Since the beginning of time, knowledge transfer has been the top priority for civilization. In the era of digital devices, technology has made learning easier and fun. VR seems to be the next step to evolve education.
Personally, it has been a great experience to deliver online classes during the coronavirus pandemic. My mom is glad I am finally putting my Optimum internet only plan to good use by using it to teach my students. That time isn’t far away when the VR technology will become a regular part of education. Meanwhile, let’s know how VR can transform the way we are learning.
Post Contents
The New Era of Learning
Before getting into how VR has improved education and learning, it’s pivotal to understand why there is a need for improving the quality of education. Before the advent of PC and the Internet, we relied on books. Now, these books have turned into eBooks. Instead of libraries, we have search engines to search for answers to queries.
There is no denying that knowledge has become more accessible than ever but there are two major problems to this approach:
- Most teaching methods are based on providing facts. Consuming information is not called learning. It’s called being informed and it’s not the same as learning.
- Learning too much information in a short time is overwhelming for students. They get bored, disengaged, and forget why they were learning the topic in the first place.
The Benefits of VR in Education
Virtual reality is a highly useful tool for enhancing engagement during learning. This piece of tech can transform the way content is delivered and consumed. It allows students to not only see through a virtual world but interact with it. Being immersed in the experience motivates them to fully understand the process. Plus, less cognitive load is needed for processing information.
Here are some examples that make VR in education powerful:
Sense of Place
When it’s a location, building, or something that happened in the past, students often want to experience it. VR makes it possible. How great it would be to see the things you are studying.
Students learn about a subject by actually living it. Our body believes we are in a new place and this helps the mind engage in that experience.
Emotional Connection
VR makes it easy to engage with students and form an emotional connection making the experience more memorable than ever.
Enhance Creativity
VR is not only beneficial for content consumption but for great for content creation as well. It offers tools for students to boost creativity and come up with unique ideas to learn.
Visual Learning
Many people are visual learners. For such a group of students, visual learning is highly useful. Complex functions are easy to visualize when they are being taught through this type of technology.
Properties of VR Learning Tools
Regardless of the type of VR tool you are using for your students, they must have these 5 properties:
Immersive Experience
The tool must allow the user to feel the experience. History VR apps are great in this regard. Teaching the students history by making it come to life is a one-of-a-kind experience.
Ease of Use
The app or tool must not require special skills to interact. It should be easy for both students and teachers to use.
Meaningful
It’s impossible to create a good learning experience without a meaningful story. That’s why most teachers use storytelling to help their students memorize a lesson. Stories deliver the message, they are heard and understand well. They also inspire action.
Adaptable
With a VR experience, students get to explore and learn at their own pace. The app must offer complete control of the difficulty level.
Measurable
The app should provide measurable impact so that teachers can measure how their methods are boosting student understanding and knowledge. This could be used for measuring the success or failure of the curriculum.
Final Words
VR in education and learning is on the horizon. It is going to change the world as we know it. Soon, the 21st century will create classrooms that are technologically advanced. VR experience will inspire an entire generation of bright and creative students who are ready to change the world.
The next disruption in education does not rely on technology but the decision of the teacher for pushing forward and adopting new tech in the classroom. VR technology may be advancing but it’s not affordable. A Samsung Gear VR would cost some students a fortune to afford. It will take some time for these devices to be mainstream and affordable (like Spectrum Select package I must say since all my students talk about it). Hence, the only way to make VR global is to make it more accessible, available, and affordable.
