Virtual Reality (VR) is changing the way people see the future. As with video games emerging into the classroom in the early 2000s, this new technology will soon be making its way into classrooms as well. Many teachers are receptive to working with this technology, but some of them are not quite aware of the effect VR can have on a classroom environment. It can change the way students learn in the long run.
Student Motivation
In an age awash with ever-growing and changing technology, students are become more difficult to motivate in the classroom. Instead of learning what they need to know for graduation, they are more fascinated with their Smartphones and tablets. They would rather chat, take selfies, and play games than pay attention to what their teachers have to say. There is a suspicion that VR use in the classroom can alter that motivation. It can take students’ love of technology and refocus it to be directed at curriculum instead of their social lives outside of school.
Collaboration Opportunities and Independence
VR offers chances for students to interact with one another and classrooms around the world in ways that traditional classroom technology has never before seen. Students can create their avatars for use across many applications and platforms that are unique to them. Therefore, they feel a sense of independence and autonomy in their VR lessons because they feel fully immersed in the technology. When collaboration takes place, though, they do not have to fear speaking or to interact directly with people if they are a little sky. The avatar does the interaction for them in the long run. This aspect also allows students to work on their social skills in a way that is not so isolated.
Accessing the Abstract
Some curriculum aspects can be difficult for students to learn. Many abstract concepts in math and science can be very difficult to learn for students because they cannot visualize what is going on. VR experiences help to make those abstract concepts a reality. They become interactive to the point that students can almost reach out and touch them, handle them in a way that could never have happened without VR technology.
Entertaining While Educating
Because students feel as if they are being entertained with VR technology, they are more likely to immerse themselves into curriculum concepts. They can take a journey into parts of the body, for example, in ways that make the systems and their functions real life. They can reach out and interact with certain organs and make things like cells move from one area of the body to the next. They are surrounded by visual and audio aspects that cannot be taught in a standard classroom.
Effect on Learning Retention
Students are more likely to remember experiences where more than one sense is involved. Therefore, more concepts can be branched together while new connections are formed in the brain through different senses. Instead of only reading and hearing about a concept, they are able to lay their hands on something through VR. They do not necessarily feel weight or texture, but their imaginations are activated in a way that makes a personal connection to them during the learning process. Therefore, they are enjoying the experience more, so retaining this information becomes easier in the long run.
Conclusion
Learning with VR is becoming more and more a reality for some classrooms. It does not matter what the cost of this technology is financial. The benefits students reap from using it in the long run with motivation and retention alone outweighs those costs considerably. Students will be able to change the way they learn with VR easily since they can adapt to this technology in ways that previous generations never thought to.
