VR in the Schools, 2-3; Brown; virtual reality file:///C|/Users/tassos/Desktop/2-3brown.htm[16/1/2011 8:18:19 μμ] Virtual Reality and Education Laboratory East Carolina University Greenville, North Carolina USA Volume 2, Number 3, December 1996 A VIRTUAL LASER PHYSICS LABORATORY David J. Brown, Tassos A. Mikropoulos, and Steven J. Kerr epzdjb@epn1.maneng.nott.ac.uk amikrop@cc.uoi.gr 1. BACKGROUND: VIRART (The Virtual Reality Applications Research Team) is based in the Department of Manufacturing Engineering and Operations Management, at the University of Nottingham, England. Over the past five years VIRART has worked with research teams throughout Europe, developing industrial and educational applications of VR as well as carrying out fundamental research into the health and safety implications of the use of head mounted displays. In terms of educational applications, our team has concentrated its efforts in developing a methodology for the use of the technology in special needs teaching. This five-step approach seeks to: (i) embed the development of virtual learning environments in contemporary educational theory, (ii) empower users and their carers to participate successfully in shaping and defining the education and rehabilitative applications developed, (iii) design and execute a continual program of testing and use these results to refine our virtual learning environments, (iv) consider the ethical issues surrounding the involvement of people with disabilities in research and development as à priori, and (v) develop a curriculum for use of these educational virtual learning environments in special classrooms today. Applying this research methodology VIRART has developed applications to teach basic life and communicational skills to students with severe learning difficulties, constructed virtual environments suited to the needs of autistic students, and are developing virtual environments to teach health education and tenants rights to young adults with moderate learning difficulties (Brown and Wilson, 1995). This work continues apace and is complemented by a testing program carried out in conjunction with the Department of Learning Disabilities, also at the University of Nottingham, which showed that the use of such teaching material could encourage self directed activity in this group