ABSTRACT
If the goal of certain forms of VR is to create something that feels indistinguishable from actual reality, then virtual experiences may eventually affect students in ways that are similar to real world experiences. Such an idea is not without substantiation; even text-based social media promotes significant behavioral modification, and there is already evidence that prolonged VR use disconnects the user from certain aspects of reality. This chapter closely examines the phenomena of depersonalization and derealization—the sense of detachment or unreality of one’s own thoughts, feelings, sensations, actions, or environment; the way they manifest in modern-day VR use; how they relate to the concept of VR as a consensual hallucination; and the agencies retained and relinquished by the student, to the instructor.
To contextualize, consider that the instructor’s mission is to craft learning experiences for students. What ethical concerns arise around the concept of academic freedom when paired with the ability to control a student’s perceived reality? How are students informed of the agencies they are relinquishing as they enter this reality and how do they provide informed consent, especially when deception or other misdirection is important to helping students fully immerse themselves in the VR environment? Further, which actions do they consent to, for how long do they consent, and how do they identify any topics or alternate realities that are unacceptable due to concerns like post-traumatic stress disorder or otherwise? As a professor explores history with her students, which parts of gritty human experiences are presented, in how much detail, and is it ethical for some of it to be glossed over or otherwise left out for the sake of maintaining the student’s mental health, or should it all be replicated faithfully to the original event? These sorts of questions will be explored with an eye to the future of VR, citing concrete emerging examples in order to ground the discussion in current practice, and lead it toward the evolution of the medium in higher education.
