How to incorporate immersive learning in education
Learning has come a long way since chalkboards. Today, the traditional classroom has transformed into a world full of opportunities, with technology that creates interactive and immersive learning.
The more technology advances, the more education is pushed to step up their curriculum, creating fun ways that engage the new generations of tech-savvy learners.
Students get bored and struggle to pay attention without interaction; plus, they can hire essay writer to help them if they get stuck on homework. To keep students engaged, educators should look into incorporating immersive learning using one of four creative ways.
What is immersive learning?
Immersive learning is defined as using an artificial or simulated environment to immerse learners into a learning process or idea completely. With this technology, learners can control the simulation and see the outcomes firsthand, retaining information and learning as they go.
If that’s not the best part, they can do so without the risk, staying away from harm while seeing first hand what issues they might have in a specific environment. This technology could help students from elementary school to Master’s degree students, creating a new and exciting way for everyone to learn in a fun, engaging, and immersive way.
1) Simulations
Do you remember the game Sims? It has a ton of success, giving people control over a simulated life, allowing them to put themselves in many situations without ever leaving their home. While simulation is not just about video games, it’s about putting a person into the driver’s seat and allowing them to control what happens. In a learning atmosphere, simulations are useful as they help learners fine-tune their skills with little or no risk.
Perhaps there is an emphasis on learning how to work with specific software or following some steps to complete a procedure. Educators can create simulators to give students the chance to fully immerse themselves into the situation and get a feel for a real experience.
2) Play your way to learning
Video games are hugely successful for a reason. They are fun, interactive, and give players a hit of dopamine when they accomplish a task or win. The cool thing about incorporating video game-based learning is that students could play on their portable devices. The students’ immersive gaming experience comes from using their hands and applying critical thinking to make it through modules.
On top of that, educators could enjoy the different levels that come with educational games, such as free educational games for kids, moving them up as students improve and creating a bit of friendly competition.
With leaderboards in the classroom, students will have a great time competing for first place while studying the class material. Nothing gets students excited more than a fun game, changing the boring old lectures and taking notes with immersive games.
3) Augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR)
If you teach a class full of innovators with college startup ideas, this next one is quite possible for you. Students working on their Bachelor’s degrees can immerse themselves in learning or techniques used in laboratories or factories. AR/VR interacts with visual, aural, and physical senses to completely immerse learners into a different realm. While there are not currently entire virtual worlds, some VR programs put those who use them into an entirely different place.
When students use an AR/VR type of technology, they can do so without any distractions and actually stay focused. A short attention span is one serious issue that many younger generations deal with, as they have been used to the internet for their entire lives. This is a way to keep them engaged and help them learn more technologically.
The website where you can find ‘no fear Shakespeare’ has taken a form of writing that is no longer common and translated it into more modern language that students can understand. Still, taking students into a virtual realm where they can see, hear, and interact with the language and plays would take their learning to the next level, giving them an experience that they won’t be able to forget.
4) 360-degree videos
At the moment, video content is one of the most interactive teaching methods. Students like videos and generally retain more when they watch exciting content. Taking the immersive idea into consideration, professors could add 360-degree views to videos.
These are great for teaching about particular working atmospheres like nursing school or when learning geographical locations. It helps to provide a full and real view of any area in the world where students can immerse themselves and know what to expect. Plus, students that work with design and complicated architecture can benefit from 360-degree views, taking their comprehension of building structures to a whole new level.
Today’s devices are not far away from allowing 360-degree videos, meaning that educators could have a new and fun activity to look forward to. Anything from PCs, laptops, and even cell phones and tablets moves up and advances in technology to support sophisticated software. That means this is promising for many educational systems and possibly a part of the near future.
Immersive learning: Why you should focus on incorporating it into your classroom
Technology has reached all new heights and is advancing fast. All of the advancements have paved the way for a new and interactive way of learning, allowing students to immerse themselves in a learning environment. Some of the recommended practices that you could start brainstorming incorporation of immersive learning techniques are:
- Simulations
- Video Games
- AR/VR
- 360-degree videos
Today’s students were not raised with flat pieces of paper and pencils. They came into the world when electric cars were hitting the highway, video and audio were upgrading, and technology reached a whole new level of sophistication.
Having said that, old ways of learning just won’t cut it, so it’s about time for something cutting-edge. Thus, educators and policymakers must use this innovation to get closer to students to speak to them in a language they understand and make education more useful and relevant.
