December 9, 2024, by Laura Nicholson

Xerte Conference Reflections: 360 Simulations and the Power of Scenario-Based Learning

(Estimated reading time: 2 min 30)

If you ever need inspiration for new and innovative ways to use Xerte, look no further than the annual Xerte conference held in November. This year certainly did not disappoint. The presenters were incredibly inspiring, and I left buzzing with ideas on what I could try out next when creating my Xerte resources.

Talk 1: Xerte + 3D Vista = Interactive ‘Desktop VR’ experiences

Owen Crawford provided a demonstration of a virtual lab tour created using 3D Vista with Xerte embedded. Xerte was used to create interactive elements, like step-by-step instructions, which were embedded throughout the 3D Vista virtual tour. For example, at one point in the lab simulation tour, Owen demonstrated how you could click on a computer to trigger a calibration scene. The student would pick up a weight, place it on the scale, and then return to the computer, which displayed instructions on how to set up the calibration. This activity was designed to teach students how to perform the calibration, something they had never had the opportunity to do before.

The combination of Xerte and 3D Vista in this example allows for the creation of interactive “practice” experiences, which looked very powerful in preparing students before they face a real lab environment. Essentially, Xerte was used to add a layer of interactive guidance and instruction to the 3D Vista virtual environment, creating a more engaging and informative learning experience. It was an impressive demonstration and well worth exploring further for anyone interested in creating virtual tour activities.

Further developments?

It would be interesting to see how well Xerte’s branching scenarios work in this example too. This would allow students to make choices and explore different paths, learning what could happen if they made incorrect choices, and thus learning from mistakes in a safe and supportive simulated environment. Something similar to this was explored in the next talk I listened to (see below).

Talk 2: Unlock the Power of Scenarios in Xerte: A Practical Guide

Leah guided us through her evolving scenario designs, starting from simple question-and-answer formats and progressing to more complex “choose your own adventure”-style interactions. Her presentation demonstrated how branching narratives can significantly enhance student engagement. These scenarios are reminiscent of the adventure novels many of us read as children, where the reader’s choices influence the story’s trajectory. For instance, I remember the narrative might be something like, “If you think they should open the door, turn to page 10… or, if you think they should investigate further and go into the garden, turn to page 6.” Each choice would lead to a different unfolding story. I was honestly entertained for hours and would re-read the book over and over, just to make sure I’d experienced all the potential stories that could have unfolded.

Any opportunity to leverage this motivation and desire to find out more is surely valuable. Leah showed us how she applied this storytelling approach in an educational context to provide feedback to students based on their choices, allowing them to understand the consequences of their actions and learn from their mistakes. For example, if a student makes a suboptimal choice, the scenario can illustrate the consequences and offer guidance on making better decisions in the future.

Pedagogical benefits

The pedagogical benefits of using such a learning activity were clear. Students enjoy stories and scenarios, so using Xerte in this way provided an immersive and interactive learning experience, potentially leading to increased engagement and motivation. Additionally, by presenting learners with realistic situations and asking them to make decisions, branching scenarios encourage critical thinking. Students need to analyse the information provided, consider the potential consequences of different choices, and make informed decisions.

Again, another great talk that really gets the cogs turning as you think about how to adopt examples like this into other learning activities. Join me next week for another blog post where I continue my reflections and discuss a presentation I delivered called “Augmented Reality and Xerte: Keeping the Subject Experts in Control of the AR Experiences.”

Other talks at the Xerte conference – all well worth a listen!

All presenters were happy for their talks to be recorded, so you can listen to any of those discussed above and many more by heading over to the Xerte24 Online Conference website. (Videos available to UoN MediaSpace account holders.)

Other conference presentations available

• Welcome and Xerte Project update
• Creating space for inclusivity: neurodivergent doctors and students
• Learning new words for your profession with a new Xerte template
• Xerte + 3D Vista = Interactive Desktop VR Experiences
• Using Xerte for interactive tutorials to teach numerical methods for engineers
• Empowering calculus education for sports sciences with Xerte and AI: A faster collaborative OER approach
• Dutch Xerte Community
• Using Xerte to create an interactive, self-guided building tour in an undergraduate architecture technology course
• Adding single XOT pages to Canvas pages, your website, or your Bootstrap project
• Self-reflection tool Digisnap for teacher education students
• Building a custom Xerte template: A journey of innovation and adoption at Cardiff University
• The process of creating an educational escape room using a 360 image built with AI
• Augmented reality and Xerte: Keeping the subject experts in control of the AR experiences
• Learning analytics and Xerte at the University of Twente
• Unlock the power of scenarios in Xerte: A practical guide
• Using Xerte projects as an assessment tool in online language learning
• AI and Xerte: Exploring the possibilities together
• The Xerte UI project—how would you like your workspace to look in the future? a demo and discussion
• Launching Xerte 3.13 and conference reflections

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