Hall and Maughan Present 'VR Education: Fact vs. Fiction' at University of Alabama's Digitorium

On Sept. 13-14, Michael Hall, a classical studies Ph.D student, and Curtis Maughan, director of the World Languages Digital Humanities Studio, presented their joint work on virtual reality education and research at the annual Digitorium, an annual digital humanities conference held at the University of Alabama.

In their presentation, titled "VR Education: Fact vs. Fiction," Hall and Maughan shared their experiences with the pedagogical uses of VR, the development of curriculum featuring VR, and the research potentialities of VR-based work.  

Maughan discussed his background in game studies and his use of VR in classes such as "Humanities in the Metaverse," which had students participate in both Meta Quest 2 and desktop versions of virtual worlds. Hall detailed their work on the "VR Classroom," a service co-founded by Hall in fall 2022 that has been housed in the World Languages and Digital Humanities Studio and helps professors construct lesson plans around the unique offerings of VR headsets. The methodology and story behind the VR Classroom are the subject Michael Hall's upcoming book chapter in a volume being edited by Curtis Maughan, David Fredrick, and Linda Jones entitled: Game-Based Approaches to Computer-Assisted Language Learning (Equinox, forthcoming). 

Organized by DH Librarian Sara Whitver, the Digitorium is a critical conference within the SEC that brings researchers and scholars from around the world to create a community of practice and present the successes and open questions of their work for broader insight. Topics at the conference ranged from digital archives to interactive community documenting via Twine to digital mapping.

Learn more about the Digotorium at University of Alabama here!