What is Immersive Learning?
The future is here! Engaging your learners, ensuring maximum retention, and fostering success in real-world applications are all possible with immersive learning in its various forms. Put simply, immersive learning involves using virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), or extended reality (XR) to create a learning scenario or simulation in an artificial environment. The possible applications of the immersive learning experience in education and instructional design are endless. However, while these very powerful tools can have major impacts on learning, best practices must still be carefully followed.
What are the Benefits and Challenges of Immersive Learning?
Immersive learning experiences are powerful learning tools but don’t come without challenges. The benefits of simulated/immersive learning experiences include decreased cost, accessibility, a student-centered learning design, safety in a risk-free environment, and the active learning that takes place within the immersive or simulated space (American College of Education, 2022; Kim et al., 2020). Studies have also shown that immersive virtual reality (iVR) in particular improves students’ social and spatial skills while also improving academic performance (Kim et al., 2020). Immersive and simulated learning experiences are incredibly engaging and translate easily toward real-world applications (Kim et al., 2020; Mulders et al., 2020; Patterson & Han, 2019).
However, as the technology for these experiences is still being developed and perfected, there are challenges with immersive/simulated learning. One such challenge may be computing speed and connectivity issues that affect the quality of these experiences (American College of Education, 2022; Patterson & Han, 2019). In addition to connectivity issues, there may be some health and safety concerns (such as motion sickness), reluctance in wearing head-mounted displays (HMD), and a degree of overstimulation/distractibility due to an increased cognitive load (Mulders et al., 2020; Patterson & Han, 2019). By designing immersive and/or simulated learning experiences with best practices in education/learning theory, the instructional designer and developer can make the learning experience effective and engaging while mitigating the challenges of this technology (Mulders et al., 2020; Patterson & Han, 2019).
Applications for Immersive Learning in the K-12 Setting
& a Plan for Implementation
The applications for immersive learning in the K-12 setting are endless, but there are a few amazing examples that come to mind quickly:
Viewing the inner workings of machines or the body.
Exploring cultural artifacts and traditions.
Taking virtual field trips to new places and times.
The future is here! Immerse your learners!
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References
American College of Education. (2022). Trends in instructional design: Module 4 [Video]. Canvas. https://ace.instructure.com/courses/1970601/external_tools/118428
Kim, K. G., Oertel, C., Dobricki, M., Olsen, J. K., Coppi, A. E., Cattaneo, A., & Dillenbourg, P. (2020). Using immersive virtual reality to support designing skills in vocational education. British Journal of Educational Technology, 51(6), 2199–2213. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13026
Mulders, M., Buchner, J., & Kerres, M. (2020). A framework for the use of immersive virtual reality in learning environments. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (Ijet), 15(24), 208. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v15i24.16615
Patterson, T., & Han, I. (2019). Learning to teach with virtual reality: Lessons from one elementary teacher. TechTrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning, 63(4), 463–469. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-019-00401-6
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