An exploration of the kinesthetic learning modality and virtual reality in a Web environment

The World Wide Web supports several new technologies and innovative uses of its existing capabilities for online learning. One example is virtual reality, a state produced in a person's mind that creates a feeling of awareness in a way similar to that of real environments. The virtual field trip and the three-dimensional virtual world are two virtual reality formats that may be used for online instruction.; Learning style, an individual's preferred way of processing information, is one of the complex factors in the learning environment affecting the student's motivation and ability to learn. However, students who prefer to learn through the kinesthetic modality, or whole body movement or experience, may be disadvantaged in an online environment.; This dissertation used quantitative and qualitative methods to explore the kinesthetic learning style preference with online Brazilian English language learners and to obtain their reactions to specific virtual reality formats on the Web. The study determined whether these individuals preferred the kinesthetic modality more than other perceptual learning styles, explored via case study what the kinesthetic modality meant to them, and investigated how well Web-based instruction using selected virtual reality formats simulated feelings of actual kinesthetic activity in the mind of the learners.; The study revealed that the kinesthetic learning style was strongly preferred by the online participants and that other perceptual modalities were also preferred, but to a somewhat lesser degree. From the Grounded Theory method of data analysis, a number of hypotheses emerged that pertained to the Brazilian online learners. One of the more salient of these suggests that Web-based virtual reality formats may benefit these learners by incorporating virtual kinesthetic cues---any of a variety of techniques which simulate the attributes of kinesthetic activities in the mind of online learners. A related hypothesis proposes that the use of the power of suggestion to engage the imagination may be an underlying mechanism that promotes feelings of simulated kinesthetic activity in a learner's mind.; The study concludes that measures designed to simulate kinesthetic activities in Web-based instruction may benefit online learners and recommends further research to test this claim with other populations.