The virtual reality (VR) market is expanding, and education seems like an easy revenue stream. The target audience often lacks deep knowledge of advanced technologies, and procurement processes tend to focus primarily on cost. For some „entrepreneurs,“ this combination opens doors to a new market without much concern for the tool’s effectiveness, teaching methodology, educational content, student and teacher needs, or how to properly integrate VR into the curriculum.
Many simply ride the wave of the current situation, where digitizing education is a priority and modern teaching methods are socially desired. But how can we tell when cheaper options still maintain quality?
Virtual reality offers students interactive and immersive experiences that significantly enhance memory retention and understanding of material. This is achieved through two fundamental functions of the virtual environment: complete immersion and full interaction with the content.
In educational VR applications, models are computer-generated and programmed to simulate reality, allowing detailed exploration—even in scenarios that are inaccessible in the real world. Besides computer-generated environments, VR content can also be created through 360° videos.
While such videos are visually appealing, when VR in education is reduced to students merely watching videos instead of interacting and working as a team, it diverts attention from the full potential that VR has to offer.
Instead of collaborating in a virtual space, students may become isolated within their own headsets, and teachers lose the ability to influence what each student is doing in real time, making it harder to guide them through the learning process.
What Should Educational VR Applications Include? – Key Aspects for Effective Learning in VR:
- Interactivity: Applications should enable students to actively engage with the virtual environment, conduct experiments, and collaborate with peers.
- Management Solutions: Quality VR applications should allow teachers to control and manage the virtual environment and monitor all participants‘ activities in real time.
- Collaboration: Multiplayer features should be standard, creating a true virtual classroom that fosters teamwork.
- High-Quality Content: The content must be relevant, align with educational standards, be verified by experts, and be regularly updated.
- Ease of Integration: Applications should be easily integrated into the existing educational system and be user-friendly.
- Support and Training: Providers of VR technologies should offer sufficient support and training for teachers.
Virtual reality can indeed enhance the learning process, but it’s crucial to carefully select tools that facilitate this. For VR to make sense in education and become an effective tool for student development, schools must prioritize quality, interactivity, and collaborative opportunities.
A cheap solution that doesn’t fully leverage VR’s capabilities for experiential learning could end up being a costly mistake.
