The future possibilities of VR in education will be a major movement for designers and developers in the next 20 years. Research in the efficacy of VR in education and emerging technologies will allow developers and educators to design and access educational opportunities for students that bring a VR experience that is immersive, engaging, accessible, affordable, and just-in-time education (1). Teachers can also create their own virtual reality environment that will enhance lectures and student experiences. As technology improves over the next 20 years, educators and students will find their educational experiences richer and learning that takes them away from memorizing information to experiencing the tasks with hands-on training. Educational learning theories, that have proven to be effective over the last 30 years, will be incorporated into the VR experience giving the student more possibilities to learn in traditional classrooms, mobile devices and VR experiences that can be more accessible as the cost of VR equipment will be less expensive. Education will be crossing borders as students around the world will be able to connect, collaborate and share knowledge, access the best and brightest educators around the world.
VR is still in the early stages of development but the current technologies at this point show great potential. As shown in current VR development of immersive education is shown through the design of a project called "The Future of Immersive Education with Apollo 111 VR" and the article discusses an interview with the creators of the Apollo 11 VR experience. Features of creating VR in educating people in space exploration, as in this case, showed creating an emotional experience helps learners retain knowledge. Their experience in the Apollo 11 journey was created and designed to be as realistic as the original space travel to the moon. The voices and conversation during the flight, from NASA recordings, were used to simulate the journey to the moon. Learners get a sense of what it also looked like from the Apollo 11 spacecraft and when the astronauts landed on the moon. The experience was authentic. Educators can use this type of technology in their classroom to teach and allow students to be immersed in what it was really like. The developers used 360 photospheres and 3art to create the environment. Education in the future with VR will allow teachers to create PPT lectures that incorporate VR experiences that reflect their content and allow immersive experiences for the students. (Bye, 2020) Video URL: https://youtu.be/d4XZwSxeUIw
As the development of using serious games in education moves forward, the possibilities are limitless. It is going to be an interesting journey for educators and open up worlds for discovery for students alike. Looking forward to it.
Citations:
Bye, K., Mar 2016. “The Future of Immersive Education with Apollo 11 VR & Lecture VR. Voices of VR Podcast– Episode #317.