Digitalization improves learning environments and learning itself by removing the restrictions related to time, space, access to information and ability to participate. Teachers at Careeria co-developed educational content for several VR environments. Development work began as early as 2019 with a pilot for the project Simupro: we filmed a pilot plant, essentially related to the processing studies, in 360 degrees, and created escape-room based interactive exercises with Wonda VR software under the guidance of 3DBear. The pilot drew vast national and international attention by being the first of its kind. It was presented at the events of the Finnish National Agency of Education and The Finnish Association for the Development of Vocational Education and Training AMKE and featured at an educational professional event in New York city.
Since then, with the assistance of 3DBear, Careeria continued the work in VR development widely across different disciplines as well as in the shared services. The educators who completed the training in VR development reported that they were very motivated and looking forward to doing more VR development. The results of the early 2021 workshop in co-development were presented during a webinar in the beginning of June.
Seija Ruotsalainen-Karjula and Anu Lassila teach healthcare and social welfare. They are a perfect example of how to put the innovative pedagogics into practice. Since attending the VR development course, they have already developed two VR environments. The first environment was a VR environment to train educators how to use a simulation to teach students healthcare and social welfare. The second environment, Ergonomics and auxiliary equipment simulation, was designed to teach practical nursing students the principles of ergonomic assistance and occupational safety, while using medical technology. Careeria has found that once students familiarize themselves with the VR environment under the supervision of the teacher or instructor they then can study and review independently, regardless of the place or time, and later pass the final test. All this is also accessible from home via a web browser.
Seija and Anu say: “We expanded our learning environments into virtual reality. We also increased our expertise and developed new pedagogical methods, encouraging the students to learn actively. In addition, we now have the knowledge and confidence to utilize VR environments to facilitate our teaching goals.”
The ergonomics and auxiliary equipment VR environment for the healthcare and social welfare studies is also available in English. Careeria is a member of the ThaiGo Programme of the Finnish National Agency for Education that allows partners from Thailand to get acquainted with VR environment and ergonomics studies remotely. This ensures consistency in international experience, knowledge and care standards. The English version of the environment is also used in the Professional communication in a foreign language module of the practical nurse training.
We keep engaging the potential of virtual and augmented reality to enrich teaching and learning. Careeria and 3DBear have co-created a Moodle course that students can take independently, and that teaches how to create AR and VR environments. The courses are at the pilot stage, and they will be available during 2022. Introduction to XR is a common unit course of 3 study points. The course encourages students to reflect on and develop the potential use of VR and AR technology in their field. Further professional online courses in AR and VR take the students deeper into the XR world. These online courses are also available for the educators as a competence development tool. After completing the two courses, the student will be able to develop AR and VR content with new digital tools even during a period of work experience.
For more information, please contact Riitta Malmberg, tel. +358 40 637 7126
Translated into English by Olga Harrison
