Exchange on Virtual Reality in Advanced School Pedagogy Courses

As part of the cooperation between the Chair of School Pedagogy and the Office of the Ministerial Representative for Secondary Schools (Realschulen) in Lower Franconia, Information Technology Advisor for Digital Education for Secondary Schools in Lower Franconia (iBdB) Roman Kruse visited two advanced courses in school pedagogy led by research assistant and PhD candidate Tamara Baumann. The sessions took place on the 19 and 20 May 2026 in summer semester 2026 in the Media Education and Educational Technology Lab (MEET@JMU) and served as preparation for the development and implementation of media education lesson designs.

The visit focused on a technical introduction to virtual reality technologies. In addition to the hardware used, particular attention was given to the management system employed at secondary schools (Realschulen) in Lower Franconia to use and manage applications such as 360-degree videos.

Furthermore, the visit provided an opportunity for an intensive exchange between the initial teacher education students and Roman Kruse. Various questions regarding the use of innovative technologies in educational contexts were discussed. Particular attention was given to the opportunities and challenges of virtual reality applications and their use in specific teaching and learning scenarios.

The insights into both the technical and pedagogical aspects of virtual reality technologies provided an important foundation for the subsequent development and implementation of media education lesson designs within the context of the practical cooperation.