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If you have been reading and watching news about Oculus VR, the company acquired by Facebook, its massive application to a range of sectors beyond games or movies is earning rapid recognition by many business sectors, not least by L&D. This was and is, Mark Zuckerberg’s intention - to make Oculus a platform for many other experiences, including studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world just by putting on goggles in your home. Zuckerberg thinks that “one day, we believe this kind of immersive, augmented reality will become a part of daily life for billions of people.” As a learning provider, I especially like his reference to the ‘classroom of students’ as it shows he sees the potential for VR’s uptake in the learning environment, whether it’s a school classroom or professional workplace training.
In a report by Markets and Markets the global augmented reality market in 2014 was valued at USD 1.72 Billion USD and is expected to reach a staggering USD 56.8 Billion by 2020. This prediction is down to the fact that as a consequence of AR’s increased attention and uptake by the retail, e-commerce, architecture, and medical sectors to name but a few, so this will only serve as a significant confidence drive for the wider L&D space to look at its use and effectiveness for how professional learning can be even more effectively delivered. It’s gamification on a whole new level.
Next generation technologies which feature virtual and augmented reality will give learners even more complex and authentic interactions not only with regard to physical and cognitive authenticity, but the ability to embed learning and training experiences into the real world, not vice versa. They mark a shift in how learning is being delivered; it is being made more fun, more interactive, more relevant and more powerful.
VR - a great new addition to blended learning
Much can be accomplished in a virtual and VR environment that would not otherwise happen in real life; this is what makes it memorable, the key USP for how learning is delivered and what makes learning ‘stick,’ to quote the eponymous report to which I often refer in articles and blogs. I think AR systems will help companies to make training more engaging and enjoyable, and this is especially important for the millennial workforce. Bringing a video game-like experience to professionals and presenting training material in a more engaging way will ultimately help improve the take-up, understanding and use of the information learners receive. In a PWC Survey ‘Millennials at work: Reshaping the workplace’, companies which offer excellent training and development programmes are seen as attractive employers. As the PWC report also states, ‘millennials want to experience as much training as possible. If your organisation is more focused on developing high potentials, or more senior people, then you could risk losing future talent if you fail to engage millennials with development opportunities.’ When they read this message, those companies which question the use of AR or VT in training, may well think again: VR would be a valuable new addition to a blended learning portfolio.
