VIEWS & OPINION


Virtually transforming higher education learning


Comment by COLIN BETHELL,


director at Veative Labs


When the worlds of teaching and tech collide


Comment by IAIN BELL,


managing director of Minted Box


In the same way that flight simulators enable pilots and trainees to practice trial and error without risk to expensive equipment or more importantly human life, virtual and mixed reality technologies enable similar resource- friendly experimentation and huge benefits to students in higher education. If we look closely at virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR) and augmented reality (AR), there are some differences.


Virtual reality


To be in a ‘virtual reality’ you wear a headset that places a screen in front of your eyes. It’s typically powered by a computer, gaming console or mobile phone. The latter option is being replaced by all in one headsets that eliminate the need to insert a physical mobile phone into the headset. By using special software and sensors, the experience becomes your reality, filling your vision. The use of a controller lets you reach out and interact with this artificial world in an intuitive way.


Augmented reality


Unlike VR, augmented reality isn’t restrictive to a closed experience – it doesn’t block out everything around the user, but instead it creates a digital layer between the user and the reality. This means that despite content being show in front of them, they’re still able to interact and see what’s going on around them.


Mixed reality


Simply, mixed reality is a combination of both virtual and augmented realities. It effectively augments the real world with virtual objects that look as if they are really placed within that world.


So now that’s out of the way, these new interactive, visual ways of learning areas available across numerous subjects, the most obvious examples are in medicine and engineering. Three-dimensional exploration becomes a reality for engineers, who can examine the workings of a motor, and medical students can explore the chambers of the heart. A medical student can only dissect the allotted body once, but with VR, the same procedure can be repeated time and time again and again by only consuming electricity. A virtual world brings options and benefits distinctly different to those of a mixed reality world. However where there are clear advantages to the educational programme, there’s no reason not to employ both. Synchronising teaching and learning components with the curriculum can be executed using clear performance-related analytics, careful hardware selection and customised apps that synchronise teachers, students and their curricula- components.


In some ways, VR and MR are easier to apply to HE study than primary or secondary education due to the specialisation of the subject matter at tertiary level. Modules can be designed and implemented with detail to accelerate learning and improve students’ practice. Specialisation in HE is usually, smaller groups of students accessing materials in a more flexible manner, which makes VR and MR technology a clearer choice for pedagogical use over primary or secondary education.


Overall, the needs and the applications of VR and MR for HE are different to that of earlier years education, but the benefits are also in abundance.


March 2017


The worlds of teaching and tech development rarely coincide, except when schools need to invest in new technology for their staff and students. However, when this happens, the two worlds are often at odds; schools want something that will address their needs without flashy gimmicks or additional (and often costly) extras, but tech providers want to promote their latest, all-singing, all-dancing solutions. Often lacking the expertise to make truly informed decisions, schools end up buying expensive digital resources when, in reality, they’re only ever going to use a fraction of them, or a far simpler option may have done the job just as well. To ensure these two disparate worlds meet harmoniously, we need to get educators and tech professionals talking. It is no secret that, for tech developers, education is big business. Schools are increasingly embracing new technologies to enhance the teaching and learning experience, and to make the running of a school more smooth and efficient. However, to my mind, many tech developers are failing to fully grasp what it is that schools want and need from technology. The individual requirements of each school will vary depending upon their specialisms, number of students and teachers, facilities, location and so on. What schools need is cost- effective solutions that are tailored to these unique needs. And to fully comprehend these needs, tech developers need to talk to teachers and school staff.


Rather than creating an ed tech solution and promoting it to schools, we should be turning this process on its head: first of all getting to know schools – how they run, the issues they face, what they want to change – and then we need to design bespoke solutions that meet these needs. I’m sure that if one school is facing a particular challenge, they won’t be the only one by far, so these tailored solutions can be rolled out to benefit schools far and wide. In this way, the worlds of teaching and tech development will be able to work together to achieve the same goal – to integrate great technology into the classroom in an effective and affordable way – rather than trying to navigate worlds which they know little about. I’m not suggesting that tech companies are deliberately trying to sell schools things that they don’t want or need. It’s more likely that they simply don’t fully understand the everyday problems faced by teachers, school cleaners, canteen staff and IT technicians – why would they? In the same breath, it’s likely that schools feel compelled to choose from the solutions that are available on the market, even if they’re not sure that they’ll benefit from each and every functionality of their purchase, because they lack the technical know-how to understand what it is they need, and how to get it. With each school possessing a deep understanding of what its staff needs to create the best learning and teaching environment, and tech developers leading the world in innovative digital resources, the solution seems simple – put the two together to talk, share knowledge and expertise, and create products that truly meet the needs of individual schools – no more, no less.


www.education-today.co.uk 15


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