Gamification and Virtual Reality have taken the world by storm, and the recent turn of events during the COVID-19 pandemic simply gave the virtual world a boost as people started staying home more because of social distancing protocols and lockdowns. Industries that hadn’t quite ventured into the world of extended reality (XR) started exploring it, and the e-learning industry was at the top of that list, other contenders being retail and manufacturing whereas healthcare has been into it for a while.
The Evolution of Gamification in E-Learning With VR Trendsetters Taking Over
Gamification in education can be dated back to the 1980s but it has definitely evolved over the years from simply engaging the learners and helping them retain more knowledge with interactive content and offering them rewards for doing well. Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality have transformed the learning space by fully immersing the learner into the learning environment and letting him or her physically interact with digitally placed content. It does this by building a 3D map and then placing digital content onto that “map” for the learner to interact with, creating a virtual 360-degree environment. The combination, thus, of gamification and virtual reality has been a game-changer in the ED-tech world and truly expands new worlds full of possibilities for educators as well as learners.
People training to be pilots can now learn how to fly in the most life-like lesson of their lives. Medical students can learn how to perform actual surgeries without putting lives at risk. Employees can now be trained for high-risk jobs without actually putting their lives or those of others at risk. Gamification and Virtual Reality are even being used in onboarding and induction training, making the learning experience more hands-on and having an impact on the employee’s performance even before he or she starts working in the actual environment.
The best way to perfect a skill is to make mistakes so that you know how to avoid them. Gamification and Virtual Reality make that extremely easy because there is no other way that the learner can actually be in the learning environment and learn from his or her mistakes. It also makes self-assessments much easier and far more engaging. The best part about the evolution of gamification is that it is nowhere near its end. There is much more to come as time unfolds and technology evolves.
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