Ethical Considerations of Virtual Reality in the College Classroom

Ethical Considerations of Virtual Reality in the College Classroom collects case studies that address both pedagogical and ethical foundations of extended reality tools in postsecondary learning environments across disciplines. With today's institutional programs and faculty leveraging cutting-edge virtual, augmented, and mixed reality opportunities to teach and promote achievement goals, it is imperative that new research into these technologies speaks directly to their challenges and affordances within broad academic settings. This book showcases real-world examples of faculty members who chronicle and develop their use of VR tools across learning contexts and student populations by creating their own digital experiences, adapting open-source tools, integrating commercial products, amplifying crucial course content, analyzing outcomes data, and more. Nontechnical readers will come away with a new understanding of key terms and concepts associated with virtual reality and essential heuristics for evaluating the ethical implications of immersive approaches.

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.

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