Virtual Reality and Education: An Incredible Encounter

1. Real Education with Virtual Reality

We must understand that virtual reality in education is a tool that will allow us to create scenarios that were unimaginable in the past, and that it is now possible to transport students to completely new worlds and bring them closer to contexts that traditionally could not.

Virtual reality can help develop learning competencies and apply knowledge by bringing learners into immersive environments with an experience that is much more impactful.

“I never teach my students, I just try to provide the conditions in which they can learn.”

Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

This is about providing our students with the environments and contexts necessary for them to learn on their own. We are only a guide and the one who can show them the way, it is the students themselves who learn and it is better that they learn to learn autonomously.

2. VR, AR, MRI and IoT (Internet of Things)

We must first understand how each of these terms differs from each other, as they are quite similar technologies that can be confusing. So I will briefly explain each of them:

• Virtual Reality: Virtual reality, which is our central theme, is immersion, that is, taking a person into a digital world in which the person can manipulate objects, interact with objects, etc. For example: Maria can go to the moon and interact with a sense of actually being there and no longer being on planet Earth.

• Augmented Reality: AR on the other hand is a technology that will bring to our real world objects captured through a common device such as a tablet or a cell phone, the most notorious example of AR is the famous game Pokemon GO, which rightly brings a pokemon into the real environment and can be seen through a screen. This is how augmented reality works and currently many students and young people use it with the famous filters of Tik Tok, Snapchat, etc.

• Mixed Reality: This is newer and is currently still working on the realization of glasses or viewers, for example the company Apple recently launched its Apple Vision Pro viewer, or Meta its Quest 3. So Mixed Reality is a combination of virtual reality with augmented reality, where the user perceives the real environment that surrounds him through a pair of glasses and is projected in a digital environment.

• IoT (Internet of Things): These are objects that have sensors or chips that allow you to interact with the real world, for example an Alexa device that receives commands through voice commands or for example devices that allow you to control the lights in a house, etc.

3. What has happened in the digital world with this type of devices?

They now allow, for example, to hold a meeting in meet, zoom or teams, using avatars that interact through a digital whiteboard. Special scopes are required to conduct this type of conference, and this is of course not mass-produced. This has also led to a lot of emphasis being placed on giving avatars more varied facial expressions. However, there are some applications where this type of equipment is not required, and I will discuss them later.

In virtual reality, this type of visor is required, which works with something called Gear Tracking and what it does is that when you turn your head, it follows the movement and then it changes your environment, and the Metaverse is where these types of devices are being used to have a more immersive experience.

“Think of the metaverse as an embodied internet in which, instead of just seeing content, you’re inside it.”

Mark Zuckerberg

4. Evolution of Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality is no longer the future, it is the present. Talking a little about its evolution, we have to say that: this arises in 1840 and has been evolving until reaching the current viewers such as those launched by Meta or Apple.

A simulator in 1929, the Stereographics in 1980, CAVE which was the first immersive virtual reality room, to the launch of oculus in 2016 and finally Metaquest 3, Apple Vision Pro and everything to come.

In the evolution of virtual reality, metaverses have been of utmost importance, they are already something extremely common and common among young people, Roblox in fact, is currently the main metaverse, with more than 202 million users.

There are also Second life, The sandbox, Decentraland, Spatial, Virbela among many others.

The latter is used by some universities that have even created their own campus, such is the case of Tecnológico de Monterrey who recently gave a conference through its virtual campus with its logo, auditorium and all kinds of very interesting virtual facilities.

5. What is the role of the teacher with the advent of VR?

It is precisely a matter of understanding that there are many new needs for teachers who must learn and prepare themselves in order to really have a comprehensive training. This is the new knowledge of the teachers.

Tracey Takuhama proposes a diagram that tells us that; the new knowledge as a whole that a teacher must have are:

• Content knowledge, i.e.; know your subject matter very well, the materials, as such the content of the course and be an expert in that area.
• Pedagogical knowledge, which means knowing how to transmit your knowledge to students through different pedagogical teaching methodologies.
• Mind: how the brain works, understanding which are the best moments, times and strategies for the students’ minds to be able to absorb all the knowledge at that moment.
• Technology. Technology is not everything, it is important to understand that technology alone is not the only important thing, it needs the previous ones to achieve meaningful learning in students.

6. ICT and CT

Let’s talk a little about these two concepts, and see what their differences are:

• ICT, or Information and Communication Technologies, present us with hardware and software, which help us process educational information.
• CT, on the other hand, is about pedagogical training to know how to use ICTs, in other words, to know how to use these technologies (ICTs) to achieve learning.

We need to adapt and apply them in the educational environment together with all the above mentioned to enable and enhance the acquisition of knowledge.

This is equally fundamental to apply in the metaverse because if you do not manage to adapt it effectively it could result in a space of distraction where students are not learning anything. So now you know, if you are going to make Metaverse your next classroom to teach a class, do not forget to make a methodological planning that includes a main learning objective, and make all the adaptations to achieve it.

7. What are the Benefits and Challenges of Virtual Reality in Education?

It is important to emphasize that it is not enough to use these tools to automatically obtain positive effects in training processes, although the usefulness of these resources has been repeatedly confirmed in the educational field.

Virtual reality will help us to generate an immediate response due to its immersive nature, that is to say, it will capture the students’ attention because it is a natural effect due to the fact that it is simply an immersive sensation. It will transport them to another place. This benefit will greatly help us to give them more attention.

On the other hand, over-stimulation weakens our ability to maintain attention. This presents the challenge we are currently facing, which is that many young people are already overstimulated, as they are bombarded by video games, television, social networks, etc. and it is increasingly difficult to keep their attention.

In the short term, virtual reality will help us to place information and content in a more creative and innovative way.

In the long term, it will also give the students the feeling of a different, entertaining experience and not only as an instrumental way, because when they feel part of the experience, they perceive it as something more real and closer to them. Students learn more when they do or live an experience than just hearing about it.

Another benefit is that they can also shorten the acquisition time of certain skills, especially those in which there is manipulation of some digital objects. It is like an enriched environment, which accelerates the practice of resources.

With the use of these tools you also allow your students to experiment, to confirm theories, for example; of gravity, of movement, of throwing an object and seeing trajectories, they can visualize objects from different angles, etc. Generating an intensified relationship between theory and practice, facilitating motivation.

8. A Critical Look at Virtual Reality

All that is needed from Virtual Reality are certain aspects such as:

• Cost: Producing AR and VR electronic devices can be expensive, so generating an immersive experience is very costly.
• Research: The technology to create such experiences is new and experimental, therefore, in the field of education there are still many aspects related to learning that need to be researched and analyzed.
• Gathering: Collecting and containing information on everything that would be needed to implement Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality requires a lot of time and effort.
• Bonds: Human beings often no longer communicate face-to-face and virtual relationships are increasingly predominant, which can lead to uncertainty and weak emotional bonds.
• Speed: The data processing speed required is extremely high compared to today’s most popular electronic devices.

9. Virtual Reality Tools for Education

The tools available to start implementing in education are classified depending on the field, for example: there are art, design, chemistry, virtual campuses and there are some that also develop soft skills. Some of them are:
For consultation we have:

• Librarium: it’s like wikipedia but inside the metaverse. What you do is you go in with your visor and you feel like you are in a library where you can make inquiries.

From anatomy we have:

• Organon VR: Here you can observe different parts of the human anatomy through the viewfinder. It is very useful for some simulations in subjects such as biology and even in some medical careers.

Of design we have:

• Gravity Sketch: You can create 3D objects and design them, you can go from basic to professional level designs.

From physics we have:

• Gravity lab: which is a laboratory where you can do simulations, such as launching, weight, velocity, gravity simulations.

From collaboration we have:

• Meeting VR: It is like a meet or a zoom but taken to another level that is through avatars. You can hold conferences, meetings, etc.
• Virbela: In it you can create virtual campuses, you can create expos, interact with other attendees, you can do some movements like sitting, standing, throwing a ball and you can even share a screen and give a lecture inside a room.

These tools are apps from the Oculus Store and can be obtained for between 9 and 15 USD. It is also important to note that they require a Virtual Reality viewer.

Due to the high cost of acquiring a viewer, here is a Virtual Reality tool that you can implement in your classes without the need of a viewer and that is totally free.

• Hubs By Mozilla: This platform allows you to create virtual environments totally free of charge. The best thing about this tool is that you don’t need a viewer, you can do it from your cell phone, tablet or any mobile device. You have the option to create work meetings, a class with 3D objects, create and customize your avatar, it has templates that you can use so you don’t have to start from scratch.

10. Conclusion

Virtual Reality is transforming education by providing immersive and creative experiences for learners. These same technologies can improve attention, accelerate learning and strengthen the relationship between theory and practice.

Although it still presents some challenges, teachers must acquire the necessary knowledge to make the most of these tools in the classroom and encourage the development and learning of our young people and students.

11. References

• Bernal, D. (2023, October). Live, “Virtual Reality and Education: An Incredible Encounter”.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PLT6Cr2KlQ