In November 2023, the BA (Hons) Special Educational Needs and Inclusion studies (Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Education) programme worked in partnership with the Creative Innovation Hub (CIH) to deliver a bespoke session to our second year students as part of the module: Speech and Language Development.

The 3-hour morning event at our Canterbury campus was organised by Dr. Rachel Mallia Borg (Course Director) in collaboration with Heather Cobb and Ben Chittenden from the CIH. The session offered our students an opportunity to think about virtual reality and how it can be used in the context of SEN, particularly speech and language development. 

The students were asked to reflect on what they had learned in the speech and language module ‘low-technology alternative and augmentative methods of communication’, and to apply this knowledge to higher-technology.

The students took part in 3 activities exploring: a virtual reality headset (Meta Quest 2), motion-capture suits (Roboko Smart Suit Pro 2), and an augmented reality headset (Microsoft Hololens).

They were firstly introduced to the technology e.g. what it does, how it can be used, and then went on to experiment with the different technologies. Once the demonstration was complete, students participated in a group discussion about how these devices could be used in school and/or community settings.

This activity is just one of many exciting learning opportunities on the course; read some of our student feedback on the session below:

• “The most fun I have had in a while. Felt amazing to experience it all. Very interesting how it relates to Special Educational Needs and Inclusion.”

• “Very interesting and fun to learn about different ways virtual reality can help”

Find out more about the course on the course webpage.