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ABSTRACT Background Unintentional drowning is a leading cause of injury and death among children worldwide, and inadequate water safety education is a significant contributing factor. Innovative technologies such as virtual reality VR have the potential to teach children about safety and reduce the risk of accidental injury. However, there are limited studies on VR's effectiveness to improve water safety knowledge among children, highlighting the need for research in this area. Objective This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of 360° VR panoramas plus traditional teaching materials compared to traditional teaching materials alone in increasing and retaining water safety knowledge, and also assessed which approach was more interesting and enjoyable for children. Methods Participants ( n = 156) in school year levels 3 to 6 were assigned to either an intervention group, trained using workbook and audio files (traditional materials) supplemented with 360° VR panoramas, or a control group, trained using only traditional materials. Knowledge and retention were measured at baseline, post‐test (4 weeks later), and at follow‐up (3 months later). Interest and enjoyment, and presence were assessed at post‐test. Results and Conclusions Both groups demonstrated significant knowledge improvements over time; however, the difference between the groups at post‐test was not statistically significant. The intervention group had significantly higher knowledge retention and interest and enjoyment compared to the control group. These findings suggest that 360° VR panoramas are an effective teaching aid to increase and retain water safety knowledge and foster interest among children. Further research is required to examine whether improvements in knowledge translate to behaviour change.
Santiago et al. (Sun,) studied this question.