Education is constantly evolving. Learning doesn’t look the same as it did when I was in high school. Yet, at the same time, not much has changed at all.
We’ve gone from blackboards and overhead projectors to whiteboards and PowerPoints. The digital age has taken textbooks out of libraries and brought them to our mobile devices and computers. But even so, students still have no choice but to sit and watch teachers give lectures and presentations, just like their grandparents and great-grandparents. Until now.
Today, we’re seeing the rise of truly transformative technologies that promise to revolutionize how students learn. As artificial reality and virtual reality become integrated into the education landscape, students can stand up, move around and interact with concepts in 3D.
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Imagine if your high school had taught you biology from inside a cell and history by walking through an ancient civilization, instead of with an Expo marker and a whiteboard. Do you think you would’ve been more interested? Research—and common sense—tells us that engaged students learn more and perform better. It also tells us that the majority of students learning through VR have higher attention, interest, and retention than those learning through traditional methods.
AR and VR technologies also allow teachers to tailor their instruction to students with a wide variety of immersive learning styles. Tactile or visual learners, for instance, are at a disadvantage with the traditional, lecture-based learning model. Now, students can all benefit from these emerging technologies to engage with materials in the way that best suits their unique needs and preferences, boosting their retention rates and test scores.
AR and VR is still evolving
Workplaces and the higher education space have already caught on to the power of these technologies, utilizing them to teach their employees and students a variety of complex concepts and skills. By building educational spaces dedicated to AR and VR learning, schools can offer a higher quality, more adaptable education that better prepares students of all learning styles for successful careers in an ever-changing world.
While some parents and educators may be concerned about AR and VR technology contributing to the lack of student connectedness in a digital age, that isn’t the case. Schools can counteract any sense of isolation with tools built into the technology itself. For example, students can project the view from their goggles onto a screen for teachers and peers, building in these interactive moments that are crucial for development. These features allow other students to also benefit from the technology and give teachers the chance to offer guidance and feedback to students.
But even the goggles and other wearable tech that some parents may find strange will be obsolete sooner than we realize. These tools are more like stepping stones toward the fully immersive and high-tech classroom of the future. Eventually, schools will be able to remove goggles from the equation entirely and replace them with an immersive digital environment where everybody in a class can interact with the technology simultaneously.
These immersive environments can also double as a digital classroom for hybrid learning. The COVID-19 pandemic forced schools to transition to fully remote learning before they were properly prepared, and the resulting test scores were far from ideal. But as our workplaces and lives become more enmeshed with technology as a tool for connection, digital learning will be an unavoidable part of education.
And it can be a benefit; rather than being limited by inevitable extenuating circumstances—such as sickness, snow or flooding—tech-enabled classrooms can provide students and teachers with engaging and fun ways to work through these issues and keep learning together. Digital classrooms create continuity between in-person and online learning through capabilities such as larger screens that allow teachers to see students in a bigger format.
Schools must adapt and embrace AR and VR technologies. Learning should be an engaging, immersive and hands-on experience, and school districts must invest in creating spaces equipped with these cutting-edge technologies. Our educational institutions must keep pace with the technology used in the professional world and our daily lives. Integrating AR and VR into schools can revolutionize learning environments and provide students with the skills and experiences they need to thrive now and in the future.
