Transforming Student Confidence and Career Readiness with VR Training
Discover how Aurora University is using VirtualSpeech to enhance mock interviews, support SEN learners, and train residential staff through immersive roleplay experiences.
Highlights
Skills
Job interview and communication skills
1300+
minutes spent in VR
185
practice exercises completed
100%
of students reported a boost in confidence
Customer Introduction
Aurora University, based in Illinois, helps students build the skills they need for success in their personal and professional lives. The university takes a student-first approach, combining classroom learning with practical support and real-world experience. As part of its ongoing commitment to improve student outcomes, Aurora looks for new ways to integrate technology into its teaching and support services.
The Goal
Careers services at Aurora relied heavily on roleplays, but needed to be more interactive for students to engage with. Careers staff also felt that they were spending the majority of their time preparing for roleplays rather than helping to provide feedback to their students.
“VirtualSpeech has been a valuable tool in our efforts to help students build confidence and prepare for real-world scenarios. Students appreciate how realistic and approachable it feels compared to traditional mock interviews or roleplays because it lowers the pressure of speaking with a stranger while still providing meaningful practice. We've used it not only for career prep, but also to support student leaders like Resident Assistants (RAs) in developing critical communication skills. It has also helped our team make the most of our time by allowing us to focus on personalized coaching and feedback.”
Christian de Kok - Director of Career Services
The Solution
Aurora used grant funds to launch VR training with VirtualSpeech, focused initially on immersive VR mock interviews. They have also since implemented the Roleplay Studio to create bespoke scenarios for de-escalation within their Residential Services teams, and utilised VirtualSpeech for their pathway program, helping SEN students develop vital communication skills opening the door for shared accommodation for the first time.
Results and Benefits
- Following practice with the AI/VR, 100% of the participating RAs indicated that they strongly agree or agree to feeling confident in applying the necessary skills.
- 79% of the participating RAs answered high when asked if the VR/AI prompts were helpful tools for identifying areas they may need improvement in.
- 84% of the participating RAs answered high when asked if the VR/AI prompts were helpful tools for identifying areas the RA excels in.
- 70% of all requests for one-on-one interview practice in careers services are asking to use VirtualSpeech versus the traditional in-person method.
“Great prompts, and great to be able to be thrown in to different scenarios without having to worry about talking to someone you know.”
Student - Aurora University