In this article, we’ll be exploring a few ways immersive technologies will make a real impact in the future of eLearning. Others are also applying it for a whole lot of things, including gamification, collaboration, and prototyping.

But how can these highly-advanced technologies make real impacts in other industries, especially the private and corporate online training sectors?

What are the immersive technologies?

Immersive technologies are cutting edge technologies that make use of digital or simulated worlds to emulate the physical world and create a sense of immersion.

There exist different types of immersive technologies, including virtual reality VR, augmented reality AR, mixed reality MR, extended reality XR, and 360.

Some of them are useful in creating new realities by completely immersing users in a new digital environment. Others will only extend reality by placing digital images on the surface of a user’s environment.

5 ways immersive technologies will make a real impact on eLearning

To the burning question: will Immersive technologies make a real impact on e-learning? Yes, they are going to play a pivotal role in the future of eLearning.

The good news is that the cost of immersive technologies is going down, meaning they will be more accessible to businesses, including eLearning. And the more the learning and development industry gets easy access to these technologies, the better they get to enjoy all the benefits attached to them.

Let’s have a look at some ways they can help to shape the future of online learning.

1. More engaging gamification

When it comes to games, immersive technologies are surely playing a pivotal role in the future of eLearning. Engagement is one of the essential factors to put into consideration why creating any online program.

That’s because it is one of the often faced challenges on most eLearning platforms. If a training lacks it, learners will get bored, and as a result, it can be hard to achieve the desired outcome.

However, with immersive technologies like AR and VR, you need not look for engagement elsewhere. In e-learning, these cutting edge technologies can play a prominent role, especially through gamification.

Unlike modern gamification, where learners earn virtual rewards, immersive technologies ensure that they earn tangible rewards. They make rewards real, and this tends to motivate learners to do better and achieve their learning objectives.

2. Immersive learning experience

One of the benefits of immersive technology is that it helps by enabling learners to explore environments that are usually inaccessible. With these highly-advanced technologies, it becomes easy to deliver training to learners with zero risks.

So, whether you’re creating new training or working on the previously existing ones, creating an immersive experience for your learners will surely improve them.

3. Data visualization

Most organizations are utilizing augmented reality AR to analyze, manipulate, and visualize big data in the workplace. The purpose is to augment the data toolbox and improve the way analysis is being carried out.

In eLearning, immersive technology will feature more detailed data analytics to track and analyze every activity carried out by online learners. That also includes determining their emotional state with sensors.

With analytics and visualization of data, L&D professionals can be able to measure the level of engagement of individual learners. Doing that enables them to provide personalized training resources to help learners learn better.

4. Group collaboration

One of the real impact of immersive technologies on e-learning can be seen in their ability to provide opportunities for learners to collaborate better together.

Today, most learners are making use of video conferencing tools, social media, and project management platforms to engage and collaborate with their peers.

However, in the future, immersive technologies will bring a whole lot of improvement to eLearning. Online learners will be able to build a virtual meeting space where they can meet face-to-face to solve problems.

Also, with VR headsets, they’ll be able to interact with online training tools and work together in real-time to achieve their desired learning goals.

5. Qualitative online training assessments

With immersive technologies, online learners can be able to take part in qualitative online training assessment in the virtual environment. During the assessment program, immersive software gets to record and track their performance.

By doing so, they get to view and check where they fail to perform well and get immediate feedback on how to go about it the right way. Immersive technologies, especially AR and VR, can impact e-learning in several ways.

So, the more L&D industries focus on them for real solutions, the more they get to achieve a boost in their training ROI.