Windowless Classrooms or a Virtual Window World: Does a Creative Classroom Environment Help or Hinder Attention?

This study examined the influence of virtual windows, used to simulate windows in a classroom, on attentional tasks. Forty undergraduates took the Trail Making Task (TMT) and Benton's Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWA) in a classroom with either virtual windows displaying nature scenes, or blind-covered windows. Results on the TMT and COWA revealed that virtual windows had a positive influence on participants' ability to complete these tasks and that participants were more efficient at the TMT in the virtual window condition compared to the no window condition. These results indicate that virtual windows were not a distraction in the classroom and had a positive effect on performance. Implications for using virtual windows in classrooms without windows are discussed.