Assessment of immersive technologies and STEM focus in initial teacher training

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the integration of various Emerging Technologies in the field of Education, especially immersive technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). This research aims at assessing the perceived usefulness of these technologies by pre-service teachers at the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University of Granada, specifically in the STEM field, and how they evaluate their potential for integration into their future teaching practices. A mixed-methods approach was used, including a pre-questionnaire administered to the entire population (N=544) to describe the participants’ perceptions, followed by a post-test conducted with a subset (N=58) after having participated in a Complementary Training program focusing on the creation of immersive educational resources using the CoSpaces platform. The results revealed a high perceived utility of immersive technologies, highlighting their potential for enhancing teaching and learning in the STEM domain. However, challenges related to ease of integration and the lack of adequate training in the use of these technologies were identified. The importance of promoting teacher training and digital literacy to fully leverage the benefits of these emerging technologies in education is emphasized. Further research is suggested to delve into teacher training strategies and explore other educational contexts to expand the understanding of the implications and advantages of immersive technologies. © 2024, Ibero-American Association for Distance Higher Education (AIESAD). All rights reserved.