“I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand”Is a Chinese proverb that speaks with the wisdom and hope that educators have about how revolutionary learning with VR can be thanks to its ability to facilitate experiential learning, and it’s an approach that immersive technology solutions Experts and researchers have also used it.
If the reality of VR’s educational potential still seems far-fetched, consider the following: VR headsets allow students to walk alongside dinosaurs or dinosaurs Study the flora and fauna of the rainforests by virtually hiking through them. Students can even dissect frogs without a scalpel. And VR practice games encourage seated students to move around in physical education classes.
“WITH [augmented reality] and VR educational applications shift the learning process from passive to activeThis enables students to interact with content and practice their knowledge in real time, ”said Eleftheria Kouri, analyst at ABI Research, in a press release accompanying the publication of the Augmented and Virtual Reality in Education report. ABI forecast that by 2023 The total value of AR in education will be approximately $ 5.3 billion;; Head-mounted VR tools used in education will be valued at over $ 640 million.
And yet, in spite of everything VR’s exciting potential uses within educationSchools face real barriers to implementing this technology as a core part of their curriculum.
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The cost of VR tools can be daunting
Working with the realities of tight budgets and competing demands on these funds, Many school districts are reluctant to invest in apparently expensive equipment with no immediate tangible benefits.
“Cost is the biggest challenge for AR / VR tools in most markets, especially in education,” the ABI report said. “Funding is one of the main obstacles to the massive adoption of AR / VR solutions within the education system due to the high cost of headsets and limited financial resources in many schools. ”
Schools can find it too hard to understand the value in VR at the beginning.
“The ROI in education looks different in comparison, which can make it harder to get a real value. Increase learner efficiency, retention and engagement in education can be measured quantitatively on the basis of grades and overall performance, but also qualitatively in terms of morality and working methods, which can be tracked through new AR / VR experiences, ”notes ABI.
However, the cost barrier could decrease. ABI predicts the average retail price for AR glasses will be $ 733 for monoculars and $ 347 for binoculars by 2023. VR devices cost less than AR tools, and their standalone headsets are expected to drop to $ 200 by 2023. “It’s easy to set up and use with standalone devices makes it a favorite for educational purposes,” explains ABI of VR headsets.
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There is a lack of knowledge of what VR really is
Some observers say schools shy away Introduction of new educational technologies because they don’t want to change the curriculum until an emerging technology like VR proves effective. However, waiting for a technology to be certain to be effective before implementing it can be fundamentally flawed.
“The core problem is that Technology cannot be effective until the curriculum is fundamentally changed so that certain technologies can be integrated in a meaningful way. However, if the curriculum is not changed until each technology is proven effective, it will be a stalemate and counterproductive to progress, ”notes the US Army Research Institute of Behavioral and Social Sciences.
Part of the reason for this Value-versus-cost distance is that school administrators lack the “theoretical ammunition” to understand how transformative VR technology can be in the classroom, notes Steve Bambury, director of digital learning and innovation at JESS Dubai, in an article on his blog VirtualiTeach. That’s because Many people don’t fully understand what virtual reality is or they have a misunderstanding that VR is little more than 360-degree images or videos.
“True VR has to be experienced in order to be understood. … The most important thing you can do to understand the power of VR is to try it out for yourself. … You need that penny drop moment – which makes perfect sense as this is a brand new medium that they have no frame of reference for! “He notes.
MORE FROM EDTECH: See How K-12 Teachers Use VR To Teach Computer Science.
Parents are concerned about the impact VR has on children
While Parents are generally excited about using VR tools In schools they fear, along with administrators, that entering a virtual world could have negative effects on students.
Sixty percent of all parents surveyed said they were at least “somewhat concerned” about the negative health effects of VRAccording to a 2018 Common Sense Media report written by Jeremy Bailenson, founder of the Virtual Human Interaction Lab at Stanford University, 30 percent are “very concerned.”
It is It’s true that using VR headsets can cause nausea, motion sickness, and eye strain. In addition, violent content viewed in an immersive medium can cause acute stress.
Still as With most technologies and their use by students, moderation and close supervision by schools is critical.
“For children, moderation should prevail. Think in minutes instead of hours that might apply to other screens. Most VR is designed to be performed on the five to ten minute scale“Said Bailenson.
Students should only have VR experiences that their parents and teachers want them to live with the memory of in the real world. “Going to the moon is fine, but scary experiences will stay with them,” Bailenson said.
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