A Framework for Aligning Instructional Design Strategies with Affordances of CAVE Immersive Virtual Reality Systems

Increasing availability of immersive virtual reality (IVR) systems, such as the Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE) and head-mounted displays, for use in education contexts is providing new opportunities and challenges for instructional designers. By highlighting the affordances of IVR specific to the CAVE, the authors emphasize the importance of establishing new instructional strategy guidelines to mitigate the risk of designing lessons with CAVEs and other IVRs that simply overload learners with unnecessary information and impede overall learning. This information is then applied to create a framework of best practices for designing IVR lessons and instructional materials to effectively incorporate the technology and create opportunities for positive learning. This framework focuses on areas of content, differentiated instruction, interactivity of instruction, presentation of learning materials, virtual and physical spaces, and technical knowledge.