We had the opportunity to attend the Virtual Reality for English Language Arts (ELA) workshop this May. The event was hosted by the TransformED arm of the Allegheny Intermediate Unit (aiu3).We were there with education consultants, technology coaches and directors, and middle school/high school English teachers from across Allegheny County.

The event began with everyone introducing themselves, what organization they were representing, and most importantly, what concerns these educators had when it came to virtual reality (VR).

The most common reasons for attending the session were:

• Researching VR in their classroom
• Recently got VR in their school and wanted use it effectively
• Curiosity about how VR could help special populations within their school
• Curiosity about if VR could help dyslexic readers
• Wanting to understand what virtual reality was capable of
• Brand new to VR, and want to learn more about it
• Fear that educators would be wasting money on this new technology if they were not well-trained in using it

As one could see, people were across the board as to why they were there, but not a single person came with negative thoughts about augmented or virtual reality. It was a very positive group.

The SAMR Model

To get the educators thinking about how exactly to adopt VR for the classroom, Tyler Samstag, the Director of Instructional Innovation for aiu3, introduced the SAMR model. The SAMR model is often used when educational institutions are figuring out how to implement technology into instruction.

The educators were encouraged to think beyond the ‘enhancement’ plane (Substitution, Augmentation) and use the day to see how virtual reality can transform the way they teach.

(See Sabrina’s article about the transformational framework we use to design a transformational game.)

The VR Landscape

Once the SAMR model was discussed, Tyler presented an overview of the different types of virtual reality platforms available today, from Google Cardboard all the way to the ‘Big 3′ : PlayStation VR, HTC Viveand Oculus Rift.

Most of the day focused on how teachers could use Google Cardboard; it’s certainly the cheapest of the bunch, and schools should be able to get a classroom set (or partial set for students to pair up) faster than requesting funds for a high-end computer (or PS4) and one of the Big 3 VR headsets.

(We did a VR Primer update in late 2016).

Chris Milk- VR as an Art Form

Before we jumped into VR, the group was primed further by watching this TED talk by music video and filmmaker Chris Milk.

While we watched, we were charged to write down phrases that stuck out to us, what excited us, piqued our curiosity, and so on.

Phrases people liked included:

• Empathy Machine
• Suspension Gap
• Taste the Lightning
• VR makes ‘anywhere’ feel local
• The ‘what if’ of virtual reality

It was interesting that this video triggered these ELA teachers to wonder how they could use VR to help their students be more empathetic with the characters they study. They also wondered if VR could truly be the “lightning” that could give students a special sensation while learning.

Dive #1: 360° Video Content

Using a mobile VR cardboard-like viewer, the group first explored 360° video content. 360° video content is when videos are recorded in every direction at the same time. Then, viewers are able to control their viewing direction, being able to see everything around them.

App used: With.in App also suggested: Jaunt

Videos in With.in teachers liked: 1) Invasion 2) Waves of Grace 3) Displaced 4) The Possible- Speed Machine

Ways to Integrate in an ELA Classroom: For Invasion, it was suggested that the students could write a prequel to it, allowing them to create and add their own narrative. Another teacher suggested using the video as an incentive to write on humanistic topics.

For Displaced, due to the topic being explored, it would have to be handled by a high school ELA classroom. But teachers liked it because it opens a discussion about empathy and perspective.

A teacher who liked Speed Machine imagined their students writing sensory details, and getting more out of descriptive writing if they used this tool in the classroom.

App used: Google Expeditions

Expeditions the teachers liked: 1) Historic New York 2) Monuments of Washington D.C. 3) TV Studios and Sets (Resource: Public List of Google Expeditions)

Ways to Integrate in an ELA Classroom: The teachers really enjoyed how they could visit the places that are settings in many of the books they’re reading. One teacher found an expedition that takes you to a castle in Denmark; similar to the one in Hamlet. They thought it could add more to the story if the students were actually able to see and visualize where these stories took place.

Dive #2 HTC Vive- Night Cafe and Google Earth VR

Since the overwhelming majority of the educators had never tried virtual reality until this workshop, they really didn’t know what to expect when they tried the HTC Vive. Some of them were even a little nervous; a plurality of teachers got a little nauseous using the Cardboard.

Nerves aside, they tried it- and people were very impressed. It is always fun watching people who are trying VR for the very first time. They liked it so much that several stayed after the workshop to jump into Tiltbrush, another VR experience Google created.

Are Teachers Climbing the SAMR Ladder Now?

Absolutely. We sat next to an eighth grade English teacher, and she is doing incredibly engaging projects with her students. She often uses Aurasama, an app that uses augmented reality (AR), and assigns her students projects that deal with presenting book reports or plot summaries and requiring several AR components.

Along with Aurasma, her students are using video editing tools like Touchcast, and the AR coloring app Quiver 3D. As if that wasn’t enough, she occasionally places her students in teams and they create a virtual reality world based on a scene in a book they’ve read recently by using Cospaces.

Conclusion

Overall, it was a positive and informative experience for the educators and trainers. Many of them left with the resolve to continue gathering information about VR and AR tools, and thinking of ways to implement them into the classroom. After talking with a number of them, some concerns were raised about fully adopting and implementing VR in the classroom.

Some were:

• For the tethered VR experiences, would schools with Apple labs and computers be able to access this technology?
• How can we prevent germs from spreading if the students share the equipment?
• The research on the effects of VR on children is still new and inconclusive. Should students under 13 be warned before using it? How should it be communicated to parents?

Each of these concerns is valid and need to be discussed when a classroom, school, or school district is thinking about investing in virtual reality.

Tyler ended the session by giving the group a link to all the information he’s been gathering about implementing virtual reality in the classroom.