The 21st century has witnessed a series of advancements in tech. These improvements have not only made things easier but allowed man to carry out age-long activities in new and dynamic ways. From social media to smart phones and so on, technology has granted us the opportunity to connect with our colleagues, friends and families in outstanding ways. One of such notable advancements is virtual reality.
Although just a few of the world’s population have access to the technology, virtual reality is fast changing how we interact and function. With regards to learning and schooling, even though it is in its early days, it leads to the question: how will virtual reality impact schooling?
Why Virtual Reality?
Alan Craig, a major league VR researcher defined virtual reality as a means for humans to share ideas and experience. Agreeably, before now VR was only a figment of science and tech nerds and enthusiasts. However, by 2010, the technology became a reality with the invention of the Oculus Rift realizing its capabilities for the simulation of experiences similar or contrary to the real world.
Subsequently, tech companies such as Google ventured into the market with the cardboard stereoscopic viewer. Consequently, tech giants such as Samsung, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon, etc. took advantage of the fast-growing market, offering the opportunity of VR to their customers.
Virtual Reality and Schooling
The possibilities of “personalized realities” through VR has revolutionized the way we play games and other recreational activities. Applying such a technology to schooling could not only expand but redefine the concept of collective learning. Schools are not a modern-day phenomenon.
Modern day educational institutions (primary, secondary and tertiary schools) employ the old schooling practices to pass knowledge across within the four walls of a classroom- this method has been branded as largely ineffective. For one, speaking to a large class of pupils does not guarantee that every student assimilates the knowledge disseminated- a major reason being, the rates of assimilation differ per student.
Moreover, schooling does not give students the adequate knowledge needed to survive in the world of work. Nemanja Manojlovic explains the reasons why schooling is inadequate. For him, schooling does not only kill curiosity but is monotonous and stale.
The preceding creates an opportunity to introduce virtual reality to the process of learning, to replace schooling activities. Already, controlled experiments involving the use of VR in teaching and learning have taken place. In 2018, a VR demonstration hosted by Intel in Middle Township High School involved the use of Oculus Rift to examine virtual frogs. The experiment gave students personalized experiences at learning, giving each student the chance to assimilate at his or her own rate. However, a number of learning and educational institutions around the world have not adopted VR in their learning practices.
Overall, VR can usher in the next stage of education due to its ability to generate a fun and exciting atmosphere for learning, with little or no consideration for distance and location. Furthermore, tailored experiences through VR will grant students the opportunities to learn in suitable ways and ultimately improving their chances of assimilation.
Virtual Reality and Schooling during a Global Pandemic
There is no better time for social and physical distancing than during a global pandemic. The world is currently confronting the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to its contagious nature, the disease has infected large numbers of people in limited time. the virus has infected more than two million people, leading to thirty-one thousand deaths. In response governments of the world have instituted preventive measures and closed public places including schools.
As a result, a significant number of children all over the world are currently out of school and may not be learning and/ or acquiring knowledge. During school closures, virtual reality can help teachers and educational personnel, contact their students without either of them being physically present. As such, learning can go on in a remote but conducive manner.
Ultimately, the COVID-19 pandemic serves as pointer to the fact that education needs to take place outside the school, more than within.
Hence, governments of the world are encouraged to support the approach of virtual reality to learning as enunciated in this piece. They can support by instituting collaborative ventures with tech companies to introduce the technology in the process of schooling and learning.