VR learning will transform the educational experience of each student.
Learning is an experience. But somewhere along the way we forgot this. Although currently the educational system teaches important skills of self-discipline and attention, it does not teach skills and values that are crucial and, to a large degree, determine success in one’s future. These include technical skills such as coding; emotional skills such as empathy; and values: the most important one being that of being passionate about lifelong learning.
VR can make learning a great experience again; where students learn skills and apply them as often as possible. We have mentioned this before, but let’s explore it further to understand the benefits that VR can bring to education.
1. Contextualized Learning.
Let’s see the example of History. History is a crucial lesson for understanding how past societies, ideologies and cultures functioned and what has led us to where we are today. How much stronger would these lessons be if students experienced them in a Virtual Reality setting? If they had a simulation of Churchill explain the struggles of World War 2? Learning about History would be as fun as watching your favorite Netflix series. As a result, engagement would skyrocket.
Also, learning a foreign language through VR could turn into a cultural experience where you learn how to speak the language under e.g. the Eiffel Tower with French-speaking students around you.
2. Multi-Sensory Experience.
Learning about concepts without knowing how they work in the real world is a challenge. And that’s part of the reason why so many students drop out of STEM degree programs, despite the dramatic career growth in this field. (The percentage of students dropping out in the US is as high as 69%, in case you were curious.) Introducing a multi-sensory experience could transform STEM education. VR can help students see the practical side of STEM. Students will be able to solve physics problems by seeing how possible solutions play out in the real world and understand the impact of a .5 point error in calculation from something more real than a slight decrease in their test result.
3. Active Autonomy.
We’re all different. We like some things more and some things less. But in school, we didn’t have the ability to choose the direction of our education because we followed one specific syllabus. VR can now change this, with students selecting their own educational path and experimenting with different lessons. You might be thinking: “so what will happen to teachers?”. The answer is that they will take a much more important position. They will monitor each student’s progress, helping them understand their mistakes and further personalizing the educational experience.
Still curious? There are many more benefits to experiential learning through VR and you can read them here!