The play4REAL Lab kicked off its very first teacher training session with the Milford Public Schools last week! We brought 12 headsets and introduced VR to teachers from across disciplines to showcase how VR could be integrated in their lesson plans. Teachers were blown away by the possibilities, and all of them really seemed to enjoy the chance to try out the new technology.
In our development session we talked about 5 advantages of using VR in education:
- Better Sense of Place: With VR students aren’t limited to descriptions or textbook illustrations. They can explore a topic first hand and learn about scale and spatial relationships. This works just as well for molecules and proteins in biology and chemistry as it does for Egyptian pyramids and 18th century tall ships in social studies and history!
- Democratize and Scale Learning Oportunities: VR lets students experience things they might not otherwise have access to. Virtual field trips to anywhere on earth can happen in the time it takes to boot up a headset with a fraction of the cost and oversight. How but through the magic of VR would middle schoolers get a chance to visit the International Space Station?!
- Learn by Doing: VR can provide a concrete experience to anchor textbook instruction. Students practice their public speaking in a safe (virtual) environment in Virtualspeech VR Courses
- Inspire Creativity: In an emerging technology like VR, students have a unique chance to create new forms of digital art like nothing they have ever experienced before. Not to mention learn valuable skills like 3D modeling in a hands on way.
- Empathy and Perspective Taking: The verdict is in–taking the first person perspective of others in virtual reality produces more empathy and prosocial behaviors when compared to traditional perspective-taking tasks. It is an exciting new way for students to learn about the lives of people with backgrounds very different than their own.
The play4REAL lab will soon be releasing an Educators’ Guide to Educational Apps available for the Oculus Go. Stay Tuned!