Why Virtual Reality?
Purpose:
- The use of technology in the classroom is inevitable for both teachers and students alike and VR is a way to take that technology integration a massive step forward. It is something that has not yet been explored in-depth meaning the possibilities are endless.
- It is a new form of technology integration
- VR gets students out of their seats and moving around the room.
- It allows students to explore selected sites and see places from around the world.
- Students can explore on the app instead of on the headset if needed.
- Student response in writing can vary
- As of now, there is not ample amounts of information or research present on this specific topic. While not completely the same, James Paul Gee is an educator that has written a book titled What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy that focuses on the learning principles in video games and how the principles can be applied to the K-12 classroom. Gee explains that this immersive, interactive world of video games engages students in a way that a typical formal education may fall short. While video games and VR are not the same, there is a connection to be made between the two in terms of the immersive environment they provide. Students are invested in video games that often feature beautiful, life-like settings that allow for them to be truly immersed and I believe that it’s a field that needs to be researched more.
How to use Virtual Reality.
The lesson: My students were reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and about halfway through the novel, I realized that they really didn't have a grasp on the setting of the novel. They understood the Jim Crow Era, but they didn't understand the Great Depression. They couldn't envision the Finch family home or the life of the Ewells. One student even said to me, "Ms. Leonard, I'm poor too and I still have shoes. How bad could it be?" To combat this confusion, I developed a lesson that allowed my students to physically explore The Great Depression and its causes. They were able to walk around Wall Street and read about the stock market crash. They were able to venture into the Mattox Family Home and see the holes in the ceiling and the newspapers covering the wall. For the first time, my students were actually able to explore and see the type of home we had been reading about. Using VR in my classes:
At the end of the activity, I surveyed students anonymously and asked whether or not they enjoyed Virtual Reality. I also asked them to explain their responses.
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