Today’s kids are more tech-savvy than ever, and virtual reality in education offers an exciting opportunity to bring those interests into the classroom. While virtual reality (VR) used to be an expensive activity straight from a sci-fi movie, modern technology has made it extremely affordable, and classrooms across the globe now use it to great effect.
Whether little ones are learning about different animals or high schoolers are exploring possible careers, teachers can use VR with nearly any grade or subject. It offers immersive experiences and 3D visualization to teach tricky concepts in fun, novel, and comprehensible ways.
What Is Virtual Reality?
Virtual reality refers to a simulated, computer-generated environment. The classic image of VR is someone wearing a pair of goggles and finding themselves in a virtual world. The goggles can block out the real world, so the user only sees the virtual one, making it feel especially realistic and immersive. This kind of VR often comes with audio and might include controllers to allow the user to interact with their environment.
This example is an immersive type of VR, but even a 3D video game can be considered VR. As long as the experience replicates reality, we can call it VR.
While some headsets run hundreds of dollars, basic VR sets are very affordable. Google Cardboard, for example, is literally made of cardboard and folds up into a headset. You simply download apps onto your smartphone and slide the phone into the headset to jump into VR. Low-cost options like this have made VR especially classroom-friendly. Even schools on tight budgets can adopt VR and help expand students’ learning experiences.
Two similar but distinct concepts include augmented and mixed reality. Augmented reality involves placing virtual elements on top of real-world elements. For example, students might point a phone camera at a classmate and overlay their body with a skeleton. The students can learn more about anatomy in a fun, personalized way. Mixed reality is similar, but it uses a headset and aims for a hands-free experience.
In non-school settings, training is a popular way to use VR. Future pilots and astronauts use immersive flight simulators to prepare for the skies, and future surgeons use virtual operating tables to learn about the process. Education and experiential learning are perfect fits for VR, and we can give kids a head start by using it during school.
How Is Virtual Reality Being Used in Education?
The applications for virtual reality in the classroom are practically endless! With the right equipment and some solid teacher training, kids can dive into a world of new learning experiences. Let’s explore how educators can use VR to teach students in different ways.
Language Arts
Many topics in language arts involve figuring out how to communicate your experiences. VR can help students build those experiences in new ways. A descriptive writing assignment might come with a virtual walk through the frozen tundra. A research paper could start with an interactive solar system that lets kids traverse the galaxy. These experiences offer a novel way to immerse themselves in a topic before writing about it.
VR can also offer new ways to share information, such as book reports and presentations. A student might “walk” classmates through larger-than-life diagrams and animations to support their findings with a multimedia approach. Engaging your audience is a common problem for budding speakers, but VR can help students effortlessly connect with their classmates.
Many educators swear by immersion as a technique for learning additional languages. It’s one of the most effective ways to improve fluency, and students can now dive into another culture through VR. They might practice ordering croissants in Paris or buying a bento box in Tokyo.
Science
Science is an especially fun subject for incorporating VR. Many topics in science classes are impossible to visualize. They might be too small, too big, or take place in the distant past. Instead of looking at images of cells, dinosaurs, and celestial bodies, students can dive in and work with 3D models, hang out with dinosaurs, or roam across the surface of Mars. It’s an incredibly enjoyable way to cover these topics and pique a student’s interest.
Another great way to incorporate VR in a science classroom is to create a digital science lab. Labs and materials can be expensive, and VR offers a more affordable way to conduct experiments. It’s also safe, as the kids don’t need to interact with real chemicals and lab equipment to learn about how they work. Many schools use VR to help children experiment without access to a lab. Whether a student is learning from home or the school has limited resources, virtual labs are an excellent solution.
Educators use VR to teach in different areas of science, including:
- Biology: Much of learning about living organisms happens on a microscopic level. With VR, kids can explore the inside of a cell, or move through the human bloodstream for a more immersive learning experience.
- Physics: VR offers a unique way to experiment with the principles of physics and understand them. Kids might modify parameters and see what it’s like to jump around on Mars vs. Earth vs. the moon. Another fun way to use physics is virtual Rube-Goldberg machines.
- Zoology: Kids can read about animals all day long, but seeing one through VR gives them a new way to understand other species. Students can watch animals in their natural habitats or superimpose one right in the classroom! Imagine how much easier it is to grasp the size of a tiger when it’s standing in front of the chalkboard.
- Anatomy: From virtual dissections to a superimposed skeletal system, kids can learn all about anatomy through VR and AR. They might tackle activities and visualize elements that would be difficult to do in real life.
- Chemistry: Students can even use VR to build molecules and see how they interact in a virtual chemistry lab.
VR in science class offers an immersive, intuitive way to interact with these topics and see them in a new light.
Mathematics
Math is a notoriously tricky subject. All of those signs and symbols are abstract representations, and VR can help make them more tangible. For instance, kids can add and subtract numbers with virtual blocks or move symbols around in an equation. With unreal possibilities, VR can also make these interactions more exciting and engaging. Why move around plastic blocks when you could move around basketballs or strawberries? Kids can also run through drills in VR games.
Educators use VR to simulate the use of math in the real world. One program called Prisms, for example, puts kids in the shoes of a specific professional, such as a real estate developer or a small business owner. From there, they’ll use math to solve problems. As an air traffic controller, they might need to use linear equations to model flight paths and avoid a collision. Students get to apply their math skills in real ways and see how they might use them in the workforce.
VR can be especially helpful for teaching spatial relationships. After all, putting a 3D shape on a 2D piece of paper means some sides get left out, making it hard to visualize. A 3D environment allows kids to see and interact with these shapes. They can merge shapes together and see how that action affects measurements like volume and surface area. Students can also use VR to see how items overlap or visualize intersecting planes.
Social Studies
In the social studies classroom, VR is the perfect avenue for learning about the world. With a simple VR set, kids can explore the streets of Italy or the Great Pyramids in Egypt — no plane ticket required! The beauty of a virtual world is that students can even go to historical places. They could see the Parthenon before it became a ruin or listen to Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous speech from the front row.
VR field trips pair well with many social studies topics, adding a powerful sensory experience. VR is especially good at helping kids build historical empathy and understand the experiences of previous generations. They might walk through a concentration camp from WWII or see how hard the Great Wall of China would have been to cross.
VR also helps with topics like geography and economics. Kids can go on a scuba diving mission or wander the jungle to explore these landscapes in great detail. Then, they could role play potential jobs to explore careers and head to a virtual bank to learn about handling money. The immersion involved in VR is an excellent way to show kids the real-world impact of finances and careers.
Physical Education and Health
You might be surprised to see how many ways students can use VR in physical education (PE) and health. Most PE and health activities don’t happen inside a gymnasium, so using VR allows educators to bring kids into new environments. Here are just a few examples:
- Virtual sports: PE class doesn’t usually involve things like snowboarding or waterskiing, but VR makes it possible. Kids can experience more unfamiliar sports and “get out” of the gym or house with exciting new settings. These unfamiliar sports may be especially exciting if they involve hard-to-access landscapes. Students from the Midwest can “surf” in the ocean, and kids in Florida can still experience downhill skiing.
- Nutrition: With a trip to the grocery store or a virtual kitchen, students can put their knowledge of nutrition to work and build a healthy menu or plate. A more realistic meal-building scenario allows students to experience the challenges that they might face while choosing foods, like confusing nutrition labels or tricky serving sizes.
- Meditation and yoga: Teachers can take wellness education to the next level with meditation or yoga sessions that take place on a virtual beach or a serene mountaintop. VR helps them block out distractions and be at one with their digital environment.
- Muscle movements: Learning about the body isn’t just for anatomy class. Students can use VR to visualize different muscle movements, like those used in certain sports. Through VR, they might learn more about avoiding injury or what workouts will help them build certain muscles.
- First aid and CPR: First aid and CPR aren’t easy to practice. With VR, students can get digital hands-on experiences to help them be more prepared if they ever need to use these skills. These situations can be stressful, so immersive practice is particularly helpful.
Music and Arts
Artistic work is often experiential, but you can’t exactly take students to the Louvre Museum or to see orchestral concerts during a typical day. However, with VR, kids can see these art forms in a captivating new medium. They can explore museums and look at classic pieces or even dive into artistic 3D interpretations of famous works.
Another way to use VR is to have kids make their own digital art. Students can paint around themselves on a 3D canvas and sculpt with a wide range of tools, including brushes, pens, pencils, and spray paint. VR can familiarize students with digital mediums and provide a novel way to learn about art topics, such as perspective and color. The 3D landscape helps them visualize perspective differences, too.
VR also offers opportunities to make music in a classroom-friendly way. They can form a virtual band or learn how to play individual instruments. In a world where arts funding can be scarce, VR often helps include this discipline in a fun, affordable way.
What Are the Benefits of Using Virtual Reality in Education?
Using VR in the classroom comes with a slew of benefits for students and teachers alike. This powerful piece of technology can help:
- Give students more immersive experiences to generate more interest and excitement
- Help students visualize complex and abstract topics to improve understanding
- Remove distractions associated with traditional classroom settings
- Inspire creativity and learning with more hands-on opportunities
- Foster cultural competency by surrounding students with new environments
- Be used by students of varying abilities, including those without strong motor skills
- Help bridge funding gaps by providing virtual experiences
While the educational content is sometimes similar to that of a non-VR lesson, you can’t beat the engagement that comes with virtual reality. It’s a novel, entertaining way to explore new worlds and concepts. Every learner is different, and the unique world of VR can pull in those hard-to-reach students.
VR is still an evolving field, so apps and headsets should continue to improve. They’re already a great addition to the classroom and give educators plenty of flexibility to adapt to different learners and lessons.
Making Virtual Reality a Reality in Your Child’s Education
Here at Commonwealth Charter Academy, VR is just one of the ways we bring modern innovation into the curriculum. We believe learning should be accessible to everyone, and VR allows us to take kids to faraway lands and brand-new worlds to make it as engaging and effective as possible. As a cyber school, we’re no strangers to technology, and our well-trained educators know how to use these tools wisely.
Reach out to us today to learn more about CCA’s teaching methodologies and how we use technologies like VR!
