Virtual Reality in the Classroom
Have you ever been on vacation and thought, “this would be a great place to bring my students?” Over the summer teachers travel, we visit different places throughout the country or world, and then come fall we share those experiences with our students. But what if we were able to virtually bring them with us on a field trip? What if we could bring them to the top of Mt. Everest or to the coral reefs in the Caribbean to study ocean life? With the help of virtual reality and Google’s Google Expeditions, we can do just that.
When you prepare students for the finch lab this year, why not bring them to the Galapagos Islands where they can explore the finches first hand. Pictures and videos are great and definitely beneficial, but nothing beats the experience of actually feeling like you are at the Charles Darwin Facilities studying finches and tortoises on the island.
We know virtual reality is the way forward, and soon most schools will have virtual reality kits for their teachers and students. Aquila Education specializes in selling and creating virtual reality education bundles for schools and individuals. Kits include headsets, smartphones and original lesson plans to create a one-stop bundle that works seamlessly for teachers.
Schools can purchase smartphones and VR headsets that meets Google Expedition’s technical requirements, or other hardware such as Wi-Fi routers and group phone charging stations. Not only do we sell the hardware, but we will also have lessons aligned to the standards for each expedition. Each class set of 30 comes with a free education subscription, where you will have access to our entire database of lessons. Our lessons are aligned to the Common Core Standards, and can seamlessly be integrated into the curriculum. The goal is to make use of technology fun and easy for the teachers and the students.
Check out a full lesson plan here on tenements and the impact of Jacob Riis at the turn of the 20th century. We are not just about using virtual reality in the classroom, but how teachers can use it to improve student engagement and achievement, while still staying aligned to the curriculum.
