Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Realities in Education

This book describes the current state of the art of various types of immersive learning: in research, in practice, and in the marketplace. It discusses advanced approaches in the design and development for various forms of immersive learning environments, and also the emerging innovations in assessment and research in the field. In addition, it demonstrates the opportunities and challenges in implementing advances in VR and immersion at scale in formal and informal learning.

We are living in a time of rapid advances in terms of both the capabilities and the cost of virtual reality, multi-user virtual environments, and various forms of mixed reality. These new media potentially offer extraordinary opportunities for enhancing both motivation and learning across a range of subject areas, student developmental levels, and educational settings. With the development of practical and affordable virtual reality and mixed reality, people now have the chance to experience immersive learning both in classrooms and informally in homes, libraries, and community centers.

The book appeals to a broad readership including teachers, administrators, scholars, policy makers, instructional designers, evaluators and industry leaders.

Dejian Liu is the founder of NetDragon Websoft Holding Ltd., one of the most successful online gaming companies in China. In 2015, he was awarded the Special Allowance Expert in China's State Council. In 2010, he founded Huayu Education, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NetDragon. Huayu integrates worldwide cutting-edge education resources with leading mobile internet technology. Huayu specializes in K-12 and life-long education for learners all over the world. Huayu Education recently earned a Smart Media Award from Academics' Choice for producing a top-quality product, 101 Education, which improves teachers' experience in preparing lessons. He is certified as a senior engineer by the China Association of Science and Technology, the highest level of proficiency awarded. He is co-dean and chair of the Council for the Smart Learning Institute, an academic department at Beijing Normal University. In this capacity, he teaches a course on Virtual Reality Applications in Education, and he co-teaches a doctoral-student seminar on virtual reality and Visualization in Education. Mr. Liu graduated with a B.S. from the University of Kansas in 1995.

Chris Dede is the Timothy E. Wirth Professor in Learning Technologies at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. His interests include emerging technologies, policy, and leadership. From 2014-2015, he was a Visiting Expert at NSF, Directorate of Education and Human Resources. Chris has served as a member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Foundations of Educational and Psychological Assessment, a member of the U.S. Department of Education’s Expert Panel on Technology, and a member of the 2010 National Educational Technology Plan Technical Working Group. His books include: Scaling Up Success, Digital Teaching Platforms, and Teacher Learning in the Digital Age.

Ronghuai Huang is a professor at the Faculty of Education in Beijing Normal University , where educational technology is one of the National Key Subjects, and director of R&D Center for Knowledge Engineering, which is dedicated to syncretizing artificial intelligence and human learning. Prof. Huang has been engaged in the research on educational technology as well as knowledge engineering since 1997. He has been involved in over 60 projects, including those of key science and technology projects to be tackled in various national “Five-year Plans”.  He has published more than 160 academic papers and over 20 books. Prof. Huang is very active in academic organizations both at home and abroad. 

John Richards is founder and President of Consulting Services for Education, Inc.and Adjunct Faculty at the Harvard Graduate School of Education teaching Entrepreneurship in the Education Marketplace. He is a senior advisor to Closely Held Strategies (http://www.closelyheldstrategies.com/) providing premier mergers and acquisitions services, and on the Advisory Board of iCivics (https://www.icivics.org/).Over the years, John has served on boards for a variety of education groups including NECC; Cable in the Classroom; Software Information Industry Association , Education Market section; and the Association of Educational Publishers . John's projects have won him numerous awards including two Golden Lamps and several CODIE awards, as well as several EMMY nominations. He is a respected keynote speaker and is the author/editor of four books, over 90 articles, and has been responsible for the publication of over 1,000 educational products.