COMPUTING & IT RESOURCES
Boosting student engagement through VR/AR
But the reality is often a little different. It’s not unusual for students to take time to settle back into the rhythms and routines of school life. And, for a small number of students, six weeks away from school can have a significant impact on their levels of engagement and motivation. The summer holidays can also have a detrimental effect on achievement. Sometimes called ‘summer learning loss’ or ‘summer setback’, the long break can lead to a decline in reading and mathematics skills.
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illian Rhodes is Chief Marketing Officer at Avantis Education, creators of ClassVR, the world’s leading virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) solution designed exclusively for education. Here, she explores how this immersive education technology can be used to help improve student engagement in the classroom.
After the long school summer holidays, teachers look forward to seeing their students returning to the classroom for the new term re-energised and ready to learn.
So, how can teachers improve engagement levels and reignite their students’ love of learning in those first few weeks of a new term? Modern educational technology can have an important role to play in improving engagement and motivation among students, and in this piece, I’ll explain how virtual reality and augmented reality (VR/AR) can be particularly effective.
What is the role of VR/AR in the classroom? VR/AR is transforming the modern education landscape, with many schools across the world adopting its use in classrooms. The use of VR/AR in education presents a wide range of benefits. Today’s students have grown up in a digital world, and VR/AR harnesses their familiarity with technology to create immersive educational experiences.
Through the power of VR/AR, students aren’t just passive recipients of information, but
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active participants in their own learning. VR/ AR experiences can breathe life into all topics and subjects, taking students to new and undiscovered places.
This ultimately leads to increased student engagement and improved learning outcomes in a world in which there is no limit to achieving individual potential.
Research has found that compared with learners taught with traditional teaching methods, VR learners are: four times more focused, four times quicker to retain knowledge, over three times more emotionally connected to lessons, and more confident when applying their learnings.
Using VR/AR to boost engagement A tactic many teachers use to hook their students at the start of a new term is to introduce engaging new materials or products into the classroom. Now, teachers can harness the power of VR/AR to grab their attention in diverse and innovative ways.
If a teacher has not used VR/AR previously, then just the act of introducing it into the classroom can be engaging in and of itself, giving students hands-on experience with a new and exciting technology.
For students who are unfamiliar with VR/AR, using a new device for the first time can spark curiosity and lead to inquiry-based learning.
October 2024
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