Educational Technology News

"Are you a teacher who sees the words “virtual reality” and automatically thinks of robots and science fiction sagas? Well, virtual reality (VR) has increasingly become more accessible and common in the classroom. VR provides many benefits for students by enriching their learning."

A British school that works with people who have severe autism is turning to virtual reality to help its students try out new experiences.

"Virtual reality technology is only just starting to find its way into K-12 classrooms across the globe, so there isn’t much long-term data to sift through when it comes to the impact that such augmented reality technologies can have on the development of young learners. With no real way to tell of potentially positive or negative long-term side effects to such immersion for young learners, experts are asking teachers, administrators and parents to step back a bit and consider the general well-being of young learners."

"Today, we’re releasing the Cardboard open source project to let the developer community continue to build Cardboard experiences and add support to their apps for an ever-increasing diversity of smartphone screen resolutions and configurations. We think that an open-source model—with additional contributions from us—is the best way for developers to continue to build experiences for Cardboard."

Now, teachers around the world are using virtual field trips to give their students a first-person view of changes scientists are observing in remote areas.

While the long-term effects on development remain unclear, experts recommend limiting time and ensuring that immersive media experiences are "positive, productive and safe."

"While the application of VR to core academics remains nascent, early returns are promising: research now suggests students retain more information and can better synthesize and apply what they have learned after participating in virtual reality exercises."

A mobile tech learning lab at Bell Works shows how virtual reality can be used in the classroom.

"A digital archive with a 3D and a VR model of a Hindu sacred site, Gaya, in India allows students and researchers to experience its sacrality, rituals, and historical importance."

Shawn Patton of Schell Games predicts a bright future for AR and VR in education if designers embrace best practices.

Arizona State to be first university adopter of new technology, launching fully online biology degrees

Jeremy Bailenson is a true virtual reality (VR) pioneer. His Virtual Human Interaction Lab (VHIL), at Stanford University, is a leader in research on how virtual reality affects people, what it can do, what the limitations are—and how it can (or should) be used in eLearning. He’s also thought and written extensively about ethical issues that arise in the use of VR.

"Immersive technologies will raise new ethical challenges, from issues of access, privacy, consent, and harassment to future scenarios we are only now beginning to imagine."

At Fox Valley Technical College, students are using virtual reality to safely explore the inner workings of a diesel engine — while it is running.

"The point of the Modern Learning body of work is to consider things which are ‘real’ today, but will be pervasive in the 3-5 year window: do we understand what they are, where their potential lies, what the early case studies are, how they fit into our broader learning methodology, potential risks, the layers of hyperbole and marketing, what is fad, and what is fact."

Cost and a lack of familiarity with VR tools are among the reasons K–12 institutions have resisted VR-assisted instruction.

Immersive experiences are the future for higher learning, but institutions will want to answer these questions before getting started.

Here are six ways the unique properties of VR are adding an extra dimension to learning and promoting empathic development.

According to educator Steven Sato, virtual reality in education can create equitable learning experiences and provide increased opportunity, knowledge, and inspiration to students.

Google Expeditions can be a fairly inexpensive way to present content.

Yes, you guessed it; in this piece, we will list all of the drawbacks of using virtual reality in K-12 schools.

VR could be reality for education in the future. According to research, Virtual Reality could be the answer to a more engaging method of learning.

"Virtual reality (VR) is exciting and engaging for students, but for the most part, schools have struggled to find ways to incorporate it into the curriculum. Now, new research reveals one possible impetus for more classroom inclusion."

"For schools and districts that can afford it, VR can greatly enrich the learning experience by immersing students in scenarios they wouldn't otherwise have access to, whether transporting them to the past or just the other side of the present-day world. The technology's full potential has still barely been tapped, but with that power also comes additional responsibility."

"Imagine a classroom where students are traveling back in time or inside the human body from their desks. With immersive technology, this is possible! Immersive technology is just what the terms dictate – technology that allows you to immerse yourself in it. Immersive technology includes tools like augmented reality and virtual reality. Both AR and VR are finding new homes in the classroom and are bringing excitement to students."