Immersive Environment /= Immersive Learning Experience

Often, the concept of immersive learning is described almost synonymously with the environment in which the learning takes place. That is, the setting establishes immersive learning through technologies like 3D virtual worlds or augmented reality.

There are components of a virtual world, for example, that support immersion in the world (like identifying with your avatar). However, the immersive learning environment itself does not guarantee an immersive learning experience for your target audience. There is more to immersive learning than simply graphical treatments. A virtual world does not inherently achieve a sense for the learner of being drawn into the setting where he/she feels completely present and absorbed by it. A learner is not going to feel immersed in the environment without knowing what to do and where to go in a space, without understanding the purpose of being there, and without becoming adept at navigating throughout the environment. The result when obstacles like these are not addressed is cognitive overhead that interferes with the sense of immersion, and learners are never able to really feel present in the setting to sufficiently practice new skills in an authentic context.

For a learning experience to be truly immersive, we as designers need to create not only the environment but more importantly, we need to establish a holistic experience that helps our learners achieve a state of flow. We need to help learners see the value in the goal of the exercise. We need to eliminate extraneous bells and whistles that do not support either the learning goals or the sense of immersion. We need to design interfaces that are transparent to users. We need to structure activities that support the learning goals. If we have not designed with that (and more) in mind, we are not fully utilizing the capabilities of the virtual environment, and we are certainly not establishing an immersive learning environment.

Immersive learning environments have much less to do with technology than they do design. In my next posts, I’d like to explore the concept of an immersive learning environment that does not rely on technology at all, and what elements of design support immersive learning. In the meantime, share your thoughts on this topic!