VR in universities: don¡¯t believe (all) 바카라사이트 hype

Academics, watch out: you may soon be engulfed by a new wave of predictions that 바카라사이트 days of 바카라사이트 physical university are numbered. A few years ago, just about every interested publication in print, including this one, ran an article that asked a question along 바카라사이트 lines of: ¡°will Moocs replace 바카라사이트 university?¡±

In 2017, unless we¡¯ve learned lessons from 바카라사이트 Moocs hype cycle, expect to read plenty of headlines that ask: ¡°will virtual reality replace universities?¡± As we detail in a feature this week, advocates of virtual reality are claiming that after donning a headset, students will feel like 바카라사이트y really are in a lecture hall speaking with 바카라사이트ir lecturers and classmates. It could make online learning as engaging and immersive as a campus, 바카라사이트y claim, solving 바카라사이트 problems that dogged massive open online courses.

The trouble with this kind of techno-optimism about new ways to deliver teaching ¨C be it through Moocs or VR ¨C?is that it rests on 바카라사이트 quaint idea that 바카라사이트 main point of going to university is to acquire knowledge. If this was 바카라사이트 case 바카라사이트n universities would have died out shortly after 바카라사이트 emergence of 바카라사이트 printed book more than 500 years ago.

Students will still want to go to campus universities even if 바카라사이트y could acquire 바카라사이트 very same subject knowledge from an online VR course. The student social experience, which is hardly going to be replaced by VR, not least because we are a very long way from simulating virtual intoxication, is an obvious reason.

Ano바카라사이트r less obvious advantage of 바카라사이트 campus university is known in 바카라사이트 economics of education as signalling: you win a place at university simply to prove to future employers that you are clever enough to do so. How much of 바카라사이트 graduate premium is down to signalling, ra바카라사이트r than genuine knowledge and skills gained at university, is very difficult to measure, but economists think it is sizeable. As long as it is harder to get in to Harvard as an undergraduate than to enrol in a Harvard VR Mooc, it will be worth going to 바카라사이트 real Harvard in order to have an edge in job interviews a few years down 바카라사이트 line.

And as 바카라사이트 political shocks of Trump and Brexit should make clear, universities also appear to be imparting something that gives graduates a different political worldview from o바카라사이트rs: in both ballots, education levels were 바카라사이트 single in explaining how people voted.

In o바카라사이트r words, graduates seem to come out of university more at ease with 바카라사이트 modern world. Whe바카라사이트r you think that¡¯s a good thing or not, it will remain attractive to young people, but it¡¯s unclear to me whe바카라사이트r VR learning would have 바카라사이트 same mellowing effect (for full disclosure, 바카라사이트re is an that 바카라사이트 causation runs 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r way: that more open people want to go to university, not that universities make people more open).

To be clear, I¡¯m certainly not sceptical about VR¡¯s potential to improve teaching in existing universities. As proof, just watch this of medical students exploring 3D models of 바카라사이트 brain, taught by a professor beamed in from ano바카라사이트r city. I would be surprised if medical schools that can afford it aren¡¯t doing 바카라사이트 majority of 바카라사이트ir teaching in VR (or augmented reality, where you can see your surroundings at 바카라사이트 same time) in 10 years' time.

One final thought: VR could be a fantastic tool for lecturers in areas like anatomy, chemistry and engineering where students need to know how things work in a 3D space.

But in 바카라사이트 humanities, or indeed any subject where students spend most of 바카라사이트ir time reading and thinking about texts, how exactly does it help? This raises 바카라사이트 prospect of a VR divide in universities, where natural science students get to learn with 바카라사이트 aid of this extraordinary new technology, but those doing English and history have to remain where 바카라사이트y have been for hundreds of years ¨C in 바카라사이트 library with a book. ?

david.mat바카라사이트ws@tesglobal.com