Virtual Reality (VR) was first developed in the 1960s, initially for gaming (Heiling, 1962) and is increasingly in use in education and training in Europe and elsewhere. The technology has been cited by researchers from a range of diverse fields such as dissecting a virtual frog (Lee, Wong and Fung, 2010), teaching mathematical concepts (Pasqualotti & Freitas, 2002) or learning about thermodynamics (Coller & Shernoff, 2009). There has been a rapid and accelerating increase in the sophistication of VR technology with 3D Virtual Learning Environments becoming more diverse and pervasive in global society.

A 10‐year systematic review of empirical research on immersive virtual reality in K‐12 and higher education by Di Natale et al. (2020) concluded that the potential of VR for enhancing learning is fertile ground to be further explored together with studies aimed at investigating students’ and teachers’ acceptance of this technology in Europe and elsewhere. This study is timely given the recent publication of the Digital Education Action Plan (European Commission, 2021) and the ongoing impetus from the supranational entities of the OECD and UNESCO to develop the teachers' digital competencies and  use of emerging technologies in their praxis.

Jonassen (1999) proposed a set of six principles for constructivist learning environments which would apply to VR experiences. They include the need for multiple versions of reality reflecting the complexity of with real world, the development of knowledge construction rather than reproduction, the authenticity of the experiences and their ability to promote reflection, the ability to support context and content-dependent knowledge construction, and to facilitate learner collaboration rather than competition.

Cooper and Thong (2019) considered four key aspects of educational VR namely, experiencing, engagement, equitability, and everywhere. Using VR headsets, the learners can assume different perspectives and gain an insight of the learning experience “by viewing through the eyes of their digital identity” (Cooper and Thong, 2019, p. 67) which in turn facilitates “the process of building mental models by offering students the chance to immerse themselves in the phenomenon” being studied (Cooper and Thong, 2019, p. 67). This immersive experience enhances engagement and time committed to the learning activity (Winn, Windschitl, Fruland and Lee, 2002). O’Brien and Toms (2008) identified a range of indicators of engagement including: “attention, novelty, interest, control, feedback, and challenge,… Emotional, … Sensory, … And spatiotemporal … Awareness” (Cooper and Thong, 2019, p. 67), all of which are heightened through the use of VR. In terms of equitability of the educational experience using VR, learners can “change their digital self and identities” in real time making VR a “transformative technology in how students and institutions view and respond to sameness and differences in schools (and beyond)” (Cooper and Thong, 2019, p. 69). The pervasiveness of the technology means VR have “the potential to totally transform teaching and learning (and daily life for many). (Cooper and Thong, 2019, p. 70).

Despite their enthusiasm for VR as a tool for learning, Cooper and Thong (2019, p. 70) also acknowledge “teacher self-efficacy, professional development opportunities, school leadership priorities, and the amount of access to VR in school” as potential inhibitors of the integration of technology into the classroom. Indeed, they declare “the implementation of virtual and mixed realities may be a considerable pedagogical shift for many in-service teachers” (p.70) making it all the more important to introduce these technologies in ITE courses. A second impacting factor is the schools’ policies on the use of mobile phones in the classroom combined with society’s perception of the role of VR as an acceptable tool for learning (Cooper and Thong, 2019, p. 71).

Two ITE providers in Ireland (DCU and UCD) alongside two of the providers in Northern Ireland (QUB and Ulster), will engage in "democratic pedagogical partnerships" (Farrell, 2021) to build capacity on the digital skills and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) (Shulman, 1983) needed for student teachers to create VR activities with direct application to their subject area. This mixed-methods study will comprise of sequential online surveys and focus group interviews pre and post a targeted capacity building intervention. The pre-intervention online questionnaire, which will act as a baseline measure of the respondent’s awareness, skills and affective engagement with VR available via an online link. This will target ITE students, ITE tutors and ‘teacher mentors’ in the placement schools. At the end of the study, these respondents will be asked to complete a post-intervention survey to measure outcomes and changes in attitude to the potential of VR in supporting learning. Some questions guiding the research include: 1. Where do you see this technology being used in your subject areas? (can you think of specific topics that would be suitable for VR) 2. Beyond hardware, what are the hindering and facilitating (F)actors (factors and actors) towards the use of VR in schools? 3. Beyond hardware, what additional support do you anticipate being required? 7. What digital skills do you think would be needed if VR were to be implemented in your school? 8. What classroom management skills would be needed if VR were to be implemented in your classroom? Taking note of Goodson and Sikes’ (2010) observation that ‘adequacy is dependent not upon quantity but upon the richness of the data…’ (p. 23) the number of participants in this study was small and there is no intent to generalise from the study to all university tutors, student teachers and their co-operating teachers. Rather the study sought insights to produce tentative generalisations which may influence future development on professional development for teacher educators in the area of VR in education in an open-ended rather than a prescriptive manner thus leaving room for multiple voices as to how such professional development would be adapted to particular contexts.

The primary benefit of this research is to ITE tutors involved in the delivery of ITE courses in NI and Ireland, and pre-service teachers who will gain a broader insight into the potential of VR as an emerging technology. The collaborative partnership across four institutions will provide a medium for the dissemination of ‘best practice’ across a range of subject areas and capacity building. This research will inform: The digital skills and pedagogical content knowledge that are needed by student teachers to create VR materials to support subject-specific learning in schools; Capacity building amongst ITE lecturers to introduce the potential of VR to support learning in their subject area; Ways for collaboration between ‘teacher mentors’ and student teachers to realise the potential of VR technologies for subject-based learning during school placements; Ways for schools to enact elements of the Digital Learning Framework (DES, 2017). Department of Education and Skills (2015). Initial findings from the research suggests that there is while initially some teacher educators were sceptical of the novelty value and potential distracting nature of VR in their subject, when they learned how to create subject and context specific resources, they began to see the real value of the immersive technology. There are concerns too about the investment of time to create resources and the need to collaboration and sharing and in a post COVID-19 environment there are also concerns about the feasibility of a pedagogy that depends on sharing equipment such as goggle. On the other hand, the restriction on travel due to COVID-19 has accelerated the use of VR across a range of subjects where field trips are not possible. Moreover, despite the many obstacles to its use, there are early indications that there is a willingness to engage in learning more about the potential of this technology.

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