Witnessing the Last Tropical Glaciers: Student Use of Virtual Reality Technology to Learn about Climate Change and Protecting Endangered Environments

ABSTRACT

Climate change and global warming have huge impacts on the most fragile ecosystems on Earth. With temperatures rising, most of the tropical glaciers on Earth, found near the Equator, will be gone before the end of the century. These far-removed natural areas are obscure and difficult for students to visit or learn from directly. Educating students in non-traditional, more experience-based settings is crucial for them to better understand current issues the world is facing, like glacial shrinkage, loss of sea ice, and accelerated sea level rise. This study found that virtual reality 360-degree video technology (VR-360), by providing close to real-life experiences and engaging storytelling, has the ability to engage students and provide them with meaningful information and experiences about climate change. In Phase 1 of this study, 65 students reported that VR can be beneficial for educational purposes to learn about global climate change. In Phase 2, with 227 students from around the globe, path analysis supported the need for VR-360 video producers to consider the importance of spatial presence, in the form of possible action and self-location, as critical elements of their videos to encourage people to use VR technology to learn about extreme environments and climate change.