A design-based project grounded in learning technology theories and systematically implemented can impact environmental education in many positive ways. This paper explores the systematic application of best practices from design-based projects that were used to combine and implement a drought education program. Embracing diffusion of innovation as its framework, augmented and virtual reality applications were used to design a virtual meeting space called the Virtual Citizen Science Expo. The results and findings show that users found Mozilla Hubs engaging as it gave them new ideas on the creative and inspirational use of virtual reality technology as an interactive and collaborative learning space. The discussions demonstrate that our VCSE can be used to promote and engage learners in science related to environmental monitoring.

This study addresses the question of how to facilitate instruction and practice with virtual reality to mitigate the detrimental impact of cognitive load associated with use in simple procedural tasks. The study collected data from 63 college students aged 18 years and above from a university in the southern part of the USA. Each study participant completed a questionnaire that consisted of 22 questions using a seven-point Likert scale. The results show that there are no significant differences between motivation and self-efficacy as it relates to three selected activities: Roboraid, Tutorial and Freeplay. The opportunity for meaningful learning through the use of the mixed reality is enticing; there is value in exploring facilitation of these learning opportunities through redistribution of cognitive load.

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