Virtual Reality In The Classroom Essay

4.1. VIRTUAL REALITY IN SCHOOLS
Teachers report how their role in the classroom is getting different with each year, instead of being a teacher who gives the answers, teachers have found themselves as a support for students which help them build ideas and how to get information from various sources (Youngbut, 1998). The advantages of virtual reality in educational system is that it enables large groups of students to interact with each other as well as within the virtual environment. It is able to present complicated subjects in an accessible way to students which is rewarding, fun and easy to access.
One example would be that a student in astronomy could learn about the solar system. How it works by touching planets, see the stars, and move into the space, track progress of a comet and more. This also allows them to see how concept work in the virtual environment. This is useful for students who have some particular learning ways, creative or those who find it easier to learn using colors, textures and symbols (Virtual Reality, 2009).
There are two ways of using virtual reality in the classroom, the first involves a personal computer (desktop) with keyboard and mouse, or a controller. The other set up requires the student to wear a head mounted display.
Teachers are starting to test the oculus rift during class time but it is all in experimental stages. One teacher has been using it to calm down children when there are some conflicts or fighting. The teacher had a student who removed himself from a sports activity because he knew he was angry and could hurt someone. He could see he was in an elevated state of anger and having used the rift with him before I was keen to see if it could help. The program the teacher used with him...

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• Being fully inside a virtual reality means there are very few distractions happening while you study. What you see in class rooms today are kids with phones, something happening outside the window, Facebook etc.
• Immediate engagement, which means in the world we live in today with the little attention span that it is useful.
• Exploration and hands on approach aids with learning and retention. The student experiences his subject first hand and there for might get a better understanding what the subject looks like.
• It helps with understanding complex subjects, theories or concepts.
Also probably the biggest factor for the benefit of introducing the virtual reality into the class room is that the generation today is the „digital generation“. The students are much more clued up about technology than their parents and use it on constant basis.