VirTrain, applications of virtual reality in language teaching and methodology of use

The VirTrain project, launched in September 2020, aims to train Vocational Training language teachers in teaching through virtual reality (EU), focusing on language teaching: developing skills to teach foreign languages through virtual reality, showing the benefits of virtual reality, identifying training needs and effectively training teachers, overcoming possible obstacles.

The project, funded by the Erasmus+ programme, comprises four categories of partners: the Association for Higher Vocational Training of the Czech Republic (CASPHE), project coordinator; the MTI Centre for Language Teaching in the Czech Republic; the Department of Education in the Trento region of Italy; and the School of Armeria, which is testing the results directly with students. The Tknika research center and the American company Immerse.online are project assistants. As a result of the pandemic, the deadline for completion in November 2022 has been extended by three months and, due to the speed of technological changes, has been used to explore new opportunities.

In the first stage, they did research on the usefulness of the VR through a questionnaire for students and teachers. The results have shown that very few people have known or used virtual reality and are very interested. Then it was determined what the content of a training course should be: first and foremost, it was necessary to know the specific technology, in this case the Oculus Quest 2 device has been used. Then there was a two-dimensional course for teachers, an online course in Moodle and a face-to-face course for 15 teachers (five per country). Face-to-face training took place in the Czech Republic and Italy.

Each teacher has prepared his or her lessons and all the material will be stored in a database. It will be available to anyone interested at the end of the project at www.virtrain.eu. The final phase is now being developed and the EU is designing a methodology for its use in language teaching.

On 25 October, an outreach event will be held at the Tknika Basque VET Research Centre to disseminate the results of the project, and on 26 October, a working meeting will be held at Armeria School.