360° Videos in Education: Assessment, Comparisons, and Efficacy as a Learning Medium

Abstract

In recent years, 360° videos have started to gain more and more popularity. However, their use in education settings is still sparse and scarcely studied. By enabling learners to engage with content through multi-perspective observation and immersive experiences, 360° videos have the potential to enhance motivation, attentive- ness, and knowledge retention significantly when compared to traditional videos. Moreover, the impact of the screen type on the learning outcome is still underexplored, and at the same time there needs to be a clear learning goal associated with the use of 360° videos, which this research is looking to shed light on by not only providing an overview of the existing literature, but also by per- forming a user study to check whether a significant increase in learning effectiveness can be observed when it comes to 360° VR videos when compared to traditional flat 2D videos in education settings. To investigate this, we conducted a within-subject user study with 26 participants who watched both 2D and 360° videos depicting monkey behaviors and completed pre- and post-tests. The results showed a statistically significant improvement in learning out- comes after the VR condition, with a medium-to-large effect size. Participants reported increased engagement and immersion in the VR experience, though some experienced physical discomfort and video quality as limitations.