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Introduction
Introduction
What’s it like to place a VR (Virtual Reality) tool in the hands of your student? How can we empower students to be content creators, critical thinkers and collaborative learners in the Geography classroom? If these thoughts and questions resonate with you, come join us! Our “Empowering Students in VR” NLC looks specifically at exploring the use and affordances of immersive technology (such as Virtual Reality) in enabling greater student agency. Specifically, we have been exploring some of the critical ingredients needed to support learning environments conducive for these to happen, inevitably examining the ever-evolving roles of teacher and student in an increasingly blended learning context.
Who are we?
Who are we?
We are a group of eager learners who come together to share what we are experimenting across our various schools and different learner profiles! Motivated by a common goal to empower our students to take greater control over their learning of Geography, we have put our heads together to think through some of the big ideas we want our students to grasp in GI and related VR-enabled lessons, and what the classroom dynamic can look like as we move towards a more negotiated frame of inquiry that gives students greater voice in the classroom (Roberts, 2013). We have also supported one another in the learning and equipping of e-Pedagogy in our lesson design, as well as practical tips on how to use the ICT tools and applications which accompany the lesson designs! Be it through creating and annotating 360 photographs to using simple coding and ambient audio to animate and bring ideas to life, we have supported one another through the sharing of resources which can be leveraged to encourage self-directed and collaborative learning in our students. We meet once to twice per term on a formal basis, and have lots of informal Whatsapp chats and 1-to-1 Zoom sessions in between! You can expect to be supported whenever you need it!
Sharing our resources
In a blended learning context, it is important to leverage online tools and websites to encourage self-directed learning on the part of students. This year, we are deepening our exploration of a VR-AR tool, CoSpaces EDU and how it can empower our students to be creative and inventive, translating and demonstrating their grasp of big ideas in GI. There are a whole library of curated self-help videos on how to teach students (and yourselves!) how to take 360 photographs via the Google Street View application, and the CoSpaces EDU Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/CoSpacesEdu where you can also find a whole host of teaching resources and equipment at the following page https://www.youtube.com/c/CoSpacesEdu (includes PD training material and certification!) Some past artefacts created our students include the following: https://edu.cospaces.io/UJS-QCL (students from TWSS) and https://edu.cospaces.io/AFY-BMY , https://edu.cospaces.io/KFE-JZQ (students from TSS)
Learn how to easily make your own VR or AR content with CoSpaces Edu - suitable for any grade and school subject!
CoSpaces Edu is an intuitive educational technology enabling students and teachers in any class or grade to build their own 3D creations, animate them with code and explore them in Virtual or Augmented Reality.
Designed for schools who want to empower their students to become creators and prepare them for the future, CoSpaces Edu improves digital literacy skills, develops creativity and fosters collaboration in the classroom.
Find out more and get started on: cospaces.io/eduwww.youtube.com/c/CoSpacesEdu
Our future aspirations
We are grateful for the opportunity we have had to meet in person once safe-distancing measures were relaxed, and are progressing in our learning of how to incorporate VR into our assessment tasks. We believe there is a place for greater student empowerment in learning with VR and related technologies in an increasingly digitalised world, and we are gathering more student artefacts across the schools we teach, collectively driven to continue to improve upon the lessons we create that are informed and aligned with e-Pedagogy and the Singapore Teaching Practice. We are hoping to present in GeoConnect 2022 and some among us who have experimented with the lessons to some degree of success at school level are also keen on passing the knowledge forward by conducting their own TLW in future years! (Yes, that’s completion of a SPARC cycle!) We are keen to have more on boards, great minds which think alike.
So do join us! Get in touch with NLC leader, Theophilia at theophilia_yong@schools.gov.sg
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