Justin Agilo, Director of Innovation for Montour School District, Education Advisor at the Carnegie Science Center, Co-Organizer of EdCampPG, and a ClassFlow Ambassador, writes about his district’s gamble on VR/AR — and how it paid off tremendously for student learning.
Dissecting Eyeballs and T-Rexs: Virtual Reality in the Classroom
In the fall of 2015, the Montour School District opened its doors to a new Virtual Immersion Lab. At first, students did not know what to expect (nor the teachers). However, on his first day using the lab, a physics student engaged with virtual reality and expressed, “This is like hands-on learning, without wanting to let go.”
It was clear the risk was worth the reward….
[Justin closes the News Article with:]
Overall, all I can recommend is for educators to embrace VR/AR, and learn alongside their peers and students—because before we know it, more and more companies will be vying for our time and attention. Teachers and administrators in Texas, for example, recently experienced educator Ron Clark as a hologram at the annual Rigor, Relevance and Relationships conference held by Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District in June. The Ron Clark hologram was made possible through a partnership between Promethean and ARHT Media, and according to Promethean CMO Vincent Young, it was the first time that this type of augmented holographic technology was used to deliver teacher and administrator training in an educational setting:
“Over time, Promethean’s vision is to work with ARHT Media to bring augmented reality technology to mass audiences in education. We envision the best experts and educators in the world beaming into schools on a monthly, weekly, or even daily basis.”
Read the complete News Article on EdSurge to find out how Montour School District leverages VR/AR to bring hands-on learning to students.