Online students' experiences with virtual reality: an interpretative phenomenological analysis.

• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2047/D20399895

Online learning has grown rapidly over the past decade in higher education. In 2019, 2.8 million higher education students were learning online, a 129.1% growth from 2018 (Straut & Boeke, 2020). Technology allows students from all over the world to learn, which has aided in the enrollment growth of online learning. Technological innovations have transformed education in the way that content is delivered. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experience of virtual reality for online students. Three research questions guided the qualitative study to understand how virtual reality impacted online students' connections to the course structure, feelings of autonomy, and interaction with peers and teachers. The findings indicated that virtual reality enhanced the learning experience for online students. This study's findings can guide policy makers, administrators, and teachers when implementing immersive technology in online learning.