July 2, 2020
The Role of Virtual Reality in Education and Training
In today’s pandemic “new normal” and even post-pandemic, education and training will need to evolve. Elements of distance learning will need to be incorporated into academic curriculums for students. Gone will be the days when classes of new hires could gather physically to on-board into companies in large cohort groups. These are just a few scenarios that we have been forced to think about as the coronavirus wreaks havoc on tried-and-true education and training systems of just six months ago.
We already see structural changes occurring and online education usage accelerating. Harvard Business School’s Executive Education program for instance has incorporated virtual sessions into what once was a purely on-campus experience. New hire on-boarding at companies throughout the world have gone virtual and, perhaps for the first time, high-performing teams are regularly being formed with hiring managers and direct reports never having met in person. LinkedIn Learning, the online educational platform that helps people discover and develop business, technology-related, and creative skills through expert-led course videos, boasts over 16,000 courses and 60+ new courses released every week. And it’s certainly no coincidence that MasterClass, an online education platform designed to offer video based online vocational courses, has raised close to $250 million in venture capital funding.
As we move forward, the need for remote education and training will not fade away; in fact, it will become a necessary ingredient for success in the 21st century. The institutions and organizations that can trail blaze into this new world will earn a competitive advantage. This is where I see virtual reality technology playing a pivotal role.
Walmart, the U.S.’s largest private employer, is already at the forefront of incorporating VR into its training and on-boarding. Walmart uses VR technology to create hard-, if not impossible-to-replicate training scenarios for employees without having to disrupt physical store locations. One example is providing sales associates the virtual experience of working in a store on “Black Friday.” Walmart trainees cite 30% higher satisfaction on virtual training relative to other methods.
While virtual reality adoption is muted because of unappealing hardware (i.e., goggles) available so far, companies like Google, Facebook and Mojo Vision are just a few companies that are exploring new ways to tap into the power of VR. Once they do, we will see adoption rates that are true hockey sticks.
If you would like to have virtual coffee to chat some more, please feel free to reach out...
Hahn.
(Sources: LinkedIn, Facebook blog post)
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