Employing Virtual and XR Laboratories for Workforce Development

<p>Today, we explore whether virtual and XR laboratories are an option to give students in developing countries pedagogical experiences necessary to develop practical skills.</p> <p><strong>Hallie Applebaum </strong>(World Bank) speaks with <strong>Robert Dean</strong> (Associate Professor of Motion Arts Design and Virtual/Augmented Reality at Namseoul University in Korea), <strong>Jimmy Vainstein</strong> (Senior Program Manager leading the Word Bank’s program on interactive media with a focus on developing XR solutions for development), <strong>Marjorie Chinen</strong> (Education Specialist and focal point for AR/VR on the World Bank EdTech team), and <strong>Diego Angel-Urdinola</strong> (Senior Economist and Global Lead for the World Bank’s Skills Global Solutions Group and Manager of the Active Training Using Virtual Reality Program, ActiVaR).</p> <p>There is a strong need to provide students pedagogical experiences necessary to develop practical skills in education and workforce development programs, especially for training programs that require laboratories, such as auto-mechanics, nursing, and welding. Providing hands-on experiences and proper and up-to-date content allows students to learn technical skills, however this remains a critical challenge, mainly in developing countries. A potential solution to this is digitalization of laboratories. Employing non-immersive or immersive VR can enable learning experiences in a simulated or artificial environment so students can have personalized learning experiences.</p> <p>Our knowledge pack, a short comprehensive guide, can be downloaded here: https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/e441582311a6fa4678abb243416f2589-0140022023/original/KP-VirtualLabs-WFD-September6.pdf</p> <p>Read our blog &#39;Unleashing the metaverse for skills and workforce development&#39;: https://blogs.worldbank.org/education/unleashing-metaverse-skills-and-workforce-development</p>