Unfortunately, due to a lack of resources within most schools, students are not provided access to explore the world of CS. This limits student participation in CS and prevents the equipping of this critical foundational knowledge for our future workforce.

Learning computer science (CS) matters. The solutions of tomorrow will involve technology in some way, making CS important to every industry.

Computer Science (CS) is vital. However, currently, there are more than 500,000 open computing jobs (NCES 2015). This number is not improving fast enough, 91% of parents want their children to study CS (Gallup 2016) but right now only 35% of schools teach CS (CSTA 2018).

The technology industry is growing faster than ever.

• By 2020, 1,000,000 technology jobs will go unfilled (BLS).
• FOUR in FIVE science, technology, engineering, and mathematics professionals choose their career in high school or earlier.
• Less than 26% of the computing workforce are female (NCWIT 2018).
• 74% of young girls express interest in STEM fields and computer science but by the time they make decisions about what to study and where to start their careers, something happens (Girls Who Code).
• Less than 15% of the computing workforce are minorities.
• Computing occupations makeup 58% of all projected new jobs in STEM fields (BLS).
• Only 10% of STEM graduates study CS (NCES 2017).
• A CS major can earn 40% more than the college average (The Hamilton Project).

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Education systems have struggled to meet the demands of our technological age to provide the necessary tools to best equip our students. New research is suggesting that VR could be the solution. VR enables profound new ways to experience and interact with concepts; as Albert Einstein said “The only source of knowledge is experience” and Edgar Dale’s Cone of Experience has shown us that “people retain 10% of what they read and 90% of what they experience.”

Research studies are showing promising results that VR can make education more effective and have benefits over traditional learning:

“Compared with traditional education, VR-based education is of obvious advantage in theoretical knowledge teaching as well as practical skills training. In theoretical knowledge teaching, it boasts the ability to make abstract problems concrete, and theoretical thinking well-supported. In practical skills training, it helps sharpen students’ operational skills, provides an immersive learning experience, and enhances students’ sense of involvement in class, making learning more fun, more secure, and more active,” the study states (Bluefocus, 2016).

People learn faster and better in VR (Daydreams Labs, 2017).Immersion in VR allows better focus (Krokos, 2018).VR-based teaching improves students’ test scores, improves knowledge retention and unlocks students’ potentials (Bluefocus, 2016).University of Maryland researchers found that people remember information better if it is presented to them in a virtual environment as opposed to more traditional platforms like a two-dimensional desktop computer or handheld tablet. (UMD, 2018).EEG readings show that students maintain concentration longer in a lesson presented within VR compared with a lesson outside of VR. (SagaUniversity, 2019).
Learning in VR contributes to faster understanding, greater retention, improved recall, better focus and overall superior learning outcomes! 

VR can enhance education, especially with abstract concepts like computer science.

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