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Studies have suggested that virtual reality (VR) as an ‘empathy-making machine’ has the potential to trigger historical empathy. Different VR technologies offer different levels of immersion with different educational implications. Higher immersive VR technology has shown promise in enhancing learners’ empathy levels. However, how highly immersive VR promotes learners’ historical empathy in real-life classroom settings has not been explored. Hence, this study focuses on comparing two levels of immersive VR-supported learning for historical empathy acquisition among secondary learners. A total of 49 students were recruited. A quasi-experimental design was employed and the quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed to explore participants’ historical knowledge and empathy. The quantitative data show no significant difference between immersive virtual reality (IVR) approach-supported learning and flatscreen VR-supported learning. However, the qualitative analysis suggests that the students from the IVR group showed stronger ‘physical empathy’. Intriguingly, even though the tests did not demonstrate that the students learned more in IVR-supported learning, they self-reported that they learned better in IVR-supported learning. The paper identifies implications for the connection between ‘physical empathy’ and the level of immersive technology.

Digital media are widely used among Higher Education (HE) students; however, it is not clear yet how students from different disciplines apply learning technology. When differences in technology use were found among disciplines, they were identified broadly, for example, between soft and hard sciences, that is, social sciences/humanities vs. natural sciences. Beyond this, disciplines may also differ according to their traditions, norms and values that form their discipline-specific cultures. Thus, based on the theoretical perspectives of social cognitive theory and organisational culture, this present study aimed to examine students’ technology use in different HE disciplines. In a multilevel analysis, data from four German universities were analyzed, including more than 1,200 students from 105 disciplines. The findings suggest that students in different disciplines vary substantially in their average use of study-related technology. Furthermore, on the individual level, study-related technology use depends on individual factors, e.g., perceived usefulness. This present study's results contribute to further extending our knowledge about student technology use in HE. Above all, the conceptual and methodical models can serve as a theoretical and empirical basis for future studies. To analyze disciplinary differences, the study shows that a rough classification, for example hard versus soft disciplines, is not sufficient. Instead, the different disciplines need to be distinguished.

The internet provides up-to-date, multi-dimensional and spatial information on geographical conflicts worldwide. Internet searches can therefore be used in geography education for students to learn about geographical conflicts and to form their own opinions on them. However, previous research indicates that students lack competences in searching and evaluating digital information on geographical conflicts and also in processing the information found argumentatively. Therefore, we developed a digital learning unit, available as Open Educational Resource, to train upper secondary and university students in targeted strategies for conducting internet searches on geographical conflicts and developing subsequent argumentations. In this study, we investigated whether geographic internet searches and argumentation skills can be promoted using the learning unit. For this purpose, we analysed the work products of 39 students that they produced within the learning unit, consisting of an internet search on a geographical conflict and a subsequent argumentation. In addition, the students evaluated the learning unit using digitally provided questionnaires. A comparison of the students’ work results with previous research shows that the learning unit does not seem to affect the amount of information students find on the internet, but students seemed to engage more intensively with the information found. Using the information from the internet, students were able to create multi-perspective argumentations in which they could defend their opinions with justifications, counter-arguments and rebuttals. The results of our study thus show that internet searches on geographical conflicts and the development of subsequent argumentation can be promoted with the digital learning unit.