Pedagogy: Instructivism to Socio-Constructivism through Virtual Reality

Abstract

learning theories evolved with time, beginning with instructivism, constructivism, to social constructivism. These theories no doubt were applied in education and they had their effects on learners. Technology advanced, created a paradigm shift by creating new ways of teaching and learning as found in virtual reality (VR). VR provided creative ways in which students learn, provides opportunity to achieve learning goals by presenting artificial environments. We developed and simulated a virtual reality system on a desktop by deploying Visual Basic.NET, Java and Macromedia Flash. This simulated environment enhanced students’ understanding by providing a degree of reality unattainable in a traditional two-dimensional interface, creating a sensory-rich interactive learning environment.