Virtual Reality (VR) has wiggled its way into both our everyday lives and the education sector, providing a new fascinating way to interact with information material. It excels in ‘gamifying’ learning and entertainment, immersing the user in its experience.
It is firstly important to recognise the different between VR and Augmented Reality (AR), as I have discussed in previous weeks. VR places the user in a separate environment from their surroundings using a headset / screen, whereas AR integrates your immediate surroundings into its experience. This separated experience of VR helps to immerse the learner into its fabricated environment (What's the difference between AR and VR?, 2020).
One fantastic program which students can employ to explore VR and create VR experiences and projects, is called CoSpaces EDU. It provides a 3D building tool and structure for children to bring their ideas to life, while introducing them to coding and the digital workspace. With is various forms of VR, it can be used with or without headsets, and be used with MERGE Cube creations, making it extremely versatile and flexible. This flexibility in its use and the structure it provides, not only inspires students into the world of VR, but provides them with the adequate resources to effectively convey and explore their ideas, and build new skills, fostering their creativity throughout the making process.
VR Diorama on 'The Capitoline Triad' using CoSpaces EDU | Beate Mannes
When we look at techniques for teaching and fostering creativity with VR exploration, it is important to not just inspire and look at examples, students need to interact and create their own projects, as such they can do in CoSpaces EDU. The integration of VR and immersive experiences can allow students to gain experiences from what might not be accessible from their immediate classroom, such as exploring ancient monuments, or delving deep into cell anatomy in science (Dede, 2009). The incorporation of new technologies in general has allowed students to expand their presentation and reasoning skills, which can be transferred not only across subject areas, but in later life, and VR is an excellent tool for student exploration and outreach, due to it strikingly different elements from traditional presentation (McGovern et al, 2020).
Virtual Reality has become ever more prevalent in our everyday world and is an excellent tool for both inspiring and fostering creative processes within students, by providing the platform and structure to communicate their ideas creatively.
References
Dede. (2009). Immersive Interfaces for Engagement and Learning. Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science), 323(5910), 66–69. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1167311
McGovern, Moreira, G., & Luna-Nevarez, C. (2020). An application of virtual reality in education: Can this technology enhance the quality of students’ learning experience? Journal of Education for Business, 95(7), 490–496. https://doi.org/10.1080/08832323.2019.1703096
What's the difference between AR and VR? (2020) Tulane School of Professional Advancement. Available at: https://sopa.tulane.edu/blog/whats-difference-between-ar-and-vr#:~:text=AR%20uses%20a%20real%2Dworld,only%20enhances%20a%20fictional%20reality (Accessed: March 24, 2023).
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