The Power of Immersive Learning: Why It Works and Real-World Success Stories

Nov 15

Nov 15 The Power of Immersive Learning: Why It Works and Real-World Success Stories

What is the future of learning? It’s a difficult question to answer as the goal posts keep on moving further and further. One year it’s microlearning, the next it’s the metaverse, and now, it’s all about generative AI. Technology can be an instructional designer’s best friend, but tech is useless unless we use it effectively. Technology has also created an invisible foe: distractions. Right now, while you are either reading this article or listening to the podcast, everything is fighting for your attention. Whether this is your inbox, your apple watch, slack, LinkedIn, calls, texts, or something else, we live in a world full of distractions. Whatever gets your attention wins.

In theory, could learning get the most attention? Why what an interesting concept! Yes, we can do this with immersive learning.

What is immersive learning? The definition has evolved overtime, but to put it simply, it’s a learning theory where learning through experience with real world situations are emphasized. One could argue that Dewey’s advocacy for hands-on learning or Piaget’s theory on cognitive development could be the origin of immersive learning. Technology truly kick-started this notion though with simulation-based learning for pilots during World War II. Flight simulators, developed to train pilots safely and cost-effectively, laid the groundwork for using technology to create realistic training environments. Since this time, immersive learning has only grown and while everyone is talking about the next wave of AI trainings, I want to share real stories with how companies, schools, and organizations are using immersive learning today.

Healthcare

During the pandemic, there was a boom in enrollments for medical schools. While this is amazing, it did cause one sort of problem. If classrooms are in lockdown, how do you train med students? There are simply somethings that you cannot teach online like surgeries and other medical procedures. One university in California, the Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine, found the answer within VR. The course about operating on cadavers offered a new way to take practice before practicing on a real cadaver. This led to an increase in training hours and was deemed so effective, that the university still offers this learning method despite no longer being in lockdown. Leaders in this space like Stanford and Johns Hopkins are rolling out more ways of training med students with simulations and VR. The popularity of VR in the medical space continues to climb today for surgery preparation, talking to patients, and more.

Sports

If the Commanders win this week, every NFL team should be using VR. “Wait, what?” I said to myself. I caught the tail end of my favorite fantasy football podcast and the hosts were discussing about Jayden Daniel’s preparation for his next game. Daniels is the quarterback for the Commanders and unfortunately, he injured his ribs during a game. This injury led to the diagnosis of him being a game-time decision for his next upcoming game. Unsure if he was going to play or not, he still prepared like he was using a VR headset.

Daniels utilized a custom VR system developed by the German company Cognilize. This system incorporates the team's playbook and simulates specific stadiums and opposing teams, providing a realistic and immersive training environment. By engaging with these simulations, Daniels can practice reading defenses, making decisions, and executing plays without the physical demands of on-field practice.

What’s fascinating is that this kind of training allows Daniels to experience game scenarios at an accelerated pace. He actually sets the simulation speed higher than normal game speed, which helps him process information more quickly during real games. He attributes this to his development as a rookie quarterback and I can see why! What’s really interesting is that Commanders staff have completely bought into the idea. Their offensive coordinator even records the weekly plays and narrates them to make the simulation more realistic.

Oh, and you might be asking, did the Commanders win their next game after all of this training? Yup! The Commanders won 40-7 against the Panthers. Maybe they are on to something? The NFL has a problem with training young quarterbacks and not giving them enough time to develop. With college being so different from the professional level, immersive learning could provide that edge that many teams are searching for.

Human Skills

Ah yes, the concept of teaching people to be human. You’d think this would be easy, but no. Many HR trainings are the butt of jokes from employees because of how poorly designed they are. We’ve all been there before where the training is so bad that it’s borderline comical. So, how do we make employees care about these kinds of trainings? Can we actually change behavior this way?

When my wife started working at Etsy, she had to go through a harassment training that was based in augmented reality (AR). This concept is more of a simulation or video game where you control the actions on a computer screen. On the screen, she was seated in a conference room with multiple characters. Two of the characters were openly mocking another one that wasn’t present in the room. The characters’ attention then turned to you, egging you on to join in on the conversation. At that moment, she had to make a decision on what to do next. It was certainly uncomfortable, yet mimicked what could happen in the workplace.

I encountered a similar training before at MIT that was an email-based simulation. I would receive an email from a fictitious character unfairly criticizing another employee and I had to respond back. Every time I responded back, it led to a new series of conversations that could either be escalated or diffuse the situation. It’s not just MIT though. More and more companies are adopting immersive learning for training purposes. UPS has a simulated experience for drivers to learn about what to do when a dog attacks you. Walmart is using VR to teach employees about how to interact with upset customers and trying to lead with empathy.

Now, I know what you are thinking, is this actually effective? One can go through this kind of immersive experience, but does it change behavior? Does this actually work? I do have one example, but first, a bit of a warning. I am going to speak on domestic violence and if this is uncomfortable, please skip to the “considerations” header in the article.

Rehabilitation

One extreme example that comes to mind is a virtual reality training on domestic violence. Researchers in Spain have explored the use of virtual reality to rehabilitate domestic abusers by immersing them in scenarios that foster empathy and improve emotional recognition. A notable study titled "Offenders Become the Victim in Virtual Reality: Impact of Changing Perspective in Domestic Violence" involved male domestic violence offenders embodying a virtual female victim experiencing abuse. The findings revealed that after this VR experience, offenders showed enhanced ability to recognize fearful female faces, suggesting a potential reduction in aggressive behavior. You can see these interactions on YouTube and can pinpoint the moment that the abusers finally realized the errors in their ways.

Another study, "Domestic Violence From a Child Perspective: Impact of an Immersive Virtual Reality Experience on Men With a History of Intimate Partner Violent Behavior," had participants embody a child's perspective during a domestic violence scenario. This approach led to improved recognition of angry facial expressions and heightened physiological responses to violent events, indicating increased empathy and awareness of the impact of their actions. So not only can we think of immersive learning as a form of training or education, but even a form of rehabilitation.

Considerations

There is also a reason for why I’m writing about immersive learning right now, and that is cost. While there are several great reasons to adopt immersive learning, I know that not every organization can afford these technologies. When the Oculus and other similar headsets came out, they were $500 or more. Thankfully, these have consistently gone down year over year. They are still expensive, but the needle is moving in the right direction. It’s one reason why I think organizations have now decided to embrace this kind of training more. Even if VR is not an option, AR is even more affordable.

Is immersive learning for everyone? Nope. It’s not. I do find it a bit ironic writing about the value of virtual headsets knowing full well that I cannot use them for long periods of time. The first time I wore one, I got motion sickness in a minute. The second time I wore one, it trigged a migraine. It’s like there is something to what our parents used to warn us about with sitting too close to the TV screen. Some people will never be able to use headsets. Accessibility features for these technologies are still evolving too. While significant strides have been made, there is still much room for improvement.

With all of this said, immersive learning can be incredible and I’d love to learn more! Are you using immersive learning at your company or university? Please share away in the comment section below!

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