Literacy is life long learning. Literacy is not just a subject are, but rather a collection of foundational skills.
Comprehension can be obtained/gained through multiple strategies. It's up to us teachers to understand that not every student will comprehend something the first way it's taught. VR allows for students to get a more hands-on experience that wasn't available back in the day. This invention/technology can be used to open many students up to gain better comprehension.
I think that comprehensive literacy skills are no less important for the vocational or tech student than they are for the academic student. All students need to learn to think critically, problem solve efficiently, and create solutions to real-world problems. Newer and virtual technologies increase the complexity but also increase and improve access.
Literacy is an ongoing process, not limited to adult in higher education. Why it is conceieved in grammar school, it is not less important in adulthood. Technology may give additional pathways in help to realize it importance and help improve those skills that may have been lacking. Virtual reality give a new demension to aide in helping students to broaden those skill and inceptionalize their potential to enhance comprhension.
There are VR/IR electronic books, and I think adding these to the library collection will enchance learning. This medium can help students who are comfortable with print books bridge the gap between the print medium and the electronic medium. Using VR headsets along with books not only adds a cool factor, it is a vital resource in the health sciences: https://osf.io/xwv4s/
We are excited to be able to use simulated environments available on-line to enhance learning and outcomes for our therapy students. Simulated case studies allow students the opportunity to practice hands-on skills in a low risk environment, making learning those skills less intimidating and building confidence in applying those skills before using them in a real-life situation.
