Through generations, it has been a challenge to make education more engaging and effective. From traditional learning through books in a classroom, we have reached the era of search engines and e-books. Intending to increase the quality of education and effective way of transferring knowledge, visual learning is certainly a step in the right direction. According to a recent study, it can be acknowledged that students not only tend to learn better and faster by participating in virtual reality but also remember information spatially. VR is slowly gaining popularity in the educational field because instead of just reading the things students can visualize the things they are learning about. Already a popular tool in the US and UK, VR is also getting recognition in India for education with Shrimati M.G. Patel School being the first school to implement VR in classroom studies. VR can provide students the experience that would be otherwise too expensive or impossible to replicate in the real world.
The technology behind VR is very simple in which a headset is attached to the eyes of the wearer creates an immersive 3D environment. The VR headset which is also connected along with stereo sound and head motion tracking sensors puts a screen before the eyes of the viewer, thus eliminating every contact with the real world.
So, let’s explore the main reasons, for implementing VR in our education system:
- Students can travel to and explore places through the headset mounted over their eyes, without actually leaving the classroom. Instead of learning about the history from the book, students can see the places all over the world where the events took place which will provide them a sense of clarity.
- Not only outstanding visualizations, but VR will also eradicate the language barriers. It will provide the students with an opportunity to communicate with fellow students and teachers across the world, offering them a better understanding of different cultures and communities.
- VR has also shown a new path to anatomy in medical science and research, giving the students a new dimension of understanding organs, muscles and skeletal structure of the human body. Students can not only learn about the functioning of internal organs but will be able to perform dissections digitally also.
- Apart from encouraging the budding mechanics to observe a working machine from every angle, VR also helps them to create blueprints of complex and costly machines. This certainly helps in analyzing the errors and efficiency in advance, without loss of money, energy, and resources.
- Apart from learning, students can analyze different career options through VR as they can experience the profession in real-time and will be able to picture their life in that role.
- Redefining the world of entertainment for students, VR can give them the chance to explore the depth of the ocean and vastness of space without the help of submarine or rocket. Supplying them unlimited access to nature and wildlife, it can enhance the natural love for adventure among young children.
- By discovering the usage of VR as a tool in other industries such as medicine, engineering, entertainment, and real estate, students can research and understand the future of technology. Teachers can encourage creativity among students by helping them design and share their own VR content showcasing their imagination.
It is clear that we are in an early stage of VR and it's going to push its boundaries to emerge out as a more influential technology in the field of education. It is accessible to only a handful of children in our country and we need to adopt these technologies inside classrooms. Encouraging the students for a better knowledge of technology, VR is certainly going to act as the catalyst for curiosity and new-age learning.
