© 1999 by Association for Literary & Linguistic Computing
From imagination to reality: using immersion technology in an African American literature course
400 Grampian Drive, Columbia, MO 65203, USA. E-mail: engbryan@show.me.missouri.edu
As instructors of literature, we are sometimes faced with the challenge of assisting students with certain themes, ideas, periods, and/or concepts of which they have little or no background knowledge. Even the most dynamic and innovative instructors are constantly looking for ways to enhance the educational experience of their students. Instructors of literature often find it particularly challenging to engage students in discourse regarding remote and antiquated texts for which their students have no significant knowledge base upon which to build. When students are supplied with significant knowledge from which to build new learning, their attention and comprehension increase accordingly. There are several new technologies currently available to assist us with these complex tasks. At the forefront of many discussions is how the Internet may be used to further student understanding and research. Many instructors are using the World wide Web and associated communicative technologies quite effectively, weaving them into their current curriculum. Usually, however when one thinks of the World Wide Web, or the Internet, one thinks in two-dimensional terms, which as we know is not the way the human brain perceives the world. There is currently an emerging technology that transforms flat, two-dimensional images into navigable three-dimensional landscapes in which a use may be either semi- or totally immersed. Through declining computer prices, increasing chip speeds, and more realistic rendering techniques, we are now able to create interactive words that come very close to reality. Virtual Reality has arrived and, when used correctly, may alter existing educational methodologies in ways never before imagined.