Active learning, where participants engage with material in learning sessions, has long been used as a strategy for organizational growth. Usually, the results are more effective the more proactive the learning.
However, in immersive learning, instructors use a completely simulated environment for training, which facilitates both remote education where learner’s cannot meet with in-person with instructions, as well as hands-on training where you need prototypes, tools, materials, equipment, and others.
What is Immersive Learning? Definition
Immersive learning is defined as an experiential way of fully engaging in training environments, both through virtual reality (VR), immersive storytelling, narratives, dialogues, or content, all which increases engagement.
To increase efficacy, retention, and user engagement, immersive learning also integrates the feeling of presence offered by VR with cutting-edge theories, data analytics, and spatial design. The strategy is founded on years of neuroscience studies, which revealed that the brain processes VR events in a manner similar to real life. In other words, a virtual work environment’s performance is a good predictor of real-world productivity.
According to Accenture’s post-pandemic study, roughly 94 percent of employees said they would remain at a company longer if it made an investment in their career development, especially via self-paced learning opportunities. However, just 2 percent of respondents agreed that their workplace offered them an opportunity to receive future competencies.
The Tools Needed for Immersive Learning
Immersive learning experiences can take place through the following mediums:
- Augmented reality (AR): This modifies the learner’s real-world environment via digital overlays. An example is delivering emergency information for firefighting or paramedic teams.
- Virtual reality (VR): Through the use of a VR headset, users may interact with new worlds with a fully-immersed and simulated reality.
- Mixed reality (MR): In this subset of XR, actual environments and objects may interact seamlessly with virtual content.
- Simulated learning: This uses projections and 3D imagery to display ideas and 2D schematics, but it is less immersive than AR and VR and may also include simulated roleplay situations.
- Video learning: In order to guide the student through a simulated procedure or place of action, this captures situations and training settings using 360-degree video. Employees can then see the film with any VR headset, desktop, or mobile device.
Organizations often use immersive learning environments (ILEs) to support these technologies. Gartner defines ILEs as “learning situations that are constructed using a variety of techniques and software tools, including game-based learning, simulation-based learning, and virtual 3D worlds.”
Their capacity to imitate true-to-life situations and places allow students to put their knowledge into practice and communicate through virtual channels, ultimately setting them apart from other teaching methods.
Key Benefits of Immersive Learning
Enable reusability and reduce costs
In an immersive setting, students may go through learning modules as many times as necessary to master it. It allows each student to repeat a course until they understand it, compared to classroom settings where individual instruction is not possible. In costly trainers such as in the military, this may significantly save costs.
Manage risks while exposing learners to real-world challenges
On-the-job training may be partly replaced with immersive learning. For instance, new hires may learn how to carry out their routines or how to conduct themselves in difficult circumstances such as constructive criticism.
It also can help tackle a variety of problems in a secure setting without posing any physical dangers to the organization or the employee.
Support personalization and engagement
Immersive learning creates an emotional connection between learners and their experiences because as it is genuine and highly engaging. Being included in the real-life setting is key to the learning process and is accomplished by providing the students with a physical environment simulation in which they are urged to act. Additionally, individualized teaching may be given to users as they go through simulation at their own speed.
Improve knowledge retention
Arousal, a combination of attention and engagement, is another important learning component VR can truly optimize. To make training memorable and effective, true emotional reactions like tension, anxiety, and surprise are triggered more realistically. Developers create their experiences to aid the brain in creating the proper connections for learning and memory retention. Students must also put what they have learned into practice, make decisions, and see how those actions affect them to maximize their learner retention capabilities.
Monitor learner progress at scale
Companies can now obtain data that has mostly been unused up until now, thanks to these new solutions. Learner activities are recorded and data can reveal behavioral insights that conventional teaching approaches could never have discovered. Organizations may track a variety of learner success indicators, such as where and how students focus their attention, how often they receive training, and the quality of their feedback.
Considerations to Remember
While immersive learning offers sizeable benefits, it is important to remember that it may not be the best fit for everyone as XR may have higher startup costs than other modes of learning.
For small businesses, it may be somewhat overwhelming considering the hardware, design, programming, and other components required. Companies may also need to update programs to keep software up to date, which also increase costs. Finally, not every employee will be able to participate in VR programs due to health reasons.
The industry will probably see more immersive learning in both online and classroom settings as this technology develops and becomes more accessible. With immersive learning solutions that mainly depend on XR, businesses like Walmart, ExxonMobil, Hilton, Airbus, Deutsche Bahn, and DHL are already paving the way.
