Education has been transforming in significant ways. This opens the door for more innovations in education that improve students/learners learning experiences. One example of these innovations is Virtual Reality (VR). VR is one of the tools that fall under Extended Reality (XR), along with augmented and mixed reality, creating immersive digital learning experiences (Marr, 2021). It allows students to embark on real-world learning by solving real-world challenges (Hassan, 2021). For instance, students are introduced to experiential learning, including interaction with 3D world, in schools via Google VR technology (The AME Group, 2020).

There are plenty of applications of VR in today’s education. Interestingly, BBC is using immersive VR education to help students understand how life was in 1943 when a Nazi German raid took place (Mare, 2021). Furthermore, learning languages can be more fun through VR. Mondly, a software company, provides an immersive language-learning experience, where learners can have conversations with native speakers without traveling to a foreign country (Hassan, 2021; Marr, 2021). Similarly, virtual field trips are now possible to take place in classrooms without the need to actually travel. Some universities are taking advantage of this technology by offering virtual tours for their campuses (Hassan, 2021).

It is worth mentioning that there are still some areas for improvement for the VR technology. This varies from developing more VR content, making affordable VR headsets, and finally, cyber-sickness that might prevent students from learning (Hassan, 2021).

References:

Hassan, A. (2021). Virtual reality in education: Achievements and challenges. Emerging Education Technologies. https://www.emergingedtech.com/2021/02/virtual-reality-in-education-achievements-challenges/

Marr, B. (2021). 10 best examples of VR and AR in Education. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2021/07/23/10-best-examples-of-vr-and-ar-in-education/?sh=7c1222991f48

The AME Group. (2020). The Top 6 Technology Innovations for Education. https://www.theamegroup.com/top-6-technology-innovations-education/