Reflection 9

For this course project, I am eager to share my thoughts on the conference proposal. The proposal is on "Immersive Virtual Reality, the Confidence Builder for Overcoming Anxiety in Public Speaking." Through my studies on immersive virtual reality, I have learned a lot. Having been a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) for many years and even serving as a coach trainer at the Microsoft North American Summit for MCTS. I will also have first-hand experience observing some Microsoft employees struggle to present before very sizable crowds for Microsoft conferences. I used those as lessons learned along my path of training or speaking at events, both professionally and personally. Initially, I was nervous when I first started speaking in front of others. My knees and legs would shake, and the butterflies in my stomach would beat me up. Since many people experience nervousness when speaking in front of small and large crowds, I want to focus on public speaking performance. Even today, I constantly keep a growth mindset to improve my public speaking.

Virtual Reality (VR) is an emerging technology in the educational arena but is used more in the medical field. Future STEM-related skills and knowledge seem to include the ability to effectively navigate, contribute to, and participate in virtual settings. Immersive virtual reality aims to thoroughly immerse the user in the artificial world and give them the sense that they have "come inside" it. Several projections or head-mounted display (HMD) technology are used for this. (Kaplan-Rakowski & Gruber, 2019). Practically every aspect of our lives involves communication, which is why these abilities are crucial to global business and society.

The International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI), the Society for Information Technology in Education (ISTE), and the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) are a few of the conferences I am aiming to present the conference proposal. The literature evaluation will be appropriate given that immersive virtual technology has quickly advanced virtual reality (VR) and opened up a wide range of new potential applications for interactive technology. In interviews, 3-minute pitch competitions, or while presenting their dissertation to a small committee to graduate, most recent graduates from universities and other higher education institutions find it difficult to speak in front of an audience. The literature review would benefit a regional, national, or international conference.

The conference proposal will be an excellent fit for all of these conferences due to these teachers' or educators' interest in producing and disseminating knowledge about information technology in teacher education and faculty/staff development. The proposal focuses on immersive virtual reality technologies and how they might be incorporated into a curriculum to aid people in enhancing their public speaking abilities. Some recent grads may begin their careers as brand-new pre-service teachers, which could significantly boost their self-efficacy when they interview, present, and speak at various educational events.

The conference proposal fits well with my Ph.D. portfolios since my learning technology interests are Big Data, AI/ML Learning Analytics, Mobile Learning, Innovative Learning, Performance, Evaluation and Assessments. Every student is unique and can bring something special to their educational learning. Providing students with the knowledge and skills is essential today in a global technology-driven society. The practical approaches to my philosophy on learning to help students succeed are an inclusive and positive learning environment, a growth mindset, and equipping them with critical skills for the 21st century. When students perform their best, they obtain great results; when they do not, there is room for improvement so they can succeed in life. Understanding and improving learning and the environments in which it takes place requires measuring, collecting, analyzing, and reporting data on learners and their circumstances. It all works together, and learners set out on the path of life to be productive citizens.

Since I will first need to defend my dissertation, the conference proposal ties in nicely with what I am doing for the dissertation topic. What better way to prepare for this than to research how I talk in public or front of a committee? No matter how many years of experience you have, as an MCT, we are evaluated on how well we do as instructors, and there is always a critique on where growth needs to take place. It will blend nicely with the overall narrative of my dissertation topic preparations.

Reference:

Kaplan-Rakowski, R., & Gruber, A. (2019). Low-immersion versus high-immersion virtual reality: Definitions, classification, and examples with a foreign language focus. In Proceedings of the Innovation in Language Learning International Conference 2019 (pp. 552–555). Pixel.