VR actvities examples - Vocational Education (VET)

Here is an example (posted on LinkedIn) of VR as used in Vocational Education (VET). The example comes from the European Union Erasmus project which is a conduit for sharing practice and information on education - with a focus on youth and training.

 A search on the Erasmus site for virtual reality reveals a range of initiatives, many in the health and well-being arenas, including this longish video (over an hour) from 2018 introducint AR and VR.

As per other posts on VR on this blog, exampled by this one, I have been a cautious observer of VR. As per findings from the eassessment sub-project on using VR welding simulators, VR has a purpose but are still hampered by costs of hardware/software requirements and lack of haptic sensors. In the eassessment sub-project, learners new to welding appreciated the VR simulator for initial introduction to welding skills. The simulators helped dampen the sensory and cognitive overload, However, once the initial experiences became normalised, learners found the VR welding experience to be less 'real' as it lacked all the inputs encountered during authentic welding (i.e. the heat, sparking, weight of welding gun, range of welding sounds etc.)

So there is importance in working out the actual learning advantages of going down the expensive road of developing VR. If VR is to replace expensive, difficult to access machiner/equipment, then the cost benefits may be recouped. For more mundane activities, alternatives like AR may be more useful.