Journey to New Chinese History Curriculum: Teaching the Ming Dynasty with AR and VR

Overview

The prolonged pandemic and insufficient lesson hours have impeded students’ learning effectiveness of the new cultural components in the Secondary Two Chinese History curriculum. In light of the limitations in conventional settings, the speaker will leverage Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) tools to cover the topic Rise and Fall of the Ming Dynasty, with a particular focus on Zheng He’s Voyages to the Western Seas and the National Defense and Imperial Capital. This strategy allows students to learn ‘beyond the classroom’ and virtually explore the past of China. They are able to understand Chinese political evolution, national development, as well as basic socio-cultural historical facts comprehensively with enhanced learning effectiveness. We will explore how the combination of traditional delivery of Chinese History textbook knowledge and digital tools can help students to learn the history of China in an engaging way. This innovative method facilitates in-depth learning of students and broadens their horizon in history study from cultural and social dimensions.

This open lesson starts with displaying physical models of Chinese Treasure Ships and the Great Wall for a visual overview. With the VR experience of the venture of Zhenghe’s fleet with engaging dialogs and multiple-choice questions, students can virtually witness the massiveness of the fleet, and how the seven voyages facilitated cultural exchange. AR trackers are used to display the Great Wall and Imperial Capital in 3D with interactive elements, while exploratory questions lead students to identify the capital layout and defensive constructions.