Real-time virtual reality co-creation: collective intelligence and consciousness for student engagement and focused attention within online communities
Hsin-Yun Wang, Jerry Chih‐Yuan Sun
Abstract
This study investigated student engagement and focused attention in three co-creation environments (a paper-based environment, the 2D Jamboard platform, and the CoSpaces virtual reality (VR) platform). The study utilized a quasi-experimental research design with a total of 66 tenth-grade students including 34 males (52%) and 32 females (48%) from two English classes at a public senior high school in northern Taiwan. To assess the effects of the environments, the classes were divided into a control group, experimental group A, and experimental group B, with a valid sample of N = 22 in each group. The results showed that the three co-creation environments were not significant causal factors of either the learners’ behavioral and cognitive engagement or their focused attention. However, co-creation in VR structure visualization indeed resulted in significant effects on emotional engagement due to its novel and immersive environment. For improved focused attention and engagement, especially in the behavioral and cognitive domains, the present study suggests that co-creation be implemented as a semester-long project to allow thorough discussion and idea synthesis and to avoid underestimation of the value and strength of co-creation tools.