A Virtual Reality Study With 7th And 8th-Graders Found Girls Learned Most When The VR-Teacher Was A Young, Female Researcher Named Marie, And Boys Learned More From A Flying Robot
University of Copenhagen News
08 January 2019
The teacher is just as important in a virtual learning environment as in a normal classroom, but a new study shows that boys and girls differ greatly in terms of how they learn best: Boys learn best when their virtual teacher comes in the form of a drone, while girls get more knowledge from VR-teaching when they are taught by a young, female researcher-type named Marie.
Few years from now, students in schools all over the world will receive part of their education in virtual learning environments. Wearing VR-goggles the students will be able to enter 3-dimentional, simulated places and situations that they would normally not have access to because it would be too expensive, too dangerous or physically impossible. Teaching via VR-technology is spreading widely these years and international studies predict that this will revolutionize the way we learn.
Using VR, students can learn about the cells in the human body while “travelling” into the bloodstream, or “explore” the degree of plastic pollution in the oceans. They can also conduct complicated experiments using expensive lab-equipment and dangerous chemicals, just by putting on a pair of VR-goggles that immediately offers very realistic and lively experiences.
According to several of these reports, the cost of VR-technology will be reduced so much over the next 2-3 years that it will be included in everyday classroom teaching for around 15 million students across nations before 2025. This prognosis is backed by large investments in developing VR for teaching by tech-giants such as Apple, Google and Samsung.
But the rapid growth of VR-technology in teaching is a new and relatively un-tested field, and at the University of Copenhagen Associate Professor in Psychology Guido Makransky investigates how, why, and in what settings VR-learning provides an advantage over traditional methods and media, so society´s investments in VR-technology can be used in the most beneficial way.
08 January 2019
The teacher is just as important in a virtual learning environment as in a normal classroom, but a new study shows that boys and girls differ greatly in terms of how they learn best: Boys learn best when their virtual teacher comes in the form of a drone, while girls get more knowledge from VR-teaching when they are taught by a young, female researcher-type named Marie.
Few years from now, students in schools all over the world will receive part of their education in virtual learning environments. Wearing VR-goggles the students will be able to enter 3-dimentional, simulated places and situations that they would normally not have access to because it would be too expensive, too dangerous or physically impossible. Teaching via VR-technology is spreading widely these years and international studies predict that this will revolutionize the way we learn.
Using VR, students can learn about the cells in the human body while “travelling” into the bloodstream, or “explore” the degree of plastic pollution in the oceans. They can also conduct complicated experiments using expensive lab-equipment and dangerous chemicals, just by putting on a pair of VR-goggles that immediately offers very realistic and lively experiences.
According to several of these reports, the cost of VR-technology will be reduced so much over the next 2-3 years that it will be included in everyday classroom teaching for around 15 million students across nations before 2025. This prognosis is backed by large investments in developing VR for teaching by tech-giants such as Apple, Google and Samsung.
But the rapid growth of VR-technology in teaching is a new and relatively un-tested field, and at the University of Copenhagen Associate Professor in Psychology Guido Makransky investigates how, why, and in what settings VR-learning provides an advantage over traditional methods and media, so society´s investments in VR-technology can be used in the most beneficial way.
Read more at The University of Copenhagen.
