Brendan Murphy is the Assistant Principal of Banksmeadow Public School, NSW. Last year he started researching VR options for the classroom as a way to drive engagement levels and to facilitate / as well as facilitate some of their STEM initiatives.
Ease of use and value
“When comparing ClassVR to other VR solutions on the market, two factors stood out. Firstly, there is so much classroom-relevant content ready to use. Short 3D videos, 3D still images, augmented reality and mixed reality content as well as sample lesson plans all indexed, and ready for a teacher to utilise.”
Second was the teacher controls, “If you have ever used a MDM to manage devices in a classroom, you know how important it is to control technology when need be. ClassVR helps you monitor what students are seeing, helping keep everyone on track”.
Student engagement
Banksmeadow typically use ClassVR after the explicit teaching of a particular subject, “This term we have been studying different countries of the world. They research the country and build an understanding and then, with the use of ClassVR, get to go there. They seek out detail that have researched and are often amazed when they get to see it in 3D. We get a lot of oooohs and aaaaahs” laughs Brendan.
The school has also used the solution for art projects, “We discuss the artist of a particular three dimensional piece, view the art in books or online and then revisit the art using ClassVR. The students’ appreciation and understanding
is dramatically enhanced. They have a new interpretation, their own view of the piece. It is fantastic to see”. No longer are students limited to just the sculptures easily accessible from school, they can travel Paris to view the Louvre or head to Easter Island to see the monolithic Moai look like in all their three-dimensional glory.
Creators of content
“Next term we are taking ClassVR to the next level using CoSpaces. We are looking forward to enabling the students to build and code their own experiences, not just consume them”. Using CoSpaces, students can build in 3D with user-friendly creation tools and then easily upload the images to ClassVR so that they can experience their own creation virtually.
Win/Win
Introducing ClassVR to Banksmeadow classrooms has had a positive impact on the school. “The teaching staff appreciate the simplicity of using ClassVR and agree that there has been a significant shift in engagement and retention since its implementation. It is more than just a novelty, it enhances the curriculum and the learning experiences for our students. They are eager for the next lesson and their recall is most definitely enhanced”
