Background

UBC instructors are seeking an opportunity to deliver a technology solution for users from the educational community to build, explore, experiment and foster learning as collective teams using emerging media. The project makerspace offers activities for students in the Online Master of Education, Literacy Education program and students in the Master of Educational Technology (MET) program to engage in multiplayer and distributed collaboration time.

Objective

Collaboration opportunities with remote experts are sometimes restricted due to the limitations of current telecommunication systems. This VR makerspace will enable multiplayer collaborations on real-world challenges and will be used during synchronous and asynchronous class discussions to provoke ongoing inquiry.

Impact

The designers and developers were able to create a Virtual Reality environment that fosters a collaborative and educational atmosphere, thereby building upon existing pedagogy and providing a new classroom resource for virtual collaboration.

Format

VR, Open Environment, Unreal project, Simulation, Gamification, Experiential Learning, Customer Characters

The Team

Principal Investigators

• Dr. Melanie M. Wong, Assistant Professor, Emerging Technology Pedagogies, Department of Language and Literacy Education
• Dr. Keri Ewart, UBC Master of Educational Technology Lecturer

Student Team

• Sophia Yang, Project Lead, Developer (September 2023 – April 2024)
• Walker Rout, Developer (January 2024 – April 2024)
• Sinnie Choi, UX/UI Designer (September 2023 – April 2024)

Past Student Team

• Karan Anand, Developer (September 2023 – December 2023)