Reflections/Impact
6th grade students designed virtual tours using Tour Creator as part of their globalization unit. The 360° experiences included narration, background sound and triggers to launch images from additional points of interest.
Sixth graders travel to markets around the world prior to the launch of a Global Marketplace unit.
Adding sensory details to special education students' writing after a VR trip to the "World's Greatest Candy Store."
Travel with VR for Teen Tech Week - Thirty-second looped 360 videos take you: over a volcano, into a tornado, above a waterfall, back to the dinosaur age, along the Great Wall of China and close enough to feed the alpacas of the Andes and elephants of South Africa!
A compare and contrast exercise after special education students "travel" to Antarctica in 360°.
A 6th grade landforms unit ends with flying over an active volcano and paddling through a cave using VR, viewing plate boundaries with the MERGE cube HoloGLOBE AR app and making volcanoes explode using the Quiver Vision AR app.
7th Grade: Conflict/Resolution Book Covers
Students researched conflicts in various countries and wrote fictional chapters resolving the conflicts. After evaluating the covers of books in the LLC (what makes them appealing or interesting), they picked a genre and created their own print or eBooks in our Makerspace. They then "pitched" their books by bringing them to life using HP Reveal (formerly Aurasma).
7th grade science students create VR experience comparing a cell to a school.
Student reflections from "traveling through the human body systems" with Virtual Reality, June 2017:
Was this experience more meaningful than watching a regular video and why?
This was more meaningful than watching a regular video because it was interactive and felt like you were actually there.
How does this experience affect your interest in the topic?
It makes me more eager to learn.
This makes me more interested in the topic. It was very cool to use virtual reality to learn this.
How does being "inside" the human body affect your thinking about how it works?
You get to see how everything looks and works while still learning about the information. It will also help me remember it better.
It makes a lot more sense.
It helps show me what is happening which causes me to ask more questions.
This article explores VR's impact in multiple industries today and considers its potential in education, focusing on metacognition and "engaging the mind-body through multiple sensory modalities."
The Gilded Age!
Using Augmented Reality, 8th graders could "see and "hear" about these iconic people who changed history!
7th grade Social Studies students "travel" to markets in other countries of the world, considering cultural diffusion, using Nearpod VR, September 2017:
Student reflections after traveling to markets in other countries with VR, September 2017:
What do you like about learning with virtual reality?
It’s really fun, it felt like I was there.
I like how when we are learning about the place we are studying about, using VR, it actually feels like I am there. I feel like I am more of a visual learner so I find it easier looking at the place when learning about it. This way, I can actually understand how the country is by personal experience or "being" there.
Does it increase or decrease your understanding of the topic?
It introduces the material in a kid friendly way. It also makes it easier to remember so I don't have to constantly go over the material.
How is the experience different from looking at a picture or reading an article?
It felt like you were there. it was awesome.
If I'm just looking at a picture, I can only see that one picture. If I'm looking with VR, I get to look wherever I want. It expands the picture to the point where I'm not just looking at something, I'm in something.
How else would you suggest we utilize virtual reality in school?
in math! in gym. and in science
I suggest we use virtual reality in subjects like science. I would find it interesting if you could experience space and get to go around space to all the planets and asteroid fields.
Maybe we can also use it for exploring historic landmarks in Social Studies.
I suggest that the teachers deepen their knowledge in VR so they can really use this amazing skill to teach all of the students.
Barriers To Integration
Think of Ohio’s technology standards as the broad concepts about digital tools teachers should be helping their students learn—like how to access information through technology to answer questions or communicate ideas.
The standards are not specific to any one type of technology, and do not provide teachers with the specific day-to-day lessons that help students grasp those larger concepts, but that’s what Kaser took on - writing the curriculum for an entire course on virtual reality himself.
Jaime Donally, a former educator who now trains teachers to identify and use technology in their classrooms, said that’s not typical.
“This is a fantastic tool, but what you need to realize is there’s missing niche out there and that’s the resources with the lesson plans, really tying in with the standards,” she said.
In her book Learning Transported, Donally tries to guide teachers through the complex process of choosing the best immersive learning tools for their students. She said teachers are often excited about the virtual experiences they can offer in their classrooms, but most have no idea how to use the technology to teach the required content, whether it be math, science, or geography.
That’s preventing the technology from being adopted on a wider scale, Donally said.
“There is a need for those things to be directly laid out for educators,” she said.
7th Gr SS: What can we learn from images (part 1)? How does questioning & discovering look & feel different w #VR? #ARVRinedu #srmsct
How is the experience different from looking at a picture or reading an article?
It expands the picture to the point where I'm not just looking at something, I'm IN something.
Sixth grade reflections after traveling to sacred sites w #VR:
"The colors were very different. For example, the Asian shrines and temples were red, green, gold, and black. The St. Patrick's cathedral was white, and the Jerusalem wall is a pale tan."
"The church is sacred and the floor and walls are cracked. Also the bell looks worn and the paint is not in good condition with cracks and chipping."
"France looked very historical, whereas Tokyo looked also historical, but a bit more modern."
"I felt peaceful at all these places."
Students' responses regarding virtual reality:
Could we incorporate VR into class more often? What else can we learn about using VR?
Is there something like a virtual school, or somewhere where people could be educated in virtual reality?
Was virtual reality created to let people travel to places that they never will in real life?
What other inventions like VR can help people live better lives?
Does virtual reality give you the same learning experience that seeing the sacred place in person does? And if so, how do you learn from virtual reality?
Students suggest how else to incorporate virtual reality:
I think we should learn more about the history of places and how it developed and try to incorporate it with VR.
I think we should visit Africa's deserts and what their day may be like and Antarctica's wildlife and a day in the life of someone who lives there.
I suggest we visit underwater or outer space.
I wonder if outer space will have virtual reality one day. Maybe this feature can be added to satellites to do this. Maybe, this can also help astronomers before they head to outer space.
The @JESSGeogDept harnessed #VR experience to help students explore Africa today. #JESSdigital #FutureReady
This video features content from some of the better providers, including:
A very special thanks to the Ridgefield Education Foundation for their generous support!
-Janine Johnson, Library Media Specialist, Scotts Ridge Middle School