Wednesday, 20 July, 2022 - 08:00
Virtual Reality (VR) is the latest phenomenon that uses cutting edge technology to make you feel like you’re somewhere else entirely. Essentially this form of immersive multimedia or virtual reality is designed for human interaction for a very specific reason- to create experiences not otherwise possible.
This experience cannot be compared to a 3D movie or high-definition video game. A virtual reality experience means you can literally step inside a virtual educational program where students will be highly engaged while meeting key learning outcomes in an innovative way.
Virtual reality is a new concept in educational technology, a ground-breaking technology designed to help raise engagement and increase knowledge retention for students of all ages. Virtual reality excursions can provide the perfect opportunity to broaden your students’ minds and bring the world’s greatest sights right into your classroom.
What is the Difference between Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality?
You may have heard the term Augmented Reality and Virtual reality in the same conversation - so what is the difference?
Augmented reality augments your surroundings by adding digital elements to a live view. It allows us to see the real-life environment right in front of us—trees swaying in the park, dogs chasing balls- with a digital augmentation overlaid on it. For example, a pterodactyl might be seen landing in the trees or kids could be seen kicking past an alien spacecraft on their way to score a goal.
Virtual reality encompasses a complete environmental simulation that replaces the user’s world with an entirely virtual world. For example, Students pilot and land their own space shuttle on Mars.
While both virtual reality and augmented reality are designed to bring a simulated environment to the user, each concept is unique and has different outcomes.
How Does VR Work?
VR uses headsets to provide a safe and secure way for students of all ages to explore a virtual environment in the classroom, with the teacher keeping full control over each device.
The headset has a unique student-friendly interface, gesture controls, embedded educational resources and simple-to-use controls which means there is so much potential to bring the curriculum to life, from visiting remote corners of the world to holding the human heart in your hands there are no limitations on what you can do.
Students can use virtual reality in education to build emotional intelligence, creative thinking and further develop a secure foundation of knowledge for a more engaging and effective learning environment that uses more than just textbooks and videos. By using a multitude of different learning experiences, from visual stimulation, sound, written and even first-hand experiences, students can learn and retain more topical information during lessons.
VR offers an immersive fun and engaging element to their lessons. Utilising this different media encourages students to use more than one sense while learning and therefore means they’re more likely to remember and recall aspects of a topic and use this knowledge in discussion and writing.
Virtual reality makes it possible to send your students to any part of the world.
This VR reality experience can be reflective, realistic and serve as a platform to further develop their verbal and written skills. Often a purely theoretical or conceptual subject can be difficult for students to grasp or visualise, virtual reality provides teachers with technology with which to demonstrate and provide visual cues. Instead of reading textbooks on how solar systems are formed students can hold 3D models of planets in their own hands and experience this in a practical way which often leads to greater knowledge retention.
VR Programs
VR programs are fully customisable so discuss your educational needs with a VR provider and have your school lead the way in preparing students for future career paths. One of the benefits of VR programs is that they can be tailored to suit any year level and meet specific curriculum key criteria.
Many famous landmarks and attractions around the world have really risen to the challenges presented by COVID-19 and we are seeing some fabulous resources being developed in the VR space.
If you are looking for measurable learning outcomes that include teamwork, communication, and problem-solving skill, set your student free to experience a VR expedition of your choice.
- Biology: Ocean Exploration, Photosynthesis in Green Plants, Carbon Cycle, Water Cycle, The Polar Bear, Secrets of The Human Body, the Digestive System
- Earth And Environmental Science: Solar System, Constellations, Astonishing Moon, Solar Energy, Volcanos, The Great Barrier Reef, Thunder and Lightning, Glow worm Caves in NZ
- Maths: Circles, Similarity of Triangles, Lines, Polygons, Probability, Co-Ordinate Geometry, Pythagorean Theorem, Introduction to 3D Coordinate Plane
- Science: Dinosaurs, Pollination, Combustion and Extinguishment
- Physics: Speed, Comparing Solid, Liquid and Gases, Lever Principle, Balanced Forces,
- Chemistry: Separating Mixtures Using Magnets, what is pH? And the Periodic Table
- Visual Art: The Starry Night by Van Gph, Little Tadpoles Looking for Their Mum
Entermission Sydney and Entermission Melbourne offers students the opportunity to have a blast being immersed in amazing virtual reality worlds working together as a team, as well as meeting Key Learning Outcomes from customised school excursion programs in multiple areas:
- Technological And Applied Studies (TAS)
- Science
- Human Society & It’s Environment (HSIE): Geography
- Creative Arts
Why is VR Technology Integration Important?
We live in a rapidly evolving world and technology is defining the future we work towards. Innovation invites unique perspectives and one of the most powerful ways that technology can transform the world for good is through open access to education and information. Technology can fuel important conversations and ensure that people everywhere have the resources to learn and give back by creating systems that encourage diversity and social responsibility.
Virtual reality allows us to create any environment for simulated interactions with any activities for any purpose. Trends show that VR is a valuable classroom teaching tool with no limitations with what can be achieved. The potential for virtual reality in education–at least as we conceive it today–might far surpass anything you’ve seen in edtech so far.
Author: ClaudineF
Claudine is a people connector with a passion for bringing together communities and organizations for good through travel. With a degree in global business, she left her home country to travel full time with her family while working remotely, designing educational programs and marketing content for international niche markets. “Seeing the positive change that travel inspires in young people is what I am passionate about sharing, adventure has a unique way of teaching you something new”