The Harrington Lab

The Harrington Lab at UCF designs, develops, and evaluates immersive interactive informal learning applications focusing on educational virtual field trips. AR, VR, and XR are the main technologies used in development. The lab is highly collaborative with several active partnerships with cultural institutions, museums, science centers, parks, and botanical arboretums. The lab is under the direction of Dr. Harrington at the University of Central Florida. The research shows significant causal relationships between the signals in the natural world and learning outcomes. Beauty can motivate learning, increase feeling awe and wonder that can increase curiosity and motivate exploration and inquiry. Shown too is the importance of fact-filled stories and personalized access to educational information in the moment. These applications have been shown to increase the desire to share and create. Best practice is to use the applications before a real field trip and after, but not to replace. 

The Harrington Lab at the University of Central Florida: https://communication.ucf.edu/person/maria-c-r-harrington/