana kuin sen päätyttyäkin. Tulokset ja johtopäätökset. Opettajat kohtasivat vaihtelevasti oppimisen orkestroinnin haasteita, teknisiä vaikeuksia, sekä tilallisen - ja ajallisen ulottuvuuden rajoitteita projektin aikana. Vaikutti siltä, että sovelletun VR järjestelmän sujuva käyttöönotto vaatisi olemassa olevien skriptien purkamista, sekä toisenlaisia ja jouhevia tilallisia, ajallisia ja pedagogisia ratkaisuja, kuin mihin kouluissa oltiin totuttu. Tästä huolimatta oppilaat omaksuivat VR teknologian käytön varsin nopeasti ja kokivat sen erittäin myönteisesti. VR järjestelmää käytettiin projektissa lähinnä motivoivana lisänä. Roolileikkien ja maapallon visuaalisesti tehostetun tutkimisen lisäksi VR järjestelmän havaitut toiminnan mahdollisuudet sisälsivät oppilaiden mielenkiinnon heräämistä, teknologian käytöstä nauttimista, todentuntuisuuden ja mielen uppoutumisen kokemuksia, sekä onnistumisen kokemuksia. Oppilaat pitivät VR laitetta erittäin mukavana ja VR ohjelmaa käyttäjäystävällisenä. Näytti siltä, että sovellettu VR järjestelmä ja sen käyttötavat projektin aikana vaikuttivat oppilaiden käsityksiin virtuaalitodellisuudesta. Tästä huolimatta oppilaat kykenivät kuvittelemaan monenlaisia virtuaalisia maailmoja, joissa haluaisivat vierailla ja opiskella. Tyypillisten kategorioiden lisäksi he kuvittelivat korkean fantasian maailmoja ja aikamatkustusta tulevaisuuteen. Yleisesti ottaen oppilaat vaikuttivat halukkailta jatkamaan VR teknologian käyttöä tulevissa opinnoissaan. Projektin jälkimittauksissa heidän itseraportoimansa minäpystyvyys ja osallistumisen into olivat korkeat. Poikien raportoima pystyvyys oli tilastollisesti merkittävästi tyttöjä korkeampi. Oppilaat pitivät VR ohjelman maailmaa luotettavana lähteenä lähinnä kokemusperäisesti; joko järjestelmän tuottaman todentuntuisuuden takia tai koska virtuaalimaailma vaikutti vastaavan täsmällisesti heidän kokemuksiaan fyysisestä maailmasta. Kaiken kaikkiaan vaikuttaisi siltä, että tutkimukseen osallistuneet 11-12 vuotiaat oppilaat ottaisivat VR teknologian mieluusti osaksi omaa oppimisympäristöään, toisaalta opettajat oikeutetustikin kokivat, että sovellettu VR järjestelmä olisi siihen vielä liian monimutkainen ja vaativa.The purpose of this study is to implement immersive virtual reality (VR) technology as part of an environmental studies project in the actual complex school reality and analyze both the students’ and their teachers’ experiences and observations on the use of VR in learning and teaching. This study focuses on the user experiences and affordances that the appliance of VR technology brings forth in education. There are but few earlier studies on similar topics, most of which have been conducted in clinical settings. Three teachers and 59 students, 5-6th graders, from two different Finnish elementary schools participated in this study. The participants were all volunteers and took part in a nationwide VISIOT-project, coordinated by a nationwide Innokas Network. Its main purpose was to provide opportunities for trying out and developing virtual reality, augmented reality and Internet of things -technologies in education. The three teachers in this study applied a VR system that consisted of HTC Vive -device and Google Earth VR -program. The different ways in which the teachers ended up implementing the VR system turned out to be an important research topic in this study. The project went on for over three months, spanning from December 2017 to April 2018. The students assessed the use of the VR system during and after the project. Their experiences became another key research area in this study. Data was gathered with online questionnaires, pre and post-surveys for students, a test of the students’ spatial reasoning abilities, and with a pre-survey and innovative post interviews for the teachers. This mostly qualitative data was analyzed with clustering content analysis, where I would find similarities and differences in the participants’ answers and place them in schematized categories. The teacher’s encountered technical, spatial and temporal challenges, as well as challenges in orchestrating the implementation of the VR system. It appeared that VR’s implementation in education demanded more innovative scripts and different spatial, temporal and pedagogical arrangements than the two studied schools were used to. Albeit, the students adapted to the use of VR technology rather quickly and had a very positive emotional experience with it. The VR system was mostly used as a motivational addition to learning. Besides the visually enhanced exploration of the Earth and tourist role-play, the VR system’s actualized affordances included enjoyment and interest, realism and mental immersion, and mastery experiences. Students found the device as very comfortable and the program as user-friendly. Their conception of virtual reality was evidently affected by the applied VR system and its uses during the virtual field trip project. Despite of this, the students were able to imagine diverse learning worlds for VR. In addition to typical categories, they imagined high fantasy worlds and time travelling to the future. By and large, the students appeared willing to use VR technology again in the future. Their post-survey measures for self-efficacy and interest to engage with the technology were relatively high. The self-reported self-efficacy of boys was statistically significantly higher than the girls corresponding. The students found the VR program to be a credible source mostly due to the virtual world’s realism or resemblance with their experiences of the real world. Altogether, VR technology appears to be something that these 11-12-year-old students would gladly include in their learning environment, on the other hand, the teachers rightfully felt that the implemented VR system was too complex and demanding for permanent inclusion

The Desert of the Unreal: Inequality in Virtual and Augmented Reality

The world we live in is structured by inequality: of gender, race, class, sexual orientation, disability, and more. Virtual and augmented reality technologies hold out the promise of a more perfect world, one that offers us more stimulation, more connection, more freedom, more equality than the real world. But for such technologies to be truly innovative, they must move us beyond our current limitations and prejudices. When existing inequalities are unacknowledged and unaddressed in the real world, they tend to be replicated and augmented in virtual realities. We make new worlds based on who we are and what we do in old ones. All of our worlds, virtual and physical, are the product of human choice and human creation. The developers of virtual and augmented reality make choices about which aspects of our lived history they want to replicate, enhance, or change. The design - and design flaws - of new virtual and augmented reality technologies should be critically evaluated to assess their likely impact on inequality and their consequences for legal and social policy

Literacy for digital futures : Mind, body, text

The unprecedented rate of global, technological, and societal change calls for a radical, new understanding of literacy. This book offers a nuanced framework for making sense of literacy by addressing knowledge as contextualised, embodied, multimodal, and digitally mediated. In today’s world of technological breakthroughs, social shifts, and rapid changes to the educational landscape, literacy can no longer be understood through established curriculum and static text structures. To prepare teachers, scholars, and researchers for the digital future, the book is organised around three themes – Mind and Materiality; Body and Senses; and Texts and Digital Semiotics – to shape readers’ understanding of literacy. Opening up new interdisciplinary themes, Mills, Unsworth, and Scholes confront emerging issues for next-generation digital literacy practices. The volume helps new and established researchers rethink dynamic changes in the materiality of texts and their implications for the mind and body, and features recommendations for educational and professional practice

An Exploration of the Role of Virtual Reality in Early Childhood: A Qualitative Study Focusing on Parents’ and Carers’ Perspectives

This study aims to investigate the potential role of virtual reality (VR) in the early childhood development (ages four to six) of Saudi children based on a qualitative approach: subjective data were collected by interviewing 20 parents or carers of Saudi children who use VR. Each child’s parents or carers were selected for the interview as a couple. A semi-structured interview was held with each mother, father or carer. Traditional views in Saudi Arabia were compared with those of Saudis living in the UK, which has a different culture. Participants reported some positive effects of VR on their children: they perceived it as a source of distraction from pain and fear, in some cases at the physiological level. Participants considered VR to be beneficial for developing cognitive and academic skills, self-awareness, self-confidence and empathy. VR also improved self-regulation at the emotional and behavioural levels, including attention control, working memory, impulse inhibition, waiting for one’s turn and task completion. However, participants also reported adverse effects, indicating specific health risks, false memories and addiction at the physiological level; reservations existed concerning inappropriate content at the cognitive level. Other undesirable effects attributed to VR included social isolation, inability to control emotional expression at the emotional and social levels and encouragement of anger at the behavioural level. These results indicate that VR is a viable choice for young children, though adult supervision is still required. However, they also offer a warning about the effects that may result from VR overuse or misuse. The study also showed a lack of meaningful content and variety in commercial VR games, and thus it would benefit from the participation of educators and specialists in developing design strategies. This project represents a novel preliminary approach for future research concerning the influence of VR on the essential aspects of early childhood development

XR, music and neurodiversity: design and application of new mixed reality technologies that facilitate musical intervention for children with autism spectrum conditions

This thesis, accompanied by the practice outputs,investigates sensory integration, social interaction and creativity through a newly developed VR-musical interface designed exclusively for children with a high-functioning autism spectrum condition (ASC).The results aim to contribute to the limited expanse of literature and research surrounding Virtual Reality (VR) musical interventions and Immersive Virtual Environments (IVEs) designed to support individuals with neurodevelopmental conditions. The author has developed bespoke hardware, software and a new methodology to conduct field investigations. These outputs include a Virtual Immersive Musical Reality Intervention (ViMRI) protocol, a Supplemental Personalised, immersive Musical Experience(SPiME) programme, the Assisted Real-time Three-dimensional Immersive Musical Intervention System’ (ARTIMIS) and a bespoke (and fully configurable) ‘Creative immersive interactive Musical Software’ application (CiiMS). The outputs are each implemented within a series of institutional investigations of 18 autistic child participants. Four groups are evaluated using newly developed virtual assessment and scoring mechanisms devised exclusively from long-established rating scales. Key quantitative indicators from the datasets demonstrate consistent findings and significant improvements for individual preferences (likes), fear reduction efficacy, and social interaction. Six individual case studies present positive qualitative results demonstrating improved decision-making and sensorimotor processing. The preliminary research trials further indicate that using this virtual-reality music technology system and newly developed protocols produces notable improvements for participants with an ASC. More significantly, there is evidence that the supplemental technology facilitates a reduction in psychological anxiety and improvements in dexterity. The virtual music composition and improvisation system presented here require further extensive testing in different spheres for proof of concept