7 Best VR Education Apps
Lauren Barack June 19 2018 Visit Mars, swim with sea otters and trek to Mt. Everest’s Base Camp
https://www.gearbrain.com/7-best-vr-education-apps-2579317090.html
Victory VR is known for its science curriculum which is aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards.
The BBC Earth: Life in VR app works on Google Daydream devices, like the new Lenovo Mirage Solo
Google Expeditions Android and iOS app is a virtual field trip that uses a Google Cardboard viewer.
Unimersiv is in the business of educational experiences — works on both Samsung Gear VR and the Oculus Rift, and takes viewers underwater to explore the Titanic and to one of our closest planets through the “Mars: Curiosity Rover,” app
Discovery VR app. The app works on nearly every single VR platform: Google Daydream, Samsung Gear VR, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Google Cardboard viewers using both iOS and Android devices.
Merge Cube is a $15 foam block
The Apollo 11 VR app. work with HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR, and also Oculus Go
Beyond the Hype: 5 Ways to Think About Virtual and Augmented Reality in Schools
https://www.edsurge.com/news/2017-02-07-beyond-the-hype-5-ways-to-think-about-virtual-and-augmented-reality-in-schools
1. Ask Yourself: Why VR or AR
AR and VR are mediums for the transmission of information, and many people will judge these mediums by the content that is produced within them. For educators seeking to gain buy-in from administrators and other colleagues it is critical for them to justify the reasons their content requires new reality media.
2. Just Dive In
Gartner Hype Cycle’s “slope of enlightenment”—meaning the technology is just entering public acceptance.
Given the newness of these mediums, it is no surprise that few curricular resources exist to support courses around VR and AR. Professional development sessions on new reality tools are almost non-existent, which means educators seeking to use virtual or augmented reality simply need to dive into the subjects.
3. Go Beyond Storytelling
Studies using VR demonstrate the ‘Proteus Effect’—taking on the psychology of inhabiting a different body and unconsciously changing our behavior to conform to it (learning empathy through VR)
4. Master the Machines
“The equipment matters. If there is a latency between the computer and the VR set that can cause a lot of problems,”
With VR equipment ranging from about $15 to $600 educators will have to check the budget or start writing grant proposals to gain access to the higher quality machines.
5. Understand Your Student’s Needs
described as a “quantum shift” in the way we interact, learn and experience.
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more on VR and AR in schools in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=virtual+rality+education
Riddell, R. (2018, February 2). Ed shouldn’t invest heavily in VR yet, but experimentation is key. Retrieved February 2, 2018, from
https://www.educationdive.com/news/ed-shouldnt-invest-heavily-in-vr-yet-but-experimentation-is-key/516160/
Google,
for instance, has made virtual field trips to inaccessible locations easier for history and social studies classes with its Cardboard viewers used in conjunction with the Expeditions app. And
technologies like zSpace have expanded opportunities in STEM subjects with virtual interactive dissections, diagrams and experiments.
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more on VR in education in this IMS blog
5 ways virtual reality is being used in education right now
October 17th, 2016
Stansbury, M. (2016, October 17). 5 ways virtual reality is being used in education right now. Retrieved January 26, 2017, from
http://www.eschoolnews.com/2016/10/17/5-ways-virtual-reality-used-education-right-now/
A
new survey from Extreme Networks aimed to answer this question by polling nearly 350 schools within higher ed and K-12. According to the results, 23 percent of respondents have tested VR, while 77 percent have not (40 percent of schools polled still aren’t sure if they’ll use the technology in the future). Meaning that although virtual reality has an important and growing role in education, it may take several years to get all institutions on board.
The survey notes that one challenge to implementation is that nearly two-thirds of schools are “somewhat or not sure” their IT infrastructure can currently support VR technology.
Respondents also had concerns about the lack of VR content available, as well as a lack of student resources, with 43 percent of respondents saying that VR is too expensive or difficult to implement. However, one respondent is taking this approach to providing VR to students at low or no cost: “We are putting out a call for old smartphone donations in our [community for those] who no longer need them. With the donations, we’re making sets of Google Cardboard and phones to create traveling VR stations for classes in all of our buildings.”
1. For new research: According to the Wall Street Journal, Professor Jeremy Bailenson, founding director of the Virtual Reality Human Interaction Lab at Stanford University, is using a state-of-the-art “haptic” floor of aeronautic metal that vibrates and moves to stimulate the physical world for research on how VR has the potential to change the way users feel and behave. For example, spending time flying around the world like Superman in virtual reality has been shown to increase participants’ altruistic actions outside of the lab. There may also be implications for confronting racism, sexism, and aiding in
empathy and humanitarian efforts, says Bailenson. (see more in about
empathy and VR in this IMS blog:
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2015/11/18/immersive-journalism/)
2. For coding and 3D design:
a class on virtual reality that gives students the opportunity to design their own interactive world, work with 3D audio and experiment with immersive technology through a combination of hands-on learning and case studies. Also, the University of Georgia is offering similar classes where students design and explore applications for VR.
3. For anatomy and dissection:
4. For engagement: A whopping 68 percent of survey respondents said the major benefit of using VR in education is to excite students about the subject matter. 39 percent said it’s great for encouraging creativity.
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July 26th, 2016
Sixty percent of surveyed teachers said they would like virtual reality to become a part of their students’ learning experience, according to the study from Samsung Electronics America, Inc. and GfK.
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Virtual reality helping Calif. students overcome learning barriers | eSchool News. (2016, June). Retrieved January 26, 2017, from
http://www.eschoolnews.com/2016/06/21/virtual-reality-helping-calif-students-overcome-learning-barriers/
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more on VR in education in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=virtual+reality
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5 ways virtual reality is being used in education right now
By Meris Stansbury
1. For new research: using a state-of-the-art “haptic” floor of aeronautic metal that vibrates and moves to stimulate the physical world for research on how VR has the potential to change the way users feel and behave. There may also be implications for confronting racism, sexism, and aiding in
empathy and humanitarian efforts, says Bailenson.
2. For coding and 3D design:
According to Bob Nilsson, director of Vertical Solutions Marketing for Extreme Networking, the University of Maryland, College Park, now offers a class on virtual reality that gives students the opportunity to design their own interactive world, work with 3D audio and experiment with immersive technology through a combination of hands-on learning and case studies. Also, the University of Georgia is offering similar classes where students design and explore applications for VR. Conrad Tucker, an assistant professor of engineering at Pennsylvania State University, has received funding to build a virtual engineering lab where students hold, rotate, and fit together virtual parts as they would with their real hands.
3. For anatomy and dissection: Said one Extreme Networks survey respondent, “Our students have been developing a VR model of a cow’s anatomy for dissection and study. You have the ability to drill down to the circulatory system, brain, muscle, skeleton, etc. Our applied tech program is using VR in conjunction with Autocad for models of projects they design.”
4. For engagement: A whopping 68 percent of survey respondents said the major benefit of using VR in education is to excite students about the subject matter. 39 percent said it’s great for encouraging creativity.
5. For field trips: Google has eliminated restrictions on Expeditions, their VR field trips program. Google Expeditions was cited in the survey as one of the most popular sources of VR content, but with the complaint that it was a restricted program.
comment:
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Virtual reality may have its place, but until traditional education moves away from their 20th century teaching methodology and replaces it with educationally innovative, 21st century learning methodology, within a blended and flipped learning environment, virtual reality is currently, much ado about nothing.
Unless any new application is educationally innovative and directly and measurably contributes to effective, efficient, consistent, affordable, relevant advanced student success outcomes for ALL students, future innovations must wait for current innovations to be implemented.
This process of appriate choice and appropriate implemention must start at the top and be beta tested for measured student success before its rolled out system wide.
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more on VR in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=virtual+reality
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