Virtual Reality in Schools: Game Changer or Big Headache?
Virtual Reality in Schools: Game Changer or Big Headache?
Virtual Reality in Schools: Game Changer or Big Headache?
July 19, 2022
By Alyson Klein
Summary
"Honey, don't forget your virtual reality goggles! And your lunch! We're gonna be late for school!".
Whenever an expert says VR will inevitably get less expensive and more ubiquitous, I've wondered: Will my son learn about the constitutional convention by actually "Attending" it in some immersive VR forum? Will his high school biology class "Dissect" a human cadaver with their virtual reality goggles on, no cleanup necessary? Will his first experience with immersive, interactive VR in school be five years from now, when he's in 2nd grade? Or even earlier?
First, the very kind and patient volunteer helping out with the experience had trouble helping me figure out if my regular eyeglasses could go under the goggles.
I finally got the hang of it-kindasorta-using hand controls to toss a virtual paper airplane and put a virtual disk in a virtual slot.
Once participants completed this first experience, there were a couple of other options with more of an educational angle-including a chance to tour the International Space Station in virtual reality-but I had to head to another event before I had an opportunity to test them out.
The issues we had with the VR may have stemmed not from the goggles themselves, said Andy Mann, an instructional technology consultant for the Muskegon Area Intermediate School District in Michigan who helped with the experience.
Students in the schools Mann works with have used the goggles to tour the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam, or stand on the cliffs of Machu Pichu, an ancient Inca site in Peru.
Reference
Klein, A. (2022, July 19). Virtual reality in schools: Game Changer or big headache? Retrieved July 26, 2022, from https://www.edweek.org/technology/virtual-reality-in-schools-game-changer-or-big-headache/2022/07