The Promise of the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Unleashing the Potential of Virtual Reality in the Teaching of History Curriculum

Abstract

The growing economic viablity of virtual reality  has made it possible for educational institutions to use the technology in their teaching. The growth of mobile networks and the spread of digital gadgets, which are more widely available to teachers and students, support this. Notwithstanding the known critical role of virtual reality in the teaching of engineering and medical education, its use and application in history curriculum stays unchartered terroitory. This paper interrogates the affordances of virtual reality in education with a slant towards its use in History teaching. Understanding how the adoption of the fourth industrial revolution and the affordances of virtual reality in education could unlock new avenues in the teaching of history curriculum. Thus by exploring the potentialities of virtual reality in the teaching of history, the paper hopes to lay a foundation on which social science researchers can further explore how the affordances of virtual reality  improve the teaching fraternity especially so in developing countries. The paper advances the arguement that virtual reality is not only useful in engineering and medical education but also to social sciences in general and history in particular. This study provides insights about this underexplored territory through assessing the functional implications of virtual reality in the teaching of history curriculum.