LIES: Learning Immersive Experiences Significative

LIES: Experiencias significativas de aprendizaje inmersivo

LIES: Experiências significativas imersivas de aprendizagem

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Main skill required by engineers are their ability to face challenges, a task for which even they are not “trained”, must provide a solution. Their contractors expectation is they are able to solve “anything”. At first glance, it would indicate that they know everything about everything, but in practice, it means that they can face an unknown situation, understand it quickly and solve it succinctly.

Developing this capacity in engineering students implies, not only that they acquire a knowledge ―which will quickly expire―, but they will be able to face unknown situations, with few or without previous instructions, in such a way that they will get some stress, tension or creative disturbances, which take them out of their respective comfort zones and encourage them to embark on an adventure, to take risks and thus, to bring the task to a successful conclusion.

This methodology is presented as a novel proposal, designed especially for students of telecommunications engineering, as a process of pedagogical mediation. It is necessary to choose a basic theme, hunting, which consists of locating (or hunting) a source of interference through a triangulation. The concept is very simple, but it becomes an excellent excuse to generate a situation of educational immersion, using a technological development as support, both for the teacher, as the process facilitator, and for the student, as the protagonist of the action.

The LIES [Learning Immersive Experiences Significative] imply that the student must dive actively into the situation, with barely any previous instructions.

The authors define the following structure to parameterize the process of a LIES. It is necessary to find a rhythm, an educational flow that has a moment of contraction and another of expansion, in order to end up again contracted, like a breath or a wave. The objective, beyond an instruction or acquisition of knowledge, is a significant learning that helps to develop skills and achieve the learning appropriation, where the experience itself is an example of pedagogical mediation (Gutiérrez, 2002). The pedagogical, in this case, has a wide significance, of all kinds of “discipline” ―what is received from someone else― in disagreement to “invention” ―what is discovered by itself― (Dussel, 1980).

In Figure 1 you can see the analogy with a complete breathing. It starts with the inhalation and exhalation at the central moment, and then return to inhale.

Figure 1
Breathing model in LIES

There are two moments, the initial and the final, contraction, inspiration and concentration, where it is received, filled and trained. Meanwhile, in the central moment it is released, expanded, and dispersed, physically going to explore, it is the moment of expiration, where everything is given. It is a gradual process of contraction (preparation, receiving), expansion (exploration, delivery) and again contraction (appreciation, internalization).

LIES means lies, but it also means “leaning on”. That point of support is the task of pedagogical mediation, which in this case uses technology to facilitate the learning process, the above within an immersive activity.

A good pedagogical mediator (Gutiérrez 2002), can include the technological component or not, but must take into account all learning styles and stimulate the senses, which not only include sight, hear, touch, taste and smell, but also the sense of humor and surprise. According to Steiner (2011) the senses are twelve and include the thermal sense, the intellective, the equilibrium, the movement, the vital sense and the sense of the other self-empathy.

The power of give guidelines but not guide the process, help to stimulate intuition. The icons not only serve to give a faster reading and supra idiomatic, but also stimulate the human being’s ability to guess from a known key.

The act of closing the eyes for a moment encourages the entry of stimulus through other channels than sight. The challenges give the opportunity to the apprentice player to deduce contents and induce activities to be able to evolve within it. The players face situations where they must reflect in order to decide, but they must also act. It is essential to be active if they want to achieve any task due to things do not happen, they are made. They areconsidered the main actors, that is, the protagonists of the processes, instead of passive observers.

We live sequentially, one thing happens after another, but the chance of getting out of the conventional gaze immersed in the situation and the opportunity of taking a look from the outside help to locates us. The global or zenith look at some moment that occurs in the pauses when the self-assessment is done through the “circle of the word”, where we face other views, helps us to get out of our own limited vision. In Addition, during the course of an experience, the teacher calls, clarifies general concepts and gives an opening that invites to dare and explore. He also offers initial guides so that fear does not paralyze as well as the ability to receive new educational content, but especially to experience the wonder and happiness that learning brings.

It is about enhancing the less explored spheres of the human being, starting from the premise that we are different and we can develop our different development potentials. Hence, education can help the above find a balance and can be expanded.

Pedagogical mediation through astonishment, enigma, resonance, relevance and balance help to generate meaningful learning. It is important to note the interaction between the technological components andthe companions, who are the partners of the way.

Considering all the wireless technology as “prosthesis”, the use of new interfaces and user tools opens a new dimension to explore. The term points out the characteristic of cell phones to be one with the user, to be part of it, to accompany it everywhere. This device, as an essential appendix, generates empathy to become a powerful trigger for significant active learning processes.

The LIES refer to conditions to promote learning, that is, the appropriation of knowledge as an acquisition, as an achievement, as something that is done, instead of being received passively.

It is important to get out of everyday life and generate a space with different conditions that encourage the willingness to learn (Huizinga, 1949). The virtual environment generates a sacred space for learning that recalls sports fields, theaters or stages, leaving the everyday with its own rules, and a play space with special conditions, so the initials of LIES fits wonderfully for the case. An immersive experience like this one, stimulates the human being in all spheres.

The LIES have a rhythm. There is a spontaneous component of improvisation, but there is a formal background that determines iterations, such as breaths. There is a moment for expansion and another for introspection and recollection. Going out and in, this is a space to explore and a time for personal and group meetings. The appropriation of a new skill is not only about understanding a concept, but about experiencing complex situations that involve other human beings in equal conditions. Resources are shared and the goal is to belong to a group. Companionship is an important part of a learning process where the partner helps you, gives an opportunity to look at you, and to validate your own process. Between mirrors and friends, the participants promote an emotional immersion that sets milestones of evolution, and confirm the learning that becomes a consequence almost unnoticed. Empowerment occurs as gradually and naturally as growth, where the differences between a final and an initial state can be only appreciated over time, by comparison.

Resonance occurs between colleagues who share a circumstance, but it is also given by a specific discourse, by a sequence of situations that conspire, and therefore the discovery occurs. The use of many languages: verbal, visual, musical and, in general, experiential, increases the chances that resonance will occur.

The purpose of this test was: validate the intuitive use of the interface; impact the connectivity on the test since WiFi at the university is intermittent and does not have full coverage of the campus; and determine the level of stress in the apprentice user, which is not supported beyond the minimum initial instruction.

The validation was carried out with a heterogeneous mix of ten users: two engineers between 20 and 30 years old; a mathematician between 30 and 40 years old and a physicist over 40 years old; and six young people between 18 and 22 years old, all of them engineering students.

The work was done with an application developed for that purpose, the aforementioned Hunting (see Figure 2). The beginning of the application is very simple, after the “start” button, it shows a legend of: “Find the pirate and go for it” ... as a subtle invitation to action, which not all users capture. Some are reluctant to move and ask for permission. They fight with the answers of the interface that they cannot understand. Why is a noise generated when I move the cell phone in this way? Others take it as an active response to which they must follow. At the end of the whole experience is it clear that if they do not keep the right position of the cell phone, the compass would be lost. They are signals that indicate error, and an invitation to change, the above in the form of noise. This experimentation with other senses outside of the vision, was part of the perceptual development that the application intended, but in most cases it was not achieved, since it produced them annoyance and either silenced or despised it.

Figure 2
Hunting

The application requires that cell phones have GPS and at least one of these three sensors: digital compass, magnetic field sensor and orientation sensor. The Hunting application uses the accelerometer and the orientation sensor of the mobile device. The first one to know the position of the cell with respect to its center, and the second, to know the position of the cell with respect to the north of the earth, as well as to know where the device points. Differences in sensor sensitivity generate differences in performance and accuracy in location data.

Field Work

A smile appears on the faces of the participants when they achieve the task, without any exception... “Wow! Megascopic reality, it looks like Pokemon go ... only in the end I realized ...” “Should I leave to achieve it? Should I move? ... What should I do? ...” Requests for help, human redemptive contact is constant. They get tired of looking for what they do not find and decide to accept the task without help with a resigned expression (accompanied by a silent expert) ... But “martyrdom” is worth it, the confrontation with chaos and uncertainty are the challenge, that is, the skill to develop.

In the tests of autonomy,the need for support, guidance, advice, and clear guidelines are appreciated. The tests of Hunting are done in strict silence. They purposely “dived alone in the mud,” without aids or crutches. Just taking into account an initial instruction idea: “Download the application on your cell phone and do what it says”. Table 1 summarizes the behavior of each type of user.

Table 1
Answers according to the user profile

Although everyone did it and the experience could be described as satisfactory, some questions arise regarding an experience that is not understood, mainly when it has not been contextualized before. The goal is simple, the pirate is located, but the reason is not known. The methodology of the test included clarifying the content a posteriori. The cognitive content became explicit only there. Skills such as daring and confronting the unknown are left as implicitly achieved goals.

Some of the main achievements consisted to make the participants face the uncertainty, to accept a challenge without previous guides, without a manual, and with the exclusive mediation of the device and the graphic interface of the application.

It was “proven”, at least in the first moment, that the material is sufficiently clear to get users to familiarize themselves with the use of syntonic form, in a minimum time (approximately 5 minutes). Of course, given the small size of the sample, a larger scale validation is required, which generates more conclusive results.

The exposure to error and frustration were low enough to keep stress, but not to stop the process. This fact was appreciated with the negative reply to noise, as feedback. Some users simply turned it off, which demonstrated its empowerment with the tool. They also assumed themselves as protagonists and made decisions autonomously, without waiting for approval.

Although the duration of the activity will depend: on the geographical location with respect to the objective -the pirate that must physically located-, their speed to walk and their strategy -from where they shoot and whether or not they triangulate the location-, and the cellphone conditions of each one. In general, it does not take too long to complete the test, half an houron average.

The emotional answers are varied: some signals, especially those that indicate error can cause discomfort. Some people silence the interface so as not to be disturbed.

Although there is a goal to be achieved, since it is previously unknown, they are not sure when they have finished the test, therefore, it should be told. It remains with the possibility of continuing it, as a non-ending game. The final answer is not clear enough. So, it must be explicit from the beginning or include within the interface a message of “End” to avoid misunderstandings or extend the experience to other activities, as it remains in the hands of the user when he wants to stop.

As stated in Table 1, for students who are immersed in four walls, the first test consists on breaking the paradigm of the enclosure. Dare to leave, experiment and seek to solve without knowing what or how is the first barrier to break. Once this is achieved, the activity flows smoothly. It could include an introduction that softens the first brake or use this first reaction as a measure of the participants’autonomy. You can also measure or determine the leadership of some learners and how chain reactions occur within a group.

The quality of the cell phone represents a barrier since it does not run exactly on all computers. Each user is attracted to different things. For some people, the first impulse is to shoot without end, but they find useless a shot that does not destroy any objective. If you want to standardize the experience, you should use the same team for all or take into account this variation to mitigate the frustration for technical reasons, outside of the learning experience.

The concept of location from a triangulation, does not get understood intuitively. It must be explained at the end of the process, as a feedback. The experience gives them an understanding that does not materialize until they are explained. This can be an opportunity to experience alternative learning methodologies.

The requirement of the user mobilization to find the goal, becomes fun once they dare to do. Game users find the activity simple. The objective is achieved in different periods of time, but in general the technical factor is the most determinant.

Everyone achieved the goal and expressed satisfaction after overcoming the initial confusion, feeling lost, without clear guidelines and being thrown into a task where only the location of the application is given. One of the users did not fire once, while another fired indiscriminately. This observation may or may not be relevant, depending on the cognitive object you have.

The use of the line that is triggered is not clear within the application itself. Hence, it is only understood after the final explanation.

In general, it can be concluded that:

• If you know how to take advantage of the virtual world and implement them in an experiential experience, where the human is the most relevant, you can achieve an impact on the pedagogical process.

• Every day the instruments acquire better performance, which requires that we take into account the capabilitieshuman development, rather than the easily replaceable automatic skills.

• A well-structured pedagogical mediation can allow the frontiers of high-level education to be extended, using the technological potential, without losing the possibility and richness of the exchange between human beings.

• Conventional classes can easily be replaced by a video, while an immersive experience has the great benefit of taking full advantage of the synergistic potential of peer-to-peer encounters.

• The greatest achievement of this type of games is to make the student’s role active. At the end, they are eager to receive feedback that clarifies the experience, which although fun, still feel confused. The application opens the door to reception, after an exploratory activity of autonomous learning.

• Although technology serves as a mediator of the pedagogical process, it is a tool and not the center of experience. The knowledgeapproach, emotional resonance, crossing borders and movement to achieve a goal allow integrating proactive and cognitive skills.

In order to wrap up, it is important to keep this reflection in mind: an engineer is a human being, with many skills and abilities that allow him to contribute to make the world a better place. The image of the robot engineer, without emotion and with an infallible intelligence has expired, his integrity and his abilities to communicate to other people are more important than the knowledge he may have.