Virtual Reality in the Classroom — from usnews.com by Charles Sahm
Using virtual reality as an educational tool could transform the American high school experience.
Excerpt:
Listening to Andrew describe the potential of virtual reality tools to improve education is thrilling. He talks about the evolution of a student reading about France in a textbook, to watching a YouTube video about France, to, via virtual reality, being able to walk the streets of Paris. He imagines students not only being able to read about the Constitutional Convention, but to actually be in “the room where it happens.” (Andrew, like many, is enamored of the musical “Hamilton.”)
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Andrew acknowledges, however, that virtual reality as an educational tool is still in the very early stages. Washington Leadership Academy intends to develop a number of programs and then share them with other schools. It is exciting to consider what could be accomplished if the power of virtual reality were harnessed for education rather than gaming; if developers turned their resources away from creating games that teach children how to steal cars and kill people and toward allowing them to explore history, science, art and other subjects in innovative new ways.
I’m thinking: what has more eLearning potential – augmented reality or virtual reality?
Does the answer to this question depend upon what kind of world are we or our children are going to live in in the decades to come?
Great questions here Nikos. Personally, I think we’ll see applications arise in both VR and AR, but I think AR will be the larger market. I also think Instructional Designers, User Experience Designers, Technical Communicators, Programmers/Developers, and such are going to need to enhance our skillsets.
Daniel