In the recent years, technologies that enhance or recreate real world environments are increasingly influencing the world of the production industry and business. In particular Virtual Reality (VR; 2D/3D computer-generated immersive environments) is expected to drive productivity and quality improvements that experts believe will bring companies significant ROIs. Just about any process that can be carried out in the physical world – and in business that would range from customer services to marketing, finance, HR and production – can be simulated in VR. The quantity and quality of VR solutions are constantly being improved and equipment and content creation costs continue to fall, so the momentum to explore VR’s role in business and education is likely to continue to grow. This will also have a strong direct impact not only on SMEs but also on HE business management and related studies. The EU is trying to prepare intensively for the challenges of digital teaching and learning and it therefore included this issue in a series of educational policies published, such as “European Strategy 2020” (Com2010), “New Skills Agenda for Europe” (Com2015/196), “A Digital Single Market Strategy for Europe“ (Com2015/192), “Education Policies in Europe and Beyond” (EU 2017/29000) and the “European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators” (EU, DigCompEdu 2017, 52). However, at the moment Europe’s HEI are not able to fulfil the postulated requirements and they are poorly prepared to tackle the challenges of digital teaching and learning. The problem is not the lack of infrastructure, hardware or software, but is that HE managers and teachers have insufficient knowledge about the potential of VR learning and its application within their own study offer. Therefore, first of all HE managers and teachers themselves need in-depth education and training concerning what VR is about, what kind of VR skills and competence industry requires from graduates and how their own pedagogical approaches and classes can be boosted by using VR applications. Therefore, the VRinSight project will implement the following main activities: • Implementation of the “VRinSight 3 in 1 survey” with VR developers, HE managers and teachers as well as with SME managers and education experts to get a clear picture about the state of the art in the field of VR developments as well as about frameworks, demands, needs, experiences, attitudes and mindsets within HEIs and SMEs with regards to applying VR solutions. • Development of the “VRinSight Curriculum” about relevant key data and background information, pedagogic considerations and recommendations about applying VR at the HE level, global developments in the field and a compilation of a virtual learning materials library for HE managers and teachers with a specific focus on business management and related studies; the so-called “VRinSight Showcase” is a collection of 25 open source VR applications most suited to HE business management studies. • Development of the “VRinSight Training Programme” which enables HE managers and teachers to acquire knowledge, skills and competences to apply VR independently in their own classes; it will also be open to SME managers (and their R&D and HRD experts) so both sides can learn together about the potential of VR teaching and learning and its possibilities for HE and industry. The heart of programme is the “VRinSight Classroom”, a VR environment specially created for the project. The whole programme will be tested by 52 target group representatives in DE, CY, BE and FI. • To raise general awareness towards the project’s objectives and to promote university business cooperation as key factor for successful capacity building, a “VRinSight Green Paper” will be published. Its focus will be on the project’s objectives in general, allowing policy makers and stakeholders to publish key notes and it presents 20 of Europe’s best practice examples in VR HE teaching and learning. • The project intensively promotes networking and capacity building, especially at the university business cooperation level. Therefore, it sets-up an informal network with project partners and more than 200 associated partners and stakeholders representing all direct and indirect target groups (HE managers and teachers, SME managers, IT experts and VR developers, education policy makers and stakeholders at all levels etc.) • The overall aim of the project in the long run is to boost the use of VR applications within HE business management and related studies and to contribute to reaching the digitalisation goals set by the authorities of the EU. Partners from DE, CY, AT, ES, BE and FI represent 4 HEIs and 3 business representatives (1 business association, 1 EU network and 1 VR developer); they are all embedded in relevant national and transnational networks, which will actively contribute to the project to ensure effective dissemination and exploitation of its outcomes.
In the recent years, technologies that enhance or recreate real world environments are increasingly influencing the world of the production industry and business. In particular Virtual Reaity is expected to drive productivity that experts believe will bring companies significant ROIs. Just about any process that can be carried out in the physical world can be simulated in VR. The quantity and quality of VR solutions are constantly being improved and equipment and content creation costs continue to fall, so the momentum to explore VR’s role in business and education is likely to continue to grow. This will also have a strong direct impact not only on SMEs but also on HE business management and related studies. The EU is trying to prepare intensively for the challenges of digital teaching and learning and it therefore included this issue in a series of educational policies published, such as “European Strategy 2020” (Com2010), “New Skills Agenda for Europe” (Com2015/196), “A Digital Single Market Strategy for Europe“ (Com2015/192), “Education Policies in Europe and Beyond” (EU 2017/29000) and the “European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators” (EU, DigCompEdu 2017, 52). However, Europe’s HEI are not able to fulfil the postulated requirements and they are poorly prepared to tackle the challenges of digital teaching and learning. The need for comprehensive and effective digital teaching and learning has been exemplified even more starkly by the impact of Corona on higher education. The problem is not the lack of infrastructure or software, but that HE managers and teachers have insufficient knowledge about the potential of VR and its application within their own faculty. HE managers and teachers themselves need in-depth education and training concerning what VR is about, what kind of VR skills and competence industry requires from graduates and how their own pedagogical approaches can be boosted by using VR applications. Therefore, the VRinSight project has implemented the following main activities and delivered the following outputs: • Implementation of the “VRinSight 3 in 1 survey” with VR developers, HE managers and teachers as well as with SME managers to get a clear picture about the state of the art in the field of VR developments as well as about frameworks, demands, needs and attitudes within HEIs and SMEs with regards to applying VR solutions. • Development of the “VRinSight Curriculum” about relevant key data and background information, pedagogic considerations and recommendations about applying VR at the HE level, global developments in the field and a compilation of a virtual learning materials library for HE managers and teachers with a specific focus on business management and related studies; the so-called “VRinSight Showcase” is a collection of 25 VR apps most suited to HE business management studies and an education setting. • Development of the “VRinSight Training Programme” enabling HE managers and teachers to acquire knowledge, skills and competences to apply VR in their own classes; also enabling SME managers (and their R&D and HRD experts) so both sides can learn together about the potential of VR and its possibilities for HE and industry. The heart of programme is the “VRinSight Classroom and VR Lecture Theater apps”, purpose-built VR environments specially created for the project allowing for virtual learning experience and live multi-user interaction in VR. The training programme and VR applications were tested by over 80 target group representatives in DE, CY, BE, FI and also AT and ES. • To raise general awareness of the project’s objectives and promote university business cooperation as key factor for successful capacity building, a “VRinSight Green Paper” was published. Its focused on the project’s objectives in general, with article contributions from key stakeholders in education and technology, presenting 24 of Europe’s best practice examples in VR HE teaching and digital education. • The project intensively promoted capacity building, especially at the university business cooperation level. Therefore, it set-up an informal network with project partners, associated partners and almost 200 other stakeholders representing all direct and indirect target groups (HE managers and teachers, SME managers, IT experts and VR developers, education policy makers and stakeholders at all levels etc.) • The overall aim of the project in the long run was to boost the use of VR applications within HE business management and related studies and to contribute to reaching the digitalization goals set by the authorities of the EU. Partners from DE, CY, AT, ES, BE and FI represent 4 HEIs and 3 business representatives (1 business association, 1 EU network and 1 VR developer); they are all embedded in relevant national and transnational networks, which will actively contribute to the project to ensure effective dissemination and exploitation of its outcomes.