Exploring a Multi-Device Immersive Learning Environment

Though virtual reality has been used for more than one decade to support learning, technology is now mature and cheap enough, and students have the required digital fluency to reach real settings. Immersive technologies have also demonstrated that they not only are engaging, but they can also reinforce learning and improve memory. This work presents a preliminary study on the advantages of using an immersive experience to help young students understand genetic editing techniques. We have relied upon the CHIC Immersive Bubble Chart, a VR (Virtual Reality) multi-device visualization of the most relevant topics in the domain. We tested the CHIC Immersive Bubble Chart by asking a group of 29 students to explore the information space by interacting with two different devices: a desktop and a VR headset. The results show that they mainly preferred the VR headset finding it more engaging and useful. As a matter of fact, during the evaluation, the students kept exploring the space even after the assigned time slot.