Another Perspective

Linda Bush (a past academic now working as an executive director for a Pearson) recently gave some solid insight on VR at a recent conference.  And it's always useful to see what Pearson, the huge educational publishing conglomerate, thinks about the AR/MR/VR market and where they are placing their business bets.

Bush played the role of a critical friend, yet at the same time revealing the inner thinking of a large publishing company, by asking: “Where do we see the most promise and potential; and how do we not lose time and stray too far by getting caught up in the shiny object of the moment.” She explained: “Every day I talk to faculty that wants a more immediate immersive learning experience for their students; they want experts students can go to at any time and interact with and learn.”

Still, Bush realizes that “almost every content area imaginable can be enhanced, improved, or fixed in some way with an AR/MR/VR experience.” “I have never heard the word ‘WOW’ expressed so much, as when students are viewing VR.” She added: “With AR/MR/VR in education I see an opportunity for synergy in which the whole can be greater than the sum of the parts; and we are approaching an incredibly exciting time, if we remember what our priorities are.”

Bush went on to provide some interesting higher ed survey data, and not all of it positive. Come back next week for a compelling follow-up post.