Volumetric 3D Teachers in Educational Reality

In recent years, significant advancements in digital learning solutions, particularly those leveraging Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Extended Reality (XR), have transformed education. These immersive technologies enable the simulation of real-world processes, offering vast educational potential. Specifically the main needs this project addressed include: 1. Volumetric 3D captured videos can enhance the existing content delivered to the students. 2. Students are able to “step outside” of their classroom and straight into the lesson through the 3D guidance of their teacher at home 3. Educators are trained using innovative tech resources for educational purposes 4. Provision of free access to all 3D educational content created and the associated lesson that often stands in the way of learning innovation 5. Training support with OER (Open Educational Resources) for digital technology to benefit pupils and teachers. 6. Revolutionise XR training for teachers, which is a critical area for development and future work and complements the rapid adoption of online and hybrid learning 7. Support of XR digital education at teacher level to facilitate teachers’ XR digital competence and use of XR digital tools.

Evidence from the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2018 shows that on average in EU Member States, less than half of teachers (49.1%) report that ICT was included in their formal education or training. The speed of development of XR Technologies in Education is not parallel with the speed of teachers’ digital skills. Therefore the objectives of this project were: Objective 1: Support the digital transformation of teachers, through the development of digital pedagogy for XR educational content and the provision of tools with accessible and assistive technologies for the innovative use of Volumetric 3D assets as digital content. Objective 2: Support teachers in Europe and beyond to enhance their education in terms of XR applications in education and apply innovative XR-based curricula in their pedagogical strategies (Supporting teachers, school leaders and other teaching professions). Objective 3: Provision of XR pedagogical lesson plans with XR learning content the teachers will develop while promoting the teachers’ lifelong learning. The open source digital repository creation will mainstream the sustainable development and enhancement of XR educational content and the adaptation of XR in education.

Project Management (online and face-to-face meetings of the consortium partners) WP2: Ethics Requirements & Volu app Training Report and Workshop on Ethics requirements; Stakeholders' recruitment; Stakeholders' workshop 1 OER training Development of training materials for Volumetric 3D Assets Stakeholders' workshop 2 Volu App training (ftf & hybrid) Stakeholders' workshop 3 Volu App training (O/L) WP3: Pedagogical lesson plans with implemented Volumetric 3D assets Identification of Curricula lesson plans Stakeholders' workshop 4 on lesson plans & storytelling Implementation of Vol3DEdu digital repository Implementation of 3D educational assets Implementation of Volumetric 3D educational content WP4: Evaluation of Volumetric 3D assets in Education and dissemination Methodology for evaluation of Volumetric content in lesson plans Project Data collection Data analysis of project assessment Final project reporting, Policy recommendations Stakeholders' workshop 5 teachers' showcase of XR content Dissemination strategy and implementation

The main Project Results (PR) Vol3DEdu produced include: PR1: GDPR Compliant and Ethics considerations report for XR in Education and increase of Ethics in Education awareness (Obj. 1 - WP2) PR2: Open access to training workshops for all teachers interested in XR Education, how to apply storytelling for pedagogical purposes, and how to create lesson plans. (Obj.2 & 3 WP2, WP3 & WP4) PR3: Provision of teachers’ training materials for the creation of lesson plans and storytelling in XR for education (Obj.1 & 2 WP2 & WP3) PR4: Advanced teachers’ digital skills (evaluation pre and post-project duration) (Obj.1, 2 & 3 - WP2, WP3 & WP4) PR5: Open access XR digital repository with content and lesson plans created within the duration of the project (Obj. 2 & 3 WP2, WP3 & WP4) PR6: Inform Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027) policy through the project final report (Obj. 3 – WP4) All project results are re-usable, transferable, and up-scalable and have a strong trans-disciplinary dimension as shown in the project's digital repository.