now, imagine a world where people are well educated and thus are well-aware of the impact and the crisis that the world is facing today. imagine the efficiency and acceleration with which we would be able to solve these tough challenges across the world, if only there were well-educated populations across the world. quality education can elevate lives of people around the world and provide the necessary tools to solve complex challenges so that we can make the world a better place, not only today but for future generations.

even in today’s digital age, the approach to education is based on the old format of fact retention. teaching methods focus on providing facts, without caring on absorption of knowledge by students. as a result, a lot of students have difficulties comprehending so much information in such a short period of time. to overcome this challenge, we can leverage technologies like virtual reality (vr) to create the perfect learning environment.

using the virtual reality model, we can create a virtual world that can be real or imaginary, thereby allowing students and teachers, not only to see it, but to also interact with it. by immersing themselves within the virtual world and interacting within it, students are able to learn better, while also being able to fully understand the concepts. this in turn, reduces the cognitive load on learners to process the information. vr has become more and more popular in today’s era of digital technology and soon it will become mainstream.

driving forces

education outside the classroom: a lot of people are visual learners. leveraging vr can aid such learners. students with a disability can also benefit greatly with such type of learning methods by designing class curriculum for their specific needs. instead of reading about things, students can actually see things that they are learning and comprehend more easily. for example, in poorer countries, going for virtual field trips like zoos or museums may not be feasible due to a disability, lack of funds, transport problems etc. however, using vr, students can gain near first-hand experience.

learning empathy: empathy enables us to learn from others’ pain and allows us to know when to offer support, enabling us to make the world a better place for all. through a perceptual illusion called embodiment, or the body ownership illusion, vr allows individuals to step into someone else’s shoes. educationists can leverage this to create curriculum for sensitive topics like racism, gender discrimination, disabilities, violence, traumas etc.

promoting creativity and curiosity: having vr in education is useful, not only for content consumption, but also for content creation. this aid requirements of different types of learners including students with special needs or distance learning, thus promoting and enhancing creativity for all types of learners across the world. in fact, students with special needs can actually be included in the development of curriculum and made to feel inclusive in the content creation process, which allows for even more relevant content development.

kinesthetic learning: it’s a well-known fact that people learn best by doing. unfortunately, in modern education we don’t see enough of learning that actually happens by doing things. this is partly because it is impossible to learn everything by actual examples. examples of learning lessons on firefighting, learning to handle active shooting, or even traveling through space are just not feasible. therefore, for such activities, learners often rely on reading instructions rather than doing them in practice. through vr students have an opportunity to learn by doing, rather than passively reading.

education for all: providing children with top-class facilities is not cheap. the cost of education is one of the biggest barriers to education across the world. however, it is also true that the brightest minds of tomorrow could come from any part of the world, and therefore we cannot neglect or deprive people from access to education. vr can break this barrier for us. there is no need for expensive school facilities like laboratories and building. it is great if a country or population can support these costs but if not, then vr can be that much needed constructive alternative that allows access to education in a simple and less expensive manner. vr can help in breaking the language barrier as well as fill the void of lack of good teachers. many good teachers are willing to teach both, students and even teachers across the world, but due to proximity and language barriers they are unable to achieve what they intend to. with vr these barriers can be overcome easily by democratizing education and opening the doors for all. 

challenges and advocacy areas

currently, the price to implement and leverage vr is high and that is a significant barrier for many users. with the united nations’ (u.n.) goal to make knowledge available, accessible, and affordable for everyone on the planet, government funding should be made available and strong reforms and regulations should be passed to make vr devices tax-free. in addition, governments and / or local bodies should subsidize these devices to reduce overall manufacturing costs. for the u.n. to solve the other sustainable development goals, goal no. 4, i.e. quality education, is key. a focused and effective approach to solving goal no. 4, will allow for the u.n. to have a much larger impact on achieving the other goals. the u.n. can achieve this goal by visiting schools around the world and providing teachers with the resources they need, especially virtual technology resources. a solution that combines technology with advocacy, will not only mitigate many problems outlined earlier such as high infrastructure costs and others but can also serve as an enabler to students of all kinds. as a society, we can achieve inclusion of not only students with special needs, but also students who suffer discrimination — all this while also encouraging lifelong learning. leveraging vr, students can receive an enriched and wholesome education. it also allows them to take their learning experience to a whole new level — a place where the sky is not the limit!

he captures the potential of this form of media in order to show people what the inside of a melting glacier in iceland or the deteriorating reef ecosystems of the south pacific look like.

giving a viewer a 360 degree experience complete with sound effects and movement provides a powerful communication platform with which to evoke emotions from the viewer and thus make that viewer care about these problems.

the future of ar/vr is incredibly bright and is developing rapidly with the power to make huge impact in environmental storytelling.

up next: the explorer’s story: sven lindblad >

what if i told you groups of residents, volunteers, are bringing back washington’s tree canopy one tree at a time?

this month, my media team heard about local non-profit casey trees, whose initiative is just that: restoring all the leaves and branches overhead in the city through the mobilization of volunteers. since 1950, the tree coverage of d.c. has gone from 50 percent tree canopy to 35 percent, leaving streets barren, bleak and gray. in our 360 video about the evolution of greenness in the district, we tell a story of these volunteers as they try to undo the last few decades of damage.

we wanted to use the 360 medium as an interactive, immersive way to get the viewers into the story. the viewers stand right in the grassy d.c. meadow with the volunteers, looking on as a volunteer shovels out a hole for the yearling and walking through a shady tree-filled city street right there with us. all the while, our crew runs away from the spherical camera set up in the middle of the street, desperately trying to get out of the shots. the product? an opportunity to live through the project’s transformation and the city’s dramatic change.

casey trees’ goal is to enhance the canopy to 40 percent coverage, which has been hard as d.c. develops and creates more buildings, like so many other cities have. our team traveled around the city trying to find the greenest street corner to film, but it was hard. we ended up on capitol hill, filming the abundant foliage that swayed in and out of the view of the library of congress and other government buildings.

but our production team quickly realized most d.c. neighborhoods are not as green as the well-kept and thoughtfully preserved federal lands. it was not hard to find a street corner to film for the bleak shot of typical downtown intersections. and when our team learned more about what these trees on the street could mean for the city, the effect shocked us. not only do trees make the city look more beautiful. they also absorb stormwater, offset pollution of co2 and air particulate matter, have positive effects on health and longevity and reduce d.c. urban heat island effect. trees are important, and we wanted to capture this through the spatial overview of the casey trees mission.

their simple approach to a huge issue is to have volunteer plantings every week. through these events, head arborist becky schwartz of casey trees, hopes that volunteers will start to become invested in the issue and dedicate more time and effort to helping bring the green, shady, relaxing streets back.

she said, “[our] motto of casey trees is to connect people to trees, through trees and at casey trees and so by having these community tree plantings and the other events we do, we’re kind of connecting people to each other.”

this space, in the nation’s capital, is one you can now explore and have access to in the video. move around and see the volunteers deploying to plant trees in the bare space. as you look around at the volunteer swinging a pickaxe high to break the ground, you may have the sensation of mud caking on your palms and calluses forming. like the volunteers, you too will feel connected to the environment and the cityscape.

you can plant the trees that will, in three years, mature to contribute to the overall canopy. and at the end, you will be able to take a look at northwest d.c., where you can see the future of the city’s streets. as they probably looked in 1950, the streets are lined with autumn leaves and healthy trees. by 2030, if casey trees continues to connect volunteers with their environment in order to enhance the district, more neighborhoods will feel like this one.

— everly jazi