Virtual Reality, we’ve all heard the term, and perhaps you’ve even had the opportunity to get a VR-Experience yourself. For those who need a refresher, Virtual Reality is a simulated experience which enables the viewer to explore the entire 360 degrees of a scene and that can be completely different from the real world. Virtual reality can be used in many ways such as entertainment, education, and business (Goode, 2019).
For this blog, we’ll focus on the educational benefits of VR, since there are many! Virtual reality can improve educational experiences by giving students memorable and immersive experiences that they wouldn’t be able to get in any other way. Additionally, it can all take place within the classroom, it’s accessible to every student and is easily monitored by teachers. Imagine going on a field trip, while never having to leave your classroom. Virtual experiences have the power to engage and inspire students in a unique and powerful way (Immersionvr, 2021).
Additionally, in specific fields such as the medical industry, VR has the ability to be a game changer. Instead of listening to hours long lectures or reading books with thousands of pages, a VR course could be taught on a subject, where students could learn by doing. With VR education, learners are inspired to discover for themselves. Students have an opportunity to learn by doing rather than passively reading.
An interesting company that is providing a solution like this in the Netherlands is Warp VR. They mainly provide their product to employers who want to give their employees an interactive way of onboarding. However, they also work together with the Amsterdam Medical Centre, where they use VR to teach courses on learning CPR procedures. This is proven to be a more efficient way of learning that the old-school variants where a teacher showed the procedure in front of a class a few times and is even able to involve real emotion in the situation.
If you’re interested in the possibilities of VR in education, take a look at their website!
Sources:
https://www.warpvr.com/
https://www.wired.com/story/what-is-xr/
https://xd.adobe.com/ideas/principles/emerging-technology/virtual-reality-will-change-learn-teach/
