Fast Cars and Fast Learning: Using Virtual Reality to Learn Literacy and Numeracy in Prison
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4101/jvwr.v12i3.7391Keywords:
virtual reality, digital literacy, literacy and numeracy, prison educationAbstract
Virtual reality has the potential to vastly improve the experience of education for incarcerated learners, particularly those with limited levels of numeracy and literacy. It is estimated that nearly two-thirds of prisoners in New Zealand lack the functional numeracy and literacy they need to fully participate in everyday life. Many have had sub-optimal experiences with formal education, often leaving early and disengaging fully with education. Many more suffer from a range of learning challenges brought about by traumatic brain injury, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and a range of other conditions.
The Methodist Mission Southern was contracted by the Department of Corrections New Zealand to deliver intensive literacy and numeracy training to prisoners in one of the country