Virtual reality technology is a powerful way to power daily lessons in the classroom and is being increasingly used in schools for everything from language arts to math. At West Baton Rouge Parochial Schools, a district of 4,100 students in Louisiana, we saw virtual reality as a great opportunity to bring something new to help teachers engage students in content.
We used funds from ESSER to purchase several ClassVR headsets for our district and it has been up and running ever since! Teachers in all grades are now integrating virtual reality content into their lessons. We lead the district’s technology team and, together with teachers, regularly present the technology at conferences, including ISTE, FETC, and TCEA. And most importantly, our students are reaping the benefits of using VR technology by being able to have virtual experiences that connect them to the curriculum on a deeper level. These are just some examples.
virtual reality tours
This is a popular request from our teachers. We have used virtual reality to help students experience the Great Wall of China, the Colosseum in Rome, and many other faraway places without leaving the classroom. We have many students who have never been outside their own neighborhoods, let alone other states or countries. We are across the river from Baton Rouge, and some of our students have never been to the city.
Virtual reality technology is a great way to help students experience and learn about the world as well as local landmarks. For us, virtual reality helps show students that the world is bigger than their house, their street, or their neighborhood. Open your world. It makes them say, “I could go to the Great Wall of China one day or go on an African safari.”
If you then connect that to the curriculum, it enriches it and shows students that there are possibilities in life beyond a small community.
Improve the curriculum
One of our favorite examples of this is with our third grade teachers, who use VR to supplement their ELA lessons. They celebrate “commitment days” when they teach about certain topics like the ocean, immigration, or space. On these days, students break into small groups and complete activities at different stations. One station involves the use of VR headsets to explore videos on the subject.
For the ocean unit, the teachers uploaded a virtual reality experience of swimming with sharks and cuttlefish. For the space unit, we use 360-degree videos from NASA. For the immigration unit, students virtually traveled to places like the Statue of Liberty and the different countries that people immigrated from. The virtual reality stations were always a favorite with the class during engagement days.
adding fun
Another thing about virtual reality is that it can be just plain fun. One of our favorite fun lessons of all time was in December. Kindergarten students were able to go on a field trip to Santa’s Workshop. Using ClassVR headsets and a 360 YouTube video, we give students the experience of flying in a sleigh with Santa, helping him deliver gifts. Teachers can also use this lesson to supplement a North Pole lesson.
It was a success. And unsurprisingly, after one class did it, word spread and all of the teachers suddenly wanted to do it with their classes. One of the best ways to get more teachers to use a technology is through word of mouth. This was a perfect example of that.
While VR is a great way to support lessons, training and implementation are important, as they are with any new technology. Here are some suggestions for districts looking to bring virtual reality or any other new technology to their schools.
Take time to plan professional development and make it interesting. If teachers aren’t comfortable with technology, they won’t use it. It is important to present it in an attractive way. Our technical team led a “summer challenge” in which we gamified our PD. Teachers earned points for trying out new technologies. For example, if a teacher decides to check out the VR headset to try it out at home and let the group know or post something on social media and tag their colleagues, they would earn points for t-shirts or mugs.
We found that gamifying the PD is effective. It makes it more fun and the teachers feel that it is not a burden. Then find your “tech evangelists,” the firecracker masters who want to make all things exciting. Make them use it. They are the ones who will get the other teachers to participate.
Use tools that are easy to implement. If we have to spend an entire class period solving bugs, it defeats the purpose of having the technology. We are very particular about selecting technology that doesn’t require a lot of troubleshooting and is easy for teachers to use. We provide training as mentioned above. When a teacher who is checking out tools, whether it’s Spheros or Lego kits or ClassVR, wants help, we send a student worker to help the teacher or work directly with the teacher ourselves. To get the best use of technology, it is important to select products that are reliable and easy to implement.
Focus on pedagogy.. Technology can help students make connections to the books they are reading and the topics they are studying. Can be used on everything from ELL instruction a special education. Our goal is for technology to be a tool to support instruction, rather than the goal itself.
We tell teachers to choose their pedagogy and teaching strategy, and we’ll help them choose the technology that will help them achieve their goal. The first thing we ask the teacher is “What is the content? What are you teaching?” Then we talk about what we can do to help them from a technological standpoint. Technology is a great way to enhance a lesson and engage students more deeply in the content. But don’t force it if you don’t have sense.
Technology, when done right, can engage and inspire students and help bring lesson plans to life. Keeping the above considerations in mind can help schools and districts successfully adopt and implement virtual reality or any other technology.
Tammy Seneca, Ph.D., is an Educational Technology and Information Systems Supervisor and Stephanie Thompson is a District Technology Facilitator and Professional Developer for West Baton Rouge Parish Schools in Port Allen, Louisiana. They lead the district’s technology team, provide PD technology for teachers and staff members, and regularly present at educational conferences on VR class and the other technologies they use to support instruction in the classroom.
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