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What do you think of when you hear the term “immersive learning”?
Historically, this term has referred to the act of fully involving someone in the process of their own education. It involves hands-on instruction, collaboration and multi-sensory experiences to make the material more memorable, as opposed to the learner interacting with it on a two-dimensional level. Just look at immersive language learning as an example: It’s been shown that students who practice language immersion show higher levels of fluency as a result, when compared to those using traditional methods.
The same can arguably be said of workplace training; although everyone has different needs, it’s largely beneficial to empower your people to learn by doing, weaving it into “the flow of work.”
Where does VR fit into this?
Well, that’s our question, actually. As a creative solution that sees users fully submerge themselves in a hyper-realistic, three-dimensional environment, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) could well be the future of immersive learning.
In fact, research from PwC found huge benefits from VR when used for soft skills training. 40% of “v-learners” saw an improvement in confidence compared to classroom learners, and a 35% improvement over e-learners to act on what they learned after training in VR. From the research:
“V-learning, using virtual reality to train our people, was more effective than classroom and e-learning settings at teaching soft skills concepts.”
Considering the expanding need for soft skills in the workplace, it’s hard to deny VR’s value. But as this novel tech proves its worth and piques the interests of L&D professionals, we’re wondering if it has long-term staying power. There are a lot of factors to consider, so to decide whether VR is the future of immersive training, we need to assess both its benefits and its drawbacks.
But first: Let’s establish how you would use this tech in the workplace.
‍
If you’ve yet to give AR or VR a go, you might be wondering exactly how you would practically use this technology in the workplace. There are a few different applications of VR/AR for workplace learning, and here are just a few examples:
‍
Of course, there are plenty of other use cases for VR – but hopefully this gives you a good overview. Essentially, these technologies allow people to test their skills and knowledge in a low-pressure setting, with the added benefit of feeling true to real life.
‍
What are the benefits of using VR and AR in training? We’ve rounded up three main advantages.
Unsurprisingly, the top benefit of this technology is immersion. AR and VR technology allows the learner to be fully absorbed in the “world” of the training, effectively replicating what the scenarios would feel like in real life (but with none of the risks.)
And not for nothing: A systematic literature review in Springer Nature Link found that this immersion significantly improved engagement and retention (so basically, the two things we’re always after in L&D.) It’s hard to deny the benefits, strongly hinting towards a lot of VR usage in immersive learning’s future.
‍
Related to our last point, “Learner engagement and knowledge retention” deserve their own section – and these benefits are even further supported by this Reality Academy case study. Don’t worry if your browser doesn’t have a Translate extension; we’ll give you the salient points: France’s Banque Populaire du Sud used AR and VR learning programmes for their employees’ equity and inclusion training, and the effectiveness can’t be denied.
Before doing this training, 32% of employees said they felt comfortable addressing disability issues. After, that number rose to 92%.
Knowledge retention is another benefit of VR learning. It’s our opinion that this could be thanks in part to how new and novel the technology is, automatically making the experience feel more exciting and therefore more memorable. However, there are two other, key reasons for this advantage:
The first is multisensory stimulation. VR connects to multiple senses (visual, auditory, and kinaesthetic), which creates a more memorable experience for your learners. This cocktail of sensation helps with cognitive processing and recall of information.
Next, active learning (something we touched on in last week’s blog) plays a big part in knowledge retention. As we covered in the blog, this study from Harvard found that students who participated in this method remembered more information than when simply listening to a lecture – and this also applies to immersive learning using AR and VR. Because it requires active participation, it helps encode information more effectively in the brain.
Personalisation is an important element of any effective learning experience, and there’s no denying that VR learning is set up to provide it.
Because of the technology’s relative newness, it has the ability to use AI for adaptive learning paths and adjust the training to different employees’ various strengths and weaknesses. Not only that, but you can customise the training scenarios within the immersive learning environment (something we covered in our opening section on different applications of this technology.)
Most importantly, the learning can be tailored to your people’s specific needs and preferences. This is something on which we place a great deal of importance here at Thrive, and it’s why our learning platform is set up to host a variety of content formats; so that everyone can take part in learning, in the way that makes the most sense for them.
‍
This novel new way of training is not without its drawbacks. We’ve identified three main disadvantages:
‍
The first and most obvious drawback is the cost.
At the time of this writing, it’s estimated that it can cost anywhere from £15,000 - £100,000 to implement an AR/VR immersive training programme in an organisation, and with L&D teams’ quite famously limited budgets it feels hard to justify the hefty price tag.
It’s understandable if, when allocating the training budget, L&D professionals don’t jump at the chance to pay thousands for something that may not stay the course.
‍
On top of the cost, the actual infrastructure and expertise required to implement AR/VR technology is prohibitive for a lot of companies.
This also applies to the people within these companies: VR training has a steeper learning curve when compared to traditional training, meaning that time needs to be set aside to learn how to use the technology.
All of these costs bloat the “time budget” associated with VR learning.
‍
Although VR is definitely accessible in some ways – like the previously mentioned ability to personalise – is it accessible on a larger scale?
If a company wanted this tech to be truly accessible to every single employee, they’d need to ensure everyone had their own individual device. Otherwise, employees who work fully remotely (many of whom may be doing so because of disabilities or other access needs) will miss out.
Secondly, a lot of people actually struggle to use AR or VR in the first place. Users report feeling motion sick thanks to the tech’s uncanny combination of motion and stasis, which causes a sensory mismatch resulting in headaches and nausea. There are ways to mitigate this, such as starting with smaller sessions that build up to longer ones, taking regular breaks, and using natural nausea remedies such as ginger and peppermint – but the question then becomes whether that effort is worth the pay-off.
‍
So to answer our initial question: Is VR the future of immersive learning?
Immersive learning has shown itself to be hugely beneficial, whether you’re trying to ask an Italian where the library is or remember how to use your workplace’s software. And VR seems to slot nicely into this method; a relatively new and novel way to bring immersive learning into the future, and have users exist within their training so that they remember what they’ve learned on  a long-term basis. Â
We can definitely see a future where VR and AR take up a large portion of immersive learning experiences. As the technology continues to scale and develop, it’s likely that the cost will become more manageable – making this a potentially far more realistic prospect than we might have originally thought.
What do you think? Do you disagree with our assessment of VR’s future with immersive learning? We’d love to hear your thoughts, so join the conversation over on LinkedIn.
‍
Explore what impact Thrive could make for your team and your learners today.
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What do you think of when you hear the term “immersive learning”?
Historically, this term has referred to the act of fully involving someone in the process of their own education. It involves hands-on instruction, collaboration and multi-sensory experiences to make the material more memorable, as opposed to the learner interacting with it on a two-dimensional level. Just look at immersive language learning as an example: It’s been shown that students who practice language immersion show higher levels of fluency as a result, when compared to those using traditional methods.
The same can arguably be said of workplace training; although everyone has different needs, it’s largely beneficial to empower your people to learn by doing, weaving it into “the flow of work.”
Where does VR fit into this?
Well, that’s our question, actually. As a creative solution that sees users fully submerge themselves in a hyper-realistic, three-dimensional environment, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) could well be the future of immersive learning.
In fact, research from PwC found huge benefits from VR when used for soft skills training. 40% of “v-learners” saw an improvement in confidence compared to classroom learners, and a 35% improvement over e-learners to act on what they learned after training in VR. From the research:
“V-learning, using virtual reality to train our people, was more effective than classroom and e-learning settings at teaching soft skills concepts.”
Considering the expanding need for soft skills in the workplace, it’s hard to deny VR’s value. But as this novel tech proves its worth and piques the interests of L&D professionals, we’re wondering if it has long-term staying power. There are a lot of factors to consider, so to decide whether VR is the future of immersive training, we need to assess both its benefits and its drawbacks.
But first: Let’s establish how you would use this tech in the workplace.
‍
If you’ve yet to give AR or VR a go, you might be wondering exactly how you would practically use this technology in the workplace. There are a few different applications of VR/AR for workplace learning, and here are just a few examples:
‍
Of course, there are plenty of other use cases for VR – but hopefully this gives you a good overview. Essentially, these technologies allow people to test their skills and knowledge in a low-pressure setting, with the added benefit of feeling true to real life.
‍
What are the benefits of using VR and AR in training? We’ve rounded up three main advantages.
Unsurprisingly, the top benefit of this technology is immersion. AR and VR technology allows the learner to be fully absorbed in the “world” of the training, effectively replicating what the scenarios would feel like in real life (but with none of the risks.)
And not for nothing: A systematic literature review in Springer Nature Link found that this immersion significantly improved engagement and retention (so basically, the two things we’re always after in L&D.) It’s hard to deny the benefits, strongly hinting towards a lot of VR usage in immersive learning’s future.
‍
Related to our last point, “Learner engagement and knowledge retention” deserve their own section – and these benefits are even further supported by this Reality Academy case study. Don’t worry if your browser doesn’t have a Translate extension; we’ll give you the salient points: France’s Banque Populaire du Sud used AR and VR learning programmes for their employees’ equity and inclusion training, and the effectiveness can’t be denied.
Before doing this training, 32% of employees said they felt comfortable addressing disability issues. After, that number rose to 92%.
Knowledge retention is another benefit of VR learning. It’s our opinion that this could be thanks in part to how new and novel the technology is, automatically making the experience feel more exciting and therefore more memorable. However, there are two other, key reasons for this advantage:
The first is multisensory stimulation. VR connects to multiple senses (visual, auditory, and kinaesthetic), which creates a more memorable experience for your learners. This cocktail of sensation helps with cognitive processing and recall of information.
Next, active learning (something we touched on in last week’s blog) plays a big part in knowledge retention. As we covered in the blog, this study from Harvard found that students who participated in this method remembered more information than when simply listening to a lecture – and this also applies to immersive learning using AR and VR. Because it requires active participation, it helps encode information more effectively in the brain.
Personalisation is an important element of any effective learning experience, and there’s no denying that VR learning is set up to provide it.
Because of the technology’s relative newness, it has the ability to use AI for adaptive learning paths and adjust the training to different employees’ various strengths and weaknesses. Not only that, but you can customise the training scenarios within the immersive learning environment (something we covered in our opening section on different applications of this technology.)
Most importantly, the learning can be tailored to your people’s specific needs and preferences. This is something on which we place a great deal of importance here at Thrive, and it’s why our learning platform is set up to host a variety of content formats; so that everyone can take part in learning, in the way that makes the most sense for them.
‍
This novel new way of training is not without its drawbacks. We’ve identified three main disadvantages:
‍
The first and most obvious drawback is the cost.
At the time of this writing, it’s estimated that it can cost anywhere from £15,000 - £100,000 to implement an AR/VR immersive training programme in an organisation, and with L&D teams’ quite famously limited budgets it feels hard to justify the hefty price tag.
It’s understandable if, when allocating the training budget, L&D professionals don’t jump at the chance to pay thousands for something that may not stay the course.
‍
On top of the cost, the actual infrastructure and expertise required to implement AR/VR technology is prohibitive for a lot of companies.
This also applies to the people within these companies: VR training has a steeper learning curve when compared to traditional training, meaning that time needs to be set aside to learn how to use the technology.
All of these costs bloat the “time budget” associated with VR learning.
‍
Although VR is definitely accessible in some ways – like the previously mentioned ability to personalise – is it accessible on a larger scale?
If a company wanted this tech to be truly accessible to every single employee, they’d need to ensure everyone had their own individual device. Otherwise, employees who work fully remotely (many of whom may be doing so because of disabilities or other access needs) will miss out.
Secondly, a lot of people actually struggle to use AR or VR in the first place. Users report feeling motion sick thanks to the tech’s uncanny combination of motion and stasis, which causes a sensory mismatch resulting in headaches and nausea. There are ways to mitigate this, such as starting with smaller sessions that build up to longer ones, taking regular breaks, and using natural nausea remedies such as ginger and peppermint – but the question then becomes whether that effort is worth the pay-off.
‍
So to answer our initial question: Is VR the future of immersive learning?
Immersive learning has shown itself to be hugely beneficial, whether you’re trying to ask an Italian where the library is or remember how to use your workplace’s software. And VR seems to slot nicely into this method; a relatively new and novel way to bring immersive learning into the future, and have users exist within their training so that they remember what they’ve learned on  a long-term basis. Â
We can definitely see a future where VR and AR take up a large portion of immersive learning experiences. As the technology continues to scale and develop, it’s likely that the cost will become more manageable – making this a potentially far more realistic prospect than we might have originally thought.
What do you think? Do you disagree with our assessment of VR’s future with immersive learning? We’d love to hear your thoughts, so join the conversation over on LinkedIn.
‍
Explore what impact Thrive could make for your team and your learners today.
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