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Naledi 3D completes groundbreaking study for
UNESCO
Students at Ndjedje Secondary
School, 40 km north of Kampala,
Uganda.
St Henry’s School, 120 km west
of Kampala, Uganda.
Virtual
reality education models
Basic Hygiene in Nakaseke,
Uganda.
Low cost plastic moulding
machine, an example of a simulation product used
in surveys.
Moraka Dam in Soweto, South
Africa, after rehabilitation.
| | | A
recent UNESCO commissioned study on virtual reality (VR)
as a teaching method concluded that ". there is only one
Information Communications Technology (ICT) application
that is able to create environments combining all
required aspects (for successful learning) and that
application is a fully interactive, simulated, virtual
3D environment, in other words VR".
Virtual
reality is a powerful and effective learning tool
because it is not only visual but also content rich. It
can overcome major language and cultural barriers, which
makes the learning experience that much more relevant.
The Naledi 3D Factory, a company participating
in the business incubator at The Innovation Hub,
conducted the study. CEO Dave Lockwood said that UNESCO
is one of the organisations that they have been working
with on virtual reality projects over the past three
years. However, there has never been any research
supporting the application of virtual reality in the
developing world.
"UNESCO asked us to evaluate
modern research into how the human brain actually
learns, and also to evaluate the comparative advantages
of multimedia and interactive 3D tools to the learning
environment," he said. Naledi 3D outsourced some of the
work to other local ICT and learning experts, including
Dr Bob Day, a specialist in ICT's for development; J
Hugo, a HCI expert as well as Dr Rita Kizito, Learning
Developer at UNISA.
"We are very excited about
the findings. It shows beyond doubt how real-time
simulation stimulates the brain and how virtual reality
can be used in the learning process. In particular, the
importance of having African virtual reality learning
material in local African languages cannot be over
emphasised," according to Dave.
The study
started with an in-depth look at modern research into
how the human brain learns was the point of departure.
This was followed up by an appraisal of the practices
and approaches to the use of multi-media and interactive
3D tools as learning aids, and finally an on-site
evaluation programme was conducted in both South Africa
and Uganda, covering a number of schools and community
telecentres.
Dr Day pointed out that the recent
emergence of neuroscience, an exciting interdisciplinary
approach to non-invasive brain research, is providing
major insights that are challenging many educational
beliefs entrenched in current education models.
"New knowledge on how the brain works, attests
to the fact that the interaction between vision, touch
and sound enables humans to understand and learn about
the universe around them, their society and themselves.
In a nutshell, these senses, particularly those of
vision and audition, help to build working memory. A
person's working memory creates mental pictures of the
world, which becomes the engine that drives this
person's thinking. These 'pictures in the mind'
represent the brain's most powerful ability to analyse,
comprehend and visualise.
"From the field of
neuroscience, it has become clear that 'learning' is
boosted significantly through the acquisition of
cognitive skills, namely thinking, learning and
reasoning, rather than memorising facts. Virtual reality
can play a powerful role in learning because it is based
on images, and because it can exploit the
characteristics of the most powerful components of the
brain," he said.
Besides being a cost-effective
tool, virtual reality has various other benefits. It
allows the user to interact with learning material in a
more natural way. Its 'look-see-do' mode of learning
allows a learner to build a comprehensive and natural
mental model of the subject matter. It is a powerful
visualisation and motivational tool that allows the
learner to explore and also helps to overcome those
literacy barriers that can so often restrict learning.
Dave points out although the potential for using
virtual reality in African learning is now clear, there
are still a number of challenges.. These issues tend to
deal with equity and access to ICT infrastructure, as
well as the cost of developing content for the African
learning environment. The former is being addressed by
many organisations around the world. The latter can be
addressed through the sharing of developed content.
For more information contact Dave Lockwood
at the Naledi3d Factory,
Tel: +27 (0)12 844 1010
Cell: +27 (0)82 894 3178
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