February 1999 — Features

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Virtual Reality In Schools: The Ultimate Educational Technology

Depending what subjects were being studied, other virtual reality programs were used. The Virtual Solar System put students adrift around the Sun, giving them complete freedom to explore the Solar System. A virtual reality tour of Chicago exposed students to the city's architecture, museums and other educational resources. In the Virtual Cell students traveled inside a typical human cell to see its components and operations.

The virtual reality programs used in the pilot program were designed to be easily integrated into any curriculum. When a subject is being studied, virtual reality was used as a supplement. Virtual reality educates, clarifies, and reinforces because subject matter makes immediate sense to students. For example, students have a difficult time grasping our Constitutional lawmaking process. In virtual reality, the process makes immediate sense as students were able to pick up a pending Bill (with their hands) outside of the virtual House of Representatives, and take it over to the Senate for a vote. Combined with traditional teaching and guidance, virtual reality makes a subject crystal clear.

Benefits of a VR Program

The biggest problem encountered using virtual reality in the summer program was a side effect of the program's limited scale: students did not want to leave the virtual reality environment. One student complained, "When they said we would be using virtual reality, I thought each of us would have our own headset." Light years beyond any video game, more engaging than any lecture, the virtual reality programs genuinely fascinated the students.

Using virtual reality in schools greatly eases the burden of teachers. Teachers become learning facilitators as students explore and learn in virtual reality. As opposed to merely supplying answers, teachers guide students' self-discovery and assist in building ideas. Virtual reality is a giant step towards "perfect learning" - a learning environment that focuses on the student rather than placing burdens on teachers. It creates a learning environment where students explore, discover and make decisions, while teachers assist and guide.

From a teacher's perspective, virtual reality creates a structured environment that focuses students on specific learning objectives, similar to good teaching. Because the students are immersed in the virtual reality learning environment with a headset, there are no distractions to learning. Students are totally focused with no unruly behavior.

Tied to the curriculum, virtual reality is an educational aid without peer. It can be integrated into schools in a number of ways. Modularly designed programs work as a stand alone educational tool, as a classroom supplement or as a study aid. In an initial stage of integration, as with the summer program, virtual reality is best used as a supplement to existing coursework, allowing instructors to integrate the programs into learning objectives. The biology class where students are learning cell structure is supplemented by a trip to the virtual reality lab where students enter and explore a human cell.