virtual reality education

Virtual Reality in Education: Benefits, Uses and Examples

Virtual reality in education may sound like science fiction, but these two industries go hand in hand better than you’d think. The growing field of VR has potential to enhance learning by providing students with access to virtual environments where they can engage with immersive content from a range of subjects, such as art, geography, biology and chemistry.

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What Is Virtual Reality in Education?

Virtual reality in education can be used in K-12 classrooms, for vocational training and in higher education settings. Since virtual reality allows users to interact with computer-simulated environments, it can enable virtual field trips, immerse students in historically significant events, simulate laboratory environments and build meaningful connections among instructors and peers despite the distance between them.

The virtual reality market size is expected to grow from less than $12 billion in 2022 to more than $22 billion by 2025, according to data from Statista . One of the factors motivating growth in the VR industry has been the demand for solutions to combat feelings of isolation during virtual, distanced learning.

VR classrooms have been able to give students opportunities to raise their hands, ask questions in an organic way and generally feel more directly invested. That’s in comparison to what CEO Mat Chacon of VR company Doghead Simulations described as the "pretty flat experience" of traditional online courses.

Doghead co-founder Chance Glasco said he had “no doubt” that online classes will one day be replaced by virtual reality.

“No one builds memories of online classes,” he told Built In in 2019. “It’s just data being fed to your brain in the most boring way possible.”

A 2022 National Research Group report on VR technologies revealed just over 60 percent of consumers who participated in the study “think that VR and AR will be a useful learning tool for children.” Another poll indicated 67 percent of U.S. high school educators surveyed said they want to see extended reality technologies like VR used regularly in schools. The majority of those teachers said the technologies have the potential to help students develop career skills, build social and empathy skills and stay more engaged and motivated in the classroom.

How Does Virtual reality in Education Work?

Virtual reality in education often involves viewing or interacting with learning content using a VR headset along with any associated hardware, such as controllers that can let the user navigate and manipulate a simulated reality. VR headsets use screens, lenses and other advanced technology like sensors that are designed to wrap the viewer in a 360-degree view of a virtual setting.

Some companies produce VR learning content that can be accessed on a desktop, laptop or tablet. In those cases, the content is not fully immersive, but students are still able to participate in simulated environments without the extra costs that can come with VR headsets, which can be a barrier to adoption.

While the science is still out on whether VR is more effective than other immersive-media learning tools, it appears to hold real pedagogical promise. A study by Stanford researchers looked at VR field trips about climate change and found that “participants who explored more of the virtual space formed deeper cognitive associations with the science content and could learn, recall and retain the causes and effects of ocean acidification better than those who did not explore the underwater world as much.”

Benefits of Virtual Reality in Education

Virtual reality has capabilities that could turn it into a valuable asset for education. For example, research out of Penn State University showed that students who used immersive virtual reality to accomplish a task did so more than twice as fast as students who used traditional computer programs.

Social VR applications like rumii from Doghead can also help tackle the challenge of sky-high dropout rates for online courses by helping remote students feel more connected and less isolated. Doghead partnered with Full Sail University to deploy rumii in online coursework to “make students and professors feel like they are in the classroom together.”

Rumii has also been used to facilitate collaboration among students on different continents. A group of anthropology students — half studying at Harvard University and half at Zhejiang University in China — were able to work together as avatars in a VR-equipped classroom to study ancient characters scrawled along a tomb atop the Giza Plateau in preparation for a trip to Egypt. The students were strapped into VR headsets as their professors launched the lab and loaded up 3D models of the Sphinx and one of the tombs, which the teams could then grab and move around in the virtual learning space. Other features of the experience included live HD video streaming and screen sharing.

“It was just this natural conversational immersive interaction that made their trip to Egypt a lot more valuable because, when they were there, they could hit the ground running,” Chacon explained.

Another VR advantage is the comforting semi-anonymity that avatars afford. There’s reams of research about the so-called Proteus Effect, or how a virtual reality user's behavior might be subtly affected by their avatar's characteristics. But Doghead believes those alterations have been positive in rumii.

“You get the comfort of being in person with someone because you feel present with them,” Glasco said. “But you feel safe behind a VR headset, behind this avatar, which represents your body language and your audio.”

How Virtual Reality Is Used in Education and Schools

Virtual field trips.

Discovery Education has reached millions of students with its virtual field trips , focusing on aerospace (a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of the Johnson Space Center), health (a VR-powered look at the science behind opioid addiction), technology (a multi-part series on agtech) and more. Along with Google Arts & Culture Expeditions — a VR app with more than a thousand educational tours — it's one of the leading distributors of educational VR field trips.

Art Education

“Blue-Fall,” a 1966 painting by Abstract Expressionism pioneer Helen Frankenthaler, is housed in the Milwaukee Art Museum’s permanent collection, but you don’t have to trek to Wisconsin to experience it. Any VR user can virtually zoom in on Frankenthaler’s bold, cobalt monolith — and even listen to author Neil Gaiman play docent as he lends art-historical context and detail.

Gaiman is an advisory board member of Boulevard , a New York-based art-education VR company that brings the museum and gallery experience to virtual reality. Experiences range from a survey of pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti to a sample of Turner Prize winner Grayson Perry’s 2015 solo exhibition. Another notable example of the growing virtualization of the art experience is The Kremer Museum , which arranges 74 paintings of Dutch and Flemish Old Masters in a virtual gallery.

A Virtual Lab Environment

Between 2021 and 2031, the number of STEM occupations in the United States will grow by nearly 11 percent in comparison to less than 6 percent for all other jobs, according to forecasts from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics .

But state-of-the-art labs where so much hands-on STEM learning takes place can be difficult and costly to access. Labster democratizes the process with virtual lab environments for more than two dozen course packages , including high school physics, biosciences for nursing, animal physiology, advanced biology and engineering. The labs — which can be accessed via a web browser without downloading or installing additional software — allow students to culture bacteria, track cellular respiration during an exercise routine, even conduct an ultrasound exam on an expectant mother — virtually speaking, of course. Labster also owns UbiSim , a VR training platform for nurses that lets learners participate in risk-free clinical scenarios using VR headsets and controllers.

Workforce Training

Lifeliqe develops immersive simulations for workforce training, preparing professionals for in-demand careers in fields like healthcare and advanced manufacturing. The company’s programs involve exploration of the work environment and responsibilities, VR models of necessary tools, training simulations and assessment’s to aid in tracking student progress. The current product offerings from Lifeliqe include courses for dialysis technicians and certified nursing technicians, but the company also has training programs in the works for manufacturing and HVAC technicians.

Further Reading Everything You Need to Know About Extended Reality

The Future of Virtual Reality in Education

Despite virtual reality’s ever-widening footprint in the education sector, some challenges persist. Pre-undergraduate education isn’t exactly flush with dollars, so it can be difficult for forward-thinking startups to get a proverbial foot in the door.

“When you’re dealing with education, especially K-12, funds are limited,” Glasco said. “You have to get to buyers at the right time, or you might be talking to them for a year before they sign on to a license. There is money in education; you just have to stick around long enough to be able to tap into it.”

And even though the technology is advanced enough to be a powerful educational tool, some experts say improved curriculum development is key to making VR an appreciably more effective tool than interactive 2D content.

The XR Association and International Society for Technology in Education’s survey of more than 1,400 U.S. high school teachers on their attitudes toward extended-reality technologies like VR showed that the majority believe virtual learning experiences provide quality information. Yet more than half also see the costs associated with these technologies as having the potential to widen equity gaps. And 94 percent agreed curriculum associated with technology such as VR needs to be aligned with academic standards.

"I think the developer community and the education community need to walk down this road very hand-in-hand," Chacon said. "Then we can start bridging social classes and removing all of these barriers to education."

He noted that leaps in digital lightfield technology are steering virtual reality toward a distinctly Holodeck -like future — no wearables required.

“It seems like it's really far in the future,” Chacon said, “but it's already happening.”

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Virtual Reality (VR) in Education: A Complete Guide

Here’s everything you need to know about virtual reality and augmented reality in education, including use cases and benefits.

By Laura Martisiute
Dec 3, 2020

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Would you rather read about the moon landing or see for yourself what it was like to walk on the moon with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin? Believe it or not, experiencing the latter is just as possible as the former, thanks to the rise in virtual reality (VR).

The days of learning being restricted solely to reading textbooks and listening to boring lectures are numbered, and when they’re gone, students won’t miss them. Research shows that textbooks don’t generally improve student achievement and traditional stand-and-deliver lectures in universities lead to higher student failure rates than active learning methods.

And while there are plenty of active learning techniques to choose from, including simply asking students questions or arranging students for group work, more and more educators are seeing VR’s true potential. According to a recent survey of teachers and students, 90% of educators believe VR may help increase student learning. Perhaps more importantly, the survey also found that 97% of students would attend a class or course with VR, which could significantly decrease dropout rates.

It comes as no surprise, then, that education is one of the largest sectors for VR investment. Indeed, industry forecasts predict that VR in education will be a $700 million industry by 2025. But is VR in education all that it’s cracked up to be? Let’s find out.

What is virtual reality (VR) in education?

Virtual reality is a computer-generated environment that creates the immersive illusion that the user is somewhere else.

Instead of looking at a screen in front of them, VR allows people to interact with an artificial three-dimensional environment through electronic devices that send and receive information like motion sensors and movement trackers.

The most essential VR device is the headset, which generally looks like a pair of thick goggles. Fitted out with a unique screen and motion sensors, a VR headset tracks the user’s movement and changes the angle of the screen accordingly. Optional accessories can enhance user experience and include things like:

Hand gloves. Wireless controllers that capture full hand and finger action in virtual reality and provide the user the sensation of touch.
Treadmills. A mechanical device that looks nothing like the gym equipment you’re used to, a VR treadmill translates your real-life body movements into virtual motion.
Vive Trackers. Small hockey puck-esque devices that bring physical objects you own into the virtual world.

Examples and applications of virtual reality in education

Below are just a few examples of how students and educators use VR at all education levels, including K12 education, higher education, vocational training, and special education.

K-12 education

At the K12 level (kindergarten to 12th grade in the US), virtual field trips are among the most common ways educators use VR. For example, in 2019, the Schaumburg School District 54 in Illinois utilized virtual reality kits in each of its 28 schools to bring students on virtual field trips to the moon, World War I battlefields, and the Great Hall at Ellis Island.

The enthusiasm from kids has been overwhelming, said Associate Superintendent Nick Myers in an interview with EdTech magazine . “We’ve seen truly emotional reactions to it because the students can see it, they can navigate through and be part of the experience they’re learning about.”

VR field trips are becoming so popular in education because, in addition to providing immersive and engaging experiences, they’re also accessible. Not every student may be able to join their classmates for a real-world trip to a museum or another country, whether because of a disability or expense. With VR, every student can go on the same trip at no cost. Because they don’t require expensive transport and logistics, virtual field trips are more cost-effective for schools.

Other uses of VR in K-12 education include language immersion and virtual lab simulation. Language immersion allows students to connect with people all over the world. On the other hand, virtual lab simulation gives STEM students the option of experimenting in million-dollar labs or mixing different chemicals in a virtual chemistry class without fear of blowing anything up in real life.

Special education

For students with special needs, VR creates new opportunities to safely explore the world and practice real-world skills, like obeying traffic signals or interacting with police officers, in a no-risk environment.

For example, Danvers Public Schools district in Massachusetts used VR to introduce new students to the district’s middle school building in advance, something that was particularly helpful for students with disabilities.

Higher education

Choosing the right university can be a daunting and exhausting experience. With VR, applicants can go on virtual reality campus tours to see what it would be like to attend a college or university in another city or even another country.

For example, the University of Michigan athletic department uses VR technology to give potential recruits the chance to see and feel the campus and the athletic facilities from wherever in the world they may be.

But with VR, you may not even have to attend a physical university. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Steven Hill, professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, ditched Zoom lectures for a virtual 3D version of his classroom . Students can walk around the classroom, talk to each other at different gathering spaces, and even break into groups.

Of course, VR is useful for learners who attend physical institutions, as well. At the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, students use VR to learn acupuncture . In the UK, the University of Westminster has implemented a virtual training center that allows criminal law students to investigate potential murder scenes .

Vocational training

Unfortunately, vocational training is often seen as a second choice — something that students do when they can’t get into a university. Some trade schools are trying to change this by using VR technology to give prospective students a glimpse into a vocational graduate’s daily life.

In addition to attracting new students to trade schools, VR can also give trainees more opportunities to practice essential skills in a safe environment. For example, electricians can rewire a house with fewer safety hazards. Moreover, because trainees work with virtual materials, trade schools can save tons of money on physical materials.

Benefits of using virtual reality in classrooms

According to one study that looked at 1,000 students in three universities, the implementation of VR in classrooms led to students improving by a full letter grade . One of the main advantages of using VR in education is that it raises students’ grades.

In another instance, a hospital found that using VR to train medical students increased their retention rate by 80% a year after the lecture compared to 20% a week after when they didn’t use VR. This boost in retention isn’t so surprising when you consider that VR promotes student curiosity and keeps them engaged even when learning challenging topics.

For example, Barbara Mikolajczak, who runs VR camps and classes in Boston, was surprised to see how motivated her students were when working with other students from Australia when building a virtual version of a Boston church. “The students were so excited about converting meters to feet,” she said. “They realized that the doors wouldn’t be in the center, so that evolved into a lively discussion about what’s more important: the pure numbers or the symmetry of design. You wouldn’t have seen that in a normal lesson about the Old North Church.”

Other benefits of virtual reality include increased collaboration, cultural competence, and fewer distractions. VR can also help students build better habits. Indeed, according to recent research , after using VR, people have been found to exercise more as well as show more empathy, among other things.

What about augmented reality?

Augmented reality (AR) differs from virtual reality. With AR, students can see digital assets in the real world rather than being hosted in an entirely virtual space as they are within VR.

In practice, this usually involves using a phone or tablet equipped with a camera and AR capability that can display a digital creation in a real context — imagine looking at your phone and seeing a 3D shark swimming around your living room. For educators, this technology has tremendous benefits.

By allowing students to view things like life-size dinosaurs or a model of the solar system in the classroom or in their own homes, AR technology can bring academic subjects to life for younger learners. AR technology such as Google’s enterprise-grade AR glasses also allows workers to see instructions for complex tasks appear right in front of their eyes.

By creating a seamless connection between interactive digital content and the real world, augmented reality can increase information retention for students and make digital instruction a more tangible experience.

What is the future of virtual reality in education?

By adding a new dimension to the learning experience, virtual reality can revolutionize education across every level. We are currently only seeing the early stages of an educational paradigm shift being created by virtual technology.

As VR technology develops even further with better eye tracking and motion sensitivity, it will create new layers of immersive experience. In the future, this means that learners will fully live out and understand learning experiences and educational moments.

Another part of the future of virtual reality in education is greater accessibility. As headsets and software become cheaper, virtual reality will ultimately become a ubiquitous part of education.

As hinted at by the popularity of Google Cardboard (the official VR cardboard case costs just $14.95 ), VR’s rise will change aspects of how teachers and educators work, too. However, the core tenants of education will remain the same. A powerful tool, VR will make great educators even better by giving them the means to engage new generations of learners like never before.

Laura Martisiute

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Learning in Digital Worlds

Posted May 19, 2021
By Andrew Bauld
Learning Design and Instruction
Online Education
Teachers and Teaching
Technology and Media

Eileen McGivney has spent her career studying education systems around the world. Now, her research isn’t taking her to a new country or continent, but into an entirely new reality.

As a Ph.D. candidate in Human Development, Teaching, and Learning, McGivney is working to better understand how students and adults learn in immersive technology-enabled environments, like virtual reality (VR).

McGivney first encountered VR at HGSE as a researcher on the EcoXPT project at Project Zero, an ecosystem science curriculum set in an immersive virtual world, under Principal Research Scientist Tina Grotzer .

“I remember visiting a classroom of English-language learners and they were using their native language to solve problems in the EcoXPT simulation, and they were so excited and engaged,” McGivney says. “Seeing it used as a way to give students agency, which is so hard in a regular classroom, that’s when I got interested in it as a learning tool.”

The first time she entered the virtual space herself, McGivney called the experience “awe-inspiring.” Since then, she’s witnessed that same excitement in students of all ages experiencing the thrill of conducting missions in space and feeling the effects of zero gravity or kayaking in the Arctic to observe wildlife. But while these can be powerful, emotional experiences for students, they also have real educational benefits, instilling an increased sense of competence and motivation.

For her latest project, McGivney has partnered with a Greater Boston-area public charter high school to study how immersive experiences can impact how students see themselves as scientists. In one project, students in a civil engineering course observed different structures around the world, visiting the pyramids in Egypt and soaring over skyscrapers in New York City.

McGivney says that not only have the students reported better ability to focus while using the headsets, but also a greater connection to the material. Many of the students she’s working with are English-language learners and first-generation Americans, who have appreciated the ability to visit and share locations that held personal meaning.

Representation and questions of identity and diversity in immersive technology is an important aspect of McGivney’s research. Her adviser, Professor Chris Dede , who has long been at the forefront of studying learning environments based in virtual worlds, says her work is helping to advance the field’s understanding of these important aspects of the emerging technology.

“Eileen has knowledge and experience in implementing learning technologies in a wide range of educational settings, and her research has the important capacity to infuse culture and context into educational innovations, which the National Academy of Sciences has highlighted as a crucial next step,” Dede says.

This past semester, McGivney shared this knowledge with HGSE students through her module, The Virtual Self, in which students explored VR technology firsthand, and learned about the realities of the technology, its limitations, and how it can be most used most effectively.

“People got a sense of what it is all about, and when the novelty wears off, what are the valuable learning experiences,” McGivney says. For several students, the experience was one of the most impactful of this virtual school year at the Ed School. Not only did the VR experience help create community at a time when that was needed more than ever, but several students discovered a new passion, and a few mentioned even making a career out of the work.

As Jessica O’Donnell, Ed.M. (TIE), said in Harvard Ed. Magazine, the virtual class had a real impact on her. “Although I was unable to physically meet my classmates on the Harvard campus this year, these interactions in virtual reality and the advancements in avatar design provided me with the opportunity to connect with my peers in an innovative and remarkable way.”

McGivney will continue to explore VR applications with a new project led by Grotzer with doctoral student Tessa Forshaw, and involving Dede, called Next Level Lab, looking at how immersive technology can help new members of the workforce, like veterans and recent college graduates, use simulations to prepare for job interviews and roleplay on-the-job scenarios they might encounter.

“A lot of Next Level Lab is about learning sciences and my piece is using immersive technology as a tool as one part of the training program to help folks practice these skills and gain competence,” McGivney says.

Despite its promises and the fact that we’re living in a time when students around the world are learning remotely, McGivney says that VR should not be looked at as a replacement for the classroom, but instead continue to learn how the technology can best fit within the current educational system.

“VR is a powerful tool and I hope through the work that a lot of people are doing on its role in education it will become clearer what it’s good for.”

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Virtual Reality in Education: Benefits, Tools, and Resources

A young male student uses a VR headset at school, enjoying the benefits of virtual reality in education.

In the 1966 film Fantastic Voyage , a submarine and its crew shrink to the size of a human cell to ride through the bloodstream of a scientist and remove a blood clot in his brain. An imaginative tale of science fiction, the movie speaks to humanity’s desire to explore realms considered impossible to reach due to our physical limitations. But thanks to technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), students in elementary schools are now doing just that. Today, students go on virtual field trips to places ranging from the Roman Colosseum in ancient times to outer space to cellular-level passageways inside the human body.

The benefits of virtual reality in education are embraced by many educators, but some are still reluctant to use it in their classrooms. Reasons range from high costs to pushback from school administrators. Others see the value of both VR and AR as entertainment, but not as effective teaching tools in the classroom. Additional educator concerns, as reported in a recent EdTech report, include the bulkiness of the equipment, glitches, and the quality and availability of content. Despite these challenges, demand for AR and VR in education is expected to grow in the coming years. This means that current and aspiring teachers should take steps to learn about the benefits of virtual reality in the classroom.

Innovative teacher education programs like American University’s Master of Arts in Teaching help graduates become forward-thinking educators who can inspire students through technology. The program’s focus on preparing graduates with the skills to deliver education using a multidisciplinary approach is especially helpful.

The program prepares graduates with real-world technical skills using advanced virtual platform technologies. “The use of Mursion [VR] technology has provided American University’s teacher candidates the opportunity to practice science instruction before they work with ‘real’ students, enhancing our teacher candidates’ confidence and skill,” says Carolyn Parker, director of the Master of Arts in Teaching program in American University’s School of Education.

What Are the Benefits of AR and VR in Education?

Before looking into some of the benefits of virtual reality in education, let’s define what virtual reality is and how it differs from augmented reality. AR is used on a smart device to project a layer of educational text and lesson-appropriate content on top of a user’s actual surroundings, providing students with interactive and meaningful learning experiences. VR creates an entire digital environment, a 360-degree, immersive user experience that feels real. In a VR setting, students can interact with what they see as if they were really there.

In addition to providing students with immersive learning experiences, other benefits of virtual reality in education include the ability to inspire students’ creativity and spark their imaginations. And this can motivate them to explore new academic interests. AR and VR in education also helps students struggling to understand difficult academic concepts. For example, through AR, geometry students can check out 3D geometric forms from multiple perspectives; they can rotate a shape to see it from different angles and even view it from the inside. The benefits of virtual reality in education go beyond academics as well to include cultural competence, the ability to understand another person’s culture and values—an important skill in today’s interconnected, global society. For example, a virtual reality field trip to other parts of the world, whether it be Peru or China, exposes students to cultures other than their own.

Growing evidence suggests that AR and VR in education, as well as the combination of both technologies known as mixed reality, can improve student outcomes, too. For example, in a March 2019 report, EdTech cites a study showing that students in a mixed reality biology classroom received higher scores than other students. And AR and VR can help with memory retention and recall, as well—EdTech reports on a recent study that shows an increase in retention of almost 9 percent for students who learned in an immersive environment such as VR.

AR and VR in Education: Resources and Tips

Bringing AR and VR tools into the classroom doesn’t have to be expensive. Available resources, ranging from low-priced viewers like Google Cardboard to cost-effective equipment that can connect to smartphones, can be acquired without breaking the bank. Resources for teachers include affordable or even free apps, such as 360Cities, which allows students to visit places like Rome and Tokyo. Another app, TimeLooper, allows students to visit locations through a historical lens, such as London in medieval times or World War II. Platforms like Immersive VR Education and Nearpod allow teachers to develop lesson plans with VR and AR technology.

These, and other resources, are key to incorporating immersive education into classrooms. But how can teachers set up their classrooms to maximize the benefits of VR in education? Here are a few tips.

Ensure Ample Physical Space

To reap the benefits of virtual reality in education, it is important for students to use VR equipment safely. VR users often spin around or stride blindly, ignoring their physical surroundings. A misstep could lead to injury. Educators should ensure their classrooms’ physical environments are spacious and safe for VR explorers. Students should be at least an arm’s length away from each other and from objects in the classroom. When possible, use VR content that can be accessed by students sitting at their desks.

Supervise and Moderate VR Use in Classrooms

Research into the psychological impact of VR on students suggests that VR should be used moderately and under close supervision in school settings. The findings of the research as reported in a recent CNN.com article recounts that children who overused VR had false memories of having physically visited a place they actually never visited. Limiting VR education sessions to a couple of minutes as part of a longer lesson plan can address this issue.

Know When to Use VR in the Classroom

VR can bring academic subjects to life, offering students new insights and refreshing perspectives. But VR can’t replace human interaction. Learning is fundamentally a social experience, so VR is best used as a supplemental learning tool.

How can teachers use VR in the classroom? It depends on the subject. Using VR to teach grammar in classrooms may not make much sense because grammar is a relatively abstract topic. On the other hand, VR may work well for topics that are visual and tactile, for example, allowing students to learn “firsthand” about a historical event or famous monument.

As a case in point, because the Parthenon in Greece is a physical structure, students can virtually walk inside it to see its architectural details, thanks to VR equipment and software. Many STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) topics also lend themselves well to VR. When it comes down to it, what child wouldn’t enjoy “visiting” the planets of the solar system?

Develop a Plan for VR Learning

Among the most noteworthy benefits of virtual reality in the classroom is its ability to spark curiosity and interest in students. But left to their own devices, students may veer off topic. This is why educators should develop a structured plan to maximize the use of VR within lesson plans and then guide their students along the path. As part of the plan, it is important for teachers to determine goals and expectations for students and set guidelines for students to follow to ensure optimal learning experiences.

Teach Empathy and Cultural Competence

The magic of VR is that it brings different places throughout the world right into the classroom. These new perspectives can result in fostering empathy and cultural competence because they take students outside of their normal daily experience. The use of VR and AR helps students understand people’s unique situations across the world. For example, teachers can use VR applications to enhance language teaching by exposing students to the cultures of the people who speak the language. Using technology to build culturally responsive environments helps students respect cultures different from their own.

Virtual reality: could it be the next big tool for education?

Primary school students wear virtual reality (VR) headsets inside a classroom

First-class experience. Image: REUTERS/Stringer

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Stay up to date:, emerging technologies.

Virtual Reality training is becoming more common in teaching.
VR offers the advantage of providing students and teachers with a standardized, reproducible environment for repeated and optimized training.
A study in VR training has shown it is more effective than traditional teaching at developing technical, practical and socio-emotional skills.
The study also found students who complete VR training reported 20% higher levels of confidence after completing their courses.

Walter Garcia was finishing his technical degree in nursing education amid COVID-19. Eight months before his graduation, his technical university closed its doors to face-to-face classes and rapidly shifted to virtual instruction. Fortunately, Walter did not have problems assuring access to a PC and internet to take his courses. Nonetheless, Walter was concerned because he would have to miss important classes, practical in nature, that were aimed to develop his technical skills on patients’ triage and emergency evacuation. How could he develop these skills using WebEx or reading a manual? Walter was frustrated and worried about having to complete his degree with skills gaps in these critical areas.

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Fortunately for Walter, his lab teacher, William O’Donovan, was savvy in technology and learned about a Virtual Reality application used by the medical industry to develop nurses’ technical skills to respond to medical emergencies. After having the nursing school dean's agreement, William purchased Head Mounting Display (HMD) headsets and licenses that would allow his students access to this immersive medical emergency simulator. After giving students the proper training to use the tech, students were given access to this virtual course. The course could be taken at a designated room at the college’s library, or students could borrow the headsets and try this simulation experience at home. Through the simulator, Walter was, after all, able to enter a virtual emergency room and be exposed firsthand to medical emergencies that could emulate vividly real-life situations.

Virtual Reality training is becoming more accessible to students

Virtual Reality training is often known as the process of learning in a simulated or artificial environment. VR training has existed in the realm of education for over half a century but has dramatically expanded over the past fifteen years as VR simulators are becoming less expensive to develop and increasingly realistic. Training using Virtual Reality has recently been applied in many education fields, but primarily in health and safety, engineering, and technical education. Numerous studies assessing the use of immersive training in education yielded promising results in educational outcomes.

In some educational fields, the development of adequate cognitive, technical, and socio-emotional skills remains a challenge for trainees and their tutors, partly because of the limited availability of hands-on training or access to appropriate content and learning situations. Even before the pandemic, it has become particularly challenging for education systems to supply learning opportunities that provide students with hands-on pedagogical experiences necessary to develop practical skills, especially for programs that require the use of laboratories. As a response, educators are starting to rely on VR simulations to develop learning experiences that would otherwise not be easily accessible to students. VR simulations can provide students with practical training opportunities without pressure, danger, and allowing for repeated opportunities to practice. Also, VR simulations can provide students access to situations and learning environments (such as traveling within a cell, simulated scenarios for public speaking, among others) that would otherwise be very difficult or impossible to access. Such opportunities can accelerate students' learning curve in a simulated environment, reproducing real-life conditions and situations without time or space limitations and much fewer risks than real environments.

Virtual Reality training offers many pedagogical advantages

VR simulations offer the great advantage of providing students and teachers with a standardized, reproducible environment for repeated and optimized training. VR simulations allow gamification, performance metrics, and collaborative features (using avatars) embedded in the software, enabling continuous peer interaction, active learning, enjoyment, and performance feedback – all elements that enhance proficiency-based training. Constructivism is often cited as one theoretical framework that supports the implementation of learning in virtual environments. Constructivism suggests that students learn by constructing knowledge and incorporating it into their existing knowledge structure. Thus, constructivist learning environments can increase active learning, motivation, interactivity, and personalized learning. VR simulations can be conducive to higher student motivation and presence, two channels through which VR training simulations can influence student learning. As a result, VR simulations have been regarded as a pedagogical method with the potential to increase student learning.

Is Virtual Reality training successful at developing student’s skills?

A recent study, supported by the Korea World Bank Partnerships Facility, provides a systematic review of the extent to which VR training can successfully develop students’ skills across different education fields [ Meta-analysis assessing the effects of virtual reality training on student learning and skills development ]. The study relies on a review of 92 different experiments that assess VR training effects on student learning through robust evaluations. Figure 1 presents descriptive statistics of the experiments included in the study. Most experiments were conducted in higher education settings in topics related to health and safety and virtual labs for engineering, science, and technical education.

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Results in the study show that VR training is, on average, more effective than traditional training, developing students' technical, practical, and socio-emotional skills. Results are particularly promising in the fields of health and safety, engineering, and technical education. In general, results reveal that students exposed to VR training, score higher in learning assessments, than students exposed to the same curricular content delivered through traditional training methods

Results also indicate that students exposed to VR instruction, report higher scores in socio-emotional skills assessments after completing their training than their peers receiving traditional instruction. The analysis also indicates that students exposed to VR training are more efficient using inputs, time, and/or avoiding performance errors than students exposed to traditional training, per additional hour of instruction.

Figure 1: Descriptive statistics of the primary experiments assessing the effects of VR on student learning

The main results of the study can be summarized as follows:

A total of 72 experiments show that VR training is equally or more conducive to improve student learning outcomes than traditional training.
For each additional hour of training, students exposed to VR training score 3 percent higher in learning assessments, when compared to students exposed to the same curricular content delivered through traditional training methods.
Students who complete VR training report 20% higher levels of confidence and self-efficacy towards learning after they complete their courses.
Students who are exposed to VR training are, on average, up to 30 percent more efficient (using inputs, time, and/or avoiding performance errors) than students exposed to traditional training per additional hour of instruction.

More evidence is needed on the effects of VR training in developing countries

Most studies assessing the effects of VR training on learning have been conducted in OECD countries, notably in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. As such, the promising results of VR training may not necessarily hold in all educational settings because several factors necessary for VR training to succeed (e.g., connectivity, availability of equipment and IT support, students' and teachers' dominium of essential digital skills, among others) are not necessarily assured in many education institutions in developing countries. Also, it will be essential to continue to assess the cost-effectiveness of VR training. While VR training's cost-effectiveness is likely to vary depending on many parameters such as course duration, field, and type of technology used, it is not always assured. Indeed, this type of instruction could be cost-effective because it provides savings compared to other alternative multimedia or traditional laboratories. VR training development requires software development and equipment, maintenance, support, and updates, which need sustained investments. To date, not many studies assessing the effects of VR training have focused on conducting a cost-benefit or cost-effectiveness analysis of VR instruction compared to traditional training methods. Having more such information will be crucial to assess the scalability potential of VR training across education systems.

In summary, VR training tends to be an effective mechanism of instruction to develop students’ skills and has proved to be a valuable tool for students like Walter, especially amid COVID-19. Walter received a job offer to assist the emergency room at his local hospital, where he will surely encounter similar situations to those he was exposed to when taking the VR training. Moving forward, it will be important to continue to assess the pros and cons of using VR for pedagogical instruction for different subjects as well as its cost-effectiveness and scalability.

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Lesson Plans

Virtual Reality Curriculum Guide: Experience, Immersion and Excursion in the Classroom

A framework for teaching with New York Times 360 V.R. videos, plus eight lesson plans for STEM and the humanities.

By Travis Feldler and Natalie Proulx

This guide is available as a downloadable PDF.

In 2015, The New York Times pioneered a new form of storytelling: virtual reality journalism. In an introduction to its first V.R. video, “ The Displaced ,” a documentary about three children who had been forced from their homes by war and persecution, Jake Silverstein, The New York Times Magazine’s editor, wrote:

We decided to launch The Times’s virtual-reality efforts with these portraits because we recognize that this new filmmaking technology enables an uncanny feeling of connection with people whose lives are far from our own. By creating a 360-degree environment that encircles the viewer, virtual reality creates the experience of being present within distant worlds, making it uniquely suited to projects, like this one, that speak to our senses of empathy and community.

Since then, The Times has created a series of 360-degree videos that transport users from their living rooms to far-flung places — from Antarctica to Ethiopia, the depths of the ocean to Pluto, back to the beginning of the universe and through Olympic history.

Five years later, V.R. might not have taken off in the way many hoped it would , but it still has the potential to be a powerful tool for the classroom.

A Guide for Using NYT VR With Students

Getting started with v.r. in the classroom, lesson 1: a mission to pluto, lesson 2: meet three children displaced by war and persecution, lesson 3: four antarctic expeditions, lesson 4: time travel through olympic history, lesson 5: decode the secret language of dolphins and whales, lesson 6: memorials and justice, lesson 7: the world’s biggest physics experiment, lesson 8: journey to the hottest place on earth, why virtual reality.

Virtual reality is engaging, yes — its novelty can be an excellent hook for learning — but it can also be so much more than that. With The Times’s 360 videos, students are no longer mere spectators, reading about an event or watching it unfold, but participants in it. Virtual reality can create a visceral experience, evoke memories, and foster empathy and emotional connection in a way that is rare in other mediums.

It can also make abstract concepts concrete — taking students inside a giant microscope that smashes together subatomic particles, transporting them to iconic moments in history, or introducing them to people affected by the global refugee crisis.

And V.R. can take students to places they might otherwise never get the chance to go, whether that’s the Mississippi Delta, Antarctica or Pluto.

From a practical standpoint, what’s also useful about NYT VR is that the films are typically no longer than 10 minutes, so they are easy to fit into a normal class period without overwhelming students.

In this guide, we offer you an array of examples to leverage immersive technology in your classroom using New York Times content and give you the tools to create V.R. lessons of your own.

How to Use This Guide

This guide comes in two parts: (1) a framework for teaching with virtual reality and (2) a set of eight lesson plans, each based on an NYT VR video. It’s meant to be flexible based on your curricular goals and the needs of your students. Here are a few suggestions for using it in your classroom.

Teach Our Lesson Plans. We’ve included eight lesson plans suitable for STEM and humanities classes that can be taught in one to two class periods. Each one is based on an NYT VR video, or series of videos, and includes activities for before, during and after the V.R. experience.

Practice Skills. Virtual reality is ripe for practicing a number of academic skills related to STEM and the humanities. You can use the lessons in this guide or the videos on their own to teach students skills like:

Making predictions and observations and drawing conclusions.

Asking media literacy questions .

Having discussions and making claims grounded in text evidence.

Practicing descriptive writing and communicating complex concepts.

Using multiple literacies like reading, viewing and listening.

Building empathy and taking the perspectives of others.

Build Your Own Curriculum. Are you teaching about animal intelligence in biology? Reading a novel about refugees in language arts? Learning about the civil rights movement in social studies? You can use any of the lesson plans in this guide to supplement a unit you’re already teaching. Here are a few ideas:

Use a video as an engaging hook at the beginning of a unit.

Take a “virtual field trip” to build background knowledge on a culture, place, people, historical event or scientific concept you are studying.

Make what you’re learning relevant to the real world by inviting students to connect what they’re studying in class to a VR video.

You can also draw on the themes and learning strategies in this guide to create your own lesson plans or units around an NYT VR film of your choice. Find many more 360 videos to use in your classroom in the 360 Video stream or the New York Times YouTube channel .

Learning Strategies for V.R.

We suggest a few teaching ideas to get the most out of virtual reality with your students.

Roles and Goals. Virtual reality is experiential; it asks viewers not just to watch the film, but also to participate in it. By giving students roles to play (astronauts, anthropologists, museum curators, deep-sea divers) and having focused objectives (collecting data, sharing insights, making recommendations), teachers provide students with a mission to decode their experiences.

Partners. Pairing students creates a community of trust, develops empathy and deepens experience sharing. It’s also useful if you have a limited number of viewing devices. Ensure that each partner has a role in the activity. For example, one student might view the video and share their observations verbally while another student records them.

Exploration and Inquiry. This medium is all about exploration, inquiry and play, so while students will have a learning objective, they should also have plenty of time to follow their curiosities and investigate the new worlds they find themselves in. We suggest students watch the video at least twice: once to explore and again to make specific observations related to their roles and goals.

Journaling. After students view the V.R. video, they should have an opportunity to record their observations, synthesize their ideas and reflect on their overall experience. Each of our lessons includes a journaling opportunity, such as the “If I Were There” and “Notice and Wonder” protocols. Then, students can discuss what they wrote.

Tips for Getting Started With V.R. in the Classroom

From safety precautions to technology requirements, here’s what you’ll need to teach with NYT VR.

A Tool, Not a Curriculum. Virtual reality is not a technology that should replace other teaching resources; instead, it should serve as a complementary tool that can enhance learning across disciplines. As with any new technology being introduced into the classroom, success depends on expectations, an effective strategy and the practical details of how it is being used.

Safety! Safety! Safety! We always recommend sitting when participating in V.R. experiences. Partners create an additional safety measure because the partner who is observing can ensure that his or her partner is safely experiencing the VR content.

Before starting, go over a list of dos and don’ts. Some of our personal favorites include:

No standing up.

If you are starting to feel dizzy or getting a headache, take the headset off.

Do not flail hands or legs around to avoid causing potential accidents.

Virtual reality can sometimes be an intensely emotional experience. Remind students that if they are feeling overwhelmed, it’s OK to stop.

Technology. To get started, you’ll also need some basic technology. Here are some general requirements:

Internet : V.R. experiences can be downloaded or streamed. We recommend downloading the experience to the device so that streaming issues are avoided.

Mobile Device : Smartphones are essential to powering these experiences.

Headset : Choose a headset that makes the most sense for the mobile devices that you are using. There are mobile device-agnostic headsets that could work with a variety of phones. Prices start under $10 for a simple cardboard viewer and go up from there. Most headsets also come with compatibility specs, so that you can be better informed on how to pair accurately.

Without Headset : 360 videos can also be viewed without a headset, but the experience isn’t as immersive. When viewing 360 videos in this format, you can drag the screen while the video is playing to view the surrounding environment in 360 degrees.

Headphones : Headphones allow the user to be more immersed and reduce the disruption to the experience that could arise from using speakers.

Finding Experiences : The NYT VR app no longer exists, but you can view NYT VR experiences via your mobile device on The New York Times, or via the YouTube VR or Within apps on the Oculus. You can also find several Times 360 videos on TechRow , a subscription-based V.R. and video delivery system for the classroom.

The NYT VR Video: “Seeking Pluto’s Frigid Heart” (View on The New York Times or YouTube VR , 8 min.)

On July 14, 2016, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft zipped past Pluto and its moons, scanning the dwarf planet in unprecedented detail. Before this moment, the best images of Pluto were only a few fuzzy pixels wide.

In this virtual reality video, students will travel on New Horizons, gliding through space at a million miles a day. They will fly over Pluto’s rugged surface and smooth places, stand on icy mountains, and watch the moon Charon rise on the horizon and touch down on a frost-rimmed crater billions of years old.

Roles and Goals Students have been selected to form a student space force to board the New Horizons spacecraft traveling to Pluto. As members of this elite team, their goal is to document their experience and share their insights on the dwarf planet with their peers.

Before Your Mission to Pluto Have students write down at least five facts they know about Pluto. For example:

• What is Pluto? • How big is Pluto? • Where is it located in the solar system? • What are some of its defining features? • How many moons are in Pluto’s orbit? • Can life exist on Pluto?

Compile students’ facts into a class list. They might check their facts, or find out more information, here .

Then, invite them to make a prediction based on what they already know: What do they think it would be like to visit Pluto?

During Your Mission Now, students will experience the NYT VR video “Seeking Pluto’s Frigid Heart.” As they watch, they should pay attention to Pluto’s unique characteristics. After viewing, they should record what they observe about Pluto:

• Location in the solar system • Surface features • Temperature • Gravity • Moons • Atmosphere

After Your Mission Students should report back to the space command center to share the insights they gained on their mission. Invite them to reflect on the following questions in writing or discussion:

What was it like to “visit” Pluto in the V.R. film? How close were your predictions to what you experienced? Based on what saw, what do you think it would be like to actually go there?

What are some of the defining characteristics of Pluto? How do those compare to what you know about Earth?

What is one new thing we learned from the New Horizons mission to Pluto? What questions do you still have about the dwarf planet?

What do these insights reveal about the universe we live in?

To share what the New Horizons mission found when it flew past Pluto, The New York Times created this interactive based on images and information from NASA. Invite your students to demonstrate what they learned about Pluto by creating an original drawing or series of drawings and annotating them with key information about the dwarf planet.

Further Reading and Viewing NASA’s New Horizons Spacecraft Sends Signal From Pluto to Earth Images of Pluto From NASA’s New Horizons Spacecraft

The NYT VR Video: “The Displaced” (View on The New York Times or YouTube VR , 11 min.)

More than 70 million people are currently displaced from their homes by war and persecution. Half are children. In this V.R. documentary, viewers travel to Ukraine, Syria and Sudan to learn the stories of three of those children.

Roles and Goals Students have been invited to form a student council to explore the impact of civil war on children, refugees and internally displaced persons in Ukraine, Syria and Sudan. As members of this council, their goal is to share insights from their experience with their peers and identify ways they can support displaced people in their community and around the world.

Before Your Trip to Ukraine, Syria and Sudan What do your students know about the global refugee crisis? Before they take off on their trip, have them create a K/W/L chart , either individually or as a class, to record what they know and what they want to know about the crisis.

Then, have students to look up the definitions of “ refugee ” and “ displaced person .” They can add these definitions to their chart.

Finally, show students this three-minute clip (Facing History and Ourselves) of Samantha Power, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, giving an overview of the current refugee crisis. Invite them to discuss what they learned and the questions they have, and then add those to their K/W/L chart.

During Your Trip Now students will embark on their virtual field trip to Ukraine, Syria and Sudan by watching “The Displaced.” As they watch, they should pay attention to the moments of “connection” and “disconnection” they have with the three children profiled in the film. In what ways are their personalities, families, homes, hopes and dreams, and life experiences similar? In what ways are they different?

After students have finished watching, they can journal or make a list in a T-chart about the “connections” and “disconnections” they have with the children.

Lastly, they can add anything new they learned about the refugee crisis to their K/W/L charts.

After Your Trip Invite students back together to discuss their insights from the visit, either in writing or together as a class:

Which moments in the video were particularly surprising, moving or affecting to you?

What are some of the causes of displacement around the world? How does displacement affect the lives of children particularly?

How was virtually visiting Oleg, Hana and Chuol different than learning facts about the refugee crisis? What did it feel like to “be” there?

What are some things you found you had in common with these children? In what ways are your lives different? What do you think it would be like to be forced from your home?

If you could talk to these children, what questions would you ask them? What else would you want to know about their lives?

As members of this special student council, students should come up with a proposal for how they can support refugees or people who have been displaced.

They might start by watching Ms. Power talk about small steps individuals can take to help refugees in this one-minute video (Facing History and Ourselves).

Then, they can brainstorm actions they can take on a school level, a local level, a national level and an international level. For example, if there are refugees at their school or in their community, what could they do to support them? If students themselves are refugees, they might share their experiences and what support they would want most from others.

Here are some more resources to get them started:

How You Can Help Refugees in the United States (The New York Times)

4 Ways You Can Support Refugees (Voices of Youth)

Taking Action to Assist Syrian Refugees (I Am Syria)

Students might choose one of the actions they brainstormed and develop it into a plan for supporting refugees in their school, community or country.

Further Reading The Displaced: Introduction The Displaced: Oleg The Displaced: Chuol The Displaced: Hana

The NYT VR Videos: “The Antarctica Series” (View on The New York Times or YouTube VR, links below)

In this collection of four V.R. videos, viewers explore life on, above and below the Antarctic ice. They’ll dive under eight feet of ice with expert divers, fly in a helicopter through the McMurdo Dry Valleys, travel in a military plane over the Ross Ice Shelf, and join the people at McMurdo Station who make life possible on the least habitable continent.

Roles and Goals Your school has decided to establish a student expeditionary force to Antarctica to explore life around the continent. Students’ goal is to document their experience and share it with their peers so they can better understand the Antarctic environment and landscape as a whole.

Students can choose from among these four expeditions:

In “ Under a Cracked Sky ” (10 min.), dive under eight feet of sea ice to swim with seals, explore ice caves and float above a dark seabed crawling with life.

In “ Three Six Juliet ” (11 min.), fly in a helicopter through the McMurdo Dry Valleys, one of the most extreme environments on Earth.

In “ McMurdo Station ” (9 min.), join the mechanics, cooks, drivers, firefighters, scientists and others who run a research station on the least habitable continent, thousands of miles from civilization.

In “ A Shifting Continent ” (15 min.), fly with scientists in a military cargo plane as they probe the structure of the Ross Ice Shelf, a Texas-size chunk of floating ice.

Before Your Antarctic Expedition Have students choose the expedition they want to go on, or assign them to one, making sure each excursion has an even number of people.

Invite students to convene with the other students who are going on their expedition. In their groups, have them discuss what they already know about Antarctica. Then, based on their prior knowledge and the description of their V.R. experience, have them make a list of essentials they would likely need to take with them.

Finally, challenge them to make some predictions: What do they think they will find as they explore life on, above and below the Antarctic ice?

During Your Expedition Now students will embark on their chosen Antarctic expedition from “The Antarctica Series.” As they watch, they should act like researchers, collecting data on their experience to report back to their classmates. They will become the “experts” on this particular piece of the continent, so it’s important they take detailed notes about their observations.

They can use the “If I Were There” journaling protocol to record what they find:

• If I were there, I would touch … • If I were there, I would see … • If I were there, I would hear … • If I were there, I would smell … • If I were there, I would taste … • If I were there, I would feel …

After Your Expedition Have students rejoin their small groups and synthesize the data they gathered from their expeditions before sharing it with their peers. They can discuss the following questions:

What was interesting or surprising about your journey?

What were some of the unique characteristics of the place you visited?

What are the conditions like for researchers there?

What have researchers learned from studying this specific piece of the continent? In what ways might this research contribute to our understanding of the world, the universe or ourselves?

Next, have at least one person from each group meet together in “teaching groups.” In these groups, each expert should have a chance to share what they learned on their respective expedition while the others take notes.

After everyone has had a chance to share, invite each group to discuss the following questions:

Could you see yourself doing any of the research jobs you observed in the V.R. videos? If so, which ones and why? If not, why not?

How do you think the research conducted by scientists in Antarctica might affect the world? In what ways might it affect your lives, if at all?

Do you think it is worthwhile for countries to spend time, money and resources studying Antarctica? Why or why not?

Remembering Emmett Till

In this virtual reality documentary, we explore how the mississippi towns where emmett till’s murder took place more than six decades ago are trying to memorialize him..

On hot August night more than 63 years ago, Emmett Till was lynched here in the Mississippi Delta. His case was so horrific that he became an enduring symbol for racial hostility and injustice. In 1955, Emmett, a 14-year-old black boy from Chicago, was kidnapped, brutally beaten and lynched in Mississippi after he was accused of whistling at a white woman at a grocery store. His body was thrown into a river and found days later. “The body was so badly damaged that we couldn’t hardly just tell who he was, but he happened to have on a ring with his initials.” The men charged in Emmett’s killing, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, were acquitted by an all-white, all-male jury, and though they later confessed, no one served any time. His mother, Mamie Till Mobley, was thrust into the media spotlight and spoke out on national television. “Well, the whole trial was just a farce, and — but the verdict was the one that I had expected to be given.” She held an open-casket funeral, and in allowing his tortured body to be photographed, brought public attention to the case, profoundly shaping the civil rights movement. “For him to have died a hero would mean more to me than for him just to have died. And I know that his life can’t be returned, but I hope that his death will certainly start a movement.” Here in Mississippi, the name “Emmett Till” has been carried by black families generation to generation, often as a cautionary tale. But only in the last decade or so have officials formally recognized what happened to the teenager in the summer of 1955. I came to Mississippi to learn how these communities are grappling with the legacy of Emmett Till. There are still physical reminders of his death. Many of these structures are easy to miss or not fully accessible. They are off remote dirt roads, along a deserted bridge and even on an old plantation. But now there’s an effort to memorialize his story with historical markers. Here in Sumner, the Emmett Till Interpretive Center puts up some of these markers. Jessie Jaynes-Diming gives tours of these sites, including one with a sign that has been marred by vandalism. “This sign here is the replacement sign for the one that disappeared. And as you can see, it has many different bullet holes in it. We’re due to replace it with a bulletproof one. We do have another one that is up at this particular time, but it’s also shot up. I would not replace it again. I want the world to see just as Mamie did. I want the world to see how some people still feel about Emmett’s death.” Another important site in the story has escaped vandalism, but has withered under neglect. This roofless, crumbling building was once Bryant’s Grocery and Meat Market, where Emmett encountered Carolyn Bryant Donham, the shopkeeper, in 1955. You could drive right past it and not see it, save for the marker to its side. It’s currently owned by the Tribble family, whose patriarch was a juror in the murder trial. Over the years, the Till center and others have tried to buy the building and have it donated to be restored as a memorial, but so far, the negotiations have been unsuccessful. Emmett was kidnapped from his uncle’s house and brought to this barn, where he was brutally beaten and tortured. The barn’s current owner, Dr. Jeff Andrews, has maintained the structure, upgrading the exterior. He allows people to visit, but it’s unmarked. The Tallahatchie County Courthouse in front of you was the site of the murder trial. Mississippi State Senator David Jordan is one of the last living people to have witnessed the trial in 1955. He was a college freshman then, and he came with his classmates. “So when we walked inside of the courtroom, the four of us were sitting side by side. And as we looked forward — and we could look at at the courtroom like it is now, it was exactly like it was in 1955. When Mrs. Till and Congressman Charles Gage walked in, I believe they walked to their right, and they they took a seat up where the African-American reporters were.” “For 50 years, our community wanted to forget what took place here. And it wasn’t until the community finally came together across racial lines and offered the first apology that we began work on restoring our courthouse back to the way [it was in] 1955, and opening up the Emmett Till Interpretive Center across the street.” Outside the courthouse, there’s now a sign to mark the murder trial on one side, on the other side there’s a Confederate monument. It was put up in 1913, during the Jim Crow era. I came back to this bullet-riddled marker, where Emmett’s body was recovered from the river. Over and over again, the signs have been vandalized. Is there a larger message? A dark interpretation would be that some people don’t want to be reminded of his murder. But for those invested in preserving Emmett’s legacy, their hope is that such memorials help visitors walk away with an honest account of what happened to this 14-year-old boy all those years ago. I was struck by the contrast of the decay and emptiness of Bryant’s Grocery store, and its outsized role in Emmett Till’s fate — and in turn, American civil rights history. In so many ways, this embodies the push and pull of public memory — and the question of how America chooses to forget or face its history.

The NYT VR Video: “Remembering Emmett Till” (View on The New York Times , 8 min.)

In “ Remembering Emmett Till: The Legacy of a Lynching ,” Veda Shastri, Audra D.S. Burch, Tim Chaffee and Nicole Fineman write:

In August 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till of Chicago was accused of whistling at a white woman at a grocery store in Mississippi. He was later kidnapped, tortured, lynched and dumped in a river. Today, more than six decades later, the local communities in towns closely connected to Emmett’s story are grappling with the legacy of the lynching.

In this 360-degree documentary, students will travel with Audra D.S. Burch, a New York Times correspondent, to the Mississippi town where Emmett was killed. They will visit several key locations to explore the cultural reckoning happening now and examine the role that physical structures related to the Emmett Till case play in the efforts to memorialize him.

Roles and Goals Students have been invited to form a student team of curators to help memorialize Emmett for the Emmett Till Interpretive Center. Their goal is to visit the places that make up the narrative of what happened to Emmett and make suggestions for how the center can commemorate this painful history.

Before Your Visit to the Mississippi Delta Invite students to do a quick-write responding to the following question:

How should a community memorialize a painful history — such as a murder, a riot, a lynching or a massacre inspired by racism?

Should it create informational markers, preserve old structures and build statues? Should it try to teach future generations what happened? Or, should it do nothing in an attempt to move on to a better future?

After students have finished writing, have them discuss their response with a partner.

During Your Visit Now, students will travel to the place where Emmett’s murder took place, in the virtual reality documentary “Remembering Emmett Till.” As they watch, they should pay attention to the various markers of Emmett’s story shared in the film, as well as their own emotional reactions.

Have students journal about what they saw and heard, and how it made them feel. They might use the following prompts:

• One location that stood out to me was … because … • One quote that resonated with me was … because … • One emotion I had while watching was … because … • One question I have is …

After Your Visit Have students come back together to discuss what they learned. They can reflect on the following questions in writing or discussion:

What happened to Emmet Till over 60 years ago? How are the two communities where these events happened still grappling with the legacy?

Should the Emmett Till Interpretive Center stop trying to replace the bullet-riddled historical markers, as a way to show the world that some people still want to erase this painful history? Or should they rededicate a new marker, to ensure that vandalism doesn’t prevent people from learning about these events? (You can read this 2019 article to get an update on this story.)

Do historical signs and markers matter? Do you ever read them? Are they important to maintain?

What do you think the Emmett Till Interpretive Center should do next to help preserve the legacy of what happened in these towns? After watching the film, what would you advise?

Have students visit the Emmett Till Interpretive Center’s website to learn more about the center’s work. Then they can use their new knowledge to provide additional insights into answering the key question: How should these two communities memorialize this painful history?

Invite them to write up a proposal or sketch a design of one way these communities could commemorate Emmett’s legacy.

Further Reading Emmett Till’s Murder, and How America Remembers Its Darkest Moments Emmett Till Memorial Has a New Sign. This Time, It’s Bulletproof.

The NYT VR Video: “Inside CERN’s Large Hadron Collider” (View on The New York Times , 6 min.)

In this virtual reality experience, viewers travel beneath the fields of Switzerland and France to tour the largest microscope ever built. They’ll explore the ins and outs of the machine, hear about its future, and study the remnants of the Higgs boson, a long-sought particle that helps explain why there is mass, diversity and life in the cosmos.

Roles and Goals Students have been invited to form a committee to study the Large Hadron Collider, developed by physicists at CERN, the European Center for Nuclear Research, before it closes for upgrades. Their goal is to learn how the microscope works and share their findings with their peers.

Before Your Tour of the Large Hadron Collider Have students begin by discussing these questions: Why are microscopes important? What do we use them for? What are some things we’ve learned about our world that we would not know without them?

Then, invite them to read about how CERN’s Large Hadron Collider works:

The collider is a kind of microscope that works by flinging subatomic particles around a 17-mile electromagnetic racetrack beneath the French-Swiss countryside, smashing them together 600 million times a second and sifting through the debris for new particles and forces of nature. The instrument is also a time machine, providing a glimpse of the physics that prevailed in the early moments of the universe and laid the foundation for the cosmos as we see it today.

What might scientists learn about the universe from this machine? In what ways might this knowledge be useful to us?

Finally, have them brainstorm questions they would want to ask the physicists of CERN about the collider.

During Your Tour Now, students will travel beneath the French-Swiss countryside to tour the microscope in the V.R. video “Inside CERN’s Large Hadron Collider.” As they watch, they should pay attention to the different parts of the machine and how they work.

After the video, students should jot down what they learned about the following components of the collider and the role each plays:

• The “racetrack” • The detectors • Compact Muon Solenoid • Atlas • The computer banks

After Your Tour Gather the students back together to share their insights with each other about CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. Students can discuss what they learned using the following prompts:

What was your experience like inside the collider? What are some things you discovered on your tour?

Why was the discovery of the Higgs boson so significant? How did the collider aid in that discovery?

How do you think the research conducted by physicists using the Large Hadron Collider might affect the world? How might it affect you personally?

Now, have students create a model to illustrate how a subatomic particle would travel through the Large Hadron Collider.

The model can take any form students like, but they should remember that the goal is to help their peers understand how this microscope works. They might create a drawing or a digital illustration. If they have the resources, they can build a virtual model using 3-D software or a physical one using clay or some other material. They could create a comic or a short video that follows an animated proton on its journey through the collider. All models should include labels of the key elements they portray.

They can find more information in the article “ It’s Intermission Time for the Large Hadron Collider .”

Finally, invite students to reflect: What did they learn from creating their model? What are its limitations? In other words, what is the model not able to show? What questions did this assignment raise for them?

The NYT VR Video: “The Land of Salt and Fire” (View on The New York Times or YouTube VR , 6 min.)

Tectonic shifts are disrupting the traditional way of life for people in the Afar region in Ethiopia. In this V.R. video, students will be transported to Dallol, Ethiopia, the hottest place on Earth, where they will travel with camel caravans across salt flats and active geothermal zones, to find out how the Afar people are adapting.

Roles and Goals Students have been invited to form an anthropological expedition to document life in Dallol. As members of this team, their goal is to document their experiences and share insights with their peers to better understand Dallol’s unique geography and people.

Before Your Excursion to Dallol Before visiting the people and places they are studying, anthropologists always conduct background research. Have students do this by first finding Dallol on a map. Next, invite them to spend a few minutes doing a Google image search of “ Dallol ” and “ salt trade ,” an important economic activity in the region.

Then, discuss what they notice and wonder about what they see. Ask them:

• How would you describe the landscape of Dallol? What is unique about it? • Where does the salt trade predominantly take place? • How is salt mined? What tools are used? • What might you expect to see on a visit to Dallol?

During Your Excursion Now students will embark on their expedition by watching the NYT VR video “The Land of Salt and Fire.” As they watch, remind them that anthropology is the study of human societies and cultures, so they should pay special attention to how the people of Dallol have developed their society and what role the environment has played in it.

After they’ve finished, they can use the “If I Were There” protocol to record their observations:

After Your Excursion Invite students to reconvene and discuss the discoveries they made. They can reflect on the following questions in writing or discussion:

What was interesting or surprising about their trip to Dallol? What did it feel like to “be there”?

What role has the salt trade played in the lives of the Afar people over generations?

What are the forces that are changing the Afar people’s traditional way of life? How are they adapting?

How can an environment influence a people’s way of life? How does the environment where you live influence how people live and work in your community?

The goal of anthropologists is to publish their findings so they can share what they’ve learned with the public. Students can create a one-pager to share their insights with their peers. They can summarize their findings with an illustration, a quote and a question they might want to ask the Afar people. Post the one-pagers around the classroom and have students do a gallery walk, or invite them to present their work in small groups.

Further Reading Voyages: The Danakil Depression, Ethiopia

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Open access
Published: 19 October 2020

Exploring the trends of educational virtual reality games: a systematic review of empirical studies

Solomon Sunday Oyelere ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9895-6796 1 ,
Nacir Bouali 1 , 2 ,
Rogers Kaliisa 3 ,
George Obaido 4 ,
Abdullahi Abubakar Yunusa 5 &
Ebunayo R. Jimoh 6

Smart Learning Environments volume 7 , Article number: 31 ( 2020 ) Cite this article

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Virtual Reality (VR) and educational games are emerging technologies mediating a rapid transformation in the educational world. However, few studies have systematically analyzed Educational Virtual Reality Games (EVRGs) and how they have been applied in educational settings. This study reviewed 31 articles published in high impact journals and educational conference proceedings to unravel the technological, pedagogical, and gaming characteristics of contemporary EVRGs. The results show the predominance of Oculus Rift headsets and HTC Vive as the main technology used in EVRGs. Moreover, the analysis revealed that the pedagogical application of the majority of EVRGs was developed for all levels of education (e.g. tertiary, K-12, lifelong learning), with the specific target audience of each game based on the desired learning outcome. Furthermore, the application of EVRGs has primarily focused on out of class use, with healthcare education topics dominating the topics taught using EVRGs. Based on our findings, we highlight some key implications and suggestions to advance the field of EVRGs.

Introduction

This study explores the advances of educational virtual reality games (EVRGs) and expounds its important developmental features such as technology, pedagogy and gaming. The rapid development in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has revolutionized the computing industry and propelled a paradigm shift in the pedagogy of teaching and learning (Kaliisa, Edward, & Julia, 2019 ; Oyelere, Suhonen, Wajiga, & Sutinen, 2018 ). Contemporary computer hardware and software have improved significantly in size, speed, and precision, and a key to the creation of immersive technological applications (Bekele, Pierdicca, Frontoni, Malinverni, & Gain, 2018 ; Voinea, Girbacia, Postelnicu, & Marto, 2018 ). Virtual reality (VR) is a technology that has recently gained prominence as one of the core features of modern ‘high-tech’ with wide-ranging applications, including education (Virvou & Katsionis, 2008 ), gaming (Zyda, 2005 ), entertainment (Liu, Cheok, Mei-Ling, & Theng, 2007 ), military (Lele, 2013 ), skills training (Aggarwal, Black, Hance, Darzi, & Cheshire, 2006 ), tourism (Tussyadiah, Wang, Jung, & Dieck, 2018 ), as well as physical exercise (Finkelstein et al., 2011 ). VR is computer-simulated, which gives users the illusion of being physically present in the world and uses not only sight but also sound and touch to fully engage a user in the virtual world (Mandal, 2013 ).

In this paper, we refer to VR as the experience in which a user is fully immersed into either a virtual environment using head-mounted displays (headsets) or projection-based displays. A user through the utilization of an avatar (Carvalheiro, Nóbrega, da Silva, & Rodrigues, 2016 ) can as a result, navigate this world. This functionality differs from 3D environments visualized using headsets, but the user is only able to experience the virtual world from a fixed perspective and an onscreen visualizable three-dimensional (3D) environment. In this research, educational games are defined as the games designed, implemented, and evaluated with the purpose of teaching, or aiding in the instruction of a subject, or aiding in the learning of a specific skill within a formal or an informal setting (Oyelere, Suhonen, & Laine, 2017 ; Pavlidis & Markantonatou, 2018 ). We define Educational Virtual Reality Games (EVRGs) as educational games that exploit the 3D stereoscopic display, using a wearable headset or a Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE) system to teach or aid in the instruction of a specific topic. With such a definition non-immersive educational VR games, wherein the user navigates a virtual world using an avatar controlled by a mouse and a keyboard and/or a joystick, have been excluded.

VR technology has become increasingly a popular teaching and learning support tool across different disciplines. It provides an opportunity for students and teachers to experience, as well as interact, with real-time learning phenomena, something that would have been almost impossible in the physical world (Shin, 2017 ; Vesisenaho et al., 2019 ). VR allows for the use of multiple senses (e.g., touch, sense of heat, smell), which are used simultaneously during the learning process. In this regard, this could improve the activeness and mental alertness of both the students and teachers. This claim is supported by Lee and Wong ( 2014 ) who concluded that there is a significant interaction effect between the learning mode and the spatial ability of the students. Furthermore, other studies have established the pedagogical benefits of VR, such as the ability to support students with diverse learning styles in gaining cognitive achievement (Lee, Wong, & Fung, 2010 ), improving spatial thinking (Cohen & Hegarty, 2014 ), learning object-oriented programming concepts (Bouali, Nygren, Oyelere, Suhonen, & Cavalli-Sforza, 2019 ), and in facilitating collaboration (Greenwald et al., 2017 ).

The goal of this study was to systematically review the trends of EVRGs from the perspective of their technological, pedagogical, and gaming characteristics. The study draws on research conducted by Laine ( 2018 ), by focusing on studies that describe the design, implementation, and evaluation of EVRGs. Since Laine’s ( 2018 ) study focuses strictly on mobile Augmented Reality Games (ARs), our work provides a slightly different and more comprehensive perspective by focusing on EVRGs. A review of previous studies of EVRGs would make it possible to understand in which direction the field is heading and how future EVRGs should be designed to best fit the needs of both the teacher and students to improve educational outcomes. We argue that a review of EVRGs is needed (i) to understand and conceptualize the existing body of EVRGs; (ii) to provide evidence about the technologies that support the implementation of EVRGs across a wide range of settings and techniques used; (iii) to explore the teaching and learning attributes of VR games and how different pedagogical characteristics such as context, topics taught, and types of learners have changed over the years. We further aim (iv) to develop a set of pointers to researchers and practitioners (e.g. teachers) interested in conducting and applying VR games in research and pedagogical practice; and (v) to understand the characteristics of contemporary games to supporting educational developments. To achieve these goals, we, therefore, seek to answer the research question: What are the technological, pedagogical, and gaming characteristics of contemporary educational VR games?

The rest of the paper is organized as follows: presentation of related work, the methodology, and conclusion with several remarks that reinforce the critical points regarding the use of educational VR games.

Related work

Relationship between vr and education.

The educational process requires the learner to grasp and comprehend abstract concepts and appreciate scenarios, as well as to understand situations which are far removed from the confines of the classroom. Duffy and Jonassen ( 1992 ) argue that the teaching of abstract phenomena, analogy and lived experiences are used to describe and ease through abstract concepts from commonly observable reality. However, over the last decade, the application of emerging technologies in education have revolutionized the pedagogical or teaching processes in the classroom, to explain better and to provide comprehension of abstract concepts.

VR is an emerging technology that has gained traction in education. Educationists have discovered that VR allows the user to interact with a computer-generated 3D model or virtual environment (Christou, 2010 ) which fosters the understanding of the imaginary world on a realistic scale. This makes it a useful tool for teaching and learning by transforming the way educational content is delivered (Hentsch, 2018 ). A study by Lee and Wong ( 2008 ), described VR as a technology that aids student learning through the visualization of information and engagement, which affords a learner with the opportunity to experience subject matter or concepts that are not easily discernible.

VR does not only relate positively to education but aligns with the constructivism school of thought, which stipulates that humans construct knowledge by learning from experience. The constructivist theory advocates that learning through interaction with sensory data allows knowledge construction from experience for which VR is suited. Christou ( 2010 ), chronicled broad application areas of VR in educational contexts used in the enhancement of core curricula in schools and colleges, application of VR in museums, edutainment, demonstrations, simulation, and training.

Comparison of VR and 3D games in education

In the past few decades, game-based learning has been an integral part of the educational process (Boboc, Orzan, Stoica, & Niculescu-Ciocan, 2018 ; Hwang, Wu, Chen, & Tu, 2016 ; Xenos, Maratou, Ntokas, Mettouris, & Papadopoulos, 2017 ). EVRGs are designed to assist users to grasp the concepts of a specific subject, to expand their knowledge, and to facilitate participation. A typical example of educational virtual reality game is GridlockED, which was developed by Tsoy et al. ( 2019 ) as a collaborative learning game, targeted for medical trainees, to acquire the skills on how to treat and triage a patient. Modern educational games are played using high-end video technology such as stereoscopic 3D, or through a Head-Mounted VR environment (Snowdon & Oikonomou, 2018 ). These technologies use a spatial depth on the screen and offer rich learning experiences for the user.

A study by Sampaio, Ferreira, Rosário, and Martins ( 2010 ) described 3D technology as that which creates spatial depth with 3D pop-up visualizations so that objects contained in the game may appear closer to the player with the use of dedicated 3D-capable glasses. In comparison to the 3D technology, Triberti, Villani, and Riva ( 2016 ) described VR as a computer-simulated reality that uses a 3D environment whereby the player interacts with using a specialized head-mounted display (e.g. Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR, Google Cardboard etc.) that shows visual effects to the eyes. Unlike 3D, where the user is a just a viewer, VR allows for the user to become part of a story, offering an untethered immersive experience (Bradshaw, 2016 ). Therefore, a video game in VR is more realistic than one played in a 3D condition. Hence, VR technology could be applied to complement 3D modelling, ensuring better communication both in an educational or vocational training (Bradshaw, 2016 ). A comparative study by Roettl and Terlutter ( 2018 ) on 237 players showed that the participation and cognitive load was much higher in players using VR than just 3D. Recently, researchers have critically debated on the effects of 3D and VR technologies on issues such as adverse effects like social isolation (Nicas, 2018 ), discomfort, eye fatigue, and headache when using these technologies for an extended period (Bradshaw, 2016 ; Roettl & Terlutter, 2018 ; Sharkawi, Ujang, & Abdul-Rahman, 2008 ).

Related EVRGs reviews

Since this article focuses on exploring current EVRGs, we consider it vital to summarize in a tabular form the existing efforts in this direction. Table 1 presents the previous attempts to review works in EVRGs.

As can be observed from the existing studies reviewing EVRGs (Table 1 ), the field of VR games has garnered interest amongst educational technology researchers. This may be partly as a result of an increase in innovation within the field as well as in the variation in the pedagogical application of VR. However, to the best of our knowledge and evaluation of the existing reviews, no study has attempted to review systematically the trends of EVRGs accounting from the viewpoints of technology, pedagogy, content, knowledge, and games. To bridge this gap, this paper centers in a systematic literature review to examine the current research on EVRGs and to provide important insights beyond the specific research findings within the individual studies.

Methodology

This study follows the guidelines for conducting a systematic literature review by Kitchenham and Charters ( 2007 ) (Fig. 1 ). The search service of the (blinded for review) library’s printed and electronic resources, (blinded for review) was utilized to access databases and extract publications. Google Drive was used for collaboration among the team, and MS Excel spreadsheets were used to manage and organize the information acquired from the search.

The systematic literature review process based on guidelines by Kitchenham and Charters ( 2007 )

Phase 1. Planning the review

This phase focuses on the initial preparation undertaken to achieve the goal of this literature review.

Phase 1.1 Rationale of the review

Based on the guidelines by Kitchenham and Charters ( 2007 ), we identified previous systematic reviews that addressed either our research questions or similar questions. However, as discussed in the introduction, none of the reviews focused on EVRGs. Thus, we decided to conduct a review on EVRGs with specific attention to attributes such as technology, pedagogy and gaming.

Phase 1.2. Specifying the research question

By drawing on existing accounts about the application of VR games, in the educational sphere, this study set one research question: What are the technological, pedagogical, and gaming characteristics of contemporary educational VR games? To answer this research question, this study analyzed existing research about EVRGs with an emphasis on profiling the games in terms of the country of research, year of production, technological attributes (e.g. platform, types of headsets), pedagogical attributes (e.g., topics, types of learners, educational settings) and the gaming attributes (e.g., player’s role, the theme of play, mode, and goal of the game).

Phase 1.3. Developing a review protocol

According to Kitchenham and Charters ( 2007 ), a review protocol provides the basis to carry out the systematic review. Creating a review protocol beforehand helps to reduce the likelihood of research bias, such as potential prejudiced selections of particular studies carried out by the researcher. Formal and informal searches were used to find relevant studies in response to the research question. Table 2 presents the databases and the search strategy of the preliminary searches of existing related studies of EVRGs in education, which set the direction for this study. The databases were selected because they were either specialized in educational technology, educational games or in virtual reality applications, or that have published at least one special issue in educational virtual reality and games for learning. Thereafter, the preliminary review studies presented in Table 1 were used to create the research framework as well as the research question, which yielded a well-organized review protocol.

Phase 2. Conducting the review

The second phase of the guidelines by Kitchenham and Charters ( 2007 ) follows five stages: the search strategy, the study selection criteria, the study quality assessment, the data extraction plan, and the data analysis tool.

Phase 2.1. Search strategy

The research question of this study guided the formulation and expounding of the search strategy. As a first step, the search keywords were identified as a way of narrowing down and focusing on relevant articles for the topic under study. The search keywords were chosen according to the research theme; research question and the objective of this study (see Table 2 for search strategy and list of databases). Search keywords: The search space was narrowed down using Boolean search phrases and different combinations of the following terms: “virtual reality” AND “education”, OR “learning”, OR “game”, OR “gamification”, OR “serious game”. While many researchers use the term “educational games” to refer to games, the purpose of which is helping a learner acquire a skill, others opt for a more generic term like “serious game”. The keyword choice was made in a way to capture any game that is used in an educational context, be it formal or informal, as long as it uses VR technology, with the definition we adopted above. The time frame for publication considered within the systematic review was between 2012 and 2018 . Since the field of educational technology and virtual reality games is developing very fast, articles before 2012 have been reviewed in previous studies and are not particularly relevant in this work. The screening was based on titles, abstracts, and full-text skimming and took place from 1 February 2019 to 30 May 2019.

Phase 2.2. Study selection criteria

Using the keywords and search strings presented in the section “ Phase 2.1. Search strategy ”, several articles were selected based on their relevance to the research question and inclusion criteria. A flow diagram representing the steps of the selection criteria is presented in Fig. 2 . The researchers read the title, abstract, keywords and skimmed through the contents of all the papers and selected the articles that appeared to be appropriate based on VR, education, and gamification. Abstracts, posters, books, and articles that did not show an implementation that required a VR headset were excluded. Altogether, we found 162 research papers through the predefined search keywords on the four databases. However, after we applied the inclusion and exclusion criteria (Table 3 ), only 31 articles made it through the scrutiny (Table 4 ).

Flow Diagram of the Review Process (Adapted from Moher, Liberati, Tetzlaff, & Altman, 2009 )

Phase 2.3. Data extraction and analysis

We set up a coding scheme to guide the extraction of relevant data from research articles with relevance to our research question. The coding scheme included the following overarching dimensions: Title/name of the game, description of the game, country of game implementation, player role, theme, mode, gameplay, goal, platform, VR headset, game interaction, focus, learners, educational setting, research, and evaluation methods.

In summary, the methodology section, presented the planning and implementation process of the systematic review and these included; providing the rationale for choosing the framework adopted for the review, specifying the research questions, developing the review protocol, executing the review, identifying the keywords, drafting the study selection criteria as well as data extraction and analysis. Subsequently, the results yielded by these processes are presented in the next section.

The results are organized in four main categories: A general overview of the EVRGs, technological, pedagogical, and gaming characteristics.

Overview of the VR serious games

The number of EVRGs publications appearing in each year from 2012 to 2018 is presented in Fig. 3 . The bar chart shows a definite increase in the number of research works dedicated to VR educational games. Research shows that there was one study in 2014 and increases to 14 studies in 2018. Table 5 shows that EVRGs have been researched in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. See Table 5 for full details of serious games.

The number of research publications dedicated to VR games per year

Technological characteristics

The review looked at the technological characteristics of the selected EVRGs in terms of platform, headset, and interaction components. As shown in Fig. 4 , the Oculus Rift seems to dominate the VR headsets used in EVRGs, as it was used in nearly half of the games (45.2%). HTC Vive came in second used in almost a quarter of the games (22.6%). Cardboard, which is the cheapest of the VR headsets, was only used in 9.7% of the games, while under a quarter (22.6%) of the papers we reviewed, did not specify which headsets were used as target technology.

Headsets breakdown in surveyed literature

The platforms used for the games were consistent with the headsets, given that HTC Vive and Oculus Rift DK2 are PC VR devices, 83.9% of the games were playable using a PC or MAC, while 12.9% were playable using a mobile device, which matches the Cardboard requirements (Fig. 5 ).

The distribution of the platforms in the literature within the SR

In Table 6 (technological characteristics), we show the interaction techniques and hardware used in the EVRGs. While the most basic headsets (e.g. Cardboard) provide basic VR interaction mechanisms like gaze and head movements, more advanced headsets come with more sophisticated controllers. These controllers allow the users to interact with the props in the game environment and facilitate movement. Some games provide natural user interfaces, while other task-specific games provide more advanced controllers such as steering wheels. However, it is noteworthy that traditional input devices, such as a mouse or keyboard are challenging to use with VR technology, as the latter conceals the user in a virtual environment, disallowing the visibility of the surrounding real environment. Some games have, however, suggested such input devices, which makes the gaming experience slightly inconvenient.

Pedagogical characteristics

The analysis of the games showed that more than two-thirds of the educational VR games were developed for informal learning context (Fig. 6 ). While the topics taught in the analyzed games were of great variety, we tried to group them under specific themes, to understand which of the tasks or learning goals were deemed VR-appropriate by the researchers. For instance, one-third of the games targeted teaching healthcare-related topics, while a quarter of the games aimed at introducing, training, or enforcing safety measures in various environments (e.g., construction sites, hospitals, or roads). Topics such as biology, physics or astronomy represent a tenth of the surveyed games (represented in Fig. 7 as natural sciences). While topics like language learning, geography, and civil engineering, received minimum interest with one VR game each.

Game settings

The topics taught using VR educational games

The target audience of the EVRGs depended on the desired learning outcomes. Additionally, the VR games were developed for all levels of formal education, from K-12 to tertiary education students, as well as for lifelong learners who need to acquire some skills to deal with specific health conditions, as illustrated in Table 7 .

Gaming characteristics of EVRGs

The 31 EVRGs reviewed in this paper differ significantly in the player roles suggested to their users but are mainly dependent on the educational purpose of the tool. Most of the games suggest player roles that are adequate for the tasks the user is being prepared for, in environments similar to those that they will be working on (see Table 8 for several aspects of gaming characteristics). This shows the power of VR in providing learners with a preview of working activities and conditions.

VR facilitates collaborative learning, where many learners can be together in the same virtual world to execute some learning tasks. Only five EVRGs incorporated such a feature in their designs, while 26 games decided to allow only single-player mode. Gameplay-wise, most games suggest the user moves through the virtual world and executes tasks similar to the real-world tasks they are being prepared for, and so games genres like puzzles are quasi-inexistent in the game set that we have reviewed. This study has found that the VR games present the content to be taught as a series of entertaining challenges to the learner in a virtual environment.

General overview

The study revealed that the number of articles or literature on emerging VR systems has been increasing since 2012, which indicates the interest VR has gained since its spread in late 2012. The study also revealed many educational topics in which VR has already been applied. A general emphasis was placed on healthcare education by VR researchers, along with a variety of other topics such as biology, computer science, astronomy, and fire training (Sárkány, 2016 ; Süncksen et al., 2018 ). VR has the potential to allow users to experience environments that are otherwise inaccessible in a very realistic way. It allows training in environments that would otherwise be hazardous for learners to train in, as is the case for fire training (Diez et al., 2016 ). It also allows learners to simulate training with expensive hardware on a risk-free yet realistic environment. Despite these affordances and the application of VR unraveled by this study, there appears to be a lack of research on the use of VR for language learning, failing to benefit from the technology in simulating social interactions, which are very efficient in helping learners to practice their language skills effectively.

Another key finding of this research is the absence of any VR educational games on the African continent. While North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia participated in developing EVRGs. The cost of technology seems to affect African countries from benefiting from this promising technology. One solution is to rely on affordable headsets supported by Google Cardboard (Bouali et al., 2019 ). Still, such headsets suffer from the lack of appropriate interaction hardware that allows users to traverse and interact with the virtual world using only gaze and head movement. Such limitation causes Cardboard-related research to engineer games that require minimum interaction while preserving the targeted learning outcomes.

Technology and gaming

Despite Cardboard being the cheapest VR device, it is the least used technology in the surveyed literature, ranking even lower than the expensive HTC Vive. This raises some questions on the level of adoption of some educational games in real educational contexts, which is not the focus of our study. Nevertheless, the study shows that various games have adopted the use of the Oculus Rift VR, despite being more expensive than Cardboard headsets. Consequently, headsets are not the only problem in VR adoption. This study reveals that interaction is also an issue. In our analysis, we found that most of the games rely on gaze as an interaction mechanism, but this is hardly ever complemented with a natural user interface or interfaces, which facilitate interactions in VR worlds, resulting in the difficulty of using other input devices like keyboards.

Games that target teaching specific skills, such as diving or driving, require more advanced input devices, like Kinect to input body movement or a steering wheel to provide a life-like controller to a vehicle in the virtual world (Calvi et al., 2017 ; Likitweerawong & Palee, 2018 ). However, this incurs that such technology can only be afforded by a handful of users, presenting a stumbling block in the adoption of VR games in real-world contexts.

Regarding gaming, most of the gaming environments and contexts were dependent on the real-world context for which the learner is being prepared. This helps in the learning process of the user as it provides him/her with tailored environments that mimic the real world to a higher level of detail. The study also reveals that most of the games developed, allowed only for a single-player mode, failing to benefit from VR’s ability to connect learners in virtual worlds. The dominant game genre in the literature is Role Playing Game (RPG), which is adequate given that the learner impersonates the roles they are being trained for in the virtual world.

The concept of applying digital technology to build a virtual, physical/virtual or hybrid learning environment in which a student experiences a form of play, has emerged over the years and is now gaining acceptance. The puzzle here is that despite the wide variety of VR games developed for different fields (education, healthcare, business, climate, energy, industrial, and financial) only a handful of the games focused on education. Thus, begging the question of why EVRGs have not been widely adopted in mainstream education? Considering the interactive, immersive, and multi-sensory nature of VR, coupled with its growing popularity amongst researchers in psychology, aviation, and cognitive neuroscience, we had expected that even more EVRGs could have been developed and that the technology should have been widely adopted (Alexander et al., 2019 ). However, there are many reasons for the lack of adoption of EVRGs in mainstream education. One reason is that people tend not to consider VR as a mainstream technology. They perceived that the hype around the technology would lose popularity and be replaced by the reality of the time, in what was called the ‘trough of disillusion’ (Linden & Fenn, 2003 ). Additionally, there seems to be a lack of know-how by learning technologists and experts on how to design learning solutions with VR. Furthermore, the costs of implementing EVRG for large-scale adoption across educational curricula constitute a limiting factor for adoption in mainstream education (Alexander et al., 2019 ) and health-related issues.

Christou ( 2010 ) states that the three categories of formal and informal educational application areas of VR are used to improve core curriculum subjects such as the applications for edutainment, demonstrations, cultural heritage and museum experiences, as well as an application for training. Our analysis of the pedagogical contributions of EVRGs indicated a considerable variation among the subjects that were implemented. For example, the trend of EVRGs in this study showed that 32% of the applications were developed to support medical education. In contrast, only 3% was implemented to support subjects that involve the concretization of abstract concepts such as physics and geography.

Although the learners in these studies balanced well amongst children, youth and adult learners, there are obvious variations amongst the type of learners about the kind of EVRGs. For example, most learners could have medical conditions such as patients with neck or back pain, dementia, autism spectrum disorders, post-stroke conditions, brain lesions, and visual impairment. Translating clinical procedure into EVRGs to facilitate learning and future implementation of the procedure by caregivers and patients constitute the main interest in developing medical EVRGs (Heuven et al., 2017 ; Mihajlovic et al., 2018 ). Simulating the medical procedure offer motivation, engagement, and positive learning experience among EVRGs users (Trombetta et al., 2017 ). Having examined an essential pedagogical attribute, of the context of the learner in this study, we noticed that the learning context for most EVRGs falls within the informal settings. As several EVRGs are developed to provide particular training solutions to the user, the informality of the setting tends to overshadow the necessity of a classroom environment (formal setting).

Limitations of this study

The limitations of this study include:

The study focused on EVRGs in the educational domain without considering other uses in other facets within the gaming industry.

The study did not consider cross-cultural usage of the EVRGs, such as articles published in languages other than English.

Several studies have shown that the most critical value that VR adds to existing technology is the sense of immersivity in a virtual world built around the user. In education, it is theoretically crucial for learners to experience real-world scenarios from a first-person perspective compared to traditional two-dimensional (2D) screens which usually offer learners the chance to traverse the world from a third-person perspective, usually using an avatar. “Virtual Reality” as a concept, reveals some ambiguity as some of the research we surveyed referred to it as desktop VR, while others use the term to mean immersive VR. However, the inclusion criteria we developed focused on working on systems that immerse users into a virtual world rather than research that suggests a virtual world on a desktop screen.

Virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality are rapidly evolving phenomena in the educational landscape. Literature has shown the positive impacts that these adaptive and immersive technologies could have on students learning when applied in the gaming contexts. The essence of this study was to contribute new knowledge using analysis and synthesis of research articles that focused on the EVRGs in different contexts. The study explores the trends of EVRGs and relevant characteristic attributes that make effective learning such as technology, pedagogy and gaming. Besides, this study considers the learning content and the technology to be the critical aspects of the transactions that go with the teaching and learning process in terms of the pedagogy.

Moreover, the review focused on the application of VR as a gaming technology, with the learner fully immersed in the environment. In the final analysis, the review exposed a growing trend of research in EVRGs studies since 2012 to 2018, while also revealing the application of VR in the sciences, healthcare and technology education spheres having the most significant attention. The mainstream education and arts (such as languages) gained the least interest of educators using VR. This scenario offers the opportunity for further research in the educational contexts with emphasis on the arts and humanities disciplines. It is therefore pertinent that through this systematic review, technology-mediated learning will be enhanced when there is a clear understanding of the trends concerning its application in the different domains of learning.

Availability of data and materials

Not applicable.

Abbreviations

Information and Communication Technology

Virtual Reality

Augmented Reality

Mixed Reality

Educational Virtual Reality Games

Role Playing Game

Two-Dimension

Three-Dimension

Personal Computer

Natural User Interface

Head Mounted Device

University of Eastern Finland

Microsoft Excel

Association for Computing Machinery

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

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University of Eastern Finland, School of Computing, Joensuu, Finland

Solomon Sunday Oyelere & Nacir Bouali

Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Twente, Enschede, NB, 7522, The Netherlands

Nacir Bouali

Department of Education, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

Rogers Kaliisa

University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

George Obaido

Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria

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Crown Hill University, Eiyekorin, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria

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Oyelere, S.S., Bouali, N., Kaliisa, R. et al. Exploring the trends of educational virtual reality games: a systematic review of empirical studies. Smart Learn. Environ. 7 , 31 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40561-020-00142-7

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Virtual Reality in Higher Education: Elevating the Transfer of Knowledge

Erin Brereton has written about technology, business and other topics for more than 50 magazines, newspapers and online publications.

Students aren’t donning headsets to participate in virtual reality lessons on most college campuses yet, and you won’t find VR on EDUCAUSE’s list of the top 10 strategic technologies institutions are expected to implement this year.

But a number of institutions have embraced VR technology in the classroom — to dissect a simulated cadaver, or travel back in time and make other educational journeys that would be difficult or impossible in real life — according to D. Christopher Brooks, EDUCAUSE’s director of research.

As the price point drops and devices improve, Brooks suspects VR use in higher education will expand.

“Our numbers show it’s very much still in the experimental phase,” he says. “We’re not seeing it in lecture halls, but it’s being used in specialized labs and other kinds of teaching venues . It’s becoming more common.”

MORE FROM EDTECH: Check out how universities are investing in VR to improve research programs.

Arizona State Uses VR in Higher Education in Online Biology Program

Arizona State University decided to adopt VR to allow remote students to participate in lab exercises in its recently launched online biological science degree program in the School of Life Sciences.

ASU used a grant to obtain 140 Mirage Solo headsets from Lenovo . Just over one third of students have elected to receive one, at no cost, since the program piloted their use in 2018.

Alternately, students can view simulations on a computer or a Google Daydream device, says Philippos Savvides. He’s a learning technology manager with EdPlus , an ASU unit focused on scaling access to education through online programs and other initiatives.

“We’ve gotten very positive feedback,” Savvides says. “They get to be active and move around using the headset and controller , so there’s an active-learning element involved. There’s a wide body of literature that shows significantly higher learning outcomes on simulations versus other modes of learning.”

Consider Physical Space and Accessibility When Planning VR Programs

VR can pose logistical challenges, some of which can be mitigated with newer standalone headsets. Headsets that connect to a computer — the more common choice for many colleges — can be limited by cord length and the physical environment.

“You tend to need a pretty high-powered PC with servers to process all these polygons making up the environment as you’re experiencing it,” Brooks says. “When these things are tethered to machines, the amount of mobility you have is somewhat constrained.”

Even without a need for much space, traditional classrooms and lecture halls with fixed seating aren’t ideal for VR use, he says.

“It’s very difficult to have students really experience virtual reality in a meaningful way if they’re not able to move around or it’s crowded and noisy,” Brooks says. “That can disrupt the experience. Schools need to rethink what a virtual reality classroom might look like.”

Philippos Savvides Learning Technology Manager with EdPlus, Arizona State University

Device accessibility is another consideration. “That’s been overlooked somewhat,” Brooks says. “A lot of people wear corrective lenses. Designers may need to start thinking about how the devices accommodate glasses .”

For some disciplines and pedagogical objectives, VR experiences may not be readily available, says Dr. Matthew Bramlet, pediatric cardiologist and physician at OSF Children’s Hospital of Illinois, assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria , and director of advanced imaging and modeling at Jump Simulation, a collaboration between the hospital and college.

“The problem a lot of institutions have getting into the VR game is the limited content that’s out there,” Bramlet says. “In medicine, there are some fantastic VR modules that are specific to how to put a central line in or hammer a nail into a bone . That solves .0001 percent of the curriculum.”

To address that, U of I’s medical college developed its own content. Approximately 40 faculty members have created more than 250 VR lectures. The college provides access to Enduvo , a VR authoring tool Bramlet helped create, and lab space, featuring ceiling-mounted workstations equipped with HTC VIVE headsets powered by a variety of Dell , HP and other computers.

The VR exercises that faculty devised for medical students may ask them, for example, to identify a specific artery on a 3D model.

“We didn’t want to write traditional questions,” Bramlet says. “We wanted [students to perform] more of a task.”

MORE FROM EDTECH: See these four ways colleges are embracing virtual reality.

VR Experiences Elevate the Transfer of Knowledge

Alice Butzlaff, an assistant professor with The Valley Foundation School of Nursing at San Jose State University , created original teaching exercises through a program sponsored by eCampus, a university resource that offers design and training assistance to help faculty integrate AR/VR technology, including workshops and demos of its HTC VIVE, Samsung Gear VR and other equipment.

Most of Butzlaff’s students said the technology enhanced their learning experience.

“It uses your hearing and visualization senses,” she says. “ You can actually reach out and touch things — it was really entertaining for them .”

The percentage of higher education institutions that have fully deployed VR, compared to 28 percent with some deployment and 32 percent that are testing it

While VR usage is still on the upswing, Bramlet sees potential for the technology to help instructors deliver crucial information in a more effective, efficient manner than in the past.

“ We go through a ton of production to create the best 2D video we can , but it’s so impersonal,” Bramlet says. “The 2D format was terrible for the transfer of knowledge — this is the missing link in that process.

We’re able to achieve a lot of interaction that we couldn’t in other digital media formats. You teach to the individual.”

Reality Check

Keep these factors in mind when designing a campus VR lab.

Connectivity: On-campus and online students may have different considerations in order to stream VR content smoothly, so plan accordingly to ensure everyone has high-quality access.

Staff oversight: A program manager or faculty member can manage access to equipment, particularly if limited headsets are available.

Alternative options: Some users experience vertigo or “VR sickness,” says EDUCAUSE’s D. Christopher Brooks, so instructors should consider other ways they can participate in VR-based projects.

Virtual Reality
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How Virtual Reality Is Changing Education

Teacher guides students wearing VR goggles.

Virtual reality (VR) first surfaced in the 1935 science fiction short story “Pygmalion’s Spectacles.” This idea was revolutionary for the time and, like walking on the moon, only a dream. However, just like Neil Armstrong became the first person on the moon, VR went from an idea on paper to a tool used in classrooms by more than 6 million students, according to CNN.

The Path to Virtual Reality in Education

How did futuristic technology become so widely accessible? According to Wired, it began with the Oculus Rift—a headset released in 2012 connected to a monitor that immersed the user in a 3D realm. Since its introduction, VR has shifted not only how we experience video games but also how we experience the entire digital space, including the use of virtual reality in education.

Since 2012, VR has experienced a vast technological revolution. As headsets have gotten smaller, mobile, and more powerful, the technology has become vastly more accessible. Additionally, 5G cellphones have made it possible to access the virtual realm from anywhere.

This increased accessibility has made VR a feasible option for schools. Cameras that offer 360-degree recording and new apps such as Google Expeditions have brought VR into the classroom, creating opportunities for teachers and students to approach education like never before. According to tech website Built In, the use of VR in classrooms is predicted to increase dramatically over the next five years.

Traditional vs. VR Education

The way students learn hasn’t evolved much throughout the course of history. Fact retention teaching has long been the traditional approach to education. Studying for tests, sitting in lectures, and trying to visualize history through a textbook constitute the typical classroom experience.

However, the introduction of VR has made it possible for students to experience their education in more immersive and engaging ways. VR can transport students from their desks to the Roman ruins, let them mix volatile chemicals and see the reaction without being physically harmed, and allow them to not only see but interact with virtual worlds.

As a result, the teacher’s role is shifted from delivering content to facilitating learning. “Teachers will be focused on creating conditions for exploring, rather than providing ready-made knowledge,” according to Adobe.

Adobe also posits that VR will benefit students in six ways:

Better sense of place: Students can learn about a subject by living it.
Learning experiences at scale: Educators can create virtual labs to cut costs and increase accessibility.
Learning by doing: Students can learn by performing tasks instead of simply reading.
Emotional reaction: Educators make memorable experiences for students to increase their retention.
Creative development: Technology such as Tilt Brush increases opportunity for students to be creative.
Visual learning: Educators can increase visual learners’ comprehension of educational content.

Educational Use of VR

Virtual reality in education has a wide array of applications that benefit both educators and students.

New Teacher Training and Lesson Prep

Often, teachers are thrust into classroom settings right after earning their undergraduate degrees. However, they still have a lot of real-world learning to do when it comes to putting their skill to practice.

VR offers a way to further educate teachers before they set foot in the classroom. Through systems such as TeachLiVe, educators can practice lessons in a mixed-reality setting, according to DistrictAdministration.com. During the lesson, student avatars respond as if they were actually in a classroom, allowing teachers to hone their skills. This also assists current teachers by letting them practice difficult lessons and gauge the potential learning of their students.

Crosswater Digital Media has even created a system that transports educators into scenarios of conflict, according to Ed Tech. This allows them to learn how to deal with a difficult student or situation before real-life consequences occur.

Digitized Classroom Sessions

VR can also help students and teachers gain classroom insights by recording and recreating real classroom sessions. As software company vSpatial highlights, teachers have already begun to create detailed recordings of lessons through 360-degree cameras. If a student misses a class, they can use these VR recordings to be digitally transported into their classroom, see their peers, and learn as if they were there.

Virtual classroom sessions can be equally beneficial to teachers. By recording and revising classroom sessions, teachers can gain valuable insights into both their students’ learning styles and their own approach to teaching.

Enhanced Learning Opportunities

VR also expands the potential for student field trips and laboratory experiences. Educational excursions were once limited by cost, distance, and accessibility, but VR eliminates these barriers and provides endless opportunities.

Google Expeditions created virtual reality spaces for students to explore, from swimming with whales to visiting Mars. Students can even board real school buses that have been transformed into VR landscapes by replacing windows with 4K displays.

Science laboratories are also being digitized, cutting expensive costs, providing over 100 different experiments, and allowing for more accessibility to low-income communities, AR Post explains.

Lead the Future of Education

As VR becomes more relevant, accessible, and beneficial to school settings, teacher education is also evolving. Through the Master of Education in Educational Leadership and Master of Arts in Education with a specialization in educational technology , LSU Online is preparing future leaders to leverage cutting-edge technology such as virtual reality in education. Both master’s programs equip educators to advance their careers in education and transform classrooms by embracing technology.

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Virtual Reality in Education: How Schools Are Using VR

teacher and students in classroom education setting using virtual reality headsets

The education sector, from K-12 through higher education, has a long history of adopting emerging technologies to supplement traditional pedagogical methods. From smartboards to laptops and even the internet itself, there have been many examples of technologies that have profoundly altered the way educators and students teach and learn. Virtual reality is poised to become the next technology to do so. By allowing educators to create visually stimulating learning experiences for students that are innovative, immersive, and interactive, VR will lead to fundamental changes to longstanding education practices. In this article, we will be exploring how schools and education departments are using virtual reality gear and technology.

Virtual Reality in Education: Statistics

As of last year, according to Zippia , there were 57.4 million virtual reality users across the United States, which accounts for 15% of the country’s population
The global virtual reality in the education market is rapidly growing, up from $6.37 billion in 2021 to $8.66 billion in 2022. It is expected to reach $32.94 billion by 2026 at a compound annual growth rate of 39.7%, according to the Business Research Company .
97% of students are keen to take a virtual reality course, The App Solutions reports .
93% of teachers feel that using virtual reality technology in the classroom would bring excitement to their students, the same report from The App Solutions shows.
7 out of 10 teachers want to utilize virtual reality technology to simulate experiences relevant to the coursework that they are teaching, The App Solutions discovered.

two young students using virtual reality headsets in school

How Schools Are Using Virtual Reality

Simulated technical/vocational skills training.

Schools are using VR to help students learn valuable technical and vocational skills. Compared to traditional instructions that center around reading books or watching instructional videos, the simulated scenarios made possible by virtual reality provide a much better and more immersive learning experience for students. In addition to providing opportunities for students to gain “hands-on” experience with the subject matter, VR training scenarios can also eliminate any potential dangers that may arise while practicing new skills in an uncontrolled environment. Take chemistry experiments, for example. While they have been a time-honored way for students to learn chemistry principles, they can sometimes lead to dangerous or even deadly outcomes if gone awry. Virtual reality allows students to learn and practice chemistry principles safely and repeatedly by eliminating the risks associated with conducting potentially dangerous experiments in the real world.

Distance/Remote Learning

Schools are also leveraging virtual reality technology to help facilitate distance learning. In situations where physical barriers or limitations (such as the COVID-19 pandemic) may prevent teachers and students from being in the same classroom together, VR can provide a viable alternative. Rather than relying on two-dimensional video conferencing, VR can create an immersive learning environment that allows teachers and students to be present within the same “room” virtually. Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business currently offers a “Creativity Workout” course conducted entirely in virtual reality. As part of the Stanford Executive Program, this course aims to help business leaders embrace creativity as a discipline. The University of British Columbia’s Peter A. Allard School of Law is also using virtual reality to offer lectures to its students via a VR social application called VR Chat.

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

Being on the Autism Spectrum, having limited mobility, and/or having other Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) can affect a student’s learning ability in various ways. Virtual reality technology makes it possible for teachers to create personalized educational content that can tailor to these students’ unique needs. For SEND students, simply getting around a school, visiting new environments for the first time, going on field trips, and many other activities that most take for granted as routine can be very stressful. Thankfully, immersive VR experiences can also be calming for students prone to overstimulation, making it less likely for them to become heightened in an otherwise overstimulated school environment.

Virtual Field Trips

One of the most popular reasons that schools are taking advantage of VR technology is its ability to let students take field trips virtually. Field trips are a time-honored tradition for educational institutions. They allow teachers to educate their students in immersive environments and provide hands-on learning opportunities that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to achieve within the classroom. However, field trips can be financially prohibitive for some students. They can also be challenging for students with mobility limitations to attend.

Additional factors, such as the recent Covid-19 pandemic, can even make organizing field trips all but impossible. Despite these roadblocks, students can still take advantage of the educational benefits of field trips through the power of virtual reality. VR experiences such as Google Expeditions can transport students to far-flung locales around the Earth and beyond without them ever having to leave the classroom (or their homes for that matter), allowing them to explore historical locations, archaeological sites, or even experience events throughout history firsthand.

Why Are VR Technology and Gear Helpful for Schools, Educators, and Students?

Equality of access.

Since virtual reality is not constrained by physical limitations, all students, regardless of their abilities, backgrounds, or geographical location can benefit from VR-driven learning experiences.

Boost Student Engagement

VR allows educators to take theoretical concepts from the pages of textbooks and render them into immersive and interactive experiences within a virtualized learning environment. This allows students to wrap their heads more easily around a topic, making them more engaged, motivated, and ultimately translating to student success.

Reduce Risk

VR allows educators to create risk-free virtualized learning environments for students to learn, practice, and most importantly, make mistakes. Unlike in the real world, students are free to conduct experiments or practice dangerous skills in VR without having to worry about accidentally creating explosions, noxious fumes, or bodily harm.

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Virtual Reality in Education

Engaging vr and ar educational content for students of all ages, virtual reality for students of all ages.

Introducing a whole new concept in educational technology: a ‘standalone’ Virtual Reality headset complete with a unique student-friendly interface, gesture controls, embedded educational resources and simple-to-use teacher controls. ClassVR is a groundbreaking new technology designed to help raise engagement and increase knowledge retention for students of all ages.

Ages 4-7 years

Pre-School / Infant / Kindergarten

Early education is all about learning through experience. Find out how your youngest students can benefit from immersive 360 environments, used to enhance, impact and complement the real-world exploration and play that builds a solid foundation in the pre-school years.

Ages 7-11 years

Primary School / Elementary School

There’s so much potential for bringing the curriculum to life using virtual and augmented reality experiences, from visiting far-flung corners of the world to holding the human heart in your hands. Find out more about how VR and AR can have a remarkable impact in all areas of learning.

Ages 11-14 years

Secondary School / Middle School

Entering the next phase of education, students aged 11-14 can use virtual reality in education to build emotional intelligence, creative thinking and further develop a secure foundation of knowledge for a more engaging and effective learning condition than just textbooks and videos alone.

Ages 14-16 years

Secondary School / High School

Ensuring students are engaged, motivated and challenged throughout their school career is a key priority for teachers. See how virtual and augmented reality can impact students by unlocking potential, providing new ways to experience learning and even opportunities to create their own media.

Ages 16-18+ years

Higher or Further Education

Universities and colleges have always been at the cutting edge of new technologies, driving development, impacting industries and creating the next generation of scientists, developers and entrepreneurs. Virtual and augmented reality technologies are at the frontier of development right now, and change is happening at a frenetic pace.

Vocational Courses

Vocational Courses and Training

Vocational training will really begin to feel the impact of virtual and augmented reality over the next year or so. The ability to experience training in 360 is invaluable – and imagine budding mechanics viewing a working engine from all angles without leaving the classroom. All this is possible right now with ClassVR.

SEND Students

Special educational needs and disabilities

Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) can impact each child's ability to learn differently. Using virtual reality, teachers can create personalised learning or regulation environments to meet the needs of every student in creative, innovative and fun ways.

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Understanding How Students Learn Through Virtual Reality

This In Focus story is a part of The Student Researcher series.

How UC Davis Virtual Reality Research Is Promoting STEAM Learning and Helping Improve Child Education

by Alex Russell
March 25, 2024

The little boy, about 7 years old, almost disappeared inside the virtual reality headset, yet the way he was holding up his hands showed he knew exactly what to do. A laptop screen showed what he was seeing: digital outlines of hands manipulating Tetris-like blocks. A hand turned a block to make it fit, then picked up another.

On President’s Day at the Museum of Science and Curiosity, or MOSAC, in Sacramento, Valerie Klein, a UC Davis undergraduate research assistant, explained to the boy’s parents the purpose of the study, which is to understand how children learn in virtual environments.

“I’ve always enjoyed learning new things and being able to teach them to people,” Klein said later. She is majoring in neurobiology, physiology and behavior, with plans to become a psychiatrist. “Seeing that moment when it clicks in your head, for me that’s the best thing ever.”

Everything about the study with kids at MOSAC is unique, from its research questions to its data collection that took place during three busy holiday weekends. In many ways, the two undergraduate researchers are making it all possible.

“I think sometimes people forget that research is not just running the experiment,” said Allyson Snyder, a Ph.D. candidate in communication who leads the research. “There are so many extra steps involved. On a day of activity like this, our research assistants are coordinating the chaos.”

The role of undergraduate research in study on VR learning

On President’s Day, the MOSAC doors opened at 10 a.m., and within an hour the first floor was full of the clack of wooden blocks, the shouts of children and stomps across the carpet. The research team had set up beside the cavernous tube of an MRI machine that had nothing to do with their study but that piqued curiosity about that corner of the floor.

In this experiment, children would first put on VR headsets and try to solve the puzzles virtually. Then they would take off the headsets to try to solve them with real blocks. Snyder and project co-lead Camren Allen, also a Ph.D. candidate in communication, would offer encouragement through the challenging puzzles, reminding children that they could always try them again later.

Puzzle pieces on a laptop computer screen

Before the study’s first participant got started that day, Klein and fellow undergraduate research assistant Nicole James organized aluminum trays with puzzles of the physical blocks. With those trays stacked and ready, they turned to each other to discuss how to manage the flood of kids hoping to give the experiment a try.

Both Klein and James take part in a UC Davis program that gives undergraduates unique research opportunities. Accelerating Success by Providing Intensive Research Experience, or ASPIRE , offers students hands-on experience with state-of-the-art research in the mind and brain sciences.

“In high school we had no access to this kind of research experience,” said James, a psychology major and pre-med student. “The only research was all pipettes and chemistry, not psychology.”

Two college students prepare for an experiment with puzzles.

Integrating research and teaching

For Richard Huskey, an associate professor of communication, that day was the first time he had seen how the data was collected. He leads the Cognitive Communication Science Lab at UC Davis. He is also a close collaborator on this project with Drew Cingel, an associate professor of communication who leads the Human Development and Media Lab that oversees this study.

“We’re a research university, and when the research integrates with the teaching mission, that’s when we get the best opportunities,” said Huskey.

He has mentored Klein since she first joined his lab two years ago. Her first job was a different study that also used a virtual reality game.

“I didn’t really understand what we were testing or what the research question was,” said Klein. “It was mainly, set these participants up, collect the data and give it back to us.”

Since then, said Huskey, Klein has come a long way. During this study at MOSAC she and James are making real contributions to how the team collects data. He is also counting on her to help plan data collection for a new study he’s designing right now.

“She started off like any other student who needs a ton of training, and today she’s someone who has a lot of autonomy, someone who is a research partner,” said Huskey.

Ph.D. candidate instructs a child on how to use the VR headset.

The power of hands-on VR research experience

The puzzles are challenging. One boy in the youngest group (ages 7-8) struggled to manipulate the virtual blocks in the VR headset, while his older brother, who was in the oldest age group (ages 11-12), struggled with the physical blocks.

But neither of the brothers gave up, and this persistence was common across all three weekends. Every kid left with a sticker that said, “Junior Scientist.”

“One kid told us, ‘I’m going to work really hard to make sure that ‘junior’ goes away,’” Allen said. “He really left the experience feeling like a scientist.”

That feeling is one reason Snyder originally asked MOSAC to host the study. She had already volunteered there as a science communicator and knew the value of making science fun for kids.

“We’re thrilled to open up the space for scientists and our guests to connect in this way,” said Natalie Rhoades, exhibits manager at MOSAC. “MOSAC and UC Davis have created an accessible space for guests of all ages and backgrounds to actively engage with the scientific process, personally connect with scientists and be inspired to continue exploring STEAM topics.”

President’s Day marked the final weekend of data collection. Snyder has tasked Klein and James with managing data input and storage, so everything is ready to be coded for analysis in the coming months.

“I’m pretty hands off in this process, and it’s because I just trust them,” said Snyder. “They are going to come up with a system that makes sense for all of us, and they’re already inputting data faster than I can imagine.”

Media Resources

Media Contacts:

Karen Nikos-Rose, UC Davis News and Media Relations, 530-219-5472, [email protected]
Alex Russell, UC Davis College of Letters and Science, 530-752-8585, [email protected]

Press kit of downloadable images.

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Investigating Educators’ and Students’ Perspectives on Virtual Reality Enhanced Teaching in Preschool

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Published: 05 April 2024

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Sophia Rapti ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0003-4741-6572 1 ,
Theodosios Sapounidis 1 &
Sokratis Tselegkaridis ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0825-0787 2

Recent developments in technology have introduced new tools, such as virtual reality, into the learning process. Although virtual reality appears to be a promising technology for education and has been adopted by a few schools worldwide, we still do not know students’ and educators’ opinions, preferences, and challenges with it, particularly in relation to preschool education. Therefore, this study: (a) analyzes the preferences of 175 children aged 3 to 6 years regarding traditional teaching compared to enhanced teaching with virtual reality and (b) captures educators’ perspectives on virtual reality technology. This evaluation of virtual reality took place in 12 Greek preschool classrooms. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods were used for data collection. Specifically, regarding the qualitative data collection, the study included semi-structured interviews with the participating educators, oriented by 2 axes: (a) preschoolers’ motivation and engagement in virtual reality activities, and (b) virtual reality technology prospects and difficulties as an educational tool in a real class. Regarding the quantitative data collection, specially designed questionnaires were used. Bootstrapping was utilized with 1000 samples to strengthen the statistical analysis. The analysis of the students’ responses indicated a statistically significant difference in preference in favor of virtual reality enhanced teaching compared to a traditional method. Statistically significant differences were also observed regarding gender. Furthermore, based on the educators’ answers and comments, difficulties were encountered initially but eventually, virtual reality was regarded as an effective approach for educational purposes. However, concerns arose among educators as to whether this technology could adequately promote preschoolers’ cooperative skills.

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Introduction

In recent times, young learners have experienced an era marked by fast technological growth. Accordingly, children are exposed to various technological tools and electronic devices both in their everyday lives and in their school routines. Hence, there is a demand for innovative learning tools and practices (Kaimara et al., 2022 ).

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are regarded as updated teaching tools and are used more frequently in educational settings. Some researchers claim that students utilizing ICTs may perform better and more creatively than those students who are engaged in traditional learning activities (Nawaz et al., 2022 ). Moreover, the earlier ICTs and new technologies are used in education, the more aware young learners may become of them, and thus, may be able to exploit them effectively and wisely in their later lives (Li, 2021 ). Preschool educators may find it useful to integrate ICT tools and methods for teaching and learning, and in order to prepare effective future citizens.

According to some researchers’ claims, Virtual Reality (VR) is a form of these innovative tools and practices that has flourished as an interesting, “feasible” teaching aid in the learning process (Brown et al., 2020 ; Maas & Hughes, 2020 ). Specifically, VR can be integrated with mobile phones, personal computers (PCs), special glasses, and other types of gear into the teaching process. Therefore, with the aid of these types of technological devices, students can virtually “travel” from the depths of the Earth’s oceans to the peaks of Mars, allowing them to witness places, animals, and cultures firsthand that were previously unreachable through traditional teaching methods. Consequently, immersive learning activities characterized by realism are created through VR equipment (Shin, 2017 ). VR, based on conducted studies, is believed to have brought about several new learning opportunities in school routines, converting the school classroom into a natural, real, and meaningful environment for children’s learning experiences. During these experiences, learners have the potential to develop a range of skills and interact efficiently and effectively (Huang et al., 2016 ). Thus, VR may arise as a promising technology, suitable for educational settings from preschool to the university (Tilhou et al., 2020 ).

Notwithstanding, the majority of VR implementations can be found in fields like training simulation such as fighting and surgery (Burke et al., 2017 ; Oberhauser et al., 2018 ) instead of school classrooms. Thus, there has been a limited amount of researchs investigating the usage of VR technology in domains that are integrated into the education field (Chavez & Bayona, 2018 ). The implementation of VR seems not to have been examined thoroughly and sufficiently, although it may bring about several benefits to learners (Rienties et al., 2016 ). No matter how immersive a technological tool such as VR may be to offer “full multi-sensory interaction” , not many educators have integrated it into their activities in school classrooms (Radianti et al., 2020 ). In addition to this, some researchers claim that teachers cannot use VR effectively unless they are trained in it (Lorusso et al., 2020 ).

Additionally, VR may not be widely implemented in school classrooms for other reasons. Based on the existing literature, excessive exposure to VR may affect children negatively because it may create misconceptions of reality and may not promote critical thinking about the VR scenes and information (Hussein & Nätterdal, 2015 ; Li, 2021 ). Furthermore, there are concerns that children may lose a sense of their own creativity as they grow accustomed to more and more VR technology. Finally, there are concerns that preschoolers might adopt a sedentary lifestyle or experience motion sickness, vision loss, and headaches because of excessive exposure to VR screens (Hussein & Nätterdal, 2015 ). Consequently, the issue of time exposure to VR technology and whether this should be limited and under the constant presence of a teacher has arisen (Freina & Ott, 2015 ).

Moreover, educators are likely to face obstacles while attempting to implement VR in school classrooms, including the following: the shortage of modern technological gear, educators’ lack of knowledge and experience with VR technology, inadequate hardware/software knowledge, usability for VR technology, and the high cost of VR equipment (Kavanagh et al., 2017 ). Although new technologies may help to create effective learning environments for students, they are also often quite expensive and may be difficult to afford within school settings. Yet, the VR technology that is proposed in this current paper is reasonably priced; thus, many schools could provide it to their educators and students. Most often, in academic settings, VR is found to be utilized more frequently in higher education rather than in K-12 settings (Luo et al., 2021 ) and even less often in preschool classrooms.

Therefore, in this paper, we explore the potential impact of VR technology on young learners and specifically on preschoolers. In that way, education stakeholders would be able to clarify whether it may be helpful to design and implement VR activities from an early age.

The rest of the paper is organized as follows: Section 2 provides the theoretical background for virtual reality in educational settings, and Section 3 outlines the methodology employed to implement the intervention. The results are presented in Section 4 , with a detailed discussion following in Section. 5 . Section 6 describes the limitations encountered and Section 7 highlights the conclusions of the study.

Theoretical Background

In this section, we study the background of VR technology and its implementation in educational settings, with an emphasis on preschool classrooms. Studying these topics together contributes to a better understanding of VR’s impact on young learners. Moreover, this may enrich the existing professional literature and in turn, contribute to the effective preparation of preschoolers for their future lives.

VR Definition

VR is a form of simulated reality that may facilitate educators and students in the learning process. Yet, there has not been a widely accepted definition for VR yet. (Luo et al., 2021 ). Moreover, VR often fails to be distinguished from Augmented Reality (AR) which “overlays digital objects or virtual information onto the real world” (Akçayır & Akçayır, 2017 ). Most of the time, while referring to VR, a set-up of hardware and software utilizing technology comes to mind (Makransky & Petersen, 2019 ). According to related literature, there are 3 types of VR emerging from the degree the user interacts with the virtual environment: (a) immersive VR, (b) semi-immersive VR, and (c) non-immersive VR (Lorusso et al., 2020 ). In the first type, either devices such as Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs) or special glasses are used. In the second type, desktop equipment or a TV screen is utilized to display the simulation (Merchant et al., 2014 ; Wu et al., 2020 ). In the third type, conventional computer equipment (screen, keyboard, mouse) is used (Robertson et al., 1993 ). Finally, the experience created by VR can evoke several senses like vision, hearing, and touching (Elmqaddem, 2019 ).

Development of VR in Educational Settings

VR is thought to enhance teaching and promote learners’ skills owing to its theoretical and practical framework. In detail, VR integrates disciplines of constructivist learning theory since it may help learners to obtain and construct knowledge with support from their teachers and peers, rather than being positioned as passive knowledge consumers. Therefore, during VR activities, students construct their knowledge based on their previous experiences facilitated by teachers (Rababah, 2021 ). Additionally, VR enables inquiry-based learning and could enhance children’s critical thinking of ideas, contributing to their cognitive development (Shin, 2017 ). In addition to this, based on the findings from other conducted studies, children seem to enhance their social skills through their participation in VR activities (Lorusso et al., 2020 ). VR could also improve teaching activities as it is used for integrating and scaffolding learning. Scaffolding focuses on what students cannot yet do by themselves but are able to do with the help of others, and aims to enable them to be able to accomplish this successfully alone (Van de Pol & Elbers, 2013 ). Moreover, with the technological growth characterizing our routine, scaffolding can be supported by computer tools (Belland, 2014 ). Such new technologies may support students’ learning by optimizing teaching practices and empowering the learning process through the use of multimedia gear (Shi et al., 2022 ). Thus, VR, by using technological tools and scaffolding, may contribute enhance traditional teaching methods through to the design of innovative school activities tailored to children’s needs.

During the last decade, VR has become increasingly popular due to its immersive traits and its ability to enrich the learning environment in school classrooms (Luo et al., 2021 ). Hence, many countries integrate VR technology into their educational settings to facilitate learning in various domains such as science, mathematics, and vocabulary development (Hu-Au & Lee, 2017 ; Villena-Taranilla et al., 2022 ). Notably, in European countries in general and in Greece specifically, there are official guidelines from the Ministry of Education for all kindergartens to integrate new technologies into the school curriculum. Teaching methods need to be developed and updated to put the students at the center of the learning process as active participants using modern technology. New technologies, such as VR and AR, among others may foster this (Rapti et al., 2023 ). Now, children can have easy access to technological tools and VR devices which seem to be appealing to them. This is especially true when the VR equipment is of low cost, such as in the case of this current study. Appropriate pricing allows schools to have easier access to this technology, making it possible to utilize iteffectively by both developed and developing countries.

According to Williams et al. ( 2018 ), VR technology has arisen in educational settings as a potential mainstream technology for a number of reasons:

It may empower educators’ teaching methods.

It may raise and keep students’ interests, thus evoking their curiosity.

It may wake up children’s imagination and contribute to the development of their creativity and other related skills.

It may form sensory-rich virtual learning environments, in which vision, sound-hearing, and touch can contribute to creating interesting learning experiences.

In these new learning experiences created by VR technology, there may be factors that need to be considered while designing and implementing activities in school classrooms in order to gain all the potential benefits for students: the age, the characteristics of students’ development, and the gender of participants. Empirical studies have indicated that in order to engage young learners in the learning process, effective school activities need to be tailored to their real needs and development (Bayar, 2014 ). Furthermore, the gender factor may influence students’ preference regarding new technologies such as VR. Technology preferences and differences between boys and girls are often attributed to gender-based stereotypes (Sullivan & Bers, 2013 ). Males seem to be more confident while dealing with computer equipment, due perhaps to their frequent exposure to video games (Sapounidis et al., 2019 ). Additionally, females are more likely than males to enrich their games with imagination through collaboration in small groups of peers, whilst males prefer to use more physical strength and work with larger teams (Volman et al., 2005 ).

VR and Preschool Education

Young learners need to develop a range of skills to succeed in life and in demanding workplaces as future citizens. Hence, educational settings should promote these skills and prepare students effectively for their well-being. What is more, it is vital to achieve this from an early age. Fortunately, educators can choose among a wide variety of tools and practices to select the most suitable ones for their students’ support in the learning process. One of these tools may be VR technology. Findings from emerging research indicates that, preschoolers can enhance many skills through VR activities. These skills include: motor, linguistic, mathematical, social, and scientific ones (Ren & Wu, 2019 ; Zhu et al., 2020 ; Pan et al., 2021 ). Young learners seem to experiment with VR technology and gear with curiosity, which generates a sense of enthusiasm (Lorusso et al., 2020 ). These activities also contribute to their cognitive development too (Li, 2021 ). Additionally, VR technology seems to enhance children’s social skills. Social learning is rooted in children’s family environments. When young learners enter preschool, they immediately enter a larger social group in which they are supported to develop their social competencies with peers and teachers. VR activities may facilitate children’s social experiences and motivate them to form positive behaviors rather than negative ones (Shoshani, 2023 ).

However, so far, few studies have explored young learners’ preferences between VR technology and traditional methods. Thus, it remains unclear what students prefer most and regard as appealing game-playing activities in preschool classrooms. Furthermore, there haven’t been enough studies investigating preschool educators’ perspectives on VR and its potential impact on their school reality. So, in order to contribute to the theory related to VR and its implementations, our study aims to fill the gaps in existing literature, by addressing the following Research Questions (RQ):

RQ1. What do preschoolers prefer most between VR activities and traditional ones? RQ2. What are the educators’ perspectives on VR technology in preschool? RQ3. Is gender a factor affecting preschoolers’ preference for VR technology?

Methodology

Participants.

Children were randomly selected to participate in this activity enriched by VR technology. Thirteen educators from 12 areas of Northern Greece implemented the intervention. In addition to this, a total of 175 children from 12 public Greek kindergartens, including 83 girls and 92 boys, all 3 to 6 years of age, took part in the VR applications. The educators participated in a 3-hour training program regarding the utilization of VR in the school classroom, prior to the children’s participation.

Research Design and Procedure

The researchers designed two different learning activities for one group of participants. The same class of kindergarteners was examined during and after a traditional teaching activity and during and after one activity enriched by VR technology. All the children, with the help of their educators, first participated in a traditional teaching activity about the animals of the Antarctic and the dinosaurs. The same children then “traveled” to the Antarctic and “met” dinosaurs using VR headsets, smartphones, and VR videos, as shown in Fig. 1 . To facilitate that, a VRbox (V2) which is a low-cost VR headset is utilized. This is a type of VR technology that can use a smartphone’s screen to place the user inside a 3D world. Thus, this is a reasonably-priced VR tool that can be an asset to help schools with very low financial budgets to have access to innovative VR experiences and related educational approaches.

VR activities with preschoolers utilizing VR technology

When the activities were completed, the children were asked to indicate their preference between traditional activities and VR activities. Two questionnaires were employed to collect data; self-reported measures/questionnaires with one question for each item. First, the “This or That” questionnaire (Sim & Horton, 2012 ) was used, where the children were asked to choose between the two activities and indicate (a) their favorite one, (b) the activity they would like to do again, and (c) the one they found more enjoyable as a game.

Additionally, the “Smilyometer” (Read, 2008 ) was employed using a 5-point Likert scale, which is treated as interval scale (e.g., Sapounidis et al., 2019 ). Children were asked to indicate their agreement or disagreement to the following statements: (a) I liked the traditional activity, (b) I liked the VR activity, (c) I would like to do the traditional activity again, (d) I would like to do the VR activity again, (e) I thought the traditional activity gave me fun as a game, and (f) I thought the VR activity gave me fun as a game.

In addition, educators were asked to provide their perspectives regarding VR experience using a 7-point Likert scale questionnaire. Specifically, the questionnaire consisted of 8 Questions (Q):

Q1. Children did not find the VR activities boring. Q2. Children demonstrated a higher attention span during VR activities compared to traditional activities. Q3. VR activities motivated children, who are used to showing little interest in activities, to participate more. Q4. I am interested in integrating more VR activities into my lessons. Q5. I believe that VR activities of this kind could be utilized for educational purposes. Q6. I believe that VR activities could foster cooperation among students. Q7. The implementation of VR activities was easy to do in a school classroom. Q8. VR activities can be utilized as forms of playing and facilitating learning in a school classroom.

Finally, to capture the educators’ perspectives on the usage of VR technology, semi-structured interviews were designed (Kallio et al., 2016 ), oriented by 3 axes: (a) preschoolers’ motivation and engagement in VR activities, and (b) VR technology prospects and difficulties as an educational tool in a real class.

Data Analysis

To conduct a statistical analysis of the data, the questionnaire responses were quantified. Specifically, regarding the “This or That” questionnaire, the response in favor of traditional activities was assigned a score of 1, while the response in favor of VR activities was assigned a score of 2.

Related to the “Smilyometer”, the scoring system used was as follows: (a) Strongly Disagree was assigned a score of 1, (b) Disagree was assigned a score of 2, (c) Neutral was assigned a score of 3, (d) Agree was assigned a score of 4, and (e) Strongly Agree was assigned a score of 5.

To strengthen the statistical analysis, bootstrapping methods were utilized, with 1000 samples. The bootstrapping approach assumes no underlying distribution of the data, as it treats even the non-normal data as normal, drawing random subsamples from the originally collected samples (Cheung et al., 2023 ). A paired-sample t-test was employed to compare the responses of students regarding traditional activities and VR activities. Additionally, an independent-sample t-test was utilized to analyze the data based on student gender. In general, multiple t-tests might result in increasing type I errors, however, in our case, we test two conditions at a time (boys/girls, or traditional teaching/VR teaching), so the type I error does not exceed 5% (Field, 2005 ).

Finally, related to the educators’ questionnaire, the scoring system used was as follows: (a) Strongly Disagree was assigned a score of 1, (b) Disagree was assigned a score of 2, (c) Somewhat Disagree was assigned a score of 3, (d) Neutral was assigned a score of 4, (e) Somewhat Agree was assigned a score of 5, (f) Agree was assigned a score of 6, and (g) Strongly Agree was assigned a score of 7.

The students’ preference for VR activities is indicated through (a) the results of the “This or That” questionnaire (shown in Table 1 ), and (b) the results of the “Smilyometer” questionnaire (shown in Table 2 ).

According to Table 1 , there were statistically significant ( p < 0.05) and strong ( r > 0.7) associations between children’s responses and learning activity.

The reliability of Smilyometer questions for the traditional activity was found to be acceptable, with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.73 and inter-item correlations of 0.4. Also, the reliability of Smilyometer questions for the VR activity was found to be acceptable, with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.688 and inter-item correlations of 0.5. These alpha values are considered acceptable given the small number of items (Herman, 2015 ; Pallant, 2020 ).

To assess potential statistically significant differences between students’ preferences for the traditional activity and the VR activity, a paired-sample t-test was performed. The results, presented in Table 3 , favored VR activities in each case.

Regarding the analysis by gender of the students, Table 4 displays the means of the responses along with the corresponding standard deviations and standard error mean.

To assess any statistically significant differences between boys’ and girls’ preferences for the traditional activity and the VR activity, independent-sample t-test was performed. The results, are presented in Table 5 .

Based on the results of the independent-samples t-test, statistically significant differences were observed in two questions. Figure 2 displays the mean scores for both girls and boys in these questions.

Statistically significant differences between girls and boys

Table 6 presents the mean scores derived from the educators’ responses to the questionnaire administered to them.

The educators’ responses depicted a belief that VR activities can be utilized for educational purposes (Q5). Additionally. the children get engaged in VR activities without getting bored (Q1). However, the has been a low score regarding the question of whether such activities fostered students’ cooperation (Q6).

Figure 3 shows the mean values for the eight questions, accompanied by 95% confidence interval (CI) bars.

Mean values with 95% CI

Regarding the semi-structured interviews, and preschoolers’ motivation and engagement, all the educators agree that the VR activity excited the children, who “ asked, again and again, to put on the VR headset, to live the experience ” while “ waiting for their turn to put on the VR headset ”. However, the educators noted that this posed challenges as the children had to endure long waiting time for their turns to participate. It was suggested by the educators that having had multiple VR headsets available would have been beneficial, allowing more children to engage in activities simultaneously.

In addition, “ some children were afraid to wear the VR headset at first until they got used to them ”, while some other children “ reported fear due to instability in moving around the room ”. This highlights the importance of being exposed to such technologies adequately enough before using them in an activity orientated by certain rules.

Regarding VR technology as a potentially effective educational tool, when the children were asked to describe what they saw during the VR activities, it was noted that “ they readily used descriptive language to express their experiences. In contrast, during other activities, some children were observed to be more reserved and less likely to speak or provide detailed descriptions ”. Therefore, although the VR activity was implemented on an individual basis, it effectively captured the children’s interest and made the lesson experiential. However, it was noted that developing cooperation among the children proved to be challenging within this activity.

Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning that the children expressed a strong desire for more opportunities to engage in VR experiences in the future. The preschoolers remembered details from their virtual “journeys” and wanted to share their experience with their peers even after a month had passed.

Lastly, aside from the preschoolers’ enthusiasm about VR technology, we also witnessed their educators’ enthusiasm as well: “ I believe that virtual reality is a valuable tool that can be effectively utilized for teaching purposes”, “It was truly enjoyable and impressive to witness my students learning and having fun simultaneously”, “They actively engaged with one another, discussing their experiences and expressing their enthusiasm strongly ”.

This current paper aims to capture students’ and educators’ perspectives on VR technology in preschool. Regarding our first RQ and what preschoolers tend to prefer most between VR activities and traditional ones, all the preschoolers showed great interest in VR activities. They were extremely curious and wanted to explore the learning environment and the 3D world which was created by VR equipment. They were focused on the activity from the very beginning to the end of it. These findings emerge from both educators’ feedback and the students’ responses to our questionnaire after the VR intervention. It seems that when a teaching activity in the school curriculum is attractive, it raises and keeps students’ attention and interest throughout its implementation (Chen, 2016 ).

In addition to this, the preschoolers seemed to enjoy the VR activities very much due to their visual, auditory, and kinesthetic characteristics. In VR activities, children are motivated to use their hands, arms, and legs. This is something that preschoolers enjoy doing. On top of that, this VR trait contributes to children’s development of coordination and motor skills (Wang et al., 2022 ). Moreover, children were supported through the usage of VR instruments to improve their navigation and orientation ability (Lorusso et al., 2020 ). So, while having a VR learning activity tailored to preschoolers’ age and development, a range of skills promotion may be achieved too.

Related to our second RQ and the educators’ perspectives on VR technology implemented in preschool, all the educators agreed that this may be an effective tool to utilize in school classrooms with potential benefits for young learners. To start with, all the educators commented on VR activities as a means of creating a unique enhanced teaching experience for preschoolers. Young learners seem to live a learning experience in which knowledge is built by broadening their imagination and mind allowing them to access visually everything they wish as if they were there in real (Schmitz et al., 2020 ). In such a frame, students not only can learn innovatively but they can perform the tasks better and more holistically based on some researchers’ claims (Radianti et al., 2020 ).

In addition to this, preschoolers’ attention span and enjoyment emerging from VR activities were high throughout the intervention according to educators’ comments in their interviews. This may be attributed to the fact that VR applications in preschool classrooms assist children in learning various subjects while having fun (Zhai, 2021 ). This finding aligns with the results of our study, which demonstrated statistically significant differences in children’s preferences for VR activities compared to traditional ones. The experiences offered by VR technology contributed to the children’s strong preference for VR activities. Furthermore, educators noticed that children were able to remember easily and reflect upon concepts via VR technology. It seems that VR’s characteristic of having powerful visualization and fewer symbols to interpret while trying to understand something may facilitate young learners’ direct understanding of topics with less cognitive effort (Elmqaddem, 2019 ). Consequently, this could contribute to their better comprehension of many issues (Li, 2021 ).

In terms of our third RQ and whether gender has the potential to affect the VR impact on preschoolers, the findings from this study indicate that there may be a gender difference in the experience of VR activities. We found that during our VR intervention, girls showed greater interest than boys in the VR activities compared to traditional ones and gained more pleasure out of it. That may have happened because of the females being emotionally involved with the information in the VR environment (Mousas et al., 2018 ). Some research indicates that females may be more prone to become «embodied ” with visualized information and understand it better than males (De Almeida Scheibler & Rodrigues, 2018 ). Moreover, the female participants seemed to enjoy and participate equally in all the VR scenarios in the implemented activities. This may be explained by the fact that female participants liked the topics of our VR activities. It seems that the context of a VR activity may affect the level of interest that each gender may show. For instance, military scenarios may appeal most to males (Grassini & Laumann, 2020 ).

Finally, regarding children’s social skills and their promotion through VR technology, according to existing literature, VR technology may create a range of emotional situations in which children can enhance their social skills. VR technology turns out to be able to represent authentic social scenarios and cases in which children act as if they are in their everyday lives (Georgescu et al., 2014 ). The more children become familiar with VR technology, the more they participate in groups to work and cooperate as team members (Luo et al., 2021 ). However, based on the educators’ perspectives in our intervention, limitations were identified in promoting student collaboration. Furthermore, our findings revealed two different cases: on the one hand, the children were so enthusiastic to experience the VR environment that they didn’t care to share this with their peers. On the other hand, they were so engaged in the VR activity that they showed great interest in discussing their ideas and feelings with their friends many days after the intervention. Thus, while there was enthusiasm and detailed discussions among the students about their individual experiences, there was a lack of a common group goal, teamwork, and collaborative activity. Hence, the educators observed that although the VR activities generated excitement and full engagement, they did not necessarily foster a sense of teamwork among the students. According to some researchers’ findings, VR might enable children to feel that they belong to a special learning group and environment to explore and discover knowledge meaningful to them. Yet, this often makes them want to share this experience and cooperate more with the visualized heroes rather than their peers (Bailey & Bailenson, 2017 ). Therefore, VR appears to be a technology potential to promote communication among students but needs to be further researched as far as the collaboration domain is concerned.

Limitations

Children were randomly selected to participate in this activity enriched by VR technology. However, one of the limitations of this study could be that all the data was collected from kindergartens located in Northern Greece to which we had easy access. Additionally, because of educators’ limited prior experience with VR technology, we decided to provide them with a 3-hour training program. During this program, they were able to familiarize themselves with the equipment and actively participate in various VR activities before implementing the intervention with the students. Yet, this may have affected the way they utilized VR technology and the way they expressed their perspectives on it. Additionally, it was the first time the children had been exposed to such activities, which may have led them to their enthusiastic preference for VR activities.

Conclusions

In this paper, a preschool education intervention was conducted involving 13 educators and 175 students. The study aimed to explore the preferences and perspectives of both teachers and learners by comparing traditional teaching methods with VR enhanced teaching. Statistical analysis, specifically t-tests, were employed to examine whether there were statistically significant differences between the two approaches, and the results indicated a significant preference for VR activities. Also, gender differences were observed to be statistically significant. Thus, it is recommended that further research investigating VR’s impact on preschoolers focusing on the gender factor be conducted. Moreover, according to the findings, educators expressed the belief that teaching may be enhanced by VR technology. The educators’ interviews highlighted the enthusiasm of children to experience VR learning and get engaged in it with much curiosity and interest. However, the interviews also revealed limited development of cooperation among students. Finally, this current paper suggests utilizing VR technology in preschool to enhance traditional teaching methods as long as implemented activities meet the young learners’ 21st -century needs.

Data Availability

Data will be made available upon reasonable request.

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The integration of Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies in e-learning is revolutionizing the way students learn, engage, and interact with content. These innovative technologies offer immersive and interactive experiences that could transform traditional teaching methods. We explore the role of AR VR solutions in e-learning, highlighting the benefits, challenges, and their future.

AR/VR software development has enabled educators to create more interactive learning experiences for students. These technologies make it easier for learners to grasp complex concepts and retain information. AR allows students to overlay digital images and information onto the physical world and VR creates completely simulated environments for students to explore. These technologies support a hands-on approach to learning that goes beyond traditional textbook-based methods.

As the demand for online education continues to grow, the integration of AR and VR solutions in e-learning are becoming increasingly important. It enables students to conduct experiments in simulated laboratories and experience historical events in an immersive way. AR and VR integration with e-learning platforms can help educators cater to different learning styles and preferences. In this way, they create a more personalized and adaptive learning experience for students. The evolution of AR and VR solutions in e-learning has opened new opportunities for innovative and engaging educational experiences that are shaping the future of online education.

The future further integration of AR/VR has the potential to make online learning more engaging and effective.

Benefits of AR & VR Solutions in E-Learning

Enhanced Learning Experience

AR and VR solutions have greatly enhanced the learning experience in e-learning by allowing learners to engage with course materials in a way that traditional methods cannot match. Students can explore virtual simulations and 3D models or they can participate in virtual reality field trips to experience different cultures and environments firsthand. These are some of the examples of AR and VR in education. This hands-on learning method helps to improve knowledge retention and understanding. In this way, AR/VR makes the learning process more engaging and effective for students.

Improved Knowledge Retention

AR/VR solutions have significantly improved knowledge retention in e-learning. The level of immersion developed by AR/VR solutions can help students to better understand and retain information compared to traditional forms of learning. Overall, AR and VR solutions have modernized e-learning by making it more effective and engaging for students.

Enhancing Student Engagement Through Immersive Experiences

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality solutions have revolutionized the way students experience immersive learning in e-learning platforms. By providing interactive and engaging environments, AR and VR technology allows students to explore complex concepts more visually and practically. These tools enable students to step into virtual worlds, manipulate objects, and engage with content in a way that enhances their retention and understanding. Furthermore, AR and VR solutions can cater to all types of learners, including visual, kinesthetic, and auditory learners, by providing a multi-sensory learning experience.

Overall, AR and VR technology has the potential to transform the e-learning landscape by making education more interactive, engaging, and effective for students.

Future of AR & VR Solutions in E-learning

The future of AR/VR solutions in e-learning is promising. Augmented Reality allows users to overlay digital information in the real world. Virtual Reality, on the other hand, transports users to virtual environments where they can explore and interact with content in ways that were previously impossible.

The Grand View Research anticipated that the market of AR & VR is expected to reach $597.54 billion by 2030 .

By integrating AR/VR solutions into e-learning platforms, educators can create dynamic learning experiences that cater to different learning styles and cater to the needs of individual students.

Furthermore, AR/VR solutions in e-learning can bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and real-world application. For example, students studying biology can use AR to visualize and explore complex biological processes in 3D, while students studying engineering can use VR to simulate and test their designs in a virtual environment.

Are you Prepared to Improve the Way You Learn Online?

To take full advantage of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality in e-learning, teachers and instructional designers must be ready to modify and advance their methods of instruction. They need to optimize the influence of these technologies on learning outcomes. In addition, teachers must be eager to modify their AR and VR lesson plans in response to the requirements and preferences of their students.

In the end, learning experiences that are more interesting and productive for students of all ages and backgrounds can result from being ready to embrace the possibilities of AR and VR in education.

These technologies can also make learning more interactive and personalized, allowing learners to actively engage with the content and apply their knowledge in real-world scenarios.

Conclusion

We can conclude that the future of AR and VR custom app development in education holds exciting possibilities, from personalized learning experiences to virtual mentorship programs. The integration of AR and VR opens new possibilities for both students and educators. By embracing these tools and exploring their potential, we pave the way for a more immersive, engaging, and effective learning experience. The future of education is bright, with AR and VR at the forefront of revolutionizing the way we teach and learn.

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Immersive learning is disrupting health care education for the better

Virtual reality and avatars are not just for video games anymore. Here’s how immersive learning is making an impact in training next-gen medical and health professionals.

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From defense to aviation to health care, simulation-based learning plays an important role across high-risk industries to safely train future professionals. In health care, simulation-based learning mimics real world practice, allowing students to learn from mistakes in a setting resembling their future work environment complete with virtual patients. No patients are harmed, no cadavers are needed, and students are more likely to retain what they have learned from first-hand experience than they would from a textbook.

Across medical and health care education, simulation has traditionally taken the form of manikins or standardized patients, which are actors simulating patient scenarios. However, modern immersive learning approaches including virtual patient simulation and the emergence of extended reality (XR) – spatial computing, which encompasses both virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) – is transforming medical education and offering improved scenarios for learning. While innovative, digital training alone will not solve challenges like the growing U.S. physician shortage , they can help better prepare tomorrow’s professionals for real-world practice.

Ongoing advancements in software and hardware, including touchscreen and VR, represent a real opportunity to improve workforce retention and train future physicians and other clinicians more efficiently, from primary care doctors to surgeons. Equipped with realistic patient scenarios and rapid, analytics-based insights, these tools are proving effective for scaling and modernizing health care education – especially where resources might otherwise be limited.

The realism of new immersive learning approaches cannot be matched

If we envision the challenges a new family physician may encounter in real-world clinical settings, it may seem impossible to mimic those same pressures in a classroom environment. Once they enter practice, physicians are likely to be tasked daily with time pressures including multiple patients waiting to be seen, each presenting a different ailment. Some patients may arrive with a difficult family member in tow, to whom physicians will need to communicate thoughtfully. Other patients may speak English as a second language and struggle to describe their symptoms. Several of these patients may require tests and other interventions.

Each scenario described above represents day-to-day challenges students are likely to encounter once they enter clinical practice. But what if instead of encountering these situations for the first time during a standardized patient experience or in the clinic, these same experiences could be recreated ahead of time with life-like avatars on a touchscreen or by putting on a VR headset? With the latest VR technologies, students can physically interact with their surroundings by grabbing objects, moving between rooms and interacting 1:1 with virtual patients. While simulated learning with roleplay and manikins will still be important, the truly immersive nature of VR enriches and extends clinical experiences in meaningful ways.

Instead of replacing it, VR can build upon in-person clinical learning. Some VR scenarios, for example, may challenge students to juggle multiple patients at once – aligned with the unpredictable nature of health care. Students may also gain the opportunity to “treat” more diverse patients (including children who cannot be paid to simulate patients) or patients with more complex conditions than they could encounter with current pre-clinical simulations or in clinical rotations. In an age of faculty shortages and limited practice sites, virtual patient simulation and VR allow students to practice their clinical decision-making skills in the safest, most realistic setting possible. Students using these immersive simulations make and learn from their mistakes without the fear of harming patients – one of the most valuable elements of this technology.

Quick feedback means learning happens immediately

In addition to replicating real-world clinical experiences in a safer practice environment, virtual simulation and XR also offer a valuable tool for educators and students to exchange real-time feedback, which is shown to better impact future performance. When feedback is delivered shortly or immediately after a student’s performance, this inspires lasting behavioral changes .

Simulation-based learning is at its most effective when students can receive detailed, instantaneous feedback, which is not possible with some simulation exercises. It may take days or weeks for educators to review each student’s performance and provide a detailed analysis. By that point, the student has likely forgotten what they said during the mock patient interaction or what clinical decisions they made. Educational research shows that learning retention and improvement of practice becomes more difficult with that delay.

In contrast, virtual patient interactions build upon the benefits of simulation learning by offering students actionable feedback instantaneously. At the end of a scenario or virtual patient interaction, the student might be scored on their performance but can also receive specific competency-based feedback indicating what they did wrong and what they could do differently next time. However, for these lessons to have impact, the content and feedback of the simulations must be evidence-based and built from trusted sources of content.

Continued, long-term impacts of immersive learning

It is important to highlight that the potential benefits of XR and digital simulation extend far beyond the doors of medical school or halls of a residency program. It also holds potential as a useful tool for continuing medical education or skills-based training, even for those already in the workforce and with many years of practice.

Continued education and training are required for physicians and other clinicians – and with innovative technologies and research always on the horizon, every healthcare professional can benefit from refreshing their knowledge. Because VR headsets and digital simulation may connect people located anywhere, it also offers the benefit of allowing medical staff to practice complex scenarios without disrupting the clinical environment. No need to shut down the OR when you can perform the training virtually while mirroring real-world practice, and experts in one country can help train clinicians elsewhere.

The reach of immersive learning expands beyond borders

To ensure all patients have access to the best possible care, medical students and professionals worldwide must all have access to reliable, evidence-based training scenarios and tools to improve patient safety and outcomes. Hurdles associated with travel costs and infrastructure limitations make it difficult for everyone everywhere to access the same level of training.

Enter XR. By thoughtfully leveraging XR across medical education, we can bypass location challenges and connect the global medical community virtually. By scaling the reach of learning, this may be particularly impactful in fields or regions where the number of specialists or mentors is limited. However, just as access to the latest medical knowledge is needed everywhere, it is important to ensure that clinicians everywhere will have access to the same XR tools without facing systemic barriers , such as a lack of high-speed internet access or gaps in digital literacy.

Over the next few years, it will be interesting to watch as immersive learning continues to evolve, deepening impact across health care. Not only can it help ensure the next generation of medical professionals are fully prepared for practice within an increasingly challenging environment, it may also ensure resources go further amid chronic understaffing and underfunding . The future of virtual simulation and XR is an exciting trend, and one that will impact day-to-day clinical practice in both seen and unforeseen ways.

Kelly Villella-Canton is segment leader and director of product management, medical education and practice at Wolters Kluwer Health . She leads product innovation strategy for medical education and practice, where she focuses on building the case for and executing new strategy and growth initiatives to solve problems for institutions, faculty/department leaders, students, residents and clinicians.

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Overcoming the fear factor in adopting virtual reality in nursing education.

There are some lingering misconceptions around the use of VR that are likely to give instructors pause when considering whether to add a VR component to the nursing curriculum. This article addresses five common misconceptions about immersive VR simulations.

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I often speak about the usefulness of simulation in nurse training, highlighting how virtual reality (VR) technology has expanded the menu of simulation options beyond manikins and standardized patient actors. A new study in Taiwan even advocated that VR simulations “should be arranged as early as possible in fundamentals of nursing practice courses” due to their value in teaching soft skills, such as therapeutic communication, through practice scenarios.

However, from my conversations with nursing administrators and instructors, I know there are some lingering misconceptions around the use of VR that might give instructors pause before deciding to add a VR component to the nursing curriculum.

1. Doesn’t VR require a large space?

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A major advantage of VR as a training modality is its flexibility, as it can be used in the lab, the classroom, or even from home for nurse learners who live long distances from the training center. Since VR replaces visual reality with a virtual one, the learner needs a clear safe space when donning the headset to avoid mishaps when losing track of physical surroundings. A rule of thumb is to allocate approximately 7ft by 7ft of free space per user to ensure a comfortable experience. Compared to other simulation types, though, VR requires little re-set time or sanitation procedures.

2. Won’t VR require a network systems upgrade?

Because of the immersive nature of VR, a VR headset — even untethered — is best used in a static space to avoid physical hazards. Wireless network challenges such as bandwidth, latency, and consistency are considerations as internet speeds vary based on location and connection (cable, DSL, fiber, 5G wireless, etc.). However, if an internet connection is good enough for smooth video streaming, it should be adequate for VR, although more bandwidth will be required if there are multiple learners. If the area for using VR does not have good WiFi speed or reliability, it may require an upgrade to a newer router or mesh router system, or adding a range extender. As with configuring space requirements, it’s wise to consult an expert in VR simulation to ensure you get the best network setup.

3. Won’t VR learners be isolated from classmates?

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Immersive VR convinces the mind to feel a sense of true physical presence in simulated scenarios, encouraging deep focus while interacting with patients and team members. Younger, “Gen Z” nurses especially value collaboration and are more likely to thrive in environments where they can engage with their colleagues. A 2022 Cairo University study found “a statistically significant positive correlation between nurse collaboration behavior and quality of work life.” Depending upon the VR platform, training can be delivered in a variety of flexible instructional approaches. Training can be facilitated by instructors, or through peer-to-peer interactions, where multiple active participants have the capability to exchange objects and share information directly. Additionally, this flexibility extends to observational learning, with peers able to watch the simulation unfold either on their computers or from within the VR environment itself. Learners can also participate from different physical locations, an advantage for nursing educational institutions drawing nurses from remote rural areas.

4. Doesn’t VR make people sick?

VR-induced sickness is not common, but it is real. It’s essential to use a VR platform with high frame rates and accurate proprioception so that your brain and body movements feel connected. Personally, my triggers are similar to those for car sickness — if I haven’t eaten lunch, if I’m not well hydrated, if I don’t have enough fresh air. Nausea and headache are correlated to VR exposure time, so it’s best to take a break after 30 minutes in a headset. If learners feel discomfort, they should be able to participate by actively observing a casted view of the VR simulation on a TV or computer screen.

5. Isn’t VR only appropriate for large nursing schools with deep pockets?

According to a UK study , VR allows “simulations to be delivered at reduced cost with fewer resources,” especially relevant for institutions looking to scale training. Virtual experiences help reduce the material costs of nurse education as there’s no need to purchase new medical equipment or supplies for each nurse to train on, also saving on medical waste. VR headsets such as Meta Quest, HP Reverb, and ByteDance Pico can be had today for as little as a few hundred dollars, depending on the version. (Perhaps by the time nursing applications have been developed for the eye-wateringly expensive new Apple Vision Pro, the pricing will have adjusted to a more accessible level.)

An urgent need

The website of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) tallies sobering statistics that highlight a concerning trend. Despite projected growth in the nursing workforce according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment Projections, the continued shortage of qualified nurses, nursing instructors, preceptors, and clinical placements is real. And it will only worsen as the tail end of the Baby Boomer generation hits retirement and increases long-term care needs.

Incorporating VR-based training simulations into the nursing curricula presents a practical solution to instructor and clinical placement shortfall. If instructors can navigate past their apprehensions toward the unfamiliar, VR can help in ushering more qualified nurses through the pipeline, more quickly, to avoid a healthcare deficit that could compromise the quality of patient care.

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Exploring the trends of educational virtual reality games: a systematic review of empirical studies

Introduction

Related work

Comparison of VR and 3D games in education

Related EVRGs reviews

Methodology

Phase 1. Planning the review

Phase 1.1 Rationale of the review

Phase 1.2. Specifying the research question

Phase 1.3. Developing a review protocol

Phase 2. Conducting the review

Phase 2.1. Search strategy

Phase 2.2. Study selection criteria

Phase 2.3. Data extraction and analysis

Overview of the VR serious games

Technological characteristics

Pedagogical characteristics

Gaming characteristics of EVRGs

General overview

Technology and gaming

Limitations of this study

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