Virtual Reality and Its Impact on Education

According to Horn (2016)

In an article titled Virtual Reality Disruption, the shift in technology towards the use of virtual reality (VR) provides an opportunity for developing teaching methods and a challenge for implementing these methods. Horn highlights the developments in technology, from the permeation of broadband connectivity in schools to the availability of devices such as Facebook’s Oculus VR and the smartphone[1]. Horn contends that VR provides immersive technologies that can equate to previous teaching methods such as field trips. Horn is pessimistic that continuous use of technology in society due to affordability and availability can sustainably transition into the classroom at scale.

In the article Virtual Interactive Presence and Augmented Reality (VIPAR) for Remote Surgical Assistance

Shenai (2011) provides an example of how VR can be effective in providing remote assistance in surgical procedures. The author also highlights the potential for VR in providing training using augmented reality. This conclusion has its foundations in research that included setting up VR technology that enabled resident surgeons to interact with a remotely stationed attending surgeon in conducting carotid endarterectomy (CEA) and pterional craniotomy[2].

In Facilitating Empathy through Virtual Reality

Schutte and Stilinović (2017) describe how virtual reality can alter the emotional condition of an individual. In their research, the authors experiment using VR and a similar controlled experiment. The researchers highlighted that the participants in the controlled experiment showed less empathy than the participants who used VR in the experiment[3]. The authors adduce this as the result of VR’s ability to affect wearers’ emotional states compared to two-dimensional media.

Bibliography

Horn, Michael B. “Virtual reality disruption.” Education Next16, no. 4 (2016).

Schutte, Nicola S., and Emma J. Stilinović. ”Facilitating empathy through virtual reality.” Motivation and Emotion 41, no. 6 (2017): 708-712.

Shenai, Mahesh B., Marcus Dillavou, Corey Shum, Douglas Ross, Richard S. Tubbs, Alan Shih, and Barton L. Guthrie. ”Virtual interactive presence and augmented reality (VIPAR) for remote surgical assistance.” Operative Neurosurgery 68, no. suppl_1 (2011): ons200-ons207.

[1] Horn B. ”Virtual Reality Disruption.” Education Next 16, no. 4 (2016): 2

[2] Mahesh B. Shenai, Marcus Dillavou, Corey Shum, Douglas Ross, Richard S. Tubbs, Alan Shih, and Barton L. Guthrie. ”Virtual interactive presence and augmented reality (VIPAR) for remote surgical assistance.” Operative Neurosurgery 68, no. suppl_1 (2011): ons202

[3] Nicola S. Schutte and Emma J. Stilinović. ”Facilitating empathy through virtual reality.” Motivation and Emotion 41, no. 6 (2017): 711