| Yhteenveto: | Virtual Reality is a growing technology not just in the general case, but especially within education. The post-COVID world demonstrated the need for remote access to resources, which can also inadvertently aid in distributing resources more effectively. Virtual Reality, as an immersive experience, may be a valid medium for remote learning. This study further investigates VRs ability to uphold presence and engagement on large scale distance learning. This study seeks to compare VRs ability to facilitate remote learning to methods involving video calls, which do not perform well in these metrics.
This study relies on data from 9 survey respondents and 3 interviews after experiencing a VR demo session simulating the first human colony of mars. This data was analyzed using a mixed methods approach
In the end, the demo session had mixed results on presence, engagement, and cultural competence with some trends emerging. On one hand, quantita-tive analysis yielded a statistically significant increase in self-presence pre and post demo. On the other hand, interviews unveiled several complex relations between the metrics, and contextualized findings related in the impact of VR on each variable.
Due to the low number of participants, further investigation is required to understand the full potential for VR to achieve presence, engagement, and cul-tural competence. That said, the results of this study serve to better understand the impact VR learning spaces have on presence, engagement, and cultural competence and fill some research gaps on the subject.
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