Armed with a lifelong affinity for video games and a $6,000 faculty teaching grant, I have spent the past 15 months working on a pilot project to illustrate the value of using virtual reality in the classroom. My goal is to convince fellow faculty members and administrators at Transylvania University, where I teach business administration, that VR can offer today’s tech-savvy students exciting opportunities to solve problems in new ways.
When I set up in-office demos for peers and students, they said they could not believe how immersive the technology felt. Expecting just another digital video game, they stepped into a dress rehearsal of the original Broadway cast of Hamilton or found themselves competing in the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
There are major differences between virtual and augmented reality. The latter, which is less expensive to produce and already more prolific, is created by adding a digital element to the real world, such as a hologram one can view through a smartphone. Popular examples of this would be the Pokémon Go or the new Jurassic World Alive apps, which allow smartphone users to to find virtual characters that appear in physical locations. Users are still aware of the real space around them.
In contrast, virtual reality places the user inside a digitized world for a fully immersive experience. It generally costs more to design and typically requires more-expensive equipment, such as a full headset.
The modern virtual-reality classroom resembles that of the sci-fi novel Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline (newly released as a film by Steven Spielberg). In the novel, students log into a virtual class in a virtual world named Oasis, which allows them to escape their dystopian real world to pursue education and recreation.
In May, I will be teaching a new special-topics course in virtual reality that explores its potential in both business and the future of higher education. This undergraduate course takes place both in a virtual-reality classroom and a brick-and-mortar classroom. Once they become familiar with the equipment and some examples, students will be able to select an area of interest, such as their major, and explore how the technology could change a traditional aspect of the discipline in question.
Though my primary lens is business, I see potential for using virtual and augmented technologies across many fields. An accounting or math professor might integrate the technology by using a VR restaurant-owner simulator, which combines math, statistics, and financial organization in an engaging virtual space. An art professor might virtually guide students in his rural-Kentucky classroom through an exhibit happening in Paris, allowing them not only to explore works of art but also to virtually hold and examine them up close. A biology class might virtually travel down DNA strands previously visible only through a microscope. The types and uses of mixed-reality applications in higher education are rapidly expanding.
There are numerous inexpensive ways to adopt such technology in the classroom and beyond. To make these tools more accessible to the public, reduce fears associated with a new technology, and increase sales, many tech companies have released free augmented- or virtual-reality applications. Crayola, for example, has released a coloring book that allows you to color a Disney princess and watch your design become a 3-D image above the book when viewed through the ColorAlive app on a smartphone. McDonald’s McPlay app scans and converts toys purchased with Happy Meals to holograms that move, dance, and sing.
In its simplest form, an experience in mixed reality requires just a smartphone, an app, and a pair of cardboard goggles costing less than $10. That is a workable alternative to mixed-reality headsets that can cost several hundred to several thousand dollars and are used with higher-end video games, television shows, or medical training. With time, the quality of all products will improve, and the costs will decrease.
A biology class might travel down DNA strands once visible only through a microscope.
After 15 months of virtual- and augmented-reality gameplay and design, I’ve had the chance to consider how these technologies can better be introduced and used in the classroom. Among my findings:
Faculty members are both intrigued by and uncertain about virtual reality. A seemingly low number of professors nationwide currently utilize it, though most believe it could be a useful classroom tool. When I surveyed 350 local virtual-reality testers (students along with faculty and staff members), all of them reported that they found the experience better than expected, wanted to learn more, and could see its potential value in the classroom — beginning to dispel the myth that virtual reality is solely a gaming technology.
In my conversations with peers, a lack of knowledge about how to integrate VR into the curriculum appears to be the primary reason for not using it. A math course, for example, may not immediately call to mind its applicable uses, while a virtual field trip can easily be envisioned for a history class. But I believe the use of such tools in the classroom will grow as they become more familiar and as costs decrease. Colleges can help by seeking grants or providing money for these innovative projects.
Those using VR in the classroom must address both physical and emotional health-related concerns. For virtual-reality games and simulations that physically allow the user to explore an environment, a safe, object-free space is needed. About 8 percent of my students have noted some nausea stemming from the use of VR devices, commonly known as “VR sickness.” I’ve found that the students most likely to experience nausea are those who are already prone to motion sickness, who play beyond 15-minute intervals without developing a tolerance to the virtual world, and who play games requiring a lot of head motion.
We need to be talking about the ethics of using virtual reality in the classroom.
I ask my students to sign a waiver of liability that both explains potential dangers and what to expect with potentially triggering events of a particular game or experience. In addition to physical side effects, the virtual experience has paved the way for living a game like never before. We may be used to watching stressful events on TV or social media from the safety of our homes, but virtual reality is far more immersive, and can provoke emotional distress. That leads to my next observation:
We need to be having conversations about the ethics of using virtual reality in the classroom. Just because we have the ability to virtually transport a student to a war-torn country or a historical moment in time does not mean we should do so without thinking of possible consequences. What ethical obligations might faculty members owe our students during these experiences?
Tech companies want to support educational initiatives that use mixed realities. I found from experience that companies like Microsoft are eager to work with colleges to create the next generation of tech-centered curricula … if you purchase their equipment. I was fortunate enough to receive faculty grants to buy a variety of mixed-reality equipment. But other professors in this early and expensive adoption stage may face the daunting task of providing affordable opportunities to a community that is not yet convinced of the value of these technologies. I hope to help close the gap through my current research project, which looks at how we might reframe collaborations with tech companies and achieve a better balance between traditional and digital lectures. Given colleges’ ever-tighter budgets, tech companies need to offer benefits beyond minor discounts for bulk purchases if they truly wish to see mixed reality used more broadly on campuses.
Although technology is not always a professor’s best or even preferred teaching method, I believe we should be more open-minded about testing new tools.
Virtual reality has come a long way in the past few years, but its use is still impeded by expensive hardware, health concerns, and a lack of training for faculty members. Full integration of the technology will most likely come as those concerns are addressed and as tech companies continue to bring innovations to the public. Meanwhile, we can expect to see more use of augmented reality, particularly on smartphones. With its ability to provide snapshots of foreign lands, gaming experiences that spark engaging conversations, and much more, virtual reality has the potential to change classroom teaching in many academic fields. I still enjoy seeing the world through its innovative lens. As an early adopter, I believe virtual and augmented realities are not a short-lived trend, but an exciting and essential element of tomorrow’s classroom today.
Adam Evans is an assistant professor of business administration at Transylvania University, in Lexington, Ky.
