How can VR be one of the best technologies now to teach your learners
With the latest coronavirus developments practicing things such as social distancing and working and learning from home are more important than ever. VR or Virtual Reality Is one technology that can be used in this difficult time. VR involves creating a computer-generated immersive environment that users can interact with using a headset.
The eLearning industry has been using VR for some time now and could be used to help train your learners or do things that would normally require face to face interaction.
1. Virtual Classrooms
Virtual Classrooms are like traditional classrooms in that a teacher or facilitator teaches a room of students, the difference however is that it is done entirely online. In traditional classroom training you have restrictions and barriers that can prevent a learners access to education. For example a student might live far away and not be able to get to the classroom, a facilitator may have travel issues preventing them from getting to the session on time or a student might have other responsibilities that prevent them attending in person. Using a virtual classroom helps to remove these barriers as students and facilitators can log in from home or at a location of their choosing to attend the class, by doing this it can help to remove barriers and provide access to education that might not have been possible otherwise.
2. Virtual Tours
Virtual tours are another thing you could use for VR, virtual tours involve creating a digital recreation of a place or location. For example a real estate agent might give virtual tours of a house to potential buyers or a teacher who is teaching ancient history might give a tour of how different countries looked a long time ago. The benefit of this is that it can provide users with an experience without having to travel to a specific location at a specific time. This can be especially important for students that don’t have the capability or are not able to easily travel.
3. On the job training
Another use for VR is for on the job training, when it comes to eLearning and training this can be a tricky area, especially if an employees job requires hands on interaction with systems and machines. With VR you could provide learners with a realistic training experience in an environment that has no consequences from mistakes. For example if you have an employee that needs to learn how to use heavy machinery instead of them attending a class or watching a video they could gain experience using the system or machine directly and get hands on experience they can use on the job, if done correctly this can potentially be much more effective than lengthy classroom training.
