Final #6- Immersive Education Report

When I first realized that this class was an immersive education class that would be conducted entirely online, I had a mixed reaction. I had never taken an online class before so it was somewhat exciting to me. I liked the concept of not having to leave my room to go to class and the flexibility offered by an online course. However, I did have my doubts as to whether an online class would be as effective of a learning environment as a traditional class. I soon realized after a couple weeks of this course that it is difficult to compare immersive education classes to traditional classes because they are so different.

            Immersive education classes require much more teamwork and collaboration between students. Since the professor’s presence is not as strong as a traditional class, students are forced to work with each other and help each other out. While we never actually go to see our classmates, I feel that we did have a bond with each other because we did so much work together. In fact, I feel that I got to know my classmates in this course better than my classmates in some of my traditional style courses because in some classes students rarely work together and you can go through the entire semester without ever interacting with each other.

            While I do think I still prefer traditional classes, immersive education classes have many benefits. Being forced to work in a group with others helps to develop teamwork and leadership skills. Also, I feel that immersive education classes and the way they are conducted might better prepare students for the “real world”. Being able to work with others, having a good sense of time management, and getting things done on your own, are all important skills and immersive education helps students to master these skills.

            I believe that immersive education classes will continue to grow in popularity in the next 10 years. As technology advances it will become easier and easier to communicate and work with others. Also, programs like Rocket World allow students to use a somewhat physical learning environment and interact with their peers. Being able to hear and see your classmates also helps the student to feel more comfortable with the class. Overall, I enjoyed the class and thought that there were many benefits to an immersive education course. I believe these immersive education courses will continue to evolve over the next decade as technology becomes more advanced. I feel that technology will soon make immersive education classes available to more people and it will simply be easier and more convenient to conduct classes online, rather than in a building.

 Here is a screen shot of our class in Audio Whiteboard. Here we can interact with each other through either text chat or voice.

           This is a screen shot of our class working together in the virtual environment Rocket World. We worked together to build a 3D model of the solar system.