Virtual port town helps toddlers expand their vocabulary

Pilot at three primary schools 

In this co-creation project, NOLAI works together with Flores Onderwijs, Delta Scholengroep, VRLearningLab and researchers from Radboud University. The team investigates how VR can contribute to stimulating vocabulary development in toddlers with educational disadvantages. A pilot was conducted recently at three primary schools belonging to Flores Onderwijs and Delta Scholengroep in Arnhem. We spoke about this with Antoon Sturkenboom, an independent advisor for learning and development who has been involved in the project since 2024. 

Virtual world 

n a virtual port town, children go on a journey of discovery and learn new words in a playful and interactive manner. “We developed a VR application to see if we can improve vocabulary by letting children from the second year of primary education learn in such a virtual environment,” says project leader Antoon. VR is already often used as a learning tool, but not yet for young children. Special precautions are in place to ensure that children are not exposed to any risks during this research. The first version of the application was tested in the pilot.

On a journey of discovery 

The children were enthusiastic about the 3D world in which they completed tasks and travelled with an adventurer. “The theme is port and sea, and everything that happens there. We made a kind of port town. The children enter this world and meet an adventurer, Lana. She invites them to come aboard a ship and help. While preparing for and during the journey, they come across (new) words, such as compass, hoist and sail,” Antoon explains. In this playful setting, they are actively engaging with these words; they have to choose items to take with them, hoist the flag and sail the ship. At the same time, Lana stimulates the children to talk actively and pick up new concepts. 

AI support 

The technology is deliberately aimed at its target audience: young children with a language deficit, for instance due to a different home language or limited access to language-rich environments. “We hope that this research indicates that this is a way to catch up more quickly,” says the project leader. Although virtual tour guide Lana is currently still under the control of supervisors, the team is working on an AI-supported version that can automatically suggest sentences based on the child’s input. 

Script and software development 

The co-creation project is being carried out in close collaboration with primary schools, software developers and researchers. VR Learning Lab, a software company from Leiden, is responsible for the 3D environment, which is developed based on the theme choices and vocabulary goals of the primary schools. “The whole script with the actions that children can take and how the virtual characters talks with the children and challenges them to talk is of course also very important,” the project leader emphasises. Everything is carefully tailored to attainability and educational value. 

Next steps 

Now the pilot has been completed, we are waiting for the results. Based on these, a larger validation study will follow next year. The ultimate goal is to demonstrate whether this method actually yields learning gains and can be used on a larger scale. “You first have to see: does this have an effect? Only then can you look at: does this have sufficient added value on top of the current interventions to really develop it further?” Antoon explains. If the results are positive, the project can potentially lead to a complete product that can be implemented in education.