UR technology: Can it replace physical school excursions?
It is widely known that currently, more and more VR technology is incorporated daily in humans’ lives in numerous ways. One of them has sparked controversy among people and it is that of schools making virtual reality the replacement of physical visits to museums and art galleries.
The first point one ought to think about regarding this truly intriguing topic is the reason why schools are considering to embrace it. This is because, not surprisingly at all, live virtual classes, it is an ultimately inclusive practise, especially in the field of education. In the past, e-learning has allowed obstacles like distance, disability and to not interfere with the process of learning and give students academic opportunities they normally would not have. Likewise, VR technology can surely enhance the students’ visiting experiences as travel consultant Emily Sorsen states. The virtual tour makes experiences more widely accessible in a secure environment. This, coming from a specialised person in visits and tours, easily proves that if schools practise virtual experiences the way they practise e-learning during COVID, the visits in museums, art galleries and sites would be accessible to all students, no matter how they lived, their physical abilities, their parents’ financial abilities, etc.
Interestingly enough though, virtual reality in the case of school visits is a blessing and a curse. The curse part is that technology is still not accessible to everyone. Unfortunately, buying a laptop or owning a Wi-Fi connection is costly and realistically not all families can afford it. There are a lot of families struggling to make ends meet and therefore their priorities shift from owning tech gadgets to more primary needs like paying rent or food. To make it clear, technology is still somehow a luxury, so if schools decide to make VR the only way for museum or art gallery visits to happen, naturally the students also don’t have stable access to technology or one at all, are excluded.
To sum up, the aforementioned points are to be taken into consideration before schools decide on the topic. In my opinion, nothing replaces the physical experience of existing near art or history and making around it and walking around it. If in some cases though physical appearance cannot happen, VR to technology can become a great tool for replacing it, provided that schools ensure all students can access it.