VIRTUAL REALITIES Steven Wilson ITEC 7445 EMERGING TECHNOLGOIES

VIRTUAL REALITIES Steven Wilson ITEC 7445 EMERGING TECHNOLGOIES

VIRTUAL REALITIES • What is Virtual Realities? • Computer technology that replicates an environment, real or imagined, and simulates a user's physical presence that environment in a way that allows the user to interact with it. • Virtual realities artificially create sensory experience, which can include sight, touch, hearing, and smell.

VIRTUAL REALITIES Most up to date virtual realities are displayed either on a computer screen or with a special virtual reality headset. Some simulations include additional sensory information and focus on real sound through speakers or headphones targeted towards VR users.

VIRTUAL REALITY (VR) ADDS NEW DIMENSION TO LEARNING • There is a surge of companies solely dedicated to providing schools with packaged educational curriculum and content, teacher training and technological tools to support VR based instruction in the classroom. • Myriad articles, studies and conference presentations attest to the great success of 3 D immersion and VR technology in hundreds of classrooms in educationally progressive schools and learning labs in the U. S. and Europe.

COBB COUNTY TECHNOLOGY PLAN Mission: • Technology, as an integral part of curriculum, instruction, assessment and learning, prepares students to succeed in a global community. Our students will be equipped with twenty first century technology skills to demonstrate, apply and communicate their learning. College and career ready graduates must have these skills. Vision • Technology serves as a tool to engage students in quality learning experiences requiring higher order thinking skills to solve authentic problems. • Students will use next generation technology tools to access, analyze and apply increasingly complex information to draw conclusion and make informed decisions. • Student learning will be enhanced through open access and equitable distribution of online communication tools and information resources.

VR SUPPORTS COBB’S MISSION • Using VR in the classroom supports Cobb’s mission of “students will be equipped with twenty first century technology skills to demonstrate, apply and communicate their learning” • Cobb’s Mission is to have students college and career ready which using VR in the classroom supports and expands on that mission.

VR SUPPORTS COBB’S VISION Vision • Technology serves as a tool to engage students in quality learning experiences requiring higher order thinking skills to solve authentic problems. • Students will use next generation technology tools to access, analyze and apply increasingly complex information to draw conclusion and make informed decisions Support • VR will engage students and allow them to think at a higher order to connect real world problems. • Using VR in the classroom is next generation technology that applies complex ideas to school standards.

OBJECTIVES • The main objective to using Virtual Realities in the classroom is to increase student success through the implementation of technology as an instructional tool. • Virtual Reality will allow students to test the waters of different careers — educational experiences that could alter the trajectory of their studies and their lives.

KEY BENEFITS • Experiential learning can teach complex problems in a different way than traditional education methods of today. • Virtual field trips will be made available which will enhance the learning experience will drastically saving money. • New possibilities are available for teachers of all kinds, as the technology of making avatars and supporting “multi player” sessions allows for an exponentially scaled level of socialization and outreach.

TARGET POPULATION • Cobb County has over 112, 000 students, with 44. 8% on free/reduced lunch. With this demographic, access to internet in all homes is not likely, which is why I am proposing using this tool within the schools. • Because if the overall low income of the population is hard to afford field trips and meaningful outside of school learning experiences this is a problem that virtual realities could solve.

TARGET POPULATION • Students in all grade levels around the county are missing out on valuable learning outside of the school • Supplying a set of virtual realities headsets to the classroom will allow teachers to take students on “field trips” basically anywhere in the world

EQUIPMENT AND SOFTWARE Immersive VR Desktop VR Projected VR With this type of virtual contact, the user can be completely immersed in virtual reality. This illusion is made possible through the use of a virtual reality helmet This type of system refers to the use of a conventional computer screen for immersion into a virtual world. The projected VR is variation on a simple computer, where there is fusion, thanks to 3 D glasses, between the data projected from two different sources

TECHNICAL SUPPORT • Cobb County can offer basic support for the virtual reality products. • The company/companies from which the VR are purchased will supply technical support for major issues. • Google offers state of the art VR and has a great technical support team.

LIMITATIONS • The major limitation to using Virtual Realities is cost. • Prices vary depending on the type and brand of VR but overall it is a very expensive technology • Technical difficulties include cost and complexity of virtual environment creation. • VR have the potential to make you sick because of • latency in motion tracking • cue conflicts in visual displays

COST OF VIRTUAL REALITIES • The cost of Virtual Realities can be an expensive tool to have in the classroom: • Prices can range from $600 1550 for the headsets • Cost for software and accessories associated with the headsets can range from $100 $500

FUNDING SOURCES • School Foundations can raise money for class sets of VR headsets. • Grants are available from the county and state level to fund innovative technology projects • Teachers and schools and start Go. Fund. Me accounts that allow the community to support the VR ideas.

HOW CAN TEACHERS USE VR? • There are two ways of using virtual reality in the classroom: • The first involves a traditional desktop set up in which the student explores a virtual environment using a computer, keyboard and mouse. Or use some other input device, e. g. controller (similar to the Wii remote controller). • The second set up is fully immersive and requires the student to wear a head mounted display (HMD) and data glove – for interaction – within a virtual environment. This environment may take the form of a series of large screens or a complete CAVE virtual reality system • The fully immersive set up will include a tracking system which is included in the HMD that records and analyses the student’s movements in a virtual space. This also has an effect on what they see as any movement of their head will cause a shift in perception due to the tracking device. They will see images which show the illusion of depth that only adds to the experience.

HOW CAN TEACHERS USE VR? • For example: if you are a history teacher then your students may have the opportunity to explore a historic building or era in time such as Ancient Greece. They will be able to walk around a Greek city, e. g. Athens, and explore various aspects, often by using touch via the data glove. This is a great way of learning about day to day life in Ancient Greece which brings it to life in a way that books or online media are unable to. • Virtual reality can be used in many areas of the curriculum. This includes math, English, science, history, geography, languages and newer subjects such as design technology.

HOW DOES VR PROMOTE SPECIFIC LEARNING GOALS? • Teachers promote higher order thinking skills by allowing students to connect the content to real world problems • Students develop a richer depth of knowledge by exploring virtual realities and virtual field trips. • Teachers can develop a more meaningful curriculum by adding the virtual experience to connect concepts.

DIFFERENTIATION • Differentiation is used by students picking which virtual reality to visit. • This allows for: • Students to choose which “field trip” they would like to visit • Differentiation based on ability level • Differentiation based on learning style

COMMUNICATION/COLLABORATION • Teachers will keep parents and the community involved in the progress of using VR in the classroom via blog post. • Students will contribute to a Wiki on their experiences with VR • Teachers will give a brief explanation of how VR are used and the purpose of them in the classroom during open house.

RESEARCH EVALUATION • Because VR in the classroom is so new there is not much data gathered to determine its usefulness. • “While statistics on VR use in K 12 schools and colleges have yet to be gathered, the steady growth of the market is reflected in the surge of companies (including z. Space, Alchemy VR and Immersive VR Education) solely dedicated to providing schools with packaged educational curriculum and content, teacher training and technological tools to support VR based instruction in the classroom. ” –Techcrunch”

RESEARCH EVALUATION • The research is started to show the progress of using VR in the classroom… • “Myriad articles, studies and conference presentations attest to the great success of 3 D immersion and VR technology in hundreds of classrooms in educationally progressive schools and learning labs in the U. S. and Europe” – Tech. Crunch • I agree with this comment because I believe the fact that VR can be used to take student on learning adventures from the comfort of their desk can be an invaluable tool.

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING • Professional Learning will need to occur to educate teachers on the proper way to implement the virtual realities in the classroom • PLs will be hosted by both the county and the company that is providing the VR. • The county will conduct their professional learning on the proper ways to use it in the classroom to align with the standards that are being taught • The company will conduct their professional learning on basic troubleshooting and techniques to using the software.

REFLECTION • Although Virtual Realities seem like a tough technology to implement in the classroom I think the benefits of it are tremendous. • Because of the high cost of field trips, students in Cobb County are missing out on the opportunity to experience learning outside of the classroom. • Virtual Realities will give students the opportunity to relate the content standdards to real life situations which will deepen their knowledge and instill long lasting knowledge

References • (n. d. ). Retrieved March 28, 2016, from https: //www. youtube. com/ • Howley, D. (2016, January 18). The Real Cost of Virtual Reality (Hint: It Isn't Just the Headset). Retrieved March 28, 2016, from https: //www. yahoo. com/tech/the real cost of virtual reality hint it isnt 142843538. html • Reede, E. (2016, January 23). When Virtual Reality Meets Education. Retrieved March 28, 2016, from http: //techcrunch. com/2016/01/23/when virtual reality meets education/ • Singer, N. (2015). Google Virtual Reality System Aims to Enliven Education. Retrieved March 28, 2016, from