Online instruction has become increasingly common as an alternative to face-to-face instruction (Crawford-Ferre & Wiest, 2012; Maertens et al., 2016; Ananga & Biney, 2017). One benefit with online instruction is that it is more easily accessible for students who are not able to fully access the more traditional face-to-face instruction on campus. After the Covid-19 pandemic, online instruction has gained further ground (Zhu & Liu, 2020; Kerres & Buchner, 2022; Li et al., 2022). At the same time, we have seen a rapid increase in new educational technologies, including that of virtual reality (Ding & Li, 2022; Al-Ansi et al., 2023; Zhang et al., 2022). Studies show that virtual reality (VR) can make the learning process more engaging and interactive (Jackson & Fagan, 2000; Ardiny& Khanmirza, 2018; Roopa et al., 2021) and that it can increase reception levels and train collaborative skills (Isik-Ercan et al., 2010; Petersen et al., 2023). This paper raises the question of how the use of virtual reality in online instruction affects learning experiences. While the participants in the pilot study displayed a genuine enthusiasm for using VR in an online setting, results showed a lack of knowledge in how to use VR to improve student learning. One area of investigation was concentration. Here, results were inconclusive as 50 % of the participants in group 1 (G1) were unsure of whether VR improves concentration, while 50 % of the participants in group 2 (G2) claimed that the use of VR does improve their concentration level. Another area of investigation was understanding the topic. The participants from G1 gave higher ratings than those who performed the experiment in G2, which implies that the impact was not as great as expected. In fact, the participants in G2 found that the VR equipment shifted focus from learning to other details in the visual medium. Another area was interactivity. Here, results indicated that VR technology has the didactic potential of engaging students and making them more interactive in the learning situation. The study concludes that while VR technology has the possibility of enhancing learning, a prerequisite is that both students and teachers have the skills and knowledge of how to use VR technology in a pedagogical setting; furthermore, a few technical modifications to the device itself are required.