Strategies for inclusive and safe education using virtual reality: from the digital library perspective
| Pages | 216-226 |
| Date | 11 November 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/DLP-08-2019-0034 |
| Published date | 11 November 2019 |
| Author | Lourdes Díaz-López,Javier Tarango Ortiz,Claudia-Patricia Contreras |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,Library technology,Records management & preservation,Information repositories |
Strategies for inclusive and safe
education using virtual reality:
from the digital library perspective
Lourdes Díaz-L
opez,Javier Tarango Ortiz and
Claudia-Patricia Contreras
Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad Aut
onoma de Chihuahua,
Chihuahua, Mexico
Abstract
Purpose –This paper aims to propose the developmentof formal (scientific content) and informal (content
for science communication) educational activities in an inclusive and safe way, involving two essential
elements, virtual reality (VR) and the digitallibrary; as well as the implications for its enforcement such as
educationalstrategies in the university settingand for the encouragement of scientific culturein society.
Design/methodology/approach –For the integration of content, a simplified conceptual model was
designed first, in which universitiesand research centers are seen as complex systems where different subsystems,
from which processes and information resources are derived, converge. To cover the model’selements, a descriptive
documentary review was developed, looking to synthesize each element’scontextsandimplications.
Findings –The need to establish transdisciplinary relationships between the VR and the digital library is
determined with the goal to integrate educational activities using technology, with the purpose of studying contents
from the scientific point of view, as well as with the possibility of transforming them into contexts of general access
for society, with the objective of social appropriation of knowledge, citizen science and social innovation. In the
conclusion section, some implications in the implementation of this type of initiatives are presented.
Originality/value –The aspects thatset this paper apart are: treating VR as emergingdocuments tending
to measure their direct impact,not as isolated elements of a collection; identifying the digital library’s social
influence actions through VR; and generating processes to encourage the creation of contents with a
differentiatedfocus according to the populationserved.
Keywords Virtual reality, Digital library, Experimental learning, First-person learning,
Social appropriation of knowledge, Immersive technologies
Paper type Viewpoint
Introduction
The new role of universitiesin their quest for innovation should not circumscribe justto the
creation of science-related research or experimentation processes in laboratories to create
new products. This way of innovationis limited when the varied dimensions of the changes
higher education institutions can experience are forgotten; based mainly on social, cultural
and economic realities where there is alreadya demand to generate heterogeneous services
(Sancho-Gil et al.,2018).
The changes in universities not only have an impacton their infrastructure but also the
need for variation in the vision of its actors (professors, librarians and students). The main
manifestation of the changes does not refer to teaching only, but to multiple learning
opportunities where traditionalschemes of classroom-related spaces are broken, substituted
by technology-based environments (video games, online learning, Web communities, etc.),
all represented as separateworkspaces (Collis and Halverson, 2018).
DLP
35,3/4
216
Received31 August 2019
Revised17 September 2019
Accepted17 September 2019
DigitalLibrary Perspectives
Vol.35 No. 3/4, 2019
pp. 216-226
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2059-5816
DOI 10.1108/DLP-08-2019-0034
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
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