The Power of VR and Audio - Part 3

This is the third blog post connected to our experiences using VR and Audio to benefit our learning. You can read the first blog post here and the second one here.

The last time my students were using our VR viewers, the grade 7/8 teacher came in and was in awe of what he was seeing and hearing. He asked if he could use the viewers with his students for a project they were working on. I told him that I would love to let his students try them out - but only on one condition - that I get to visit his class and talk to his students as they use the viewers to augment their learning experience.

I got to visit recently. So much fun to see the students using the viewers as they visited other countries. Here are some photos:

Today I interviewed the grade 8 student that was presenting her project the day I visited. Here is the audio:

Grade 8 VR Experience

I let my students listen to this short interview. They are pleased that the work they are doing inspires others. They want to combine forces with the 7/8's in order to lead them and learn with them. Let's see what Part 4 of this series brings!

The Power of VR and Audio in the Classroom - Part 1

In December 2016 I was fortunate enough to attend an "Innovation Day" put on by the London Region Managing Information for Student Achievement (MISA) Professional Network Centre (PNC), in London, ON. It was an exciting day of presentations, discussion, and establishing new connections. My participation in the Innovation Day also afforded me an opportunity to apply for funding to conduct an Innovation Project.

After some time and reflection, I thought it would be a lot of fun to try and help bring the Grade 4 Social Studies curriculum to life and have the students immerse themselves in their learning in a variety of ways. Here is the plan that I considered: 1) use Google Expeditions to take my students on virtual field trips to parts of the world that would connect to the content that they would be studying; 2) record my students thoughts/ideas/connections (via audio) while they were on their virtual trip and then have them listen to their audio to think about their thinking; and 3) share our experiences with anyone/everyone using social media.

I am pleased to say that the project was approved for funding which allowed us to purchase the VR viewers we needed to use in combination with our mobile devices to harness the power of Google Expeditions.

Our tweet when the VR viewers arrived.

The students are currently researching and learning about a variety of early civilizations (e.g. Ancient Egypt, China, etc). They are gathering information to create digital museum exhibits that they will present to their classmates and post online for others to view and comment on. We took some time the other day to start and download expeditions that are connected to some of the places/people that the students are learning about. Here are some of the tweets and photos from our first experiences:

We are off to a great start. The students have explored some places in Peru, Egypt, and Greece. We are learning how to use the technology so things are not running as smooth as we would like but that is part of taking risks with our learning and we are okay with that. While the students were on their trips I managed to get some audio of their thoughts/ideas/connections that will be used in the days to come to assist them with the meta cognition. Please take some time to check them out:

Peru (Inkan Citadel of Machu Picchu)

Greece (Acropolis Museum)

As I watched and listened to the students, I realized that I was as excited as they were! Here is my audio from the other day:

Teacher Audio

It is my hope that this project will lead my students to a greater understanding of what they are studying by making it more real for them, allowing them to make their learning more personal and emotional. By Using VR and audio to do this, I believe that their learning experiences will be richer and stick with them for life, allowing them to make connections to it as they grow and develop in the different areas of their life.

I am quite pleased with how well things have gone so far. As we continue to leverage the use of VR and Audio to benefit our learning, things are sure to become easier and second nature for us. We are in the early stages which means that we are still learning how to use the "stuff". Once we have that under our belts and it the use of VR becomes routine rather than an event, we will be more focused on our learning and be able to go deeper as we interact with the content. Please make sure to come back and visit to learn more about our journey involving the power of virtual reality and audio in our classroom.