By Ruikang Shi and Tarek Raad, Year 10
Recently, students in Ms. Stressing’s Year 10 biology class have had the opportunity to explore the topic of well-being through virtual reality. To discover more, the Express spoke to Ms. Stressing about her idea and how it has impacted her class.
Ms. Stressing explained she first got the idea to link VR with well-being while chatting with her colleagues. She went to explore the STEM centre to see if they might have any equipment that would help, and after speaking to Max, she found that he might have a few programs/apps on the Oculus (VR headset) that would benefit her and her class.
What benefits does VR have to your class?
It engages the students, helping them to stay more attentive in class. And it is a fun way for students to learn. Students are more interested in the subject and are willing to learn more about the different topics that we will cover.
What are some of the programs/apps in the Oculus?
During the well-being sections, the students started off with a Nature Track. There are different sceneries that the students can choose from. They can also do anything of their likings to their surroundings, such as build a tree out of thin air and things like that. You could see things that you would have not been able to see during your time in school, for example, jellyfish, penguins, giraffes, etc. They can walk around areas at their will and explore their surroundings. You could also make changes to the weather according to what you would like.
How long are students allowed to use the Oculus?
The students are allowed to use the Oculus for around 15-20 minutes each. But since there will need to be some explanation on how to use the VR, in the end, each student will end up with around 5 minutes less.
Should the school be using this type of technology more often during learning?
Yes, I think that this is a very effective way for students to learn. It makes students more attentive in class, motivating them to discover new things about their subject. Some teachers are already using the new technology, such as Dr. OJ, who is also currently using the Oculus as part of her teaching material to help her students get a better understanding of the subject they are learning.
Over the course of a few weeks, the students explored many different ways to approach the subject of well-being and discovered a new, interesting way to learn about their school subjects. Overall, for most students, learning with a VR would probably be an experience that they would like to try. This has been proven very successful, and using virtual reality might just be the future of learning at LGB.
