Could Immersive Virtual Reality Change Education?

A partnership between a virtual reality company and Arizona State University has led to the creation of Dreamscape Learn whose first educational offering is Alien Zoo, a new way to teach about the environment, biology and STEM subjects. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.

Alien Zoo is a virtual laboratory where a student learns about becoming a scientist. Explore, observe, collect digital specimens, and solve problems to learn how to think and other key disciplines needed to become a biologist. This is active learning at its best.

Don your headset to enter the immersive alien world. Your headset comes with an attached computer that fits into a worn backpack. Sensors track your physical movements with the built-in AI algorithms predicting where you are likely to go as you explore the environment. Interact with other participants equally outfitted within this new world. If that isn’t intriguing enough to pique your curiosity, future versions of the Dreamscape platform will make connectivity and mobility even faster and better with the adoption of 5G. The end goal will be to create 5G network hubs (Verizon is the partner) which will mean no more backpack. Communications among participants will be headset to headset.

The Implications for Education

The developers of Dreamscape hope to make it available for home learning environments fueled by the widespread adoption of 5G networks to create a whole new range of learning opportunities. The key will be widespread dissemination of 5G which will address the 260 million children today who have no access to education. And considering the UNESCO-forecasted teacher shortage by 2030, when 60 million will be needed, Dreamscape can represent a big step towards the democratizing of education across the planet in the 21st century.

Have headset and 5G and virtual educational experiences become accessible for all. That’s the power of Dreamscape and other digital virtual learning environments that make personalized education experiences such as discussing philosophy at the feet of Plato, or conversing with Albert Einstein as he formulates his thought experiments and takes you along for the ride. And in both experiences because of AI, the immersive environment will understand what you need to learn to develop your critical thinking skills and knowledge.

The convergence of AI, VR and wireless 5G takes away the problem of finding teachers and funding schools for the hundreds of millions seeking to learn who currently have limited to no opportunity. And it is finally time to end our 19th-century industrial education model once and for all, replacing it with a fantastic digital education environment that awaits all of us.

Back in 2014 when I first wrote about the changing educational paradigm I was invited to speak at a conference in Jamaica that was focused on the island’s 2030 future. During my talk, I stressed the importance of digital literacy and the implementation of game-based learning in the island’s curriculum. I described a future of self-directed, continuous learning for life facilitated by an online virtual learning experience. Well, it appears that the future reality I described is coming to pass a lot sooner.

So who is behind Dreamscape other than a VR company and Arizona State? It’s an impressive list of investors and partners that includes WarnerMedia, Viacom, Disney, AMC, IMAX, Steven Spielberg (the film director), and Hans Zimmer (the musician and film composer).  Arizona State’s President, Michael M. Crow, has described this partnership as one that will push the boundaries and set a new standard for how people learn in the 21st century. I agree.