Immersive Special Education Designed Using the Cybernetic Theater as a Metaphor

In this study, the design philosophies behind, along with the motivational and academic outcomes of, an immersive VR-assisted online special education curriculum are described. Difficulties associated with allocating special education resources in U.S. public school settings form the rationale for the creation of the program. The possibility of a portable immersive learning approach to activate students’ individual and collaborative problem-solving abilities and to grant students greater freedom and control in learning is considered. As a foundation for understanding the power of immersive learning, Gordon Pask’s Cybernetic Theater and his broader ideas on responsive technology assemblages applied to the performing arts and architecture, developed in collaboration with figures such as Joan Littlewood and Cedric Price, are drawn upon. The CadetNet special education curriculum, which relies on a design framework rooted in Pask’s work, utilizes an assemblage of videoconferencing, headset-based VR simulations, and academic games in varied sequences to provide students with opportunities to engage in content acquisition, collaboration, and expression through multimedia avenues. Teachers modulate instructional delivery and their use of this technology assemblage in real time to meet participants’ needs. Results from a three-week summer enrichment program conducted with six students diagnosed with neurodevelopmental learning differences (e.g., autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, specific learning disability, and their comorbidities) are shared. Narrative inquiry of transcripts from mathematics and language arts lessons indicates how Pask’s design framework was applied to implement the curriculum and that student activity during the program echoed both the hopes and concerns associated with Pask’s and his colleague Joan Littlewood’s broader design philosophies. Student surveys and standardized test scores reveal maintenance of pre-program academic performance and adaptive changes in students’ self-determined motivational profiles, which have been shown in the extant literature to strongly correlate with student interest. Results demonstrate how the sociocognitive effects of CadetNet resonated with Pask’s proposed outcome of heightened audience interest central to the Cybernetic Theater.