Teenage Digital Media: Virtual Reality

My first VR experience

On a recent trip to Taiwan, I decided it was an ideal place to check out what was happening with digital technology. After searching for options, I found there was a Virtual Reality (VR) theme park and decided it was time for me to give it a try. I would love to view some of the famous museums and art galleries from my living room, guilt-free from the low carbon emissions created in comparison with being a tourist in real life.

VR, in my view, is an exciting technology with a powerful potential to discover the real world outside of the classroom. Armand Valdes, of Mashable, explains in this video that headsets utilise head and eye motion tracking allowing you to navigate and interact in simulated aspects of the real world. This technology appears to be currently underutilised in schools.

VR Sporting Arena

When I arrived at the VR park, I was nervous not really knowing what I was in for. First, I had to choose what activities I would do. Sensing my lack of confidence and unwillingness to be involved in the shoot to kill games, the suggestion was made that I try the kid’s roller coaster rides. That didn’t appeal to me as I still vividly remember being on a theme park ride when a little boy pointed at me and laughingly said to his father, “Look at her face.” I also wanted to participate in the activity. I decided on the sporting option where you would get to try different sports only to be told that wasn’t working today. Therefore, with my choices being limited, I settled for a race car experience.

I found the headpiece to be heavier than I expected. I initially felt a little panicked by being enclosed in the virtual world however this seemed to settle without me ripping the contraption off my head as I thought I might. Not only did I need to focus on staying on the road but also had information such as maps and a speedometer in my peripheral vision. Someone talking to me in my virtual world was also unexpected. It was very much like learning to drive in real life (IRL) where a lot of focus is needed. I did have a little trouble with motion sickness (however this was not as bad as IRL) and noted that after my experience, I was led to a bench seat for those that were dizzy.

Trying out VR racing

I know of a few YouTube gamers who are dabbling in the VR world and have heard how they are socialising with others in chat rooms, and there are even private rooms that can be used. I am also aware of medical institutions having success with using VR for children during minor medical procedures and even using VR for treatment of anxiety. Soldiers, pilots and doctors can use VR during their training (Górski, Buń, Wichniarek, Zawadzki & Hamrol (2016); Yun-Chieh & Chih-Yu, 2019). My interest is how we can use VR to engage and motivate students in school.

The underutilisation of the technology in schools to educate students could be for many reasons, such as lack of funding or teacher’s confidence and ability to plan lessons including the use of technology. In my research, I came across ClassVR web site which claims to provide affordable VR solutions for the classroom. This website is worth checking out as it demonstrates how schools around the world, including in Australia, are using VR in different subject areas. McCrum (2018), a journalist for Teachthought suggests many reasons that VR should be used in the class. These include: to develop empathy for others, time travel, exploring the human body, allowing students to create VR content, trialling careers and discovering how industries are using VR.

Virtual reality provides an opportunity to explore beyond the walls of the classroom into the real world. This allows for students to engage in learning environments and activities which interest them and makes the learning meaningful. Heick (2018), in the article, Why Virtual Reality in Education is so Important explains that just as we can escape into another world when reading a book or watching a movie, we can do this with VR but in a way that many of our senses are involved.

With sales of VR headsets increasing (Mott, 2019), and the growth in industries using this technology is it only a matter of time until we see this equipment with vast potential being used more frequently in schools?

References

Górski, F., Buń P., Wichniarek, R., Zawadzki P., & Hamrol, A., (2016) Effective

Design of Educational Virtual Reality Applications for Medicine using

Knowledge-Engineering Techniques. Eurasia Journal of Mathematical

Science and Technology Education. Retrieved from

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/d044/76c1083954eb82bdb

2a874a36ef35d64d19e.pdf

Heick, T. (2018, November 26). Why Virtual Reality in Education is so

Important. Retrieve from https://teachthought.com/the-future-of-learning/

what-is-virtual-reality/

Mashable, (2014, April 15). What Is Virtual Reality & How Does It Work?

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBNH8tzsfVM