philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Virtual Coffee, Ice Cream Shops Help Students Learn Business

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Arizona State University began working in the virtual reality realm with its Dreamscape Lab in 2020. The university partnered with the lab and launched a pilot program last fall to test a student-run virtual coffee shop and teach students the ins and outs of supply chain management, without the risk of running a real business. The virtual experience also goes deeper than the surface-level knowledge gleaned from a site visit to an actual business.

“There’s been a long history of simulations in business education and a long history of case studies,” said Daniel Gruber, associate dean for teaching and learning at ASU’s Carey School of Business. “The virtual reality environment fuses some of the best elements of simulation and case studies and allows us to invent something new and innovative.”

Roughly 160 ASU students have donned the VR headsets over the last two semesters and entered the virtual W.P. Coffee Shop, where they immediately encounter a long line of customers. The participating students in the supply chain management course discuss and decide what may help the shop operate more efficiently—which could be adding more staff or more coffee machines—and then implement the plan in real time to see if it brings a boost or dip in revenue. ...

Los Angeles-based Loyola Marymount University held a virtual reality pilot program earlier this spring across nearly two dozen modules, ranging from training for interviews to pitching. The technology company that developed the program, Bodyswaps, gave feedback to students, including on whether they used too many filler words such as “um,” or didn't use their hands enough while speaking. ...

“There’s tremendous potential for virtual reality in the business world; it’s used by learning and development, human resources,” Schwartz said. “It can prepare students for that post-college workplace but it’s also a really powerful teaching and learning tool. As the hardware becomes more affordable and as the experiences become more inclusive, I do think this will become a part of higher education.”

See the full story here: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/tech-innovation/teaching-learning/2024/04/10/business-schools-dive-vr-virtual-coffee-shops