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I recently read the book, The Immersive Classroom: Create Customized Learning Experiences with AR/VR by Jaime Donally. This book looks at augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) in the classroom. Using AR and VR in the classroom helps teachers create a fun and immersive learning experience for their students, helping to meet all learning styles. Students no longer need to read about a medieval palace in their textbooks or look at famous artwork from the Louvre. Instead they can be transported through AR and VR technology to walk through these famous places and landscapes, and see a 3D version of the artwork, almost as if they can touch it.
AR and VR technology has been around for awhile, but it has only been recently where it has become more accessible for teachers and students. There are many new websites, apps, and devices that allow for students to become completely immersed in what they are learning. Al-Ansi et al. (2023) state, “As AR and VR become more commonplace, educational institutions must find ways to update their content and develop more immersive experiences that keep up with the latest technology.” (p. 3) Lawrence (2022) also states, “The technological landscape is always shifting. New problems arise.” (p. 3). It is up to teachers to research and discover new technology, and update what they already know.
It is getting more difficult to grab and maintain students’ attention in the world today. AR and VR are great examples of ways for teachers to make their lessons more interactive and fun for students. Below you will find some great examples of AR and VR technology that teachers can use in the classroom.
Catchy Words AR
This is a fun and interactive app for students to help build letter and word recognition. Students can use a device to “catch” letters around the room and then “place” them in the designated boxes to spell different words. This is especially beneficial for students with dyslexia. Donally (2021) made the point that students with dyslexia learn best in 3D (p. 13). She mentioned that this app worked well for her own daughter who struggles with dyslexia. Watch the video below to see Catchy Words AR in action.
Scavengar EDU
Scavengar EDU is another great platform for teachers to create educational scavenger hunts for students to participate in. This is a fun idea taken even further with the use of AR technology. It even allows for students and teachers to upload and create historical artifacts and objects from around the world into their scavenger hunts.
MERGE Explorer
The MERGE Explorer app allows for more “hands on” science activities, for instance a virtual frog dissection. Most of us have had to dissect some type of animal or object in a classroom (I myself had to dissect a CAT in high school!), which can be extremely difficult for children with sensory processing disorder or schools who have little funding for these types of experiments. Instead teachers can have students utilize the MERGE Explorer app to complete the experiment virtually, allowing all students to participate.
disruptED app
The disruptED app is another fun form of immersive technology, this time geared towards the younger students. “DisruptED creates great experiences, activities, and lessons to provide the full curriculum on these topics for our younger learners.” (Donally, 2021, p. 68). This is a great app for students to either read independently or be read aloud a book, with the story coming alive through virtual reality. It is such a fun way for younger students to help comprehend a story better, and to be engaged in the learning process.
Video courtesy of disruptED, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsJC-sbBHtY&t=1s
This is an app that is geared toward helping students in their writing process. The DrawmaticAR app reads the words that students have written, then overlays them with corresponding 3D objects, making their writing come alive. It is such a fun way to write and really shows students how to add fun imagery to their writing to make it more interesting.
These are just a few of the AR/VR technologies that the book mentions and that I’ve played around with. There are so many more options out there to investigate and use in the classroom. It is important to note that teachers cannot simply throw these technologies at students and expect magic to happen. Teachers must do their homework and research best practices for using this type of learning style. Al-Ansi et al. (2023) mentioned, “While AR and VR offer many benefits for education, there are still challenges that must be overcome before they can be successfully implemented.” (p. 3). They continue on though, “With the right resources and strategies, however, the use of AR and VR in education can be a powerful tool for engaging and educating students.” (p. 3) As with all new technology, teachers must first research each application or platform to ensure reliability, ethics, privacy, and disinformation to ensure that best practices are met and that all students are kept safe. I love that line that Lawrence (2022) states, “You may already realize that there is too much doing being done in our world and not enough thinking.” (pg. 4-5). He is making the point that although new technology is being created every day, it is extremely important for teachers to think about how they can use this technology safely and effectively in the classroom.
References
Al-Ansi, A., Al-Ansi, A., Garad, A., & Jaboob, M. (2023). Analyzing augmented reality and virtual reality recent development in education. Social Sciences and Humanities Open 8(1). 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2023.100532.
CottonTechCoach. (2023, Sep. 23). Catchy words ar for spelling fun [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgVoeW79VAk
Donally, J. (2021). The immersive classroom: Create customized learning experiences with AR/VR. International Society for Technology in Education.
DrawmaticAR (2020, Jun 27). What is drawmaticar? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id0EGX6R5Mc
Garrett, B. (2020, Sep. 7). Exploring ar hunts with scavengar [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFyl8PnM8lo
Lawrence, D. (2022). Digital writing: A guide to writing for social media and the web. Broadview Press.
Merge. (2022, Mar 10). Welcome to merge edu [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZHI1j4Di24
Laura,
ReplyDeleteThis is so interesting to see all the different ways that a teacher can get their students involved in their own learning. At my own school, our library recently got a class set of VR goggles. One class at the end of the year got the students involved in taking virtual field trips and exploring. It got me thinking about how all my students may not experience the same things, so to give them those experiences is amazing.
Your blog also got me thinking about how to use some of the resources to help immerse my own students more too. According to a journal by Liu et al. (2020), "Through the VR environment, students get a chance to engage in scientific inquiry in formal learning environments in ways that were not previously possible (Mills, Jass Ketelhut, & Gong, 2019). For example, students can engage with an immersive environment, along with realistic learning experiences, to explore scientific phenomena and processes, undertake scientific investigations and solve problems". This is an advancement that we are continuing to see bring great things to the classroom.
References:
Liu, R., Wang, L., Lei, J., Wang, Q., & Ren, Y. (2020). Effects of an immersive virtual reality‐based classroom on students’ learning performance in science lessons. British Journal of Educational Technology, 51(6), 2034–2049. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13028
I love using AR and VR in the classroom as a supplemental technology! “Virtual reality allows students to experience destinations from all over the world without ever having to leave the classroom,” (Sharrab, et al.). I’ve learned that using headsets in short amounts of time is easier to implement, so I use small groups or partner-talk activities when utilizing our ClassVR headsets. The main thing I try to remember is that “aligning technology integration with student learning outcomes sets the stage for an evidence-based evaluation of when and how technology has an impact on student learning,” (Castaneda, et al., 2021) in other words, there must be a standards-related purpose for using the VR headsets. When students don’t have set expectations, “VR activities can detract from students’ learning experience, retention of relevant information, and the overall effectiveness of assessments…” (Castaneda, et al., 2021, “Students’ VR assessment experience” section).
ReplyDeleteReferences
Castaneda, L. M., Bindman, S. W., & Divanji, R. A. (2021). Don’t forget to assess: How teachers check for new and deeper learning when integrating virtual reality in the classroom. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 55(2), 210-229. https://doi.org/10.1080/15391523.2021.1950083
Sharrab, Y., Almutiri, N. T., Tarawneh, M., Alzyoud, F., Al-Ghuwairi, A. R., Al-Fraihat, D. (2023) Toward smart and immersive classroom based on AI, VR, and 6G. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning, 18(2), 4-16. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v18i02.35997