Looking at Education: Immersive Technology is Changing the Way People Learn

Story and photos by Jacquelyn Melinek

Graphics by Kelly Bumb

Biodiversity students at North Carolina State University can step into Shackleford Banks, the southern-most barrier island in Cape Lookout National Seashore, which is home to more than 100 wild horses.

Students took notes as they watched feral horses, crabs and sea animals shoot past them. They moved close to look at exotic wildlife hiding on top (and under) the blue waters.

Then they can travel hundreds of miles to a completely different ecosystem in Merchants Millpond State Park, a swamp in eastern North Carolina.

In the swamp, students heard the water swish between their legs as they explored the biodiversity in between the bald cypress trees, beech groves and Spanish moss — all without leaving the classroom.

How? Through immersive technology.

In the past five years, immersive technology has skyrocketed across the United States. The impossible is becoming possible, and students are using virtual reality to go places they’ve never been before.

In 2014, only 200,000 people used virtual reality but its emergence had begun. By 2018, that number had expanded to 171 million people.

Immersive technology ranges from VR, which uses headsets and 360-degree views to put you into a virtual world, to augmented reality (AR), which merges the real world with the digital, such as Pokémon Go. And it has moved into the classroom and office.

At N.C. State, Distance Education and Learning Technology Applications (DELTA)  develops products and services for the university’s Online and Distance Programs.

Online students can walk through an organic chemistry lab on N.C. State’s campus. Students virtually put safety goggles on, tie their hair back and follow along with the professor and teaching assistant as they begin one of their 13 labs.

“These technical applications give students the chance to experience things that most of the population didn’t have the means or ability to do,” Mike Cuales, associate director of DELTA, said. “Since students can’t get on a school bus and drive out to the coast or mountains, we try to give them the next best thing.”

Through class observations and feedback, DELTA has noted that VR has increased student engagement and understanding more than a textbook or homework assignment would have.

DELTA isn’t the only organization figuring this out either.

At UNC-Chapel Hill, the Kenan-Flagler Next Program will give students the opportunity to immerse themselves in Antarctica aboard Ernest Shackleton’s failed 1914 endeavor and become the sailor themselves.

Imagine if you could walk across the cracking planks of a ship in Antarctica, see your breath freeze in front of you as you cry out for your crew who fell overboard.

You don’t need to “imagine if” you could do that anymore, Steven King, assistant professor of interactive and multimedia at UNC-Chapel Hill School of Media and Journalism said.

King helped create the experience for the Kenan-Flagler Next program.

“When you put the headset on you are Ernest Shackleton,” King said. “And you have to figure out what you’re going to do in these situations or you’re going to die and so are your 28 men trapped in the ice.”

The VR experience teaches the students leadership skills under high-stress situations, which helps them become better at decision making, King said.

If boarding a ship isn’t on a student’s bucket list, they can also travel to Cameroon and participate in a VR simulation to market a medical product to locals.

“Students can learn about how to work in another culture by extracting information from different, new accents to understanding how to work in a developing nation,” King said.

The projects are part of the Kenan-Flagler Next program in collaboration with the North Carolina School for the Arts and will launch in August.

Immersive technology has also moved into the workplace.

Lucid Dream VR, in Durham, N.C., produces VR and AR programs on workplace harassment, job safety or company culture.

“Our simulations provide a real human response,” said Mike McArdle, co-founder of Lucid Dream. “By learning content via immersive technology, reactions are no longer passive. Employees and clients can engage at a higher rate and thrive in the workplace.”

Joshua Setzer, a co-founder of Lucid Dream VR, elaborates on custom programs used with the VR and AR headsets and tablet-based AR. (Photo by Jacquelyn Melinek)

Lucid Dream’s revenue in 2018 was in the low millions, suggesting that the educational demand goes beyond the classroom and into workplaces, too.

“Many jobs are using VR systems now to train their employees,” said Jennifer Snyder, the STEM coach for Oakboro Choice Stem School in Stanly County, N.C.

“It’s not just for fun and gaming. It’s being used in the real world. There are so many different applications, for pilots, training doctors and other situations that can’t be replicated easily that allow people to be in the moment and experience it.”

Co-founders of Lucid Dream VR demonstrate how their tablet-based AR can help educate clients on serious illnesses like pulmonary heart disease. (Photo by Jacquelyn Melinek)

Similar to Lucid Dream co-founders’ McArdle and Joshua Setzler, Snyder also believes that immersive technology is aiding the way students learn, not replacing it.

After receiving a grant from the West Stanly Rotary Club in Oakboro, N.C., the STEM-based school received a $1,600 HTC Vive headset.

The cost for mainstream VR or AR equipment can be as low as $15 for a cardboard headset and cost up to low thousands for high-end controllers and headsets. High-end VR experiences currently come with a high-end price.

“VR gives the kids here a chance to experience things they could have never experienced before,” Snyder said. “We are a very rural county, and there are kids here who will never leave this 50-mile radius. If we can show them other parts of the world, it will heighten their awareness and understanding.”

Students in SeaPerch Robotics club at Oakboro Choice Stem School work with faculty to learn how to use new technology. (Photo provided by Jennifer Snyder)

In social studies classes, students can visit the Egyptian pyramids, go into Queen Nefertiti’s tomb and learn from online archaeologists.

“Students retain it better if they experience it,” Snyder said. “Instead of just looking a flat screen or a page in a textbook, which they see all day long, I’ve dropped them in the middle of the environment and it opens up so many doors.”

Goldman Sachs predicted that by 2025 the VR and AR industry would become a $95 billion market, with $5.1 billion in education.

Tractica, a market intelligence firm, said that the price of VR headsets should decline by about 15 percent each year over the next coming years, which can help stimulate growth in equipment sales, VR content and overall users.

“If we continue to produce content appropriately and right, people will continue to be inspired, intrigued and will go out in the real world and ask questions and engage in dialogue,” Cuales said. “People are seeking greater understanding because of what they saw in a VR or AR experience is what is truly most beneficial for any age range, any society and our future.”

Jacquelyn Melinek

Jacquelyn, a senior from Bedford, New York, is a reporting major with a minor in creative writing. Currently, she writes for GrepBeat, where she reports on business and tech-based news in the Triangle. Jacquelyn also works for NC Business News Wire, where she reports on companies in the state. This past summer, she wrote for Luxury Travel Magazine in Sydney, where she focused on business and travel writing. After graduation, Jacquelyn hopes to enter business and tech journalism.

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