Developing Leadership Capacity Through Virtual Reality: Extending the Immersive Experience

• In Event: Leadership Education for a Global World: Expanding Students' International Capacity

Short Description

Immersive leadership learning experiences can assist leadership educators in developing critical competencies and capacities with respect to addressing complex global issues. However, students often lack the resources to study abroad. This session will address how these experiences can be created via virtual reality leadership learning.

Detailed Abstract

Our population is rapidly growing in both developing and developed countries. This rapid population growth has the potential to create significant problems for our global communities. In fact, of the grand challenges, many theorists believe that population growth will be the greatest problem of our time (Clapp & Cohen, 2009, Ericksen, Ingram, & Liverman, 2009; Rosegrant, Paisner, & Whitcover, 2001). Specifically, our challenge is to address and mitigate the problems associated with a global population projected to exceed 9.725 billion by the year 2050 (Andenoro, Baker, Weeks, & Stedman, 2016; Stedman & Andenoro, 2015). The problems associated with a global population this scale fall into six main problems – Space, Agriculture Production, Global Health, Natural Resource Conservation, Energy Efficiency, and Climate Change. This provides a daunting challenge for leadership educators attempting to prepare the next generation of leaders capable of addressing global problems.

Immersion experiences provide leadership educators with a dynamic opportunity to build competencies and capacities that set a foundation for addressing these global challenges (Harder, et al. 2015). Further, they often lead to agency, which is directly related to complex adaptive solutions aimed at global sustainability (Marshall, 2016). However, only 3% of undergraduate students have the resources, time, and academic flexibility to study abroad (University of Florida International Center, 2017). Challenges to offering immersion/study abroad experiences are further exacerbated by competing economic priorities, the reduction of resources, and a general lack of time at universities across the educational landscape.

This session creates innovative opportunity to explore the utilization of virtual reality to engage undergraduate leadership learners in the immersive context without leaving their campuses. This increases access to immersion experiences for students who otherwise would not have this learning opportunity. The process of creating these innovative leadership learning experiences, grounded in the use of virtual reality, encompass four specific phases. This will form the foundation for our session presentation. The following is presented using the UF in Ghana virtual reality experience as an example.

Phase 1: Immersive Experience – Faculty and students travel to the immersive context for an academically grounded experience. In this case, UF in Ghana in association with the course listing, AEC 3940 – Challenge 2050: The Experience, provides in-country interactions with the Ministry of Health, Ghana Water Company, Seed Co., Agricorps, Community Agriculturalists, the World Health Organization, and the faculty from the University of Cape Coast College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, within the Ekumfi District of Ghana. Through this experience students begin to understand and work within the systems that impact nutritional security and global health. This leads to sustainable solutions developed by students alongside community members to increase sustainability and promote the idea of accompaniment. While in the immersive context, faculty and students document the experience via VR 360 Cameras.

Phase 2: Video Development – Following the immersive experience, video editors produce high quality virtual reality films of the documented experience. The dynamic 4K camera quality and 360 degree-capture range, allow for a lifelike and interactive experience. Further, because each student within the immersive context maintains a VR 360 Camera, different vantage points are created. These vantage points are integrated allowing for a seamless interactive experience that brings the reality of the immersive context to life within the local classroom.

Phase 3: Local Immersion – Via virtual reality viewers and technology provided by the New York Times, Leadership Educators at UF conduct lessons within the immersive context. Students can explore 360 degrees around them and feel as though they are fully immersed in the context. They can see, hear, and interact with people in Ghana. With respect to UF in Ghana, students can assist in the Ghana Water Company with well-building projects to enhance sanitation, talk to WHO public health professionals addressing significant epidemiological concerns, connect with students from the University of Cape Coast in Ghana, and engage with countless other opportunities within the immersive context.

Phase 4: Evaluation – Quantitative and qualitative evaluations are conducted to explore the development of leadership capacities and competencies as a result of the learning experience. Preliminary anecdotal data demonstrate that the immersive context created in the classroom allows for the development of key competencies and capacities, including intercultural competence, self-awareness, systems thinking, critical thinking disposition, emotional intelligence skill, and agency.

Participants

• Anthony C. Andenoro, University of Florida

• Matthew J. Sowcik, University of Florida

• Jocelyn Widmer, University of Florida