Unsubscribe from Distractions:
Is VR the Solution to Reclaiming Our Focus, or Is It Beyond Repair?
Smartphones, tablets, and laptops; just a few pieces of technology that we have found ourselves unable to live without. PING PING PING! The-oh-so familiar sound of notifications we can’t bring ourselves to ignore. Texts, emails, and news alerts bombard you throughout the day.
But at what cost?
Professor Larry Rosen found that if you receive 8 texts an hour, your ability to focus on the task at hand goes down by 30%.
But at what cost?
Professor Larry Rosen found that if you receive 8 texts an hour, your ability to focus on the task at hand goes down by 30%.
How do you learn in such an environment? Do you unsubscribe from these distractions? Turn off your notifications? Lock your phone away altogether? These solutions may not solve the issue in its entirety. With 98% of workforces saying they are interrupted at least 4 times a day and one of the biggest distractions in the workplace being your co-workers themselves, what is the answer?
Regaining Focus in a Distraction-Filled World
Did you know that if you are interrupted, it can take you on average 23 minutes to get back to the level of focus that you were at before you were disrupted?
Surrounding yourself with potential distractions comes at a cost, retention of knowledge. You may feel like you have been hard at work all day, but with each interruption that steals your focus, your ability to process information depletes. You could find yourself leaving work at the end of the day feeling unfulfilled in your achievements
These distractions have become detrimental to those trying to progress with their learning and in turn, their professional career. How do you learn new skills if you are surrounded by distractions everywhere you turn? Whether you are the employee trying to advance in your role or the employer attempting to upskill your workforce, trying to engage with and retain new information is becoming harder and harder each day.
Did you know that if you are interrupted, it can take you on average 23 minutes to get back to the level of focus that you were at before you were disrupted?
Surrounding yourself with potential distractions comes at a cost, retention of knowledge. You may feel like you have been hard at work all day, but with each interruption that steals your focus, your ability to process information depletes. You could find yourself leaving work at the end of the day feeling unfulfilled in your achievements
These distractions have become detrimental to those trying to progress with their learning and in turn, their professional career. How do you learn new skills if you are surrounded by distractions everywhere you turn? Whether you are the employee trying to advance in your role or the employer attempting to upskill your workforce, trying to engage with and retain new information is becoming harder and harder each day.
With Virtual Reality, the likelihood of long-term knowledge retention increases by 400%, due to its immersive nature.
So, What Is The Solution?
How can you adjust your focus? Could Virtual Reality learning be the silver bullet?
While it is true that learners that have been taught using Virtual Reality are 4 times more focused than those taking part in other traditional learning solutions, such as classroom and e-learning, it can be difficult to trust such a new piece of technology to upskill your workforce. Also, doesn’t bringing another piece of technology into your workplace almost seem counter-intuitive when trying to reduce distractions?
What Are the Main Factors of Virtual Reality?
There are many unknown factors to consider, even for seasoned learning and development professionals.
So, let’s go through them one by one:
With all these factors to take into consideration, is Virtual Reality the solution when trying to get the attention of your workforce back? Will it remove enough distractions to help resolve the ever-growing issue of lack of focus within your workforce? Well, that may very well be the case.
How can you adjust your focus? Could Virtual Reality learning be the silver bullet?
While it is true that learners that have been taught using Virtual Reality are 4 times more focused than those taking part in other traditional learning solutions, such as classroom and e-learning, it can be difficult to trust such a new piece of technology to upskill your workforce. Also, doesn’t bringing another piece of technology into your workplace almost seem counter-intuitive when trying to reduce distractions?
What Are the Main Factors of Virtual Reality?
There are many unknown factors to consider, even for seasoned learning and development professionals.
So, let’s go through them one by one:
- With Virtual Reality engaging all your senses, immersing you in a new environment, learners found that by just putting on the headset, they felt more emotionally connected to the content being presented to them.
- All the distractions present in the real world, fade into the background. It takes you away from potential interruptions, your phone, computer, and other people.
- With Virtual Reality, the likelihood of long-term knowledge retention increases by 400%, due to its immersive nature.
With all these factors to take into consideration, is Virtual Reality the solution when trying to get the attention of your workforce back? Will it remove enough distractions to help resolve the ever-growing issue of lack of focus within your workforce? Well, that may very well be the case.
02.04.2020
