A key advantage of using virtual reality (VR) is the ability to bring real places into learning experiences with that cost of visiting those places in person. The use of VR offers the opportunity to students visiting the library to have virtual walk through of Ancient sites, or locations from around the world (Hannah et al., 2019, pp. 278). The use of VR also has the ability to increase student engagement in the world or develop their own world. Apps are now available for students to engage with technologies and explore how a jet engine works or explore an artefact. Further to this, with increased development the opportunity to create virtual sit in classrooms (for example times like this) would change the teaching and learning landscape. Students would be able to see their teachers and teachers would be able to help students more effectively person to person. While some platforms support functions that could be utilised for this there is still an absence or distance to the “helping” factor.
Disadvantage of using VR is that it is still quite a cost. Yes, technology that can support VR is becoming more affordable (Hannah et al., 2019, pp. 278) for many it is still a luxury cost that is unattainable. There is also a significant factor in building an appropriate application collection which enhances student knowledge and understanding. This can be a costly exercise to complete. There are also issues associated with storage and shareability across the school of non-free applications. Students sharing of devices or tools to use VR requires monitoring and cleaning, increasing time and responsibility for Librarians or Teachers.
Hannah, M., Huber, S. & Matei, S.A. (2019). Collecting Virtual and Augmented Reality in the Twenty-First Century Library, Collection Management, 44(2), pp. 277-295. Doi: 10.1080/01462679.2019.1587673