Chapters authored
New Educational Challenges and Innovations: Students with Disability in Immersive Learning Environments
In today society, one of the most demanded challenges faced by the current educational system is the educational response to diversity in the various educational contexts. University lecturers are opening new lines of research focused on issues as social demand and current reality of produced new learning environments. The general aim of this study was to design learning environments using immersive virtual reality and evaluate improvements produced by this tool in relation to the difficulties show by the participants. From that point, an action plan was created to recreate school situations with a high degree of realism and interaction using IVRSystem. In this way, we want to obtain answers according to the dysfunctions of educational system to work with these students. This was done by a mixed design. On the one hand, a quasi-experimental methodology was used with a control group and an experimental group. On the other hand, direct and observation and applicative methodology made possible the development of educational intervention in immersive learning environments. The results obtained throughout these years have given a response to the initial problem-question raised: Can immersive virtual learning environments serve as a support tool for working disabilities of students, which have a visual learning style, such as students with autism spectrum disorders?
Part of the book: Virtual Learning
A Bibliometric Study on the Use of Virtual Reality (VR) as an Educational Tool for High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Children
The use of virtual reality (VR) as an educational tool for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) children is a research field that started some 20 years ago. ASD is associated with deficiencies in communication and social interaction, as well as restricted and repetitive behavioural patterns, according to the fifth edition of the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5). By using the ISI Web of Knowledge as the reference data basis, we perform a bibliometric study of the use of VR as an educational tool for high-functioning ASD children. By this study we can quantify, on the one hand, the up to day importance of the different types of VR applied to this field: immersive or non-immersive, as well as the use of human or agent avatars. On the other hand, we can also differentiate amongst those interventions that work on emotional and social competences. The analysis of periods of research scarce, research abundance and research trends provides a dynamic view of the strategies used in this field in the last 20 years and suggests future lines of research.
Part of the book: Contemporary Perspective on Child Psychology and Education