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A project on the teaching and learning methods with virtual reality increases the quality of education in times when there is a crisis of a global digital transformation of professions.

The final conference of the VRinHE project – Integrating Virtual and Augmented Reality in Higher Education Curricula – brought together professors, business representatives and NGOs at the University of Ruse. The Bulgarian-Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is a partner in the initiative, together with the University of Ruse and organizations from Austria, Cyprus, Greece and Latvia. The project, financed by the Erasmus+ program, is worth 259,015 euros and was implemented within the last two years.

The project results help teachers in higher education in the introduction of new technologies and training methods, in support of the digital transformation of professions and the formation of necessary new competencies in the specialists of the future. The approach of integrating augmented and virtual reality into the educational content enables a more effective understanding of the studied material. This provides a new opportunity for synchronizing educational programs with the needs of companies and the labor market, said the vice-rector of the University of Ruse, Assoc. Dr. Desislava Atanasova, who is also the coordinator of the VRinHE project.

Modern students perceive information that is presented to them in a digital form much faster and much better. The introduction of virtual and augmented reality makes them more active in the learning process and it also improves their digital and professional skills.

The project team developed a toolkit and online courses (MOOC), in order to facilitate the imlementation of VR/AR in higher education, especially for majors that are not directly related to ICT - transport, business management, mechanical engineering, pedagogy and social activities. The development of competences in teachers and students to use VR/AR technologies in the curricula of various university majors is in line with the strategic goal of digital transformation in the higher education.

At the final conference, there was a demonstration of the achieved results and it was shown how learning through virtual reality can improve the receptiveness of learners, better prepare them for what the employers expect of them and enable them to solve real cases while still in university.

The meeting participants also visited the Center of Excellence - one of the most modern laboratories in Europe, equipped in a way that allows businesses to test their products and processes without any unnecessary risk.