A Fast Track to Knowledge: Using Virtual Reality for Learning in Prisons

Abstract

The one place that sits outside of the education marketplace is prisons. Characterised by dated technology, a lack of connectivity and poor staffing ratios, prisons are generally not renowned as places of educational innovation. When it does happen, it is all the more remarkable. This chapter describes an innovative educational intervention happening in a prison on the South Island of New Zealand. Learners work on cars, diagnose mechanical issues and deal with workplace safety issues all while improving their numeracy and literacy. What makes this learning unique is that it all takes place in a virtual workshop accessed through virtual reality technology. The cars may not be real, but the learning is. Education is becoming increasingly commodified and significant shifts are occurring in response to changes in the way people work and study. As people seek to upskill to increase their earning potential, qualifications are shifting entirely online to be completed when it is convenient to the learner. Simulations are helping to upskill generations of pilots, engineers and nurses. The need for flexibility in learning and an increasingly crowded marketplace is driving innovation in education, particularly in regard to educational technology. This innovation rarely makes it to the carceral environment, but when it does, the results can be life changing.