From traditional to digital: The impact of drones and virtual reality technologies on educational models in the post-epidemic era

Abstract

Employment of various innovative tools for education in the post-epidemic era is an urgent issue of improving the quality and efficiency of education and the relevance of educational material. The study aims to investigate the impact of the use of drones and virtual reality in educational models of student learning in the post-pandemic period. The study was conducted using a quantitative method, a sociological survey, a pedagogical experiment, and mathematical processing of the results. The study involved fourth-year students (n=748) studying in the following specialties: geography and ecology (n=119), engineering, robotics (n=135), architecture and urban planning (n=120), agriculture, agronomy (n=118), information technology (IT) (n=139), journalism (n=117), and teachers (n=258) with more than 5 years of experience. For the educational process of students of each specialty, the scope of application of drones and virtual reality has been developed. Classes with the use of drones and virtual reality were held two times a week for one academic semester. Afterward, students were interviewed using an adapted questionnaire to study their attitudes toward virtual reality technologies and drones for learning. Students of all specialties positively evaluated various aspects of the use of drones and virtual reality in their educational process. The use of drones helps to improve student engagement and visual attention and has a positive impact on learning efficiency and student satisfaction with the learning process. Teachers approve of the use of drones and virtual reality in teaching but point out that further development of the methodology for training stakeholders in the educational process, infrastructure, improvement of curricula, and consideration of various aspects of technology use is needed to effectively implement drones and virtual reality in the learning process. The practical significance of this study is to present aspects of the use of drones in teaching students of certain specialties and to study the impact of the effectiveness of the use of these technologies on the opinions of students and teachers.