In reality, where modern children are born already trained to perceive the world through IT technologies, virtual reality is becoming almost the main way to learn, learn and learn again. It is a fact that VR will change education process. The fact that technology will replace teachers and textbooks is the future in which the next generations will live. The situation with the pandemic and distance learning in the spring of 2020 showed the need to develop VR and actively implement these technologies in the educational process.
Do you still doubt that the virtual can replace real processes at schools or universities? Here are 2 facts that will change your opinion:
- Scientists of Petrozavodsk University conducted a study in which they compared the success of learning the material using the usual old-school methods and VR-technologies. Five training programs in geometry and biology were adapted for study through the Z800 and Oculus Rift Development Kit 2 helmets. As a result, after studying the topic with the help of VR, even “C-students” gave 50% more correct answers.
- The impact of VR methods on students’ academic success and long-term memory was studied in China. They were divided into 4 groups of 10 people each. The first two groups studied the material using VR technologies, the rest were using textbooks. As a result, the performance of groups of VR students is 27% higher than that of subjects from the second category.
Why VR will be increasingly used in education
Visualization. AR/VR technologies allow you to show chemical processes in detail up to the atomic level, or even deeper. It is possible to demonstrate any phenomena with any degree of detail.
100% secure. Students can be immersed in any situation – a volcano eruption, a flight to the moon, a fire in a shopping center – and all this without the slightest threat to life.
Involvement. You can choose training methods, actively participate in experiments, and see the past through the eyes of a memorable person. Students become the main scriptwriters of the educational process.
Focus on the main thing. The virtual world in the helmet will surround the student from all sides, in a 360-degree format. This approach will allow you to focus entirely on the material and not to be distracted from the learning process.
Virtual lesson. The feeling of being present in the VR world is the main plus. Technologies allow you to “equip” a Harvard-level laboratory in an ordinary school, conduct experiments that are impossible to implement in the real world due to their danger or the sky-high cost.
VR technologies available in education right now
Multimedia solutions for schools and higher education institutions are available in a wide range of options:
- virtual reality lessons;
- VR labs and multi-touch desks;
- training equipment and simulators;
- training videos and movies;
- interactive installations and museum exhibition.
All this is already available for Russian schools and universities, it remains only to implement the tools available today in the educational process and help teachers get used to the new technology.