Virtual Reality In The Classroom

Hello everyone.

Uh This is Dalton Stuckey.

And today we are going to be talking about virtual

reality in the classroom and this is for all educators.

Ah so we'll jump right into it.

What is virtual reality?

So the definition of virtual reality by the Oxford University

Press is the computer generated simulation of a three dimensional

image or environment that can be interacted with in a

seemingly real or physical way by a person using special

electronic equipment such as a helmet with a screen inside

or gloves fitted with sensors.

So what does virtual reality look like?

So typically we think of virtual reality as a person

with a helmet on uh interacting with this world that

nobody else can see at the time.

Um but it doesn't have to be that we can

use our phones, we can use our computer screens too

interact with the virtual world because that could be really

costly to get all the helmets for each of our

students. Um But we'll talk more about that in a

little bit.

So why use virtual reality?

You might ask yourself.

Well, what's wrong with the old way?

Uh as you see homer here sifting through the books,

uh Well, virtual reality opens up a way to explore

the world and access the world in a way that

the old way or books uh cannot do.

So, students are able to access their material whether it

be through a computer or phone anywhere, essentially it increases

engagement to have virtual reality and with the virtual experience.

We can explore the ocean, the land space, the human

body, different time periods, uh and we can do all

of this from the comfort of the sea in our

classroom, which is really cool.

Uh It opens up more opportunities for students.

Uh Lenovo, the electronic company, stated that through VR, students

are immersed and experiences that enable that uh that enable

learning beyond the classroom to foster a deeper understanding of

complex concepts, knowledge retention and empathy.

So you can explore uh different cultures, uh lifestyles and

so on.

So how can we use virtual reality in the classroom?

Let's look at it.

So VR can be used in different contexts, such as

science math history.

Uh in science students are able to access digital labs

just as in this picture.

Um there are different tools that the students can interact

with and whether it be on their computer or with

the actual virtual reality helmet, they could just tap on

certain uh tools and use them.

For example, one of my students that I had worked

with in the past had a science class in which

they had a virtual lab and actually did a volcano

experiment um that, you know in the classroom would be

fun but could be a little messy uh is really

cool to watch.

Math is another way that people can either you shift

shapes or use manipulative um you know, rather than just

pencil and paper math and as I said before exploring

different time periods, you can actually go through time and

explore historical events all in the virtual and sometimes interactive

world. So moving on from there, uh how much does

this cost?

So it can be extremely expensive to do virtual reality

in the classroom.

Uh And unless you have the money or your school

site permits it, um it could be pretty expensive, but

there are alternatives cheaper alternatives to like expensive virtual reality

masks or helmets, whatever you'd like to call it.

Uh but you can find what A mask that's made

of cardboard by Amazon for as little as $10 where

the students can put the cardboard on their heads with

their phones inside of that.

Um And it's a it's a cheaper alternative to virtual

reality helmets.

Um so there are also free YouTube videos that you

can watch, that give a 360 perspective.

Um so you can actually turn and it feels as

though you're in the video or you know, you can

visit different locations and feel as though you're there seeing

people walk by you, there's other free apps.

Uh and and there's programs that do cost a lot

more uh if you want to go that route, but

you do not have to.

So yeah, with this presentation being for educators, I do

want to encourage you to make this yours and make

it your uh experience or your students experience by bringing

virtual reality into the classroom class class.

VR is a website that actually provides different lesson plans

for all different types of subject matter, whether it be

music, art literature, math science, um history, just exploring different

things. It's actually really interesting and they coincide with uh

um common core standards or whatever the state that you

may be in.

Um Class VR provides lesson plans that go with those

standards which is super helpful but it does come at

a cost with class V.

R. And there are headsets that they provide so that

would be um at your own expense.

But this is just an example of how you can

get virtual reality in your classroom.

Uh and whether it's a virtual field trip or a

science experiment, like there are many resources available for educators

as we talked about a little bit ago, you can

find free apps or Youtube videos or uh huh.

Other types of virtual reality experiences such as the virtual

labs for science.

Uh In addition to this here are my resources.

Thank you guys so much for listening to me and

giving me your time.

I hope you enjoyed the presentation and I hope this

encourages you to implement virtual reality in your classroom.

Have a good rest of the day.

Thank you.

Bye.

Virtual Reality In The Classroom

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