Ross Brenneman, the assistant editor at Education Week Teacher, explains how Gallup, an analytics and advice firm, surveyed 1 million US students on their engagement in school. They found that with every passing grade, more students believe that they aren’t engaged with their education and school environment (Brenneman 1). This is significant because it leads to a flawed perception of their own education, with no knowledge of the education’s purpose. The stimulus material “Social Media and The Movement of Ideas” by Edward Kessler explains how the recent rise of social networks leads to an increase in the efficiency of the movement of ideas. These social networks refer “to the use of ‘web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue” (Kessler 1). This social network can be contextualized as VR devices, which treat educational communication as an interaction between students and their learning, consequently leading to higher engagement. The use of VR is further analyzed by Jane McGonigal in her TED talk “Gaming Can Make a Better World.” Using the example of climate change to convey her message, McGonigal explains how gaming through augmented devices can be used to help individuals understand and solve complex real-world problems (McGonigal). This technology can be applied to academics by subjecting students to a type of game that enhances their learning. There have already been debates on introducing VR into educational settings, as many opponents of the idea explain that it is costly and not effective enough to overtake traditional teaching methods. Currently, educators predominantly use traditional methods of teaching: textbooks and lectures. As social networks increasingly become integrated into our society, changing curriculums by embedding social networks is a question to be considered. As such, VR devices can benefit students’ education and learning abilities by making them more engaged with their learning process, which can be better than current teaching methods.

In contemporary society, students are accustomed to receiving information through interactive learning environments due to the rise of social media. Their knowledge of news and education outside of the classroom comes from informal experiences such as posts and videos on platforms such as Snapchat or Instagram. In contrast, according to Elliot Hu-Au and Joey J. Lee, a doctoral student and a lecture professor, respectively, of Columbia University, students’ education in a classroom setting comes from “transmissionist methods such as lectures, leading to passive, disengaged students”(Hu-Au and Lee 2). Beca