Making VR a Reality in the Classroom

Take Away: Lessons Learned

Our glimpse into the classroom of the future generated three insights that will guide future exploration of VR for SNHU and may be of interest to other college and university educators seeking to bring immersive learning experiences to their students:

1. Investigate collaborative learning models for VR. Not all classrooms will have a full class set of VR headsets. This is an important consideration for the classroom dynamic when immersive learning is implemented. One approach to collaborative learning may be to pair students as "guides" and "explorers" as we did in our feasibility study; however, students who began as guides ended up spending more time outside of VR than those who began as explorers. One student noted the disparity in engagement with those who spent time outside of VR, reflecting, "The person not inside the VR has a very boring job. They can't really keep up with what the person in VR is experiencing, and the booklet is too simple." Further experimentation is needed to understand how to maximize learning with VR when students need to take turns using the equipment.

2. Retool the VR orientation processes. How students are trained on the technology impacts the overall learner experience. Most students were relatively inexperienced with VR and took longer to get acquainted with the technology. We believe it is essential to provide students with access to more dedicated training on the technology and time to get comfortable using VR by playing games to learn the mechanics. Combining VR orientation during class time took time away from the main VR experience. We recommend requiring a brief VR studio session prior to the start of the term in which students can sign up for time slots to get trained on the technology and play a game or two before using VR as an educational tool.

3. Invite input from learners early and often. College and university educators who are seeking to incorporate VR experiences in their classrooms can benefit from the gaming expertise of their Gen Z students. These learners are savvy consumers of gaming experiences and eager to offer feedback. In their survey responses, many students thoughtfully noted opportunities to improve VR mechanics and streamline logistics. As more immersive learning experiences are developed, it is vital to involve students in the design and invite them to provide feedback on iterative prototypes and co-design when possible.