On May 11th 2023, IIOE hosted a webinar about "VR Technology: Trends and Applications for Higher Education Digital Transformation". Supported by the IIOE partner Jiangxi KMAX Industrial Co., Ltd., this webinar invited business executives, academic experts, and entrepreneurs to share diverse opinions and experiences regarding the leading trends of VR technology in higher education, and shared promising cases of its practical application in various teaching and management scenarios.

The webinar welcomed 302 higher education professionals to register for the event and with 100+ participating online, including university teachers, researchers, technical specialists, department and institutional leaders from more than 20 different countries in Africa and Asia regions.

The webinar introduced innovative ideas and case studies regarding how we could bring new technologies, applications, and ecologies to empower higher education digitalisation, which stimulated active discussions online between audiences and the expert panel.

The webinar was moderated by Hassan Adeel Shehzad, Programme Specialist and technical expert of IIOE Smart Classroom at UNESCO-ICHEI. Hassan shared that the webinar aims to explore the integration of VR technology into digital transformation strategies by higher education institutions by sharing practical cases.

Opening Speech

Xue Feng, Chief of the IIOE Management Center, UNESCO-ICHEI, delivered a speech. He expected the symposium to provide participants with an in-depth understanding of VR technology's potential in education and stimulate new ideas. Xue Feng pointed out that this webinar marks the beginning of cooperation between the IIOE and global partners in the field of VR technology, and IIOE will continue to explore cutting-edge technologies to empower IIOE partner universities.

Expert Views

Wentao Su(Vincent), Vice President of Jiangxi KMAX Industrial Co., Ltd, introduced the application and development trends of VR technology in higher education. 

Wentao Su, Vice President of Jiangxi KMAX Industrial Co., Ltd

Vincent pointed out that VR technology is a technical system comprising various technologies, including modelling, 3D display and perceptual interaction. With the development of artificial intelligence, VR technology will bring more changes, especially in teaching modes and students' learning experiences. He emphasized the importance of data and believed that big data would change the teaching model while AI matures at the same time. He encouraged students to learn how to create instead of memorizing perceived knowledge.

Shirley Zheng, Sales Director of KMAX Overseas Business Center, shared how KMAX products use VR technology to empower education based on practical cases.

Shirley Zheng, Sales Director of KMAX Overseas Business Center

As extended reality technology becomes more closely integrated with the education industry, KMAX has developed a variety of educational hardware, software and wearable devices as a solution for educational technology, which can enhance teacher-student interaction and improve teaching effectiveness, and has served more than 3,000 schools around the world. Shirley hopes to deepen the strategic partnership between KMAX and IIOE to develop more high-quality extended reality products and provide diverse practical course content for higher education teachers.

Jia Cui (Jay), Director of the Training Center of Nanjing Vocational Institute of Transportation Technology, shared the achievements and experience of Nanjing Vocational Institute of Transportation Technology in carrying out VR teaching in recent years.

Jia Cui, Director of the Training Center of Nanjing Vocational Institute of Transportation Technology

By introducing the case of the national vocational simulation training base established by the college in Nanchang, Jiangxi, he pointed out that the key to building a VR training base lies in VR training resources and online platforms. Among them, VR training resources help students learn skills quickly, assist teachers in evaluating learning outcomes, and improve teaching efficiency. Online platforms can help break down barriers between colleges and enterprises, and promote the co-construction and sharing of high-quality teaching resources and teaching software. Jay called for strengthening university-enterprise cooperation to promote resource sharing in the digitalization of higher education and vocational education.

Duren Munsami, founder and CEO of Nudle South Africa, shared the experience and challenges of creating the first extended reality smart classroom in South Africa, demonstrating the potential of VR technology in the South African education system

Duren Munsami, Founder and CEO of Nudle

By equipping interactive hardware and software, smart classrooms bring students an immersive teaching experience, which has received positive feedback from local students and educators. Mr. Munsami said that, in the future, Nudle plans to build more extended reality classrooms to enhance communication and collaboration among media, government officials and education leaders.

Interactive Q&A

In the Q&A session, participants and guests discussed several topics, including how to evaluate the effect of VR teaching, store VR teaching content, achieve effective interaction between VR teaching and online platforms, and how to promote university-enterprise cooperation.

Among them, when mentioning how to evaluate the effect of VR teaching, Cui Jia said that on the basis of teachers clarifying teaching goals and students' needs, assessment plans can be formulated according to teaching plans with the assistance of the technical team. Participants expressed interest in cooperating with enterprises to develop VR teaching content, and Shirley Zheng said that KMAX's products cover multiple teaching topics, such as intelligent transportation, intelligent manufacturing, medical care, finance, and marketing, and will continue to support IIOE's global partners to promote the broad application of VR technology in teaching management.

This webinar marks the official launch of strategic cooperation between IIOE and KMAX in VR software and hardware resource sharing, virtual imitation training platform internationalization, and VR course localization construction. Relying on its substantial advantages in XR application fields, facing global industrial upgrading, KMAX provides a comprehensive solution for digital education integrating ‘advanced independent research and development for hardware + rich VR course resources + reflective operation services’, and joins hands with IIOE to jointly bring new technologies, applications, and ecologies to the digital transformation of universities in developing countries. IIOE is committed to working with global enterprises and institutional partners to enrich international collaboration, and enhance the application of emerging technologies, in promoting quality and equitable higher education and lifelong learning opportunities in the digital era.