The Power of VR for Education

I am writing from Women Rise, nine months on from the first workshops we ran for BackpackX, our VR education initiative with a focus on educating children from marginalised communities in regions where the educational systems are broken or non-existent.

What is BackpackX?

We are reimagining education. We strongly believe in educating children not only on the traditional subjects such as science or mathematics, but also on the important topics of our time such as gender equality, climate change, the refugee crisis, financial independence and more. Using the power of art and innovative VR technology, we bring immersive experiences and educational content that inspires children while learning.

The first release from BackpackX – ‘Dreams of Change’ – is a short animated film where children can learn about the impacts of climate change and what solutions are needed. It follows a young girl who is devastated when her village floods. She wants to help but doesn’t understand the issue fully. As she drifts off to sleep, we enter her dreamworld and follow her to the Arctic, Brazil and Jordan to learn about the effects of climate change and the scientists, farmers and activists working to make a difference.

What was the motivation?

As emerging technologies like AR/VR/Metaverse go mainstream in the western world, we must not leave behind marginalised communities. Large corporations will focus on rolling out these technologies in the advanced economies. We aspire to do the same for those in vulnerable societies. A recent study by the National Education Association of the United States found that VR has a 75% learning retention rate compared to 10% for reading and 20% for audio-visual. With stats like these, we must make efforts to make sure that marginalised communities are not left behind as technologies advance.

The workshops

In October 2023, the Women Rise team arrived in Pakistan to work with partners to deliver BackpackX to students in Karachi and Lahore. Why Pakistan? Firstly, BackpackX is an initiative led by an immigrant Pakistani team, which makes this cause close to our hearts. But, more importantly, Pakistan is one of the countries with highest rates of out of school children in the world. At each school, we met students and teachers and introduced them to VR technology and to the topic of climate change. Working with other champions of education, Zindagi Trust and British Council Pakistan, we were able to reach a wide audience.

What did we learn?

We began this journey with high hopes and a lot of logistics. We wanted to celebrate the power of technology for education and to reach some of the most marginalised communities. And we were delighted to find that the VR technology, combined with the beautiful art and engaging storyline, all meant that we had a real impact. The students specifically noted how informative and useful the session was for their studies. It was the first time using a VR headset for 15-year-old Saira, who said ‘this was so helpful for learning specific topics’, while 13-year-old Hibza said BackpackX ‘helped [her] understand a lot more about climate change’. 92.5% of students rated BackpackX 4 or above (out of 5) for overall experience, and 87.5% students found the BackpackX VR experience ‘engaging’ or ‘very engaging’.

So, nine months on, we’re delighted that our decision to focus on VR technology for education paid off! VR can clearly have a high-reaching impact on students’ education and future prospects and we can’t wait to see more people engage with the technology.

In terms of our own future, we have partnered with Hubblo and SIMA Academy, both of which will help bring new audiences to BackpackX. We also plan to create more content and are always interested in finding new partners who can help access different VR platforms and audiences.

Bio

Women Rise operates at the intersection of art, storytelling and emerging tech. We have built a community of over 80k that share a common vision to support girls’ education and women rights using art as a tool for storytelling. We have already worked with renowned organisations that work for girls’ education, such as CAMFED and Malala Fund. Women Rise has always championed education and, in March 2023, Women Rise partnered with Girls Who Code (a New York based charity working to bring more girls and non-binary folks into STEM) on a three-day event full of immersive experiences at the intersection of art, tech and culture. This was another step forward in Women Rise’s mission to campaign for girls education in all areas.