Six use cases for virtual tours in higher education

Universities and colleges are interested in virtual tours and cloud-based visual learning environments for two main reasons. The first is making their campus and courses more accessible, and the second is improving the quality and flexibility of their educational programs. Here is a brief summary of six practical use cases for virtual tours and cloud-based visual learning environments in higher education. The featured examples in the video are: Johns Hopkins Peabody Institute, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Riveria Vocational Training Institute, World Food Program, Nelle Shean Junior High School Media Center, Charlotte Mecklenburg school Maker Space, University of Eastern Finland teacher training program.

Use case 1: Campus tours

All colleges and universities want to make sure that they have a great reputation and that lots of good students will apply to their school. A 360-degree virtual tour on the school website with video inserts from students and professors is a great resource for potential new students and their parents who are touring colleges. 

Use case 2: New student orientation

Virtual tours and walks in shared spaces such as the library and media center serve new students and employees on the campus. A recorded 360 degree video introduction to any technical environments such as the chemistry lab or the maker studio allow students to explore these spaces and instructions at their own pace. Also, if the teacher does not have to spend 30 minutes with every group explaining the basics about each piece of equipment, there will be more instruction time for the actual class.

Use case 3: Repeatable virtual lessons and field trips

At the moment we are seeing multiple technical universities and vocational colleges looking for new ways to increase students' time in real-world working environments. An annotated 360 image or 360 video delivers a realistic first-person experience of any place or situation - and this experience can be replayed at any time.

Use case 4: Professional development and teacher training

The previous point about using virtual tours to improve access to education and to save costs in logistics also applies to professional development and teacher training. For example, it is mandatory for every employee in both public and private sector to go through a safety drill, and these kinds of resources can be offered as virtual safety walks using a headset or a mobile device.

Use case 5: Data collection for research

If you collect empirical data of social situations, you can record these situations with a 360 video camera such as Insta360 or Ricoh, and highlight details in the video for fellow researchers with quick annotations. This was not easily possible even 5 years ago.

Use case 6: Skill development

Every school wants their students to be fluent in expressing themselves using multiple forms of media. Creating an interactive 360 presentation is a great way to practice digital storytelling using not only text, but also images, sound, video, and their many combinations.