VIRTUAL REALITY IN PRE-SERVICE TEACHER EDUCATION: CHALLENGES OF REALIZATION IN MUSIC EDUCATION

Abstract

Virtual reality (VR) is seen as a tool that can enrich and advance education but there are still pedagogical and practical challenges to overcome. In this article, we present some findings on the VR usage in teacher education and student teachers’ experiences and perceptions of employing VR especially in music education. We apply a categorization by Bower et al. (2020) to our analysis in order to structure student teachers’ reflections. It appears that the VR applications for music are yet rather limited, their quality varies, and their pedagogical applicability seems to be poor. We argue that it is necessary to develop and design VR technology for educational purposes in collaboration with different stakeholders including teachers, and thus, address the current technical and pedagogical challenges.