VR and AR in Higher Education

The best universities and colleges of the world always try to be in the vanguard using cutting-edge technologies. Nowadays, Virtual and Augmented realities (VR and AR) are at the doorstep of the education development process and contribute to creating a new generation of scientists and entrepreneurs. Virtual reality transforms the approaches to learning and teaching. With the help of ultimate level technologies, the process of acquiring knowledge gets easier. Complex concepts and subjects can be studied in practice by virtual trips or immersing in the environment. Well-designed and effectively planned VR experience prevents students from distraction and stimulates concentration.  

Soft Skills 

Virtual reality trains soft skills that are essential for the successful employment of any graduate. VR enables you to practice learned material and get real experience. Many face speech anxieties; to improve communication skills, you need to practice them, which is challenging to complete based on traditional learning methods. Simulation of a real situation encourages students to lose fear and feel more comfortable. Speech analysis is an incredible tool to get instant feedback on your voice presentation without stress, instead of performing in front of a real audience. It allows you to feel in a safe environment and to concentrate on crucial things. Well-developed ability to maintain a public conversation, keep calm, and sound confident is instrumental in the learning process and during job interviews and work meetings.

Online Learning

Education goes online. This process is inevitable and offers new opportunities and benefits for students. Nowadays, you can join the online course at any university worldwide and get a diploma no matter where you live. You can even outsource your homework to an online essay writing service and dedicate your free time to learning a new skill. The location independence of Virtual Reality becomes a significant advantage in promoting remote learning. VR lectures or chats allow you to interact with professors and students without obligatory face-to-face communication, which is extremely relevant considering the pandemic situation and uncertainty with social distancing effectiveness. Among the significant benefits of Virtual lectures are a feeling of being more connected and less isolated, and the chance to establish social connections with people from geographically different locations.

Virtual and Augmented realities favor learning of any subject, from the humanities to STEM. Students can travel back in time, see historical moments come to life, or reproduce ancient civilizations' simulations to explore archaeological sites and ancient architecture. Imagine studying geography by traveling worldwide without moving from your comfort zone. Young astronomers can endeavor to know more by visualizing planets and galaxies using cutting edge software and geo-localization technologies. 

Virtual reality is becoming indispensable for medical students. New generation technologies for teaching clinical psychology and anatomy, planning, and surgical visualization facilitate the educational process and allow for practice and real experience. Simulating actual medical interventions will enable you to foresee and prevent the tragic consequences of real actions. Educational programs based on VR permit to build and develop specific skills and abilities before starting the actual therapeutic practice.

Foreign Language Learning

The potential of VR and AR technologies for immersive education is boundless. The language barrier represents a significant obstacle and often becomes a reason for stopping the learning process. Virtual reality solutions offer an opportunity to immerse the real native-speaker environment without the necessity of expensive traveling. You can practice language skills with animated characters in different scenarios and receive instant feedback. Ingenious technologies transform traditional approaches to language learning and assist in overpassing the language barrier successfully. 

Interactive experience favors the development of presentation skills, which leads to a better memorable experience. Using tech tools to absorb the content develops information-processing skills that are handy and applicable in real life.  Despite comparatively high prices of equipment, it starts to pay off rapidly. 

VR Expands Teachers' Possibilities

Traditional teaching methods explain concepts so that some students get the point, and others miss it. It's a challenge for any lecturer to find a universal tool to explain complex issues in an accessible way, by adding visual and audio content. The learning process becomes more engaging and entertaining. 

Inclusive VR technologies are salvation for people with special needs. New applications and tools contribute to the integration of the students with various learning disabilities into the educational process. An adaptive environment helps them participate, feel accepted in the students' community, and prepare for the outside of the classroom life. 

VR and AR Apps

For the moment, there are a lot of ready-made VR and AR solutions on the market. That's why we made a research of the available applications and decided to share the most effective of them.

To practice public speaking skills without the pressure of evaluating spectators and unnecessary nerves that debilitate abilities, you can use a VirtualSpeech. You can practice for a job interview, upgrade networking skills, prepare for an important presentation, etc. 

Cutting edge tool Orbulus allows you to visit a location before booking an expensive holiday. Meanwhile, it can be used in the educational process to enhance knowledge of geography, sociology, and history. Wander the city and landscapes of different corners of the world and immerse the environment without moving from home. 

Art lovers, architects, and history students will be pleasantly surprised by the number of available virtual guided tours of the museums and exhibitions in Google Arts & Culture application. It is a must-use tool if you pursue the goal of getting acquainted with world culture, history, and heritage. 

Medical students can gain valuable experience by studying the body's structure, internal organs, and cells in simulations. Thus, they can practice their decision-making skills. We recommend you to check Anatomyou VR, an immersive human anatomy app, InCell VR, a game in the micro-world of humans' cells, and Touch Surgery, a surgical simulator training platform.

Today we have tried to draw your attention to the rapidly developing industry, which takes up an increasing part of the educational process. The future belongs to technology. The sooner we adapt to its use, the more opportunities it can offer us. The final decision is up to you.