Background

Adult education institutions are without a doubt the key environment where adult learners acquire all necessary skills and competences to navigate through their lives. For this matter, they carry heavy responsibility in determining the future of adults. Digital technologies have revolutionized our society and schools’ systems at all levels are no less affected. Recent studies indicate that the use of technology is to great extent restricted to non-schools, leisure time activities, while engagement with technology for educational purposes in schools lags behind (OECD, 2015). The last global crisis shed a light on the weaknesses of some societal challenges, such as unpreparedness of education system on this reversal in the process of teaching. For educators, the COVID-19 pandemic was a quintessential adaptive and transformative challenge, one for which is no per-configured playbook that can guide appropriate responses.

High quality educators are fundamental to the success of digital transformation in schools. Teachers, trainers, mentors, lifelong learning teachers need training and they need to become empowered using digital tools, so they eventually want to use them in the most efficient way.

CT:VR project addresses positive use of digital tools in adult educational institutions to ensure more inclusive and interactive learning. Implementing VR classrooms in school curriculum is without a doubt a creative and innovative solution to face unprecedented risks that pandemic evoked. Creating VR classrooms will enhance skills development and competences that reinforce creativity. Digital tools, such as virtual reality classrooms should complement traditional learning in schools. We want to blend the idea of digital and analog learning to achieve better educational outcomes: but the latter can be only achieved if we teach adults on how to learn to use digital technologies responsibility. Hand in hand, digitization, and new innovative approaches of teaching pushes both adult participants and adult educators in a way to improve their skills, with a common goal: to create a re-engaging and effective education process.

Objectives

Distance learning can feel impersonal and inaccessible, but VR classrooms are a way to help user feel a sense of connection. Virtual reality is the creation of a virtual environment presented to our senses in a way so we experience it as if we were really there. It can be used as entertainment or more serious use, such as education. Virtual reality (VR) introduces a whole new concept in educational technology. With implementing VR technology in school curriculum's, we ensure the engagement of participants and keep them motivated and challenged throughout their educational process.

VR can have a remarkable impact in all areas of learning. Recent studies indicate that participants who had opportunity to explore a virtual environment show marked improvements in writing and speaking skills. Sensory nature of VR improves the quality of participants’ language; the immediacy of the experience is particularly beneficial for those who struggle to think of what to write. The ability to re-imagine the VR experience in which you learned a new concept is incredibly powerful and is of particular benefit to learners who struggle to remain focused in a traditional classroom environment. VR experience offers from taking a walk through the worlds galleries and museums to launching participants into space, or even a class trip to see the dinosaurs and it is both educational and fun to learn with. Our project addresses positive use of digital tools in adult educational institutions to ensure more inclusive and interactive learning.

Results

• Needs analysis for theoretical background and evidence based publication on usability and advantages of VR/AR
• CT:VR Curricula will list the procedures and methodologies needed for VR/AR implementation on organizational, teacher and participant level
• CT:VR Guidelines with video tutorials to equip organizations with interactive material for practical implementation
• CT:VR Web Platform with open source access to outputs (emphasis on VR/AR tools)

Overall goal

CT:VR will improve understanding of VR/AR and its usability in education and identify good practices in VR/AR through knowledge mobilization strategies. It should increase awareness of adult educators about possibilities of VR/AR as creative methodology for raising digital skills and competences to raise adult learners competences and motivation with creative ways of inclusion. Throughout the project lifetime we will promote the development of VR/AR policy in adult education, focused not only on educational, but more importantly on the social and "pandemic" impact.  Adult educators will learn innovative teaching techniques, methods and tools, based on VR/AR methodology through developed Curricula, in line with creative needs and expectations of adult educators.

Where to find us

If you are interested in VR/AR technologies and their implementations in education environment, please check our project webpage www.ctvr.eu. All the material developed will be available online as open source either as a structured learning programme for adult educators/organizers/mentors or as a resource or reference material for a minimum of 5 years after project ends. All the outputs will be collated and hosted through this platform, where participants who are using the CT:VR resources can log in and see all available digital materials produced by partners, general news, notes or responses from educators or learners, and links to platforms with updated news on adult education, especially in lifelong learning activities and mobility.

Project CT:VR is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.

Petja Janžekovič, project coordinator, Adult Education Centre Ptuj. 

Master Degree in Philosophy. Working in the field of adult education for 18 years. Expertise in organizing formal and non-formal education, worked also as professor, lecturer, ICT expert, mentor for older adults, conference speaker, coordinator of international study visits and project's leader. His skills include project writing, managing and reporting, media communication, evaluation and dissemination expertize.