Development and Execution of An Immersive Virtual Environment Using Virtual Reality to Train Teachers at The Higher Education Level

Abstract

In the field of higher education, teacher training has played a crucial role in continuously improving the quality of education. Immersive virtual environments using virtual reality (VR) have emerged as an innovative tool for teacher training, providing highly interactive learning experiences and realistic simulations. This article presents a literature review on the development and implementation of immersive virtual environments with VR for teacher training in higher education, analyzing recent studies and highlighting best practices, benefits, challenges and future research directions in this area. A comprehensive literature review was conducted on scientific articles, theses and other academic documents published between 2019 and 2023. Databases included Scopus, Web of Science, ERIC and Google Scholar. The search terms used were “virtual reality”, “teacher training”, “higher education” and “immersive virtual environments”. The studies reviewed showed that VR provided multiple benefits, such as immersion and engagement, simulation of real-world scenarios, and immediate feedback. However, challenges were also identified, such as technical costs and resources, adaptation of content and the need for initial training for teachers. Virtual reality has proven to be a powerful tool for training higher education teachers, providing significant benefits in terms of immersion, realistic simulation and immediate feedback. However, effectively implementing these technologies requires overcoming several technical and resource challenges. It was recommended that future research focus on developing effective and sustainable methodologies for integrating virtual reality into teacher education programs and assessing its long-term impact on educational practice.