– VR is proving to be a path-breaking technology with many useful applications springing up.
– VR Labs offer a highly immersive and technologically advanced 3D Virtual Learning Environment.
– Immersive learning training modules offer impactful benefits to the education, healthcare and corporate sector.
– Market estimates by Fortune BI show the rising trend of VR in education. It is estimated that the market size will grow to $13,098.2 million by 2026.
Immersive learning experiences are a benefit of VR technology adoption. It’s a science-backed and complex technology backed by related disciplines like Data Science and 3D simulation design.
Research shows that the neural pathways are activated as users navigate the VR simulated worlds. Immersive learning experiences, especially higher education, have multiple benefits. The 3D Virtual Learning Environment offers skill and knowledge augmentation.
Its training effects are transferred to the real world, and performance and achievement can be tracked to understand the benefits.
– Learners who underwent VR training reported a 40% increase in confidence levels as compared to trainees in the traditional method.
– Moreover, students who underwent VR training learnt four times faster
Institutes are seeking solutions to adopt the right technologies and stay relevant to the educational needs of today. VR can offer the right mix of immersive learning experiences, create new opportunities, and bring equity and inclusivity.
How VR Labs Can Enhance Skill Development
Student Engagement is a key parameter which determines academic performance. Educational research all points in this direction.
Have you seen a child engrossed with something that captures their attention?
Try as you might, the child will not leave that object until their attention diverts.
That is the power of engagement.
The learning outcomes will be better if students are engaged in any educational content or experiment. VR Labs offer creative and innovative experiences. Immersive learning experiences can easily capture the attention and engage the student.
VR offers an immersive environment and a sense of illusion that the student is within that environment. Whereas the student is not in the 3D virtual world but in the physical world only.
• A student studying biology in the classroom would listen to a lecture, maybe watch a few diagrams or slides, and that would be the learning method.
• However, with VR, a student can actually enter the body, poke around the lungs, and travel upstream in the blood flow!!
• A chemistry student can experiment with all types of volatile substances to understand their reactions, all in a safe and risk-free zone!!
• Medical students can dissect a human body repeatedly and do not actually require one!!
• Engineering students can avail of hands-on learning and apply their knowledge to real-life problems
• Software engineers can run software tests on their releases.
VR-backed Learning Environments are safe and innovative spaces. Students can experiment, run trials and make errors without judgement or fear.
There is no harm to life or property. This allows them to be more expressive and seek out better solutions.
Practice makes perfect- an old age saying!!
• In VR environments, students can practice their skills to master them.
• Peer and mentor collaborations are enhanced, and a support group helps with knowledge dissemination.
Prominent Examples of Universities Adopting VR Technology
• College of Staten Island, New York, has a Virtual Reality Lab that allows students to create their own VR experiences.
• The Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning, Illinois, has set up a VR Lab to explore the educational possibilities of VR immersive learning experiences.
• It also houses the VR Club at UIUC works exploring VR-XR-metaverse technologies and promoting them within the campus community.
• Harvard Innovation Labs houses an AR/VR Studio to explore immersive technologies.
Benefits of VR Labs
Universities need not worry about space constraints with VR Laboratories. They can also cut down on a lot of equipment and material normally used in traditional labs.
Students from anywhere can learn and experiment remotely. It also allows universities to expand their enrolments.
Students can train with specialists from anywhere across the world. The immersive nature of the education received in real life like situations promotes professional skills and soft skills development.
Modern technologies have ushered in many innovative changes. It has transformed how we live, learn and work.
The adoption of VR technology into education is making the sector more ready to meet the needs of the future work force.
Conclusion
To sum up, Virtual Reality Labs offer immersive learning experiences which augment skills and knowledge. VR learning experiences are catalysing pedagogical changes in education.
It enables deeper insights and a more comprehensive understanding of the subject matter. It’s a known fact that active learning offers better learning outcomes.
VR environments offer a way to be active participants in the learning process. The focus shifts from instructor-led to student-focused.
It offers personalised and self-paced learning and thereby promotes inclusivity in education.
