Virtual Reality to Improve Technical Teacher Presenting and Speaking Skills

Abstract

ContextFear of public speaking (glossophobia) is one form of anxiety. People may struggle to speak in a classroom, meeting, and in other group settings. This can make it very difficult for sufferers to communicate verbally to express their knowledge and thoughts. As a result, glossophobia may hamper the sufferer’s ability to further own academic, social or career opportunities.Purpose/approachThe aim of our study was to share experience with a teaching program based on VR to help future teachers improve their presentation and speaking skills. Our study followed a descriptive mixed research design. Participants of 5 groups, each of 5 members went through the regular course of speaking and presentation skills or through a course based on VR. Several characteristics of an individual speech were measured by VR: eye contact, speed of speech, use of crutch words, speech pausing, clarity, loudness, monotony and word repetition. Reduction of glossophobia was measured by a questionnaire and through personal interviews.Actual research outcomes -Interviews with teachers (6 trainers)Pros: high motivation, visible progress, more self-assurance, better performanceCons: cost of equipment, need of technical support-Interviews with course participants (25 future teachers)Pros: felt like being in „real“ classroom and with „real“ students, enjoyment, new experience, emotions, enthusiasm, fun, loss of fear,Cons: made me tired, had to share the equipment with other students, lost my concentration-QuestionnairesClear reduction of glossophobia as measured by self-report of future teachersConclusions VR is eligible to be used in different environments, and many applications successfully apply it to improve learning. Our findings indicate that VR applications are more likely to lead to certain benefits such as increased motivation of users.