Virtual Reality for character education

Why is education so important? It is the bedrock of everything around us. The sum total of who we are is a product of some form of formal and informal education. With the right amount of information, one can transition from poverty to wealth. With the right amount of information, one can have access to opportunities to pivot one's life and career. Information is power, it has been said often. Thus, education is an essential aspect of every man's life. You are keen on taking that online course, getting a certification here, and attending that seminar there because you seek some level of knowledge that you believe will propel you to a greater platform. Thus, Education is power.

Today, education is no longer reduced to sitting in a physical classroom or even attending classes online through video conferencing or taking MOOC courses. We are gradually introducing virtual reality and its siblings into education. Now, universities are embracing immersive technology by taking classes in virtual environments and organising tests and experiments in VR. We are seeing the opportunity to learn and teach with more engagement for both learner and teacher.

I recently shared with my team members a well-known fact that virtual reality will not replace all school curricula for several reasons (at least for many years to come). One is that there are still areas of VR possibilities that we have still not explored. Two, the experiential aspect of VR may not be deployable in some social sciences and humanities fields, thus leaving room for more research. One thing we are, however, sure that VR can do is that, using its ability to induce perspective-taking, leading to empathy for someone or something, VR can potentially change our behaviour as human beings.

This thought resonates with the UNESCO International Day of Education's theme for 2024, which emphasises the role of teachers and education in reducing hate speech and other forms of discrimination. It synchronises with our commitment at Virtual Human Computer Interaction Lab to using virtual reality experiences to teach empathy and compassion. To this end, there are several VR experiences that serve as interventions for reducing gender-based violence, drug use, hate speech, ethnic discrimination, etc. Thus, VR serves not only in formal education but can adequately contribute to an individual's socialisation process into society and, in turn, create a society of people who respect each other's uniqueness.

#HappyInternationalDayofEducation #Education #Humanrights #unesco