Topic: Designing A Panda Virtual Reserve for Cross-cultural Awareness and Bilingual Development
Speaker: Prof. Zheng Dongping, University of Hawaii
Host: Dr. Pei Xiaoyu, Faculty of International Studies
Time: June.14th, 2024 10:00-11:30
Venue: 407, Tongbo Building
Content: In this talk, I will report a design project investigating how to leverage advanced technologies to design a VR game, Panda Reserve, aimed at increasing environmental awareness and cultivating cross-cultural friendships for language learners. We found, based on the preliminary analysis of the video recordings of team play, screen captures, and social media participation data, that the environmental degradation in the VR environment simultaneously creates a compelling setting for learners to attend to each other's viewpoints when finding solutions to the Panda Reserve. Practically, this project highlights a design research agenda that takes cross-cultural differences as a starting point and investigates how we can utilize these differences to benefit each other, rather than merely understanding and perceiving them. Therefore, beyond presenting research findings, I will also discuss practical implications regarding: (1) how we can better construct a learning environment that sustains immersive experiences aimed at cultivating cross-cultural awareness, perspective-taking, and bilingual identity development; (2) how student participation in the VR Panda Project can enrich campus diversity; and (3) how we, as educational linguists and educational technology experts, can help our students envision a better world for themselves and future generations.