Educators are exploring ways to make learning more fun, interesting, and engaging. Traditional education methods usually involve the presentation of facts and understanding information by reading textbooks or listening to lectures. However, our current teaching methods do not consider the individuality of students. Not all students can memorize a large amount of information, and some children are visual learners. It is important for people to "visualize" concepts rather than just reading or hearing about them.
Virtual reality is emerging as a universal tool for education that can make learning more fun, interesting, and engaging. Several educational institutions see VR technology as the best option for personalized learning and are starting to adopt virtual reality in education to enhance the learning experience. According to a report, the global virtual reality in the education market will reach $32.94 billion in 2026, growing at a CAGR of 39.7%.
Do you want to learn more about utilizing VR in education?
On September 27, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. EDT, XR Guru is conducting a webinar on " What's New Education: Virtual Reality." Join our webinar to learn more about using VR in education.
Here is an overview of our blog:
8 Ways Virtual Reality is Improving Education
1. Education Beyond Books: Experiential Learning
2. Immersive Learning at VR Labs
3. Gamified Learning
4. Complex Concepts Made Easier
5. Special Needs Education
6. Confidence Booster in Soft Skills Training
7. Education Beyond Geographical Boundaries
8. Nullifies Language Barrier
8 Ways Virtual Reality is Improving Education
Here is how adopting virtual reality in schools can enhance the educational experience:
1. Education Beyond Books: Experiential Learning
VR creates an immersive learning environment, making it easier to understand and remember information. Virtual reality applications can simulate objects, processes, or environments. By stepping into the virtual world, students can visualize learning content and interact with the 3D objects in the virtual environment to get a clear idea of the subjects.
The good thing about using virtual reality for education is that there is no longer a dependency on just textbooks. Using VR for education means students can learn by doing rather than just reading or listening to lectures. If you are curious about Mars exploration and want to know what Mars looks like, you need not browse through Google Images or YouTube videos of satellite images. You can simply put on a VR headset, and you will find yourself on Mars! You can walk on planet Mars without leaving your room.
2. Immersive Learning at VR Labs
Virtual reality technology promotes a hands-on, practical learning approach. VR-based applications can create computer-generated simulations of laboratories. VR labs present an engaging, secure simulated learning environment to practice experiments and get a first-hand experience and understanding of how to work with real-life laboratory equipment.
These virtual laboratories give access to Physics, Chemistry, and Biology laboratories and are now being used in many higher education institutions. VR laboratories provide access to advanced laboratory equipment that is usually not affordable or available. Unlike real-life labs, VR labs allow learners to conduct experiments in a virtual environment without any space, time, or safety constraints. VR labs also benefit teachers. With virtual reality offering a safe environment, teachers can focus on presenting the subject matter in the best possible way.
3. Gamified Learning
What sounds more interesting, reading a 200-page book or playing a game to understand a subject?
Learning through games sounds more exciting, right?
One of the best ways to understand complex concepts is through games. Virtual reality technology adds a new dimension to educational games. VR games are better than conventional learning programs as they offer better interactivity. Learning with VR games helps students remember the concepts better. VR-based games and the reward structure add an element of competitiveness and motivate learners to focus more on academic activities. Statistics show that VR-based learning games have the highest growth rate among all educational game types through 2024.
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4. Complex Concepts Made Easier
Subjects like physics and chemistry include countless theories and concepts. Most of these concepts/theories are very abstract in nature, making it difficult for learners to comprehend these subjects by simply reading a book, listening to a lecture, or seeing a 2D image. VR technology brings these theories and concepts to life, helping learners interact with them instead of just having to memorize them.
For instance, learning anatomy using textbooks can be challenging. With VR applications, students can understand human anatomy easier with interactive 3D visuals and examine each body part closely.
5. Special Needs Education
Using textbooks or other conventional teaching methods can be unfruitful for children with learning difficulties. Virtual reality in education offers new educational resources for children with cognitive impairments or disabilities. VR replicates real-life scenarios that teach kids how to communicate with others, manage emotions, and develop social skills. Children with learning difficulties can better concentrate on a subject with the help of 3D images, audio, and video content. VR-based learning programs can hold the attention of these students and present subject matter visually, helping them have a memorable learning experience.
6. Confidence Booster in Soft Skills Training
Virtual reality technology can help people learn soft skills. When it comes to learning soft skills, such as learning a new language or practicing public speaking, confidence is the key to improving your skills. Sharpening their skills in an immersive, low-risk environment leads to a higher confidence level and enhanced ability to apply these skills in real life.
For instance, Walmart is using VR technology to train its employees on how to handle unhappy customers and behave during periods of heavy workloads, like during Black Fridays. Walmart uses VR simulations to help employees learn how to interact with customers better and improve the customer experience. With the help of VR applications, employees can get into different situations and learn to choose the best behavior strategy to handle a situation.
7. Education Beyond Geographical Boundaries
Nowadays, leading-edge technologies and growing internet connectivity have made the world a smaller place, making it easy to connect with people around the world. While online classes have certain advantages over a traditional setup, students still feel something is lacking in online classes.
Virtual reality enables students to learn effectively from the comfort of their homes. VR classrooms bring an element of realism to online classes and allow students to do essentially everything they can do in a physical classroom. Virtual reality technology allows educators and learners to collaborate with digital 3D avatars and virtual conferences, offering an authentic classroom experience.
8. Nullifies Language Barrier
Some students wish to explore learning opportunities outside their home country. However, understanding the native language can be a roadblock to quality education in foreign countries. Adopting virtual reality in education can eliminate the language barrier as it enables multiple languages to be implemented into the software. So, with VR, language will no longer be a barrier to students' educational plans.
Explore Exciting Learning Opportunities with VR
The global education system has evolved over the decades, always adapting to newer technologies. Today, students are accustomed to receiving information through smartphones and other digital mediums; they are not interested in studying using the old methods. The time is now to change things in education, and VR technology is here to help transform the learning experience. Virtual reality technology creates an immersive learning environment, making education relevant, interactive, engaging, and fun.
Many educational institutions are now open to the idea of using virtual reality in education. The potential of VR in education is limitless, and when VR-based learning reaches its peak, we will see wonderful results. Also, statistics show that the education industry will experience the second most VR disruption outside the entertainment and gaming industry.
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With prices of VR equipment and software development costs dropping, it is safe to assume that VR has the potential to be the future of the education industry. So, questioning whether VR will have a role in the future of education is redundant, because the answer is yes.
Join Us for Our Next Webinar
Title: What's New Education: Virtual Reality
Enhance Learning Outcomes with Virtual Reality!
Do you want to utilize virtual reality in your classroom? Does the idea of using virtual reality to improve education excite you? Join our live webinar to learn how to use VR in education and how it can improve the educational experience.
If you cannot attend, register anyway, and we will send you the recording.
Host: Doug Smith
When and Where:
11:00 a.m. EST, Tuesday, September 27, 2022
25 Minutes
Zoom Link for Registration
Goal: To help educators understand how to use VR in learning and how it can help you enhance student engagement and learning outcomes.
Who Should Join:
- Subject Matter Experts
- Content Creators
- Educators
- Administrators, and
- Those aspiring to adopt VR technology in learning.
Highlights of the Webinar:
- Learn how virtual reality content can help students learn better
- Learn how to use virtual reality in schools
- Learn the benefits of a VR-based learning approach
- View samples of immersive content
- Learn how to access our free Authoring Tool
- View samples of content you can create in our Authoring Tool
Outcome: Attending this webinar can help you understand how utilizing virtual reality in classrooms can enhance learning outcomes.