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History educators and the challenge of immersive pasts: a critical review of

virtual reality 'tools' and history pedagogy
John Allison a
a
Faculty of Education, Nipissing University, Ontario, Canada

Online Publication Date: 01 December 2008

To cite this Article Allison, John(2008)'History educators and the challenge of immersive pasts: a critical review of virtual reality 'tools'
and history pedagogy',Learning, Media and Technology,33:4,343 — 352
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 Learning, Media and Technology
Vol. 33, No. 4, December 2008, 343–352

History educators and the challenge of immersive pasts: a critical review

of virtual reality ‘tools’ and history pedagogy
John Allison*

Faculty of Education, Nipissing University, Ontario, Canada

(Received 2 April 2007; final version received 20 October 2008)
Taylor and Francis
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Learning,
10.1080/17439880802497099
1743-9884
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JohnAllison
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&Article
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This paper will undertake a critical review of the impact of virtual reality tools on the
teaching of history. Virtual reality is useful in several different ways. History educators,
elementary and secondary school teachers and professors, can all profit from the digital
environment. Challenges arise quickly however. Virtual reality technologies show great
pedagogical promise in the presentation of research. It is also asserted that these
technologies provide real-world immersion in the ‘historical past’ in a way that was
previously not possible. Can these systems truly take the place of classrooms, elementary
and secondary, and the research projects of graduate studies? Ultimately, technological
optimists argue that these technologies create an ‘alternate reality’. Can history educators
agree to such an ‘alternate reality’? The principle conclusions drawn in this paper include
a need for further development of virtual simulations, both in terms of their realism and
the immediacy of the classroom experience. Further practical experimentation by history
educators in the research environment is also key.
Keywords: virtual reality; historiography; teaching; history pedagogy; presentations

Introduction
In contemporary times, students, teachers, and professors of history find themselves in a
world that is immersed in new technology. How can history educators make best use of this
technological wealth? As a group, history educators are wary about some of the claims of
computer technologies. The idea that they will induce world-shattering change is treated
with suspicion (DelGaudio 1999). Yet computers help people communicate better with each
other and complete research in quicker, more sophisticated ways. Further to this, the Inter-
net has created wholly new and sometimes vaguely historical and vaguely real worlds. The
online game The World of Warcraft and the video console and online Xbox game Halo 3
are but two recent examples. Often, history teachers see these worlds as not linked to the
study of history. As such they are not firmly grounded in the trinity of the archive, the
library, and the book. These worlds are deserving of a second look and a critical review
(Trask 2002, 473). This paper will undertake this review and also address the challenge that
virtual reality technologies present to history educators. The intention is to identify virtual
reality tools that can be used by history educators and provide for effective learning
experiences both in the classroom and in the research environment. It is argued that virtual
reality technologies show great pedagogical promise for both teachers and learners. A
second challenge centers on traditional tools such as the classroom. Are the new tools viable

*Email: johna@[Link]

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© 2008 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/17439880802497099
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 344 J. Allison

alternatives to the tried and true originals both in school systems and graduate research
projects? The ultimate challenge of new virtual tools is their impact on how history educa-
tors see the past and reality. Ayers asserts that these new technologies provide a breadth of
‘real’ immersion in the ‘historical past’ that was previously not possible (Ayers 1999,
2007). Will technology change historians’ view of the past and reality?
Prior to starting this critical review, some definitions are appropriate. ‘History Educa-
tors’ are history teachers, in both elementary and secondary school sectors, and history
professors and researchers. Virtual Reality is ‘an immersive and interactive simulation of
either reality-based or imaginary images and scenes’ (UNESCO and Frontiers 1999).
Virtual Reality Tools are a variety of computers and their peripheral devices that make use
of virtual reality. Massively Multi-Player Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) are
‘played online over a network or the Internet by more than one player. Today’s MMORPG
can support several thousand players at once’ (Intel Corporation 2007). A Virtual World is
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simply one iteration of a MMORPG; for example, the online simulation Second life (Second
Life Corporation 2006). An Alternate Reality Game (ARG) ‘is an interactive narrative that
uses the real world as a platform, often involving multiple media and game elements, to tell
a story that may be affected by participants’ ideas or actions’ (Wikipedia 2007). For further
definitions and a history of virtual environments, the Transparent Telepresence Research
Group (TTRG) site at the University of Strathclyde, and Ausburn and Ausburn provide a
great deal of information (Ausburn and Ausburn 2004; Transparent Telepresence Research
Group 2004).

History educators’ new tools: immersion in the past and reality

Virtual reality is a very potent medium with which to address both the questions of ‘reality’
and ‘the past’. Meeting the challenge of multiple histories of the same event is not only
possible, but realizable in the view of some (Leaver 2003, 121). How is this different from
multiple histories written by different authors and taught by different historians through
books? As Cohen and Rosenzweig assert, several factors separate the ‘multiple histories’ of
earlier origin and those born of digital technologies. Today, computer-based technologies
are more flexible and accessible than traditional sources of information (Cohen and
Rosenzweig 2002). The elasticity of the medium allows for text-based historians to function
simultaneously with experts in visual history (Staley 2003, 64–5). Potentially there are
many individuals who have not engaged with history before. Where they might be deterred
by lengthy books, virtual tools’ multiple entry points to the past could enhance their interest
in historical research. As virtual reality tools become more widespread, these devices could
quickly gain new users and adherents. The continuing challenge is to ensure that the ‘digital
divide’ is bridged and that virtual reality tools do become widely available. Some headway
is being made in this regard (Di Blas and Poggi 2007, 141–3; Magoulas, Lepouras, and
Vassilakis 2007, 73).
Virtual reality tools allow students to question what is real and to explore a multiplicity
of different pasts in an immersive experience. Evolving computer architecture supports a
diversity of virtual simulations, as well integrating what Lifton describes as dual realities,
virtual and live (Lifton 2007, 9). At the same time, the ability to integrate the ‘real world’
with virtual worlds is becoming more fine-tuned with the advent of activities such as ‘geo-
caching’ and ‘alternate reality games’ (Montolas 2005, 1). Contemporary virtual reality
tools range from the Head-Mounted Display (HMD), to the Cave Automatic Virtual
Environment (CAVE), through to telepresence systems that allow surgeons, among others,
to remotely manipulate objects or carry out surgery (Ausburn and Ausburn 2004). There are
 Learning, Media and Technology 345

many CAVEs currently in operation at research centers world-wide. The construction of the
TOPSPACE lab at Brock University, Canada, is a step toward integrating this kind of
virtual reality tool and the discipline of history (Bonnett 2005). While these systems are
undergoing exciting developments, many of the current applications that are relevant for
history educators are now available on the Personal Computer (PC). The different ways in
which these are designed raise questions about what counts as ‘real’ in ways that are
relevant to historians. Some of the new tools further the identification between ‘the virtual’
and ‘the real’, (i.e., make more realistic simulations) while others necessarily lengthen this
distance (i.e., create new symbolisms for history). Codification of laws and the establish-
ment of community norms in virtual environments is one example of this (Powers 2003,
198). In so doing, virtual communities move toward norms that exist outside the virtual
world.
In undertaking an appraisal of, and in attempting to engage with, these virtual reality
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tools history educators should be aware that none of them have the capacity to solidify the
objects that they are generating. Objects can be three-dimensional, but ‘reality’ still
disappears with the wave of a hand. This immediately destroys the immersive effect of
virtual reality. The use of a glove and HMD helps with this, but it remains a clunky solution
to the issue. There is still a long way to go in the construction of a solid, purely digital realm
(Bryson 1999).
While CAVEs and other applications develop, many technological optimists point to
online games as the next step in the development of new virtual tools (Castronova 2004,
introduction). These simulations are of particular interest to history educators. The appear-
ance of more sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) engines to drive these games is a key
change. In the immediate future, the structures developed in online games will take on an
increasingly important role for all history educators (Staley 2003, 89). The world of
MMORPGs thus needs to be closely scrutinized. Currently, figures for 2005 in China alone
put the numbers of people playing these games in the 20 million range and growing (BBC
2005). The numbers present a very powerful argument in favor of further evaluating this
media as a pedagogical tool. A familiarity with these games is already well developed
within Western and Chinese societies. The pedagogical features of MMORPGs have been
well documented. As Di Blas and Poggi note, virtual communities are pedagogically
effective in terms of knowledge, fantastical or educational, skills in terms of technology,
and attitudes in terms of interest and motivation about the subject (Di Blas and Poggi 2007,
129). Acquisition of leadership, story-telling, and group networking skills are also signifi-
cant in terms of learning (Yee 2006, 8,11,13, passim). Many of these skills are relevant to
history education curricula and relate to what Laville terms ‘historical thinking’ (Laville
2004, 166–7; Ministry of Education Ontario 2005, 24–5). Castronova argues that these
online ‘synthetic worlds’ constitute a ‘practical virtual reality’ that in many respects is better
than the original for the players (Castronova 2004, 20). The nature of the MMORPG
demands scrutiny because it is evolving and it is not value neutral. Some recent examples
in this regard such as Second life, Sim teacher and Conflict lab have the potential to bring
education and MMORPGs closer together (Dialoggers Incorporated 2003; Academos LLC
2005; Second Life Corporation 2006).
MMORPGs should be critically examined by history educators. Yee points out some of
the challenges. One of the big concerns is the issue of emotional investment. MMORPG
users derive many experiences of emotional significance from their gaming activities (Yee
2006, 10). Also noteworthy is the question of psychological dependence and addiction to
these games (Riegel 2006, 7). Particularly in the history education context this issue needs
to be analyzed. Some argue that these issues can be addressed through the creation of
 346 J. Allison

collaborative education MMORPGs that encourage social learning. Second life is moving in
this direction as is indicated in recent proceedings on elementary education and MMORPGs
(Joseph 2007, 17).

Presentations in virtual worlds

While knowledge of the new tools is important, there is a need to understand how history
educators can use these applications. Moving from considering a new pedagogical or
research tool to applying it is sometimes the most difficult phase of any project or course
revision. Historians need to give some thought as to how virtual reality tools can be used.
One of the easiest ways to start is by history educators using virtual reality simulations to
present their research and curriculum agendas whether it is in the context of the museum,
the classroom, the research library, or the home study. Not only will educators benefit, but
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students should also be able to use them. Critically appraising new ways of presentation is
not an easy task for history educators who have trained for their entire career to think of
‘presentations’ in one way. Change presents a challenge and an opportunity to break out of
disciplinary fundamentalism in the near term, and a chance to embrace the spirit of renewal
in the longer run (Vanderburg 2000). As noted at the outset, the shift may not be revolu-
tionary, but the scope of possible applications is widespread, extending from architectural
recreations and architectural counterfactuals to three dimensional tools to visualize histori-
cal statistics (Bonnett 2003). There is much that can be done in this regard (Staley 2003,
135–40).
Virtual simulations can be used to present multiple strands of historical narrative simul-
taneously. Rather than referring to several history books to access multiple points of view,
researchers can access distinctive perspectives from one simulation. Those perspectives
may be graphical as is the case of Staley’s ‘Braudelian hyperbolic space’. This type of space
shows the interconnectedness of many historical events through three dimensional geomet-
ric spheres, and other figures. Alternatively, those perspectives could be presented in an
avatar-centered historical virtual world where time can be moved forward and backward
from the perspective of different participants (Staley 2003, 137). Additionally, the
researcher can move from the perspective of one participant to another. Yet another
approach to this type of application for virtual simulations is what Murray has termed the
‘multi-form story’ (Murray 1997, 89–90). Murray uses the example of a story called
‘Einstein’s Dreams’ to illustrate her concept. In this fictional representation, a man faces
several choices. He has to decide whether or not he will visit a woman in Fribourg,
Germany. Murray sets out the different ‘realities’ as going to the city, not going and forget-
ting about the woman, quitting his job and moving there, and lastly, going to see the woman
but then talking to her briefly and departing (Murray 1997, 34–5). A noted historian, Wilda
Anderson, argues from a historiographical perspective that there is no single point of view,
rather one must recognize a multiplicity of established points and researchers’ partialities
toward certain paradigms, even when it concerns something as singular as scientific laws
(Anderson 1983, 276). History teachers can, for example, use the journals of prisoners to
give a clearer picture of prison life in the nineteenth century. In so doing, these journals
might include a meeting with a prison warden as seen through the eyes of a prisoner
(Foucault 1977, 247). In a virtual environment, history educators can also include the view-
point of the warden on the same events. The same process is effectively true of any other
event.
Virtual reality simulations are not only useful in presenting research from written
sources, but they can also effectively present other historical documents such as plans,
 Learning, Media and Technology 347

pictures, maps and photographs. Teachers and students can then ‘travel’ to a variety of
three-dimensional historical locales as varied as Mayan temples to a battlefield from the
War of 1812 (Sykes 1999, 61–3). They can see buildings as they may have originally stood
and also how they are faring in their present state (Benford 1999, 15; Bonnett 2003; Staley
2003, 97). They can also see cities and places through a variety of cultural and ethnic
perspectives and understand why certain groups have different historical memories and
affiliations with places. Such is the case with Northern Irish Catholics and Protestants and
their interpretation of historical events and places in Northern Ireland (MacIntyre 1988,
378–9). It is also clearly the case in the Middle East as Israelis and Palestinians today have
very different views on that region. The recent emergence of PC games such as Peacemaker
enables players to play a ‘serious’ video game, and to play any side of the Middle East
conflict (Barak et al. 2006). Teachers and students can also use economic systems in virtual
environments. Some of these can be connected to the real world economy. One example of
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this is the Swedish MMORPG entitled Project Entropia (Mindark 2003).

As an instrument to enrich one’s appreciation of the past, virtual reality tools are more-
over effective as they allow history educators to present an increasing range of sensory
perceptions in their research and instruction. It is often said that some of the strongest
stimuli of memories are not pictures and words, but rather scents and sounds (Staley 1999).
Traditionally, teachers and students could only access specific scents and sounds in the
context of the original event. As virtual reality programming evolves, it could, when it is
designed to provoke memories and understandings of the past, also include all the senses.
Recently, progress has been made in the incorporation of scents into movie theatres in Japan
(Greimel 2006). ‘4D’ cinematic experiences, such as those offered at the Science North
Center in Sudbury, Canada, also point to the direction in which immersive experiences are
headed (Lickley 2004).
Presentations through virtual simulations could also provoke sharp memories of past
events in the context of oral history. Much as the standard tools of oral history research do
today, sending students and their research subjects (i.e., a parent, elder, etc.) into a virtual
representation of the subject’s childhood could be restorative of significant memories.
Virtual worlds in this context could take their place alongside photographs, birth certifi-
cates, other archival material, and artifacts (Yow 2005, 264–6). Virtual simulations will be
compelling if history educators structure their assignments so that they have an innate
connection with the real world, are participatory, and can bring forth long buried memories
(Murray 1997, 106).

Teaching history in virtual worlds

History teaching and schools
At a broader level, teaching history is very important as a means of communicating the past
to future generations. Virtual reality tools have the potential to change teaching and learn-
ing as well. This section looks at some of its possible impacts on teaching in schools and
teaching at the graduate level. History educators’ approach to their material will be highly
influenced by the new medium in which they work. Staley argues that history teachers of
the future will teach and present their works in visual and graphical mediums rather than
with the aid of written materials (Staley 2003, 133–9). Virtual spaces such as Elluminate,
an online class program using voice-based interaction, represent a transitional phase
between the traditional classrooms of the past and fully fledged ‘avatar-students’ that will
be found in online classrooms of the future (Elluminate 2005). This program, along with
other communication programs or Voice over Internet Protocols (VoIPs) such as Ventrilo
 348 J. Allison

and Teamspeak, is currently being used by online gaming and education communities
(Teamspeak 2005; Ventrilo 2005).
Teaching by doing is part of the focus of a new MMORPG, Arden, and this is a virtual
world that should be examined by history educators (Castronova 2007, 3). This simulated
environment is based on William Shakespeare’s plays (Castronova 2005, 10). In
Castronova’s view, Arden will produce ‘hundreds and thousands of new Shakespeare
cognoscenti in the course of a few years’ (Castronova 2004, 75). Castronova does not see
participating in this world as a substitute for studying Shakespeare’s texts, rather as a
complement to that study (Castronova 2007, 4). Through games, icons, and many contex-
tual cues, Castronova expects that participants will become quite knowledgeable about the
Bard’s works (Castronova 2007, 3). Collaboration in the completion of a project inside a
virtual world has been extensively documented elsewhere as well; therefore it is not incon-
ceivable that MMORPG collaborations could form the basis of ‘class group-work’ in the
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near future (Yee 2006, 32). Another example is the On-Slant-Village recreation of the
Mandan tribe of North American Indians on the Missouri River (North Dakota State
University Archaeology Technologies Laboratory 2007). The emphasis in this simulation is
archeological learning through virtual reconstruction of a native village from 1776.
MMORPGs could also fulfill the needs of instructional design as Riegel and Eustace relate
in their works (Eustace et al. 2004; Riegel 2005).

Virtual history and graduate study

Teachers of history, while important at all levels, have at the doctoral level the central role
of supervising and aiding in the creation of an original piece of historical knowledge.
Archives, books, and primary historical records are still central to the existing process.
Historical primary source material remains in a textual form. Consequently, the text will
remain key to this history project for a period of time to come. With the ubiquitous nature
of computers and television however, there is a shift toward the visual (Staley 2003, 42 ).
With the appearance of virtual tools, the very ‘words’ of traditional dissertations are in
question as well. In the longer run, history supervisors could set a requirement to develop a
project that is image-based, three dimensional, and in which text does not play a big role.
In many disciplines there is pressure and sometimes heated discussion on the move away
from the traditional text-based dissertation (Duke and Beck 1999, 32). The Gutenberg-e
Project at Columbia University is taking substantial steps toward a virtual reality history
dissertation with their multi-media (i.e., photographs, audio, and video) searchable disserta-
tion publication program (Manning 2004; Gordon 2007).

Historiography and virtual worlds: ‘the past’, ‘reality’, and ‘new tools’
The challenge of the past
While presentations and innovations in history teaching at all levels are significant, ulti-
mately, the development of new virtual tools invigorates the debate over questions of defi-
nition regarding the terms ‘the past’, ‘reality’, and ‘history’. These have been taxing history
educators since before Herodotus picked up his first stylus (Breisach 1983, 15; Leinhardt
1994). Followers of technology speak of the emergence of ‘alternative realities’ and of ‘new
learning paradigms’ (Prensky 2003, 2004, 19). These ideas emphatically add a new twist to
these centuries’ old debates about ‘reality’. Technological optimists also assert that technol-
ogy will help humanity transcend fixed ideas of ‘what is real’ and will help resolve most of
 Learning, Media and Technology 349

the intractable problems facing the species (Bostrom 2002, 1). History educators remain
wary. In the view of many, advanced technologies such as virtual reality do not solve these
questions, rather they raise new issues (Cohen and Rosenzweig 2002; Noble 2002). This
type of tension is dynamic and good for the discipline.
Many history educators already recognize the difficulties inherent in narrow definitions
of the ‘past’. The past is not simply what it says in the traditional dog-eared textbook.
Efforts to teach about the past are controversial, problematic, and emphatically fluid inter-
pretations of that temporal dimension. Key questions stand out. Which past should be
taught? What gets left out in that teaching? The ‘past’ and ‘history’ are two distinct entities.
In his writings on historicism or the attempt to write ‘the history of’, White notes how one’s
grip on the past is actually very slippery (1975, 49). Holscher argues that one must look at
every event in the past not simply as one historical narrative or through one perspective, but
rather with the view that there can be an infinite number of histories for every event
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(Holscher 1997, 319). Moreover, Holscher also makes it unequivocally clear that one’s
‘histories’ are very much dependent on one’s present needs and understandings of the past
(Holscher 1997, 320). While the past is constant, inasmuch as is known, historical interpre-
tations are by their very nature, transitory and writer dependent.

The question of historical ‘reality’

Virtual reality tools’ greatest potential impact for the history educator is in contributing to
a vigorous debate over ‘the past’. Of equal significance is the transformation they could
provoke in thinking and debates on question of ‘reality’. Heralds of new virtual technologies
already laud their superior abilities to render ‘alternate realities’ (Lauria 1997). Depending
on the type of media used, many have often had an idée fixée about history; that is to say,
the ‘people in the picture’ are somehow frozen in time or are simply ‘detail’ (Blow 1983,
119). For example, canonical cultural images in paintings and posters never grow old. Louis
XIV still stands with his scepter and spectacular wig. James Dean is still 24 and still in his
Rebel Without a Cause leather jacket. Reality is not so. Woolley argues that there has never
been a secure ‘reality’. In his view, science and technology have created, destroyed, and
created anew humanity’s reality (Woolley 1992, 4). Reality is also a concept that is very
much subject to changing definitions according to Woolley. Particularly since the Industrial
Revolution humans have shaped the environment in sometimes positive and often negative
ways (Thompson 1991, 12). In retrospect, reality has been a ‘special project’; it is always
subject to this effort. Moreover, historical reality is the building block on which humans
have constructed the present. Contemporary times cannot help but be subject to the same
shifts and changes. Some aspects of the past will remain beyond the illumination provided
by the current generation’s efforts. Each era also imposes its own definition of reality. Other
periods from the past may be clearer for generations to come as notions of reality shift. The
concept of reality is therefore like the past in the sense that it is already slippery, and elusive.
Defining it in a singular fashion is not feasible. Having different tools with which to present
the past reality may provide for a further change in humanity’s understanding of the present
and future as well. That the new tools will provoke and invigorate these discussions is some-
thing to be very much anticipated.

Conclusion
Virtual reality ‘tools’ should be critically re-appraised by history educators as they strive for
new and novel ways to teach and research about the past. It has been argued here that history
 350 J. Allison

educators need to become more knowledgeable about and more directly involved in the
design and development of these tools. Be they HMDs, CAVEs, simulations, MMORPGs,
virtual worlds, or ARGs, historians need to investigate their potential.
Virtual reality tools deserve history educators’ attention as they hold out a series of
possibilities with regard to presentations. The ability to simultaneously depict many
aspects of the past, several strands of research, and different points of view make the
development of virtual environments particularly useful for history educators. The virtual
world is three dimensional, sensory and opens new possibilities. History educators need to
be aware that virtual simulations are still hampered by the issues of the ‘solidity’ of the
recreation, and by the lack of full immersion, but eventually this hurdle could be
surmounted as well.
Virtual reality tools also deserve the attention of history educators as they could poten-
tially change the ways in which history is taught both in schools and at the graduate level.
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History educators need to look closely at the opportunities and challenges of MMORPGs
and other tools. Work still needs to be done to perfect the development of social connections
in these new worlds, but they already appear to be significant pedagogical tools.
Finally, virtual reality tools deserve history educators’ attention because they not only
provide avenues to reconceptualize the past, but also reinvigorate the debate about what
exactly is meant by ‘the past’. The lack of agreement on coherent, universal definitions of
‘the past’, ongoing disputes over what constitutes ‘reality’, and in particular, the lack of
agreement over what constitutes ‘historical reality’, has continued as long as history has
been a discipline. Widespread use of new virtual tools cannot help but further this. The
notion of renewed and vigorous debate over basic principles is very appealing. It will
provide the field with energy and excitement for some time to come.

Notes on contributor
John Allison is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at Nipissing University, North Bay,
Canada. He teaches Educational Foundations and International Teaching to pre-service teacher candi-
dates. He is a historian with a doctorate in the History of Education from the University of Toronto,
Canada. His current research interests include the history of Canadian educational governance,
educational technology, global governance in education, best practices in higher education teaching,
and the oral histories of male educators.

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