A whole science lab. A trip to ancient Rome. A visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A walk on the moon with Apollo astronauts.
These examples are just a tiny fraction of exciting experiences that virtual reality (VR) can bring into the classroom. Besides gaming, education is the largest industry where VR continues to thrive - and for a good reason:
VR can truly engage students with fully immersive experiences that wouldn’t be possible without the technology.
Many educational institutions are considering investing in VR equipment to facilitate learning. If you’re an educator interested in using VR or someone who’s exploring this exciting technology, we created this guide to help you learn about it more.
Applications of VR in the Classroom
VR is no longer super expensive, so educational institutions around the world are successfully applying it in many ways. Here are some of the most notable use cases.
Virtual Field Trips
VR, by its definition, can deliver experiences that are either not practical or inaccessible. Whether it’s a visit to the Grand Canyon National Park or the Louvre Museum in Paris, students can go as long as somebody has made a VR trip.
A Virtual Tour inside the Louvre. Source: Louvre.fr
Besides crowded museums and stunning views of nature, VR makes it possible to travel just about anywhere on the planet. For example, you can virtually visit the Bahamas and see a giant hurricane growing in size by the hour.
Seeing a hurricane up close is an astonishing experience by itself, but it has tons of educational value. Students can learn about meteorological steps involved in the emergence and growth of hurricanes and investigate their features.
Virtual Labs
VR can help substitute learning experience in a lab, which is not always accessible due to constraints on time or materials. A virtual lab is a risk-free, immersive learning environment with instant feedback and endless room for safe experimenting.
Source: Labster
Educators choose virtual labs because of:
- Flexible lab access. A virtual lab session can be organized at any time
- Lower costs. There’s no need to pay for a real lab and materials
- Effective data recording. Students can make electronic records of experiment data while in virtual labs
- Convenience. Students are free to change experiment input data without any harmful effects.
Educators integrate virtual lab exercises into larger lectures or organize full lab sessions. The students can learn chemistry, physics, anatomy, biology, and other subjects while conducting experiments and getting tons of useful data.
Support Students with Special Needs
VR creates a learning environment where users can hear, smell, touch, and taste stimuli, which can help students with special needs in many ways.
Scholar research found that VR can help to:
- Improve foundational social skills like verbal and non-verbal communication
- Explore concepts at one’s comfortable pace, in a low-stress environment
- Increase motivation to learn
- Improve short-term memory
- Make lessons more engaging and enjoyable.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is one of the most researched health disabilities when it comes to the impact of VR. Scholar studies have confirmed the effectiveness of VR lessons in improving social skills and educational outcomes.
VR lessons also help ASD students to practice various social situations. One example is virtual interactions with police officers, where young people learn to respond to questions and directions from officers and avoid aggressive and defiant behaviors.
Conduct Career Exploration
VR is a perfect tool to introduce students to the experiences of various professionals and give them a glimpse into their daily professional life. Simulations of common professional activities can help young people think about the career paths they like.
Statistics suggest that VR career exploration sessions could be of huge help to many. In fact, in the U.S., almost 70 percent of working adults are less than satisfied with their career choices. A look into a specific career can prevent that.
VR career exploration includes the simulation of typical professional activities - from practicing welding techniques to performing medical procedures and flying airplanes. Students get a hands-on experience and learn what it’s like to be in a chosen career.
The career exploration with VR may include these steps:
- Assessment of interests, personality types, and preferences
- Selection of several career pathways for exploration
- Training to participate in a few specific professional projects
- Participation in VR activities including the chosen professional projects
The ultimate benefit of VR is a hands-on experience of the pros and cons of various professions by seeing, hearing, and feeling what they are like. No traditional style assessment or video training comes close to the same level of immersion and engagement.
VR Career Experience by Oculus is an excellent example of a career exploration app. It literally puts the user in front of several doors with careers, so one can choose to experience them as they like.
Source: Oculus.com
The app offers to try a career as a sprinkler fitter, welder, plumber, HVACR service technician, and pipefitter/steamfitter. In addition to performing typical on-duty duties, the user will also learn common training methods offered at apprenticeship facilities in North America.
VR Career Experience and many other similar apps are free to use, so educators can try them in their class without any financial obligations. The only requirement is the equipment, which has been getting increasingly affordable in the past several years.
VR-Based Education: Summary
VR is an amazing technology that allows students to do extraordinary things. Travel to anywhere from museums to remote areas, conduct chemical experiments in a risk-free environment, explore career options – these are just some of the benefits.
VR is a tool to experience the world in a unique way, learn new knowledge, and improve practical skills. These qualities make this technology particularly helpful to students with disabilities.
When students read or hear about something, they want to experience it. VR makes it possible by taking them beyond books, videos, and textual descriptions. As the technology develops further, it will contribute to creating even more amazing educational experiences.