Education and VR: the end for the blackboard and the notebook

Education and VR: the end for the blackboard and the notebook Virtual and Augmented Reality tools will shape the future of education. ​Investment in VR and AR systems with educational purposes is expected to rise close to US$700 million by 2023​. These new technologies provide the educational environment with multiple solutions both for students as well as for teachers. With these systems, students will be able to learn through more immersive and interactive experiences.

According to a ​report​ made by ​ABI Research​, a market-foresight advisory firm in new technologies, ​investment in Virtual Reality for education will grow beyond US$640 million by 2023. On the other hand, ​the total value of Augmented Reality in education grow up to US$5.3 billion​.

ABI Research names ​funding as the main obstacle for the adoption of AR and VR in education​. Nevertheless, they see smartphones as one possible solution to the issue. “​Mobile device-based solutions are a cost-efficient option​ due to the existing large install base, although fully immersive experiences aren’t possible. ​Head-mounted experiences provide the most immersive experience​ possible but also can be challenging when it comes to price and implementation”.

The same report also forecasts a decrease in the prize of these kind of devices with “​standalone headsets trending down toward US$200 ASP by 2023 and mobile-based VR housings far less​. Ease of setup and use with standalone devices make it a favorite for educational purposes”.

Education, VR and AR: more interaction and easier learning processes Eleftheria Kouri​, Research Analyst at ABI Research, states that “​AR and VR educational applications shift the learning process from passive to active​, allowing students to interact with content and practice their knowledge in real-time conditions”.

Another ​report​, published by Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, names some of the advantages that Virtual and Augmented Reality offers to students. Thanks to these kind of technologies, students are ​more motivated, gather more information and develop technological skills​. Furthermore, they ​stimulate collaborative working skills ​and implication in the knowledge building process​.

In Eleftheria Kouri’s opinion, “Learning by experience leads to ​better understanding, enhances knowledge recall, and strengthens retention​. Immersive and interactive

experiences ​stimulate student’s motivation and increase their engagement level​, which are fundamental factors for achieving learning goals”.

Eric Abbruzzese​, Principal Analyst at ABI Research,says that “AR and VR solutions can significantly enhance learning experiences for all age groups and assist educational efforts through greater student interest and interactivity, leading to objective improvements in learning efficacy”.

These improvements, according to Abbruzzese, will be key to overcome the main challenges educators face. “In an ongoing quest to maintain student’s attention, ​new visualization and interaction tools​ are a natural fit. Greater visualization capabilities fit in upper learning and research efforts as well, so ​AR/VR can address the entire education ecosystem​ from Kindergarten through to post-graduate research”.

¿Teaching through VR or AR? Which one is better?

As ABI Research states, both VR and AR improve the students’ learning process.

Notwithstanding, ​each one of these two technologies has some pros and some cons​.

Virtual Reality provides with ​more immersive experiences​. VR headsets allow the ​analysis of students’ attention​ with the use of heat maps. Nevertheless, they are r​elatively expensive​. They are also a ​far less common product​ in the educational environment.

On the other hand, ​AR only requires a smartphone​ in order to be implemented for educational purposes. Unlike VR headsets, smartphones have had a ​way deeper market penetration, and they are generally cheaper​. As a downside, ​AR-based experiences are far less immersive​ than the ones provided by Virtual reality.

According to ABI Research estimations, ​Augmented Reality will have a bigger value in education than Virtual Reality​ (US$ 5.3 billion in AR, as opposite to 640 million in VR). The optimism ABI Research feels towards Augmented Reality is, probably, due to the fact that smartphones are a more popular and generally cheaper product than a VR headset.

Despite ABI Research forecasts, we cannot really know which one of these two technologies will have a bigger presence in the educational environment. There actually is a steady trend: technology will carry on with its steady growth in the classrooms​. During the last decade, it was a rare sight to stop a cell phone inside a classroom, and it always happened outside of the teachers’ sight. Nowadays, it is common, even in Elementary School, that students take their notes in a laptop instead of a notebook.

This trend is confirmed by Eric Abbruzzese, who says that “AR and VR are set up to play a catalytic role in education system going forward, provided the lowering prices and increasing content creation continue”.