The Covid-19 pandemic has forced the world to change the way we live our day to day lives – especially public spaces and gatherings have pretty much faded away from our recent memories. The most unique aspect to us humans – teaching and education – experienced the most drastic change. Online based distance learning, which was considered as a supplementary tool to institutionalised learning till recently, has now become the mainstay of delivering education across all levels. This drastic shift in the way we learn is here to stay and projected to thrive – estimated to become a trillion-dollar industry by 2027.
The current way of delivering eLearning, through video conferencing applications such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams, is far from ideal for learners. Learning is an arduous process that requires a highly engaging environment and a two way street of communication between the teacher and the learner for instant smoothening over of doubts. This kind of interactive and engaging communication cannot be established over flat screens, nondifferentiable audio, lags and lack of social cues. Online video conferencing simply is not ergonomic enough.
Yet, e-learning provides a far higher degree of accessibility to education without being bound by constraints of time and place. With VR changing every aspect of our lives, the future of learning will be Virtual Reality classes. The much-awaited revolutionary technology holds the key to delivering a highly engaging learning experience remotely – a perfect blend of classrooms and distance learning.
Virtual Reality Classes
VR can be run through mobiles, PCs and optimally through VR headsets – its application is universal across devices which makes the scope of how virtual reality classes can be implemented extremely versatile and all-pervasive. VR classes are being conducted for all kinds of learners, from primary school toddlers to adult learners trying to pick up the right skills for their jobs – in a purely remote environment to in-class usage.
In a study conducted on the usage of VR in classrooms of primary-level school goers in New Zealand, students were given headsets and taught about marine biodiversity and oceanic life with the goal of measuring memory retention and topic interest related emotions. The study concluded that the students showcased significantly higher results on both the parameters of research – attesting to the high degree of immersion and the correlation with increased effectiveness of education delivery.
Beyond visually intense topics, VR also shows promise in corporate training of soft skills. Skills such as communication, empathy, managing human resources – require live training which can not properly be emulated in demos or in video training modules. With Virtual reality, highly engaging and realistic interactions can be simulated, and due to the highly visual nature of VR, learners complete their training 4 times faster than physical demonstrations with a significant increase in memory retention as well.
Benefits of Virutal Reality in the classroom
In the drastic shift of educational infrastructure to online platforms, multiple compromises on the quality of education delivery have surfaced. With the growing usage of VR in the classroom, the technology can usher in the most effective education system in place yet. There are loads of benefits VR in classrooms and distance learning offer:
Highly Immersive
Unlike the split-screens and lagging audios of video conferencing, VR softwares use attractive graphics and lets you interact in and around the virtual environment. Making our online interactions video game-adjacent, VR enables active immersion to its users by using principles of gamification to create action reward cycles for long term engagement, unlike video lectures which are passive in nature.
Improved memorization
Due to the gamified nature of VR based eLearning, users are able to concentrate better because the highly visual nature of virtual reality invokes a similar level of emotional response to interactions and learning as traditional methods do – leading to increased rates of learning and retention across the board.
Ergonomic
Human interactions are far more intricate than just to and fro oral communication – our brain is hardwired to compliment speech with aspects like social and extra-verbal cues. The inability to read extra-verbal cues on video conferencing leads to “Zoom Fatigue” and tires the participants mentally faster. Through 3D avatars, such cues are easier to communicate to other users online, establishing more human-centric communication pathways.
Increased intractability
When compared to the static split-screen display, chatbox and audio model of current distance learning software, VR powered solutions provide users with an entirely new world to interact with. Just as in real life, users will be able to roam around their classes or seminars, interact with other participants as they see each other, take part in group discussions in the hallway – the possibilities are endless.
Enhanced experience-based learning
Unlike traditional topics, extracurricular topics such as environmental protection, wildlife conservation awareness, cultural diversity – can be best taught through the use of VR. Instead of reading about climate disasters or other cultures, students can take part in immersive experiences that are visually remarkable to leave a deep impact on the learners.
What makes a good VR tech software
There are certain distinguishing features that must be present in educational VR software to achieve the maximised learning retention and engagement. Features such as interactive avatars, spatial realistic audio, free roam and interactive virtual environment are necessary to make the experience as realistic and ergonomic for the user – bridging the gap between delivering distance learning as engagingly as traditional classrooms.
Following the principles of creating immersive experiences, NextMeet employs the aforementioned features in order to create the required environment for learners. Developed as a virtual reality conferencing and meeting solution for organizations in response to the pandemic induced need for e-meetings, the product offering has grown since then to be ideal for conducting training sessions for both institutionalised education and corporate seminars.
In the sphere of educational uses of VR, NextMeet has worked with many organisations in providing an immersive learning environment to its users. While collaborating with Michigan State University is hosting a virtual reality-based seminar, the trainer in charge felt a similar level of engagement and connection with their students while conducting her classes. Further on, the added layer of virtual reality helps in reducing appearance-based biases amongst students and teachers, making the environment much more conducive to exchanges than traditional classes.
Virtual Reality Classrooms are soon going to become the mainstay of dispensing learning across all levels. Combining the strengths of the traditional and the current (and interim) eLearning methodology, the usage of VR in classrooms is extremely beneficial for learners – especially in a world where constant learning is required to keep pace with change.
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Being a part of the Accelerator Program’s maiden run gives us the exciting opportunity to actively contribute to the confluence of academic, entrepreneurial and intellectual capacities that the initiative represents. We’re especially excited at the prospect of GNITS students joining the NextMeet team as part of the integrated internship component of the accelerator program; the addition of these bright minds broadens the collective skillset bolstering NextMeet, and also gives us a chance to reaffirm our commitment to supporting educational institutes across the board.
Even without VR headsets, online video classes and lectures can transition to an immersive virtual environment to tackle the challenges posed by distance learning. On platforms like NextMeet, teachers can customize the virtual convening space to reinforce the material covered in class – just as they would use a chalkboard during in-person lessons. With the help of 3D avatars, spatial audio, and an interactive virtual environment, NextMeet helps educators recreate the classroom in a virtual space, without the significant drawbacks posed by video calling software.
Even without VR headsets, online video classes and lectures can transition to an immersive virtual environment to tackle the challenges posed by distance learning. On platforms like NextMeet, teachers can customize the virtual convening space to reinforce the material covered in class – just as they would use a chalkboard during in-person lessons. With the help of 3D avatars, spatial audio, and an interactive virtual environment, NextMeet helps educators recreate the classroom in a virtual space, without the significant drawbacks posed by video calling software.
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