Enhancing Education with Virtual and Alternative Reality

 


            Effectiveness in educational methods and tools has emerged as a concern and goal for academic environments and training organizations to enhance educational outcomes (Lee & Wong, 2008).  Alternative reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) provide an opportunity to inject creative learning through immersive technologies to enhance the effectiveness and understanding of education (Craig & Georgieva, 2017).  Through immersive learning, students are taken out of the traditional classroom and transported to a digital world where educational interactions are undisturbed through virtual reality technology.  As students engage in VR and AR educational environments, physical learning environments' distractions become less of a concern.  While the participant may be sitting in a chair in the classroom setting or in the comfort of their home, AR and VR technology transforms the traditional learning environment into a more interactive environment heightening the visual senses and mental engagement of students.  

Trends in Online Learning

While online learning environments' popularity has gained traction for traditional and non-traditional students, current COVID-19 pandemic conditions have forced the online learning environment on many conventional educational settings.  Virtual classrooms have emerged over Zoom, WebEx, and other collaborative video teleconferencing environments to extend student to student and student to instructor engagement.  Online assignments have replaced the traditional physical quizzes and exams with asynchronous discussion boards serving as the platform for student interaction.  Students often migrate to online activities and subjects suitable to their learning needs and delivery methodology preference (Lister, 2014).  Lister (2014) argued student engagement increased with reflective assignments having more relevance to the individual student's personal life.  

Factors impacting integration of AR and VR in online learning

With the recent shift in online learning due to pandemic conditions, engagement among isolated students in a virtual environment is a significant problem in education. By translating the online classroom to an alternative reality and virtual reality-driven environment, students will be immersed in a more captivating learning atmosphere to promote a more enga
ging, interactive learning experience.  

References

Craig, E., & Georgieva, M. (2017, October 31). VR and AR: Designing Spaces for Immersive Learning, EDUCAUSE Review. Retrieved from: https://er.educause.edu/blogs/2017/10/vr-and-ar-designing-spaces-for-immersive-learning

Lee, E. A. L., & Wong, K. W. (2008). A review of using virtual reality for learning. In Transactions on edutainment I (pp. 231-241). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.

Lister, M. (2014). Trends in the design of e-learning and online learning. Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 10(4), 671.


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