School of Education

Dr Gabriella Rodolico and Dr Lavinia Hirsu picked up one of two 2023 British Journal of Educational Technology (BJET) Best EdTech Paper awards for a paper presented at this year's BERA Conference, for their paper Virtual reality (VR) in education: The impact of a short VR-supported intervention on pre-service teachers’ VR technological and pedagogical content knowledge.

This biennial award recognises the best paper presented at the conference on a topic related to educational technology. Members of a small panel of judges (including members of the BJET editorial team) attended and judged sessions selected from the programme on the basis of their relevance to the journal’s aims and scope.

Speaking about Dr Rodolico and Dr Hirsu's paper, the BJET editors and judging panel said:

This was an interesting exploration into the potential of virtual reality (VR) support lessons in initial teacher education (ITE) courses. We were particularly impressed by the methodological rigour, the use of TPACK and mixed methods that offered valuable insights for professional development in this area. The presentation was engaging, very well-structured, and effectively translated complex research findings into implications for practice. We look forward to future research in this space that would go beyond the teacher's views into the practical impact in school practice and on student engagement and learning outcomes."

This year's award was shared by Troy Meston from Griffith University, Australia for the paper From deficit to digital strength – Indigenous learning through gaming. Special commendation was also given to Nicki Wise (University of Hull) for the excellent presentation and the novelty and interactivity in the poster Thrive not survive. Using digital technologies and an executive function framework to support the academic success of learners with ADHD and dyslexia.

The British Educational Research Association (BERA) is the leading authority on educational research in the UK, supporting and representing the community of scholars, practitioners and everyone engaged in and with educational research both nationally and internationally. This year’s BERA conference took place at Aston University, Birmingham from 12 – 14 September 2023.

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First published: 21 September 2023