Virtual Reality (VR) is quickly becoming the next great medium. It is a medium by which its users are transported into other worlds, times, and spaces. The medium, in a sense, tricks the brain into thinking it is experiencing many different senses making it possible for users to experience places or something that they might not otherwise experience. Why does VR promise to impact our lives as uniquely as other mediums such as literature, radio, television, the movies, and the internet? What does it have in common to these other mediums and why can we relate it to storytelling?
VR is just that; a personal experience that is able to expand a user’s perception and suspend belief. It lights up our senses and makes the imaginable real. Though each of the mediums mentioned above had made a lasting effect on the way in which we live and function globally today, VR activates the mind in a completely different way. Just as a good book relies on the language centers of our brains, music relies on the sound systems of our brains, both are limited to their specific communicative realm. VR does something different. It does rely greatly on the visual and sound centers of the brain, but not more so than a television show or movie that stands as a well-produced and coherent sensory experience. What VR achieves is absolute immersion.
When we are truly immersed into something, there appears to be no separation between the user and the experience. There is no storyteller. Our experience is no different than if we had actually lived that experience ourselves. Our emotional and physical responses would be no different from our response in the real world.
Step away from traditional storytelling and into the future
We all love a good story. We sit passively and watch, listen, or both to someone’s retelling of events and experiences. It has been proven to be a successful learning strategy that has increased engagement, recall, and retention of concepts. In my blog, “Can you Explain the “Fiscal Cliff Crisis” to an Eight year old?” I summarize a study completed by Lonnie Bryant and Renard Harris, stating:
“By incorporating a storytelling presentation, results from student performance reveal that a significant proportion of students have an increased recollection of the material covered. It was also found that this positive outcome was not related to the type of class but rather the increased interest in the lecture.”
What is interesting is that the use of storytelling was really in a “traditional storytelling” sense and it garnered positive results. Learners can understand and identify with the story, however, cannot be truly immersed in the experience. Why? It goes back to the VR world and how it essentially takes out the “go between” and injects the participant fully. How then, can we utilize storytelling as a completely immersive experience within our development practices?
We all love a good story. We sit passively and watch, listen, or both to someone’s retelling of events and experiences. It has been proven to be a successful learning strategy that has increased engagement, recall, and retention of concepts. In my blog, “Can you Explain the “Fiscal Cliff Crisis” to an Eight year old?” I summarize a study completed by Lonnie Bryant and Renard Harris, stating:
“By incorporating a storytelling presentation, results from student performance reveal that a significant proportion of students have an increased recollection of the material covered. It was also found that this positive outcome was not related to the type of class but rather the increased interest in the lecture.”
Say goodbye to the go-between
Infuse the learner as the creator of the story. Think back; do you remember a time when you hurt yourself?
Could you feel this event like it happened yesterday? Did your body begin to echo how it felt? Did you begin to connect emotionally? This is how we are immersed in a story, engaged, and at times, moved.
Say hello to the new learner experience
Learners can be immersed into the content through storytelling when they become part of the story. The only way to really engage the learner in this multi-sensory way is to have them as creators of the story. It is ingrained into our neurological system that when we recall most events, our bodies physically respond in the manner in which the event was experienced. Recall is multisensory. It stimulates an emotional connection and can lead to the moment of full immersion.
We achieve this by creating periods within our storytelling where we pause and let learners connect by allowing them to infuse their own connections to the story. Not all of the story is given, just enough to have learners pursue themselves in the story to shape the path toward that moment of full immersion.
Infuse the learner as the creator of the story. Think back; do you remember a time when you hurt yourself?
- What were you doing before getting hurt?
- What happened that caused you to hurt yourself?
- Where were you?
- What did you see? What did you smell? What did you hear?
- How did your body respond? What were you thinking, feeling, or experiencing?
- Who or what was around you?
- What can you compare the pain to?
- How and when did you get out of the situation?
- What will you always remember?
Could you feel this event like it happened yesterday? Did your body begin to echo how it felt? Did you begin to connect emotionally? This is how we are immersed in a story, engaged, and at times, moved.
Learners can be immersed into the content through storytelling when they become part of the story. The only way to really engage the learner in this multi-sensory way is to have them as creators of the story. It is ingrained into our neurological system that when we recall most events, our bodies physically respond in the manner in which the event was experienced. Recall is multisensory. It stimulates an emotional connection and can lead to the moment of full immersion.
We achieve this by creating periods within our storytelling where we pause and let learners connect by allowing them to infuse their own connections to the story. Not all of the story is given, just enough to have learners pursue themselves in the story to shape the path toward that moment of full immersion.
Conclusion
We improve the opportunity for learning when we engage our learners into the fully immersive experience that storytelling must offer by giving space for them to be creators of the story. From the learner’s perspective, when the story is no longer yours and becomes my story - I am fully immersed in that experience; therefore, I learn.
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Tip #59: The Brain and The Stories We Tell: Top Reasons Why Stories Change Our Behavior
Tip #90: Be A Scientist - Set Up Your Own Learning Behavior Lab on Micro- Experiences and Stories
Can you explain the “Fiscal Cliff Crisis” to an Eight-year old?
Little Red Riding Hood 2.0: Creative Use of Scientific Data to Enhance Interactive Stories
Smashing Visually Interactive Story eLearning
Resources
Ray Jimenez, PhD
Vignettes Learning
"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"
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