Jacob et al. (1993) notes that in the field of human computer interaction (HCI) research, underlying theory has not been well established. Since this time there have been advancements on this front (e.g. Antle, 2007), though many aspects of our technology often appear to still suffer from the “hey its cool” approach to design and development, e.g. the persistent changing of cell phone interfaces, many of which serve no innovative purpose. The field of education may be able to rectify this issue by providing a theoretical underpinning to connect the technology to a non-consumer driven conceptual purpose. Experiential Learning Theory first expressed by John Dewey in the early 1900s may interestingly enough provide this foundation for the 21st century development of Experiential Human Computer Interaction Theory (EHCI).

Dewey (1997[1938]) sites the principle of interaction as fundamental to experiential education. Experiential education is “a process through which a learner constructs knowledge, skill and values from direct experience” (Association for Experiential Education, 1991, p.1, qtd. in Ives, B., & Obenchain, K., 2006).  A potential framework for the use of haptic devices in a classroom setting can be found in Bialeschki’s (2007) work.  The original framework, which is focused on research in experiential education, encompasses the concepts: Relevance, Relationships, and Real (authentic), which are transferable to the practice of experiential education and HCI research. The conjunction of these three tenets with the conception of ‘presence”, i.e. a “state of consciousness” or a “sense of being in the virtual world” (Slater & Wilbur, 1997, as cited in Van Schaik et al., 2004, p. 541), in virtual reality research creates a theoretical framework that supports the implementation of haptics in a classroom. This is increasingly relevant in a time when teachers run the risk of alienating their students via traditional means of education that do not utilize technology to tap into the students lived world beyond the school.

Prior to discussing the framework further, it must be noted that though our study will not be immersive in the sense that the subject will be fully enveloped by the VE, the notion of presence is still very applicable to our theory. Hecht and Reiner (2007) contend that the possibility exist that one can also be “present” in a non-immersive VE as well, especially when a haptic device is utilized. Dewey (1997[1938]) argued that the environment in which a student interacts can either be real or imaginary, the true educative experience comes from the ability of this environment to interact with the student’s “needs, desires, purposes, and capacities to create the experience which is had” (p. 44).

Relevance

Bialeschki (2007) points to the rapid growth of technology as an aspect that must be considered under the arch of relevancy. Students enter school in the 21st century with many years of prior knowledge of computers and a predisposition to the engagement this technology offers. Data from 2003 indicate that 43 percent of three- and four-year old students used computers at school, 80 percent of five- to nine-year-olds, and 90 percent of 10- to 14-year-olds (U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics NCES, 2006). Furthermore 72 percent of 10- to 14-year-olds also uses computers at home. This data indicated a sharp increase from 1997. Moreover, according to Walsh, D. et al. in 2005 87% of 8- to 17-year old children played video games at home. One conclusion to be drawn is that computers and other interactive technology are relevant to students at every age and must be incorporated into the curriculum more fully.

Relationships

Relationships are also important in establishing a true experiential learning environment (Bialeschki, 2007; Dewey, 1997[1938]). Though the word relationship is often connected with human-to-human social interaction, research has shown that interaction with technology has many social dimensions as well (Brown, 2006). In order to produce a sense of presence in a virtual environment (VE) the cultivation of a relationship with the VE is critical (Hecht & Reiner, 2007). In 1938, Dewey advocated the need for interactions with both humans and objects to improve the quality of education, now we are able to produce these interactions on a virtual level. VE researchers claim that this sense of presence is critical in facilitating the perception of interaction in a virtual world. Furthermore, Antle (2007) argues, “meaning is created in the interaction” (p. 195), and the ability to interact with a physical object has been found to be critical in childhood cognitive development. Healy (1998) supports this claim arguing that tangible, physically based forms of child computer interaction, i.e. the ability to touch, feel, and manipulate, enable children to build sensory awareness of relationships in the world. An important aspect of making these HCIs “real” Jacob et al. (1993) notes, “is linking the three-dimensional input to the three-dimensional output in a faithful and convincing way” (p. 73). An experiential computer environment will establish a relationship with users where they may gain multiple perspectives via direct sensory stimulus that will aid in a deeper insight into the information they may be exploring (Jain, 2003). This is the key, moving information querying to information exploring, and adding a tactile based dimension to this is critical in the sense that it will allow for users to experience the information in a more “natural” way (Jain, 2003, p. 50).
Real (authentic)

According to Schiphorst (2007), there is a real value in designing experiential technology. Furthermore, he contends that there is not just a value in designing technology for experience, but “as experience” (p. 7). This need for the experience to be real or authentic is also critical to experiential learning (Bialeschki, 2007; Dewey, 1997[1938]); however, this need to be real has been a difficult hurdle in VE research (Brown, 2006).  Utilizing haptics could improve the immersive experience of the user by adding the ability to not just perceive objects, i.e. visually and/or auditorially as in current VE, but through tactile perception as well enabling the user to virtually feel what he or she may be touching or experiencing in the VE (Laycock & Day, 2003). This has been found to augment the feeling of “presence” in VE (Van Schaik, et al., 2004).
For example, basic haptic technology has been an influence on a generation of gamers. For decades, the sense of reality was mostly generated by graphics and sound, but with the advent of the rumble pack and most recently the Nintendo Wii, the sense of touch was added to the paradigm. The success of such features in the entertainment/gaming industry indicates a strong need for the experience to appear as real as possible (Laycock, & Day, 2003).  It is critical that schools learn to take advantage of this technology, because students are already engaged with it beyond the classroom walls and thus prior-knowledge/familiarity has already been established (Walsh, D. et al., 2005, Prensky, 2006, & U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics NCES, 2006).  The use of haptics with educational based computer programs can potentially close the gap that currently exists between the experiences students have outside of school and the ones they have within with regards to technology. Research has demonstrated that students are academically more engaged and often more academically successful when school experiences are more applicable to their “real world” beyond the classroom (e.g. Dewey, 1997[1938]; Brown, 2006; Ives & Obenchain, 2006). Furthermore, Brown (2006) notes that the utilization of technology, especially technology implementation based on a “demand-pull” approach to learning, i.e. learning through participation and interaction, is “Dewey for the digital age” (p. 23).

Bringing it all together

Jacob et al. (1993) argue that one of the main issues in HCI is “effectively communicating requests and results between the system and the user” (p. 69). They site improvement of the user interface as aiding in overcoming this current issue, as opposed to the system internal processes, that can complement and even augment “communication-relevant characteristics of humans” (p. 69). We make the claim that haptics can do just this by directly interfacing with the user at a tactile level, which is one way that has been found to affect a person’s learning (Gardner, 1983). This claim is further bolstered by findings that suggest that direct manipulation interfaces have been found to be successful due to the way they draw on “analogies to existing human skills” as opposed to the typical method of relying on trained behaviors (Jacob et al., 1993, p. 70). Additionally, kinesthetic feedback has been found to remarkably add to perception of three-dimensional displays. Schubert et al. (2001) posit that VEs need to be as close to reality as possible for presence to occur, and we propose that haptic utilization has the potential to increase this sense of reality by enabling the user to virtually “feel” their environment thus increasing the sense of presence perceived in a VE. The act of presence is not an unconscious act, but a conscious one (Van Schaik et al., 2004), thus it is strengthened by the sense of touch that a haptic device can allow. Ultimately presence is based on experience.