Virtual reality and augmented reality at the service of increasing interactivity in MOOCs

• Published in: Education and information technologies 2020-07, Vol.25 (4), p.2871-2897
• Main Authors: El Kabtane, Hamada, El Adnani, Mohamed, Sadgal, Mohamed, Mourdi, Youssef
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic Persistence; Augmented Reality; Computer Appl. in Social and Behavioral Sciences; Computer Mediated Communication; Computer Science; Computer Simulation; Computers and Education; Distance Education; Distance learning; Education; Educational Technology; Information Systems Applications (incl.Internet); Interaction; Large Group Instruction; Massive open online courses; MOOCs; Online Courses; Online education; Online instruction; Program Effectiveness; Technology Uses in Education; User Interfaces and Human Computer Interaction; Virtual reality
• ISSN: 1360-2357; 1573-7608
• DOI: 10.1007/s10639-019-10054-w

The Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) presents an approach of learning to permit an online and a distant learning for internet users. These systems are confronted with several problems among which the most important: the lack of participants’ interactivity in the platform and the dropout of the participants. Those challenges need to be resolved to ensure better engagement and to encourage the participants to complete the training, by improving their understanding-level. The present paper focuses on the proposition of a solution that helps to solve the lack of the participants’ interaction with the platform and to decrease the dropout rate. To do so, a module of virtual manipulations’ creation (virtual simulations and practical activities) is proposed. This last is based on Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), with a multitude of manipulation methods depending on the instructor choice. Two manipulation modes are proposed: the online mode, where all the manipulations and the interactions are done online and streamingly, and the offline mode, where the users can download the manipulations to preform them locally. Finally, to test the effectiveness of our proposition, two MOOCs, with the same thematic, have been proposed. The first one was a traditional MOOC while the second one was a MOOC that proposes to the participants some virtual simulations and practical activities.