Winona Area Public SchoolsNew virtual reality (VR) headsets allow Winona Middle School students the opportunity to virtually travel around the world. The Foundation of WAPS Dare to Dream grant was awarded to Jen Snook, Winona Middle School Technology Integration Specialist, to help bring virtual and augmented reality into the classroom. Sixteen VR headsets bring this unique technology into the school environment. Being in an immersed environment has helped both students and teachers learn in a fun, new and engaging way.
After researching historical places for their social studies class, 8th grade students used the VR headsets to explore those exact places. Easter Island, Panama Canal, and Machu Picchu were a few locations students were able to explore. The headset displays a 360-degree video so students can look in all directions and be present in the location. The Panama Canal, for example, showed drone footage of the landmark then moved around points in the actual structure. While sitting in chairs students were able to swivel and move to see different points in the video. It shows students more than a photo would and engages them more than a normal video could.
The teacher is able to control each device on a computer and see exactly which point in the video each student is looking at. New videos can be downloaded to each headset or can be sent to each device by using the computer. Toni McDevitt stated, “This technology brings the learning one layer deeper for our students. They are getting the chance to go beyond just reading and looking at pictures of the different places in the world, they are getting to actually experience them in 3-D; and that's awesome!”
Along with global landmarks, students can explore cultural, scientific, artistic and mathematical settings. For a fun ending with the VR headsets, students were immersed on a roller coaster and got to swim with sharks. These can serve as a bridge to further technology in WAPS to help encourage all students in learning.