Is It Real?

Tomorrow’s Domino

Tradition is considered by many as something to be respected and carried on, while others perceive it as a dead man’s weight, a burden on our backs. For better or worse, if we were to interview 20 different people on the matter, we would get 20 different answers. In all that, it is a fact, that we are not to evolve, if we only look back. Certainly, the past comes with lessons to be taught sometimes, but so does escaping the old ways, and envisioning new ones. Because in some cases, tradition and ways of the past, just hold back what is to be born, bring change, and effectively take us forward.

The above can be witnessed in many aspects of our lives. Culture, politics, norms, societal structures, the actual perception of the world, and of course technology. With each of them being connected with thousands of other things in everyday life, soon we stand in front of a network, a domino if you will, where change on one level, takes the rest inside a pleasant vortex of progress.

Altering the main perception of certain groups that persisted during previous decades, allows people to live freely, being and expressing themselves, without the fear of exclusion. Everyday life can change drastically, and improve, when in some cases, we ditch the old, washed-up ways, and proceed with creating new ones. On the summit of the examined mountain, we are certain to meet technology. No matter where applied, innovative technology is certain to alter things to such a point, that endless possibilities are created.

Pushing Forward
Education is not only about going to a university or college, and studying for a few years. It is much more than that, or at least it should be. It is knowledge, dreams, plans, socializing,  exploration. Thus, we can consider education to be a living and dynamic organism, one that changes, improves, and alters along the way.

Only a few years have passed since aspects of technology were introduced to all levels of education. Since the beginning had been made, there was no turning back, and considering the needs that rose during the Covid era, we are standing on the edge of full technology integration in education.

The Case Of Altered Reality

In the case of the CT : VR project, we are looking at the integration of Augmented Reality (AR), as well as Virtual Reality (VR), in the practices of adult education. Travelling light years ahead of just “using technology in education”, such as educational platforms, communicational portals, or digital classes, the project introduces VR and AR systems, as a vital part of the teaching and learning methodologies. As in other aspects of our lives, traditional methods are not to be ditched or replaced, and completely left out and forgotten. The project aims on the combination of the two, creating a new world of possibilities.

Augmented Reality
It might be a bit tricky to provide a short definition of AR. If we really had to though, we would be right to say that AR is an interactive experience of a natural, real-world environment, where the objects, or certain aspects that exist in the real world, are enhanced, or altered, by computer-generated perceptual information, often in more that one ways, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory, and olfactory. In simple words, AR is the combination of the real world, with digitally produced space or objects.

Virtual Reality
While connected to a Virtual Reality system, the user has no interaction or contact with the real world. They are totally immersed in a digitally developed world, and its respective aspects. No limitations apply, as the development of the VR world, completely depends on one’s imagination; or needs. With the goggles that accompany VR systems, the user is drawn inside the digital world, becoming one with what is presented to them.

Easy to imagine, both technologies are ideal to be used in education. Both technologies, carry endless possibilities with them. From students practicing their expertise, without worrying about physical dangers, or risks of destruction, to digital educational trips to monuments that stand on the edge of the world. Immersive methodologies that will offer information and interactivity in real-time, and allow dangerous procedures to be practiced, without the risk that these would come with, in the real world. As a result, adult education is revolutionized, turning to a state where teaching and learning is not a matter of studying anymore, but rather a matter of experiencing.

Is It Real?
CT : VR has already begun its long and adventurous journey, aiming to redefine the methods and practices in adult education. Combining the new ways with the traditional ones, the project seeks to introduce the education of tomorrow. And as education makes the first step inside the domino, great changes are to follow.