Virtual Reality (VR) Usage: A Survey of its Appropriateness for Learning
This presentation reviews my findings regarding the advantages and disadvantages of using virtual reality for learning.
Back in 2013, I experienced Oculus Rift’s virtual reality (VR) headset for the first time. With many competing VR headsets available I examined if and how I should incorporate this technology into the game and simulation programming degree at Pennsylvania College of Technology. When incorporating any technology into a degree’s objectives, the technology’s value must be explicitly qualified. The following question must be answered during this qualification - Will this technology be something the graduates experience in the workplace?
This question is difficult to answer when the accepted axiom is “the technology freshman will experience when they graduate has yet to be developed”. The other side of the coin is “which of the technologies that exist today has the staying power to still be viable in four years?”
My evaluation of VR’s appropriateness for the gaming and simulation programming degree at Penn College involved the study of its suitability for learning. During my research, I took advantage of work by Hugh Seaton from Aquinas. Seaton evaluated VR’s appropriateness against three different learning theories.