For my forecasting assignment, I chose to reflect on some recent experience teaching in VR with my school learning Commons librarian, Michelle Harvey. We are both very much interested in how technology can afford opportunities for innovation and improvement in public education, and we are also both huge fans of the book, Ready Player 1.
An aspect that was missing from the book’s film adaptation was the incorporation of a “VR school” known as Lutus, which is presented as an alternative to in person schooling similar to eLearning today. What distinguishes it, is that students can “spawn” avatars into class, as do teachers, and the static environment of a typical classroom can change at a whim to simulate a rainforest, other planets or anything the class community could imagine really. In short, users technically learn from home, but they still have the presence of being in the virtual class, all while being afforded opportunities for infinite field trips!
Michelle and I were fortunate enough to be able to loan 12 Oculus Quest headsets from our school district, and after a day of facilitating student exploration into VR, we sat down to have a podcast-esque chat about what it might look like to make that VR school a reality and what challenges we could foresee along the way. I hope you enjoy this discussion between professional educators, and I would love to read your thoughts below in the comments!
Podcast link: https://recorder.google.com/share/49866a6e-e383-41f1-a2ce-ec882c2ad09a
I loved the interview/conversation podcast, Brendan! Sharing an actual experience of using VR and hearing the feedback from the experience from both an implementation and student perspective was really interesting. I have tried to argue with my son that playing on his Oculus is not exercise – not a player myself; I disagreed with his argument and justifications…. I guess I will have to eat crow and tell him a teacher says you can increase your heart rate and count it as exercise! My concern with VR devices is the ability to clean and disinfect them due to the soft material (sorry, I’m an infection prevention geek!). Was there any discussion around how to clean and disinfect between students?
What an interesting concept – full time virtual reality school! I appreciate that you forecasted the possibility of this but grounded it on a real life experience of using VR today. Virtual reality field trips such as Antarctica and space travel sound amazing – sign me up! As cool as it all sounds, I appreciate your focus on the equity piece. The technology has the power for students to go on worldly field trips, which isn’t currently a possibility for most. I remember in high school some of the students in my french went to Paris; I felt I was missing out on a great learning oppurtunity because I could not afford to go. If it was a virtual reality field trip, maybe the whole class could of attended. On the other hand, this only works, if like you mentioned, all school districts are afforded the same opportunities. This was an interesting podcast with a lot of great insight.
Hi Brendan, I loved getting a real-life conversation/interview about about the nuances of VR. I find it interesting that you both discuss trouble shooting the VR as a learning experience in itself. That is an oft underlooked component of introducing new tech in the classroom. Very important that you mention the divide between financial means of students. We’re definitely at a pivotal moment in VR where only a small few have access but sure within 20 years, this tech will become much more ubiquitous. I would echo Melissa’s comment that I am hungry for more info about other ways VR could be used in class. Looking forward to your upcoming podcast series! Great work!
This was a fun and accessible podcast, Brendan. I really enjoyed how you were able to weave so many pros and cons of VR in education in this conversation. I enjoyed hearing about the real-world examples and agree that VR has amazing potential to provide students with immersive experiences on subjects that some struggle to connect with, like geography or history. Your podcast left me wanting to know so much more about the VR world you envision for academic purposes, though, as I didn’t really feel it was explored – but I mean this in a good way. If you had a podcast series, I would subscribe. I feel you’ve scratched the surface at presenting tangible examples of VR in the classroom and I would subscribe to hear more. To satiate my curiosity I will certainly be checking out the book and movie. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Brendan,
I really enjoyed your podcast with Michelle. Hearing a real-world experience of using VR in school instead of an overhyped, idealized vision of VR is refreshing! My only criticism is that VR is not a mobile technology. I appreciate how you and Michelle offered several viewpoints on equity in your discussion. Not only about access equity but how children who already have these headsets have a leg up when they are introduced in schools because they already know how to use them. Also, how the field trips allow students to travel to far off places they may never get a chance to go to because of cost or other limitations. Your last point about issues with volume purchasing for schools and access to open licensing is also very important. I hope that in the future, the VR market is more competitive and there are more companies that focus on VR technology for education. I hope that there will be more open and free software for schools to use. It is important that administrations do their research and spend their technology budgets wisely to best meet the needs of the students.
Hi Olivia,
Thanks for listening! I would respectfully disagree that VR could actually qualify as mobile technology, as the Quest 2 headset is wire-free and roughly the size of a lunchbox, and I’ve seen firsthand how students bring them to school to engage with each other in virtual worlds. That said, it’s certainly not “fit in your pocket” level mobile, and given the costs we’re talking about I’ll concede it’s certainly not as accessible as phones or tablets.
Hello Brendan and thank for such informative and engaging podcast! As a teacher, I am also drawn to the possibility of using a futuristic “Matrix-Like” world available to access during school instruction. Especially with the future inclusion of AI’s, VRs, holograms, and any other mixed virtual reality gadgets that can make the learning experience more effective, efficient, and fun! I have always believed that the school weekly schedule should be designed in a way that students get regular class instruction and individualized instruction. This OER illustrates a potential concept that would help make my view of a perfect education schedule a reality. For example, students would receive regular class instruction Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (traditional environment), but on Tuesdays and Thursdays students would have individualized AI holographic instruction (still with the teacher there of course) but in small cubicles using any available technology to learn through games and accessing VR worlds; especially during e-learning during crisis and schools are required to shut down. This individualized instruction would guide them through concepts of their interest or important life skills like knowing how to search through google, how to troubleshoot technology, how to fully use Microsoft programs, how to properly manage finances, or simply begin learning about the desired career path. This technology can introduce them to a whole new world of hands on activities and discovery. Competitive mobile education can develop individuals reasoning and logical skills, strategic thinking, and deeper challenging thinking. I personally wish their had been more time at school to learn these things and have an adult (more specifically a teacher) to take the time to guide me through these life skills using fun technology. I know they teach this through Career-Ed but it is not effective at all with one instructor and boring lessons on computers. I personally have learned lots in my life through gaming and now VR worlds is a total game changer for the evolution of society. What a wonderful future this would be where we could incorporate more gaming into the education system as an effective form of learning. Of course not only gaming but any sort of engaging training. Your OER totally reminds me so much of the film READY PLAYER ONE (haven’t read the book), where basically everyone can immerse into “The Matrix” an alternate reality inside of the internet. I think the limitations and concerns will not stop this from happening in a very near future, technology is advancing faster than we could imagine.
Really interesting discussion. Please extend our thanks to Michelle for participating.
As you mentioned, if the technology is available to everyone then it is a fantastic opportunity. Unfortunately, it isn’t just the physical technology but also often the connectivity requirements that impacts equitable access.
BTW Brendan, I ride my bike throughout the winter (in Kelowna) on the Rail to Trail so you don’t have to rely on VR?!
Hey Sam,
Thanks will do! Yeah equitable access remains a concern, as even though Facebook subsidized the cost to substantially lower access to VR, it is still expensive enough that a school can’t justify more than a single set per school (if that), which makes it a “once or twice a year” kind of activity. That said, I think that student adoption will ultimately be what determines its level of integration, as whatever engages them effectively in learning can be considered worthy of further exploration.
As for biking, I’m unfortunately limited to my skinny tire road bike at the moment, though I’m saving for an ebike down the line, so perhaps next winter I’ll give it a go!