Research Engagement through Virtual Immersive Tools for Learning (REVISIT Learning)

The 1938 British Empire Exhibition was a stunning display of architectural achievement and a reflection of the life and culture of Glasgow, the UK and the Commonwealth. The event was of huge international significance and continues to be relevant to the study of British social and industrial history and modernist architecture. In 2006, the British Empire Exhibition, Glasgow 1938 project (run by Glasgow School of Art's Digital Design Studio) produced a well-researched and constructed, photo-real, 3D model of the over 100 principal buildings and structures that comprised the Exhibition together with an accurate 3D map showing the relationship of the various buildings, road and pathways and water features, to the topography of Bellahouston Park. This project also created an archive of related cultural assets and video interviews recording opinions of experts in the fields of architecture and architectural history as well as the recollections of members of the public who attended the Exhibition in 1938.

The primary aims of this project, Research Engagement through Virtual Immersive Tools for Learning (REVISIT Learning) are to transform the results of The British Empire Exhibition, Glasgow 1938 into innovative learning tools which are specifically targeted to school-age learners in terms of both age and curriculum, to make these learning tools as widely accessible as possible, and to increase our understanding of the impact of immersive learning tools for teachers and learners through a pilot study. This is a brand new group of users who are highly appropriate to share in the genuinely eye-opening and exciting results from previous British Empire Exhibition research. Existing 3D and 2D digital objects will be highlighted and explored, specifically targeting relevant curriculum areas (including both history and technology) for classes of students who will have the opportunity to not only interactively engage with the learning tools at various pedagogically-robust levels, but to also produce and contribute their own creative responses to the learning tools. This learning methodology not only addresses key curriculum areas (e.g. emphasis on technology skills development) but provides (and, crucially, tests) a creative, non-didactic mode of engaging young learners with 3D research data.

Project activities will build on ongoing collaboration with a selection of schools and teachers in order to define the areas of most relevance and educational need. The project outputs are intended to not only fulfil a defined need in education (that is, the creation of 3D immersive learning environments that meaningfully and appropriately engage young learners) but to inspire further learning activities in creative response to the research findings being communicated.

REVISIT Learning has a number of major outcomes, with strong implications for pedagogy, cultural interpretation, and creative engagement. The learning tools will not only extend the value and learning opportunities of the original AHRC-funded research to a brand new audience, they will do so in a way that is directly relevant to, and satisfies a clearly expressed need from, the schools. The 3D immersive tools provide teachers and learners with ongoing, free, public access to these learning opportunities - and, importantly, the tools will be editable so can easily be adapted to satisfy the learning outcomes of different age groups and subjects. Adding creative learning activities also allows educators to themselves have a much more creative approach, offering opportunities for school-wide project-based learning and collaboration between different classes of students. The free provision of learning tools through an open, editable delivery system encourages a wide range of continuing uses and will help to embed the use of innovative 3D data-facilitated learning into educational policy and practice, and will also create impact for learners outside the school system.

REVISIT Learning will create significant benefits for a number of different stakeholders. The direct, immediate beneficiaries will be the teachers and students in our partner schools who will have the opportunity to co-design the learning objects during the project, experience them first-hand, and provide feedback for their improvement. Engagement with the learning tools is suitable for both single-user exploration (e.g. by teachers, parents, or individual students) but, more importantly, embeds the experience of the Exhibition firmly in the collective, discursive, social, creative environment of a guided lesson or workshop.

The focussed dissemination activities in the latter part of the project are actively designed to aid the embedding of the 3D immersive learning tools in the wider teaching community, expanding beyond individual schools to the wider educational community across the UK and beyond. Making the project outputs widely, freely available for at least 5 years after the project ends ensures longer-term access for any school, learner, or parent and publicising the project results through channels focussed specifically at teachers and learners will promote their widespread use (e.g. Open Educational Resource websites such as TES Connect, Jorum, and STEMNET, and education and learning technology conferences and exhibitions such as the Association for Learning Technology, British Education Research Association, and/or British Educational Training and Technology conferences). The tools will be available globally, however our dissemination efforts will focus on resources and events aimed specifically at UK teachers and learners, as this is considered to be the project's primary audience.

This activity will be reinforced by the results of the evaluation study. This proposal does not aim to provide rich, immersive learning tools and simply expect them to be successful. The learning methodology will be rigorously evaluated as part of REVISIT's core activity, with early results incorporated as improvements into the learning tools before final release. This activity provides a strong evidence base for the value of our chosen approach in terms of engagement, enjoyment, and efficacy of the learning activities. These results will contribute significantly to understanding of the impact of immersive learning tools, and will either validate the project's approach as robust or identify areas for improvement in delivery of 3D research materials in a school context, at both specific and policy levels. This project outcome will have specific impact in educational research within Higher Education but also on understanding of technology and learning methodologies at all levels (e.g. primary schools, secondary, FE, and lifelong learning). It also provides a firm evidence base on which future designers of learning tools incorporating 3D models and/or co-creation activities can build.

Of course, REVISIT Learning will also increase awareness and use of the original research project website, itself a powerful digital resource for igniting interest in and exploration of the fascinating material related to the British Empire Exhibition of 1938 (http://www.empireexhibition.com/). This resource benefits a wide variety of communities from local history enthusiasts to international scholars of urban exhibitions and, more widely, architecture, history, and social sciences. In addition to increased use of the original project website, we also anticipate an increase in visitors to the permanent exhibition for the Empire Exhibition 1938, at the popular tourist site House for an Art Lover (HAL) on the original site of the exhibition in Glasgow. By using appropriate outreach (e.g. Tourist Office, Doors Open Day, GSA and HAL publicity, and our existing relationships with print and broadcast media organisations) this will reach beyond members of the public with a specific interest in the Exhibition or Glasgow's history and into general tourism.