Inspire the next generation of Inventors, Scientists, and Artists
By: Professor Corinne Hoisington
Psssst! Before I can tell you my deepest secrets of inspiring the next generation of inventors, I must have your earnest promise that you will share this with every fellow teacher, principal, and instructional integration specialist all over the planet! OK, I saw your lips solemnly say “I Promise.” As an educator in both the K12 and higher education space, I am always searching for new ways of improving the performance of my students with the use of engaging technologies. Our educational world is presently flat, filled with 2-dimensional textbook images, flat whiteboards/smartboards, and websites; but the real world is 3-dimensional. The compelling aspect of virtual reality is its ability to transport learners into 3D environments and situations that they otherwise may never have access. Being able to swim beside a blue whale in a third-grade science class, immersing students in history by actually piloting the historically accurate Apollo 11 space module while sitting next to Buzz Aldrin, and being able to simulate surgeries for a nursing program — the potential applications are as unlimited as one’s imagination. Albert Einstein stated, “I never teach my pupils, I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn”. Oh if Einstein, could have only seen VR!
VR Ready – Game Changer in the Classroom
VR in the Classroom is the most memorable medium for education because it involves all the senses. Virtual Reality will also be a game changer for its immersive capabilities in learning. Today there are hundreds of VR apps and millions of 360 immersive experiences in every subject area including STEM, history, and geography. These can be enhanced by VR because it allows students to immerse themselves in different worlds such as traveling to ancient Egypt to see how the pyramids were built. The VR apps range in cost from free to a few at the high range costing around $19 and can be found in the online Steam powered store. The Steam powered store has an educational category that features early learning children’s VR books like Henry the Hedgehog as well as upper-level VR apps that focus on biology, anatomy, geology, and astronomy. In other areas of education. VR apps allow students to construct architectural models, re-creations of historic or natural sites and other spatial renderings. The Steam powered store also provides VR apps to engage students in topics related to literature, history, and economics by offering a deeply immersive sense of place and time, whether historic or evolving news stories of the present. And in my classroom, the biggest hit was the Tilt Brush app, which paints from a virtual perspective. I think many of us have decided many years ago that we are not artistic, but as students grow up with 3D art tools that unleash their creativity, their room will be their canvas.