VR Learning — The Future of Education?
Virtual reality has quietly established itself as an increasingly versatile technology in the past few years, proving that beyond gaming, it has the potential to generate excitement and engage users across multiple industries.
Having made its way into school classrooms, society has gone as far as to label it as the future of education to refer to the benefits it provides students and educators. VR technology enables students to apply their newly acquired knowledge in simulated environments, record and track their progress as well as allowing them to connect to experts, all within one medium.
Samsung conducted a nation-wide survey in the US on more than 1000 K-12 teachers in 2016, concluding that 86 percent of teachers felt that it is was a challenge to keep students engaged in the curriculum with existing technologies.
In the age of social media and smartphones, the desire to focus on information presented in the form of textbooks may pale in comparison to the urge for students to check their latest Instagram stories or Facebook feed.
Samsung’s survey notes that 93 percent of teachers believed that their students would be excited to use VR technology in the classroom and 83 percent believe that it may help improve learning outcomes. Teachers consider VR to be effective in helping students understand different concepts and form greater collaboration as well staying motivated in the classroom.
VR essentially brings learning to life in an incredibly engaging manner, mitigating a number of learning challenges that students may face. In VR, students are able to learn through active participation in a life-like manner, allowing them to feel more engaged to the subject material than other traditional mediums, subsequently leading to more effective application and retention of the information.
A research report conducted by Beijing Bluefocus E-Commerce Co. and Beijing iBokan Wisdom Mobile Internet Technology Training in 2016 found that VR-based education resulted in better test scores and knowledge retention amongst Beijing high school students, in comparison to traditional classroom learning. However, the most significant finding of their study was perhaps the fact that the children who had scored below average in the pre-study test outperformed the test’s best performers, after experiencing a VR-enhanced curriculum.
These reports are mere indicators of VR being able to enhance classroom learning and there is still much work to be done; it is a very positive sign for VR learning moving forward. ImmVRse, a blockchain-based VR content sharing platform is a firm believer that virtual learning can revolutionize learning, as we know it.
The ImmVRse platform, aside from its predominately entertainment based content, also aims to serve as an educational medium with a category dedicated to learning and teaching. ImmVRse is currently partnered with Kingston University and Imperial College London to further research into the values in education as well as other sectors.
One research in particular revolves around understanding the effect of VR on neural activity to improve understanding on how the technology affects individuals’ ability to absorb information.
