Education is Given with Virtual Reality Technology at MAKU Cavdir Vocational School

Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University (MAKU) has introduced another innovation. Occupational Health and Safety courses are taught using VR (Virtual Reality) technology at MAKU Çavdır Vocational School. Çavdır Vocational School has improved the quality of education it provides to its students with a VR Technology laboratory, which is very rare in Vocational Schools in Turkey. In the Occupational Health and Safety training they receive with VR Technology, students gain experience in a virtual simulation created using VR electronic equipment (glasses, remote control or gloves, etc.) in a laboratory environment in dangerous professions, by dressing a mannequin in work safety clothes. Innovative Education: Occupational Health and Safety Courses with VR Dr. Mehmet Öçal, Director of MAKU Çavdır Vocational School, said that they have implemented the education curriculum using VR technology in the Occupational Health and Safety Laboratory, and said the following about the application; "Work accidents and occupational diseases are actually one of the most important social problems in the world. At this point, in our occupational health and safety program at Çavdır Vocational School, we have implemented the education curriculum using VR technology in our Occupational Health and Safety Laboratory, which teaches our students a humane working environment, healthy and safe working environments, work that suits human dignity, and the welfare of the worker, along with our program priorities. With the integration of the equipment obtained from the European Union Project carried out by our university into our university laboratory, our students will now be able to learn the use of personal protective equipment with VR technology in Çavdır, and in the future, they will be able to learn dangerous and hazardous situations directly according to the application method during this process. So we have integrated this into the curriculum. We are one of the few Vocational Schools in Turkey that have implemented this. There are very few universities with VR technology directly integrated into course curricula in a very limited number of laboratories. Our aim here is to increase the quality of the education given to our students. We aim to make it easier for our students to get a job in the labor market with this qualification." Practical Training Opportunity with VP Tufan Şahin, Head of the Occupational Health Safety Department of MAKU Çavdır Vocational School, also pointed out that the laboratory is the most equipped laboratory in Turkey, saying; "Our Occupational Health Laboratory at Çavdır Vocational School is the largest Occupational Health and Safety Laboratory in terms of equipment in Turkey. We provided the equipment of this laboratory with the BAP Project of our university. We are trying to integrate VR Technology into the project. The biggest advantage for us is that the more sectors we can show our students due to the limitation of work and application area in rural areas, the better it will be, and with the software model of this VR Technology, we can bring all sectors to Çavdır Vocational School." İlayda Fidangül, a first-year student of the Occupational Health and Safety Department at Çaldır Vocational School, who received Occupational Health and Safety training with VR Technology, stated that having such training in their school will provide them with a great advantage in their professional lives, and shared her experiences on the practical training they received with VR Technology. Fidangül said, "We do our lessons in a practical way with VR technology. We have a mannequin as if it were real, we dress and undress it. This training is a great advantage for us in this way."