VR could be reality for education in the future. According to research, Virtual Reality could be the answer to a more engaging method of learning.<\/b>
\nIt\u2019s your first day at a new job, and you\u2019re stuck going to corporate training. But instead of going to a training room and listening to the HR director drone on about the vacation policy, you\u2019re directed to the IT desk.
You\u2019re greeted there by a friendly college intern. \u201cWelcome to work,\u201d she says, handing you a box. \u201cHere\u2019s your VR headset. Enjoy orientation!\u201d
Gut check: How do you feel about this scenario?
A recent survey found that approximately half of professionals would be interested in learning something new in a virtual reality environment.
So regardless of whether the idea of virtual training makes your heart skip a beat or stop altogether, you\u2019re in pretty good company.
The question is \u2014 is this the right direction?
It might be. There hasn\u2019t been a ton of research done on the educational uses of VR, but the one in-depth study that has been done was optimistic.
Researchers created a virtual castle (\u201cthe memory palace,\u201d named for an old mnemonic device of the same name) and placed pictures of various celebrities throughout it.
One group of research subjects got to explore the castle using a VR headset while another group explored it using a computer and mouse.
After exploring for a while, each group took a break for two minutes and then went back to the castle. This time, all of the pictures were replaced with question marks, and the subjects had to remember which picture went where.
And \u2014 shocker \u2014 the VR users did better than the computer users. Therefore, obviously, VR is a more effective teaching tool than a computer \u2014 right?
Not so fast. Even though VR beat out desktop computers in the memory palace, there are other factors to consider when it comes to education.
One possible explanation for VR\u2019s success in this study is the novelty effect, which basically means that newer technology will always give an initial bump in learning outcomes just because it\u2019s new.
Chances are, at least some of the subjects who got to use VR to explore the memory palace were having their very first VR experience. Their minds were blown. Their interest in the new technology probably drove them to explore every nook and cranny of their virtual environment and memorize as many details as possible.
Meanwhile, their counterparts on the desktop computers sat there, completely jaded to the mystical connection of mouse and screen.
But the novelty effect alone shouldn\u2019t make us completely discount these findings. A couple decades ago, researchers were doing similar tests comparing computers to TVs and frankly being a little overly pessimistic that computers would be the wave of the future.
Now that we live in a world where TVs and computers are equally un-novel, I don\u2019t think you\u2019ll find anyone who would argue that Schoolhouse Rock is a more effective teaching tool than Khan Academy, even if the songs are better.
Let\u2019s imagine a slight variation of the memory palace experiment. Test subjects still explore a castle, and they still find portraits of celebrities, but this time the portraits include some biographical information about the celebrity.
Then, after they\u2019ve explored the castle and taken a two minute break, the subjects have to recall as much biographical information about as many celebrities as possible.
My hypothesis for this experiment would be that the computer users would actually perform better. Reading information off of a computer screen and recalling it later is old hat.
The test subjects in the VR environment would be so excited about exploring their surroundings that they wouldn\u2019t want to take the time to read and retain information.
But in the actual experiment, where the subjects needed to remember the location of pictures instead of biographic data, the propensity to run around and explore was beneficial in completing the task at hand.
The more enjoyment you get out of exploring your surroundings, the more likely you are to remember details about what you see. In that situation, it should come as no surprise that VR brought better results than a desktop computer.
Another possible follow-up study would involve physically constructing the memory palace and seeing how well people recall memories of a real castle compared to a VR one.
My money would be on VR as long as the technology retains its novelty, but if it ever becomes as mundane as a desktop computer, I bet the real castle would produce better results.
Why? Because the actual task is to recall something\u2019s position. Where in the castle did you see the picture of Marilyn Monroe? Where did you see the picture of Mickey Mouse? The more directly you can interact with the space you\u2019re trying to locate an object in, the better your recall is bound to be.
The real challenge in applying VR to education is figuring out which topics VR would be the best teaching platform for.
This is not a new concept. There\u2019s been an ongoing debate about online vs. in-person training for as long as online training has been an option.
And there\u2019s really only one answer that\u2019s always right: It depends on what you\u2019re teaching. So VR won\u2019t ever be the best tool for every single learning situation because no educational tool can ever claim that honor.
But VR education will be very well suited to situations where physical location matters \u2014 but only when a non-virtual version of that location is unavailable.
For example, if you really are welcoming employees to their first day of work, it would probably be more effective to give them a real tour of the actual building instead of having them wander through a virtual reproduction.
But if you\u2019re teaching interior design or training a batch of private investigators, VR might be the best possible educational tool.
And let\u2019s not forget about AR (augmented reality). Instead of providing a fully immersive experience like VR does, AR inserts virtual elements into your view of your real surroundings. AR is currently being explored as a platform for training firefighters.
This is a perfect match. You can have your firefighters or other rescue workers running around in a real building while dealing with virtual hazards. This might be the best possible way to teach a dangerous job in a safe environment.
But not all of us need to take (or deliver) that kind of training. If you\u2019re an HR director tasked with explaining medical benefits to a batch of new hires, maybe it\u2019s best to stick with powerpoint for now.
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