To study engagement and learning, we developed an asymmetric collaborative version of an existing VR-experience about environmental sustainability, enabling student teams of three, with only one wearing a headset at any time, to collaborate in three different virtual reality subgames. We compared this collaborative version to a non-collaborative version in a between-subjects experimental study ( n = 20), finding that student teams using the collaborative version interacted to a larger extent while performing the subgames. The students in these teams self-reported a higher level of engagement, and observations suggested that interactions extended beyond necessary instructions. We did not find any significant differences when it comes to learning measured by scores on pre- and post-knowledge tests, but quantitative analysis of responses indicates that the VR-experience affected students overall and a qualitative analysis of an open question suggested a particular effect on the collaborative teams. Logged performance data indicated that collaborative teams managed to solve the tasks involved in the subgames at least as efficiently as the teams using the non-collaborative version.

Virtual Reality has long been proposed to combine the reliability of controlled laboratory settings with the ecological validity of real life. While the technological development steadily pushes towards even more realistic renderings of the real world—the elusiveness of social and emotional elements gradually becomes more evident. This is not the least true for behavioral studies in rich sociocultural contexts. This article examines the outcomes of a study on distractions, taking place in a socially rich context—the classroom. The study made use of a Virtual Reality environment simulating a junior high school lesson, where the Distraction condition consisted of peers watching nonrelevant content on their laptops. In the control condition these laptops were closed. No significant distraction effects were found, neither on learning nor behavior. Given the strong support in the literature for such effects, the study design, including technical aspects, is scrutinized and discussed. We specifically highlight the difficulty of simulating a social relationship between the participant and agents in VR, which in this case makes the distraction stimulus significantly weaker. It is argued that the distraction effect of nearby peers’ laptop use relies (partly) on shared attention with social agents with an established social relation and common interests.