HEADlines | Is virtual reality the future of education?

Issue 117: 14 Jun 2022

Every week, HEADlines brings you the latest news, stories and commentaries

in education and healthcare. This week, get insights on the latest developments in education.

Is virtual reality the future of education?

The National University of Singapore’s Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine has rolled out the Virtual Reality in Agitation Management (VRAM) for medical and nursing students, in a successful hybrid training programme that prepares healthcare students for handling agitated patients. Students donning a VR headset are given a safe space to develop the right skills to manage real-life scenarios without getting harmed.

VR technology has also gained prominence in Meta’s initiative to develop "metaversities”: immersive online simulations of colleges, where entire campuses and classes can be experienced via a VR headset. While proponents claim the “metaversity” model allows for greater enrolment in higher education, critics question the relevance of VR classes and campuses when “the real value to extend reality generally is to do things that you can’t do any other way”.

As the use of virtual reality in education continues to gain popularity, it is important to question how technology can be useful and relevant in advancing learning outcomes. Most often, a hybrid education model that combines the use of technology with appropriate in-person interventions lead to long-term transference of core skills.

Education in the Spotlight:

The Hechinger Report | Researchers looked at how early STEM stereotypes begin for kids. They found them every step of the way.

By age 6, many children already believe boys are more interested than girls in STEM.

The Conversation | Listening to young people could help reduce pandemic-related harms to children

Research consistently shows that involving young people at all stages – from identifying issues to designing and implementing projects to developing policy recommendations – improves outcomes.

The Straits Times | Inclusive education benefits all children at Singapore's first such pre-school

Of the children in the school, 30 per cent have developmental needs. The teachers cater to the varying levels of learning by applying differentiated teaching strategies.

South China Morning Post | What does Hong Kong's growing art scene mean for the education sector?

As collectors flock to Art Basel and M+ museum, students and aspiring creatives can look forward to more opportunities.

The Hechinger Report | One university has a new college specifically to re-enroll adults who had dropped out

The College of Interdisciplinary and Continuing Studies offers in-state tuition to people regardless of where they live, to help make finishing a bachelor's degree less costly.

The Journal of Sustainability Education | Because it is fun? How to design for long term engagement in informal sustainability education

Science is not fun much of the time, and more importantly, fun in itself is not an end goal in engaging public audiences. To draw participation, we need to focus on motivation; which can include fun some of the time.

The Hechinger Report | Why community colleges are the perfect partner for green jobs - and good jobs

The hub of this growing initiative is community colleges. They have become an incubator for marginalised and low-income individuals and families.

That's all for the week!

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