A Digital Reality Learning Environment with Instant Assessment on Learning with Body and Visual Interaction

The aim of learning a language is to communicate with each other. In a drama that simulates problems taking place in real world, students can learn how to solve these problems via the communication and interaction with such a drama-based learning environment. On the other hand, besides oral interaction, visual interaction is essential as well. To address this issue, this study proposes a digital learning theater which combines itself with visual interaction learning forms and instant assessment. In this learning environment, students can learn a language by pictures and physical objects via visual interaction, and receive immediate feedback from the instant assessment of their learning performance provided by a virtual character. Consequently, students can realize whether their learning performance in the digital reality learning environment need to be improved. Furthermore, an experiment of the proposed learning environment was carried out in a Japanese language classroom for university students. The results suggest that students' learning performance is significantly improved.