Optimal Choices for Info-driven vs. Narrative-driven VR Education
Let's break down the VR training methods you'll encounter in the market, focusing on the distinct flavors of story-based and information-based VR training. Both offer unique experiences and outcomes, so understanding when to choose which and their differences is crucial to maximizing your training investment. Today, we'll guide you through this, shed light on how they compare, and highlight their ideal use cases.
Hanging out in the Land of Learning with VR
Let's roll up our sleeves and get acquainted with the two primary VR training bumps in the road:
Info-based VR Training - The Nerd Herald
Info-based VR training invites learners into virtual worlds brimming with knowledge nuggets. These modules aim to inform, instruct, and demonstrate without necessarily requiring the learner to answers questions or perform tasks. It's like superchatizing your traditional training methods. Instead of muscle-memory-making your way through a dry instructional manual or bone-dry PowerPoint presentation, learners dive into immersive scenarios to assimilate knowledge at their own pace. The key takeaway is structural clarification, not dynamic decision-making.
Story-based VR Training - The Emotional Rollercoaster
Story-based VR training, on the other hand, pushes the boundaries of simple instruction-dispensing and plops learners in the middle of interactive narratives where they are compelled to make choices. Depending on your needs or what kind of VR solution you're using, you might have an opportunity to evaluate their performance and decisions.
You can imagine these adventures like choose-your-own-adventure novels where the reader determines the outcome. Story-based VR training is golden for fostering soft skills such as coping with ethical dilemmas or hot-tempered customer interactions. The higher emotional investment means better knowledge retention and problem-solving prowess compared to info-based VR training.
Story-tale vs. Info-tale - When to Heed Which?
Info-based VR training should be your go-to when your learning objectives are centered on knowledge transfer and setting the stage for your workers in the environment they'll be operating. For example, it can be a game-changer for orienting new recruits in manufacturing or warehousing facilities, taking them on a tour of safety zones, emergency exits, and storage layouts.
But story-based VR can be your pal when:
- You're rebranding your employees so they steer clear of (or embrace) specific behaviors.
- You're trying to ready them for tricky, unpredictable situations that call for dynamism and quick thinking. These experiences help build emotional intelligence and adaptability rather than just rote learning.
Can You Catch More Than One Fish at Once?
The question isn't if you can combine different VR training methods, but should you. The answer is a big, yes! The two methods perfectly complement each other. Story-based VR might offer a thrilling interactive experience, but if your workers haven't established a strong foundation of universally useful knowledge and procedures, training them in specific scenarios won't do you much good.
Mix and Match - by pairing both approaches, you create a multi-layered learning experience. First, lay the groundwork with a solid foundation of information and then give your learners the opportunity to put that knowledge into practice in realistic scenarios. That's one of the benefits of custom VR training solutions - you control the allocation of resources to each layer.
The Final Verdict
So... Story-based VR vs. Info-based VR - what gives? Both have their pros and cons, but neither should rule the roost. Generally, a hybrid solution offers the best of both worlds, so unless your learning objectives are strictly fact-driven or exclusively emotional, choosing a balanced mix of story-based and information-based VR training will likely produce the best outcomes.
Don't stop here! Dive deeper into Gaining Executive Buy-in for VR Training.
Author: Rafał Siejca
Rafal has been a corporate soldier for over twenty years, clad in roles at Millennium Bank, Comarch, and leading software teams at PZU, one of Europe's largest insurance companies. As a VR expert with a decade of experience, Rafal ensures timely, high-quality project delivery as CEO and CTO.
- Incorporating technology into education-and-self-development can revolutionize learning methods, as seen in story-based and info-based VR training.
- A balanced lifestyle integrating learning, work, and leisure can be significantly enhanced with the use of technology in education-and-self-development, such as virtual reality training.
