Working in an industrial environment has numerous pitfalls. Imagine the normal fear and apprehension of a new employee starting a new job and multiply that by the number of literal pitfalls in the industrial work environment. While an experienced person will have a good idea of some environmental hazards, there are no two industrial environments alike. With that being the case, most industrial work areas include new hire environmental safety training. Immersive learning is an excellent way for newly hired employees to experience the potential hazards in a safe environment. The traditional classroom or online class environments are very capable of facilitating learning in the contextual sense but remains non-immersive. Learning experience of environmental conditions require practice (Neville, 1998). Virtual Reality (VR) environments allow the learner to interact in a safe environment
Thornburg (2013) refers to emerging technology as technology that has newly entered the mainstream. As with any emerging technology the challenge involves education on the tool. VR systems are not yet sold off the shelf, unless a gaming system happens to involve the work-related topic; unlikely. Teachers and most instructional designers lack the required technical knowledge to develop a virtual reality training system. It is also difficult to justify cost during times where school systems are struggling to purchase textbooks and organizations are downsizing their workforce. Collaboration is a very good way to overcome the challenges involved with implementing virtual reality educational solutions. The following hyperlinks will provide good information regarding virtual reality.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/630181/virtual-reality-VR/253104/Education-and-training
http://www.scienceclarified.com/scitech/Virtual-Reality/The-Virtual-Classroom-Virtual-Reality-in-Training-and-Education.html
References
Neville, H. (1998). Workplace Accidents. Industrial Management, 40(1), 7-9.
Thornburg, D. (2013). When is a technology emergent? Lake Barrington, IL: Thornburg Center for Space Exploration.
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