Explore the principles of designing virtual reality (VR) content and how to use Adobe creative tools to create impactful VR experiences. Then learn how to apply your new digital skills to integrate VR projects into your curriculum.
Designing VR content encourages students to express their ideas through an engaging and innovative digital format. VR projects can be used effectively in all subject areas, allowing students to improve their communication skills and digital literacy while learning key content objectives.
What will I learn?
How using virtual reality projects in your curriculum can produce positive outcomes for you and your students
Best practices and principles for creating amazing virtual reality experiences
The technical skills to create your own virtual reality with Adobe tools (with support from expert digital media educators)
How to apply your new skills to integrate virtual reality projects into your curriculum
Collaborate with educators from around the world
Who is this course for?
This course is aimed at all educators working in primary, secondary or higher education. No prior experience with Adobe tools or digital media technologies is required.
How long is the course?
The course runs for two weeks, starting on 1st October 2018, and should take about 10 hours to complete. All coursework must be submitted by 26th October 2018.
What will it cost?
Enrollment and course completion certificate are FREE!
After successfully completing this course, you will receive a digital badge and course certificate that states that you have completed 10 hours of professional development.
About Adobe Education Exchange Courses
Each week of an Education Exchange collaborative course includes:
Design and instructional theory content, innovative and tailored for educators
Interactive live class session taught by expert educators and featuring guest industry experts
Hands-on creative assignment with personalized feedback from instructors and other educators
Reflective learning journal best practice
Community collaboration and discussion
Live Class Information
This course will include two live classes, which take place on the following days:
Class 1 on Wednesday October 3rd, 2018
Class 2 on Wednesday October 10th, 2018
Each class will take place three times; once in each of the following time zones:
AEST/AEDT (Sydney) from 7pm – 8pm
BST (London) from 7pm – 8pm
CDT (Chicago) from 7pm – 8pm
If you can’t make the live classes for whatever reason, don’t worry – all three iterations of each live class will be recorded and available to view here.
why the sudden interest in VR and AR after years of hype that failed to live up to expectations?
Heather Bellini, of Goldman Sachs Research, noted in a report last year that faster microprocessors and more powerful graphics cards have allowed more images per second to be delivered since the industry’s potential was hyped a decade ago.
There have also been advancements in AR gear, like glasses that allow vision of the real world but also have data or graphical images projected onto part of the glass.
As such, Goldman Sachs is projecting VR and AR to become an $80 billion market by 2025 – roughly equivalent to the size of the current PC market.
he big problems with VR is “motion to photon latency,” which is the time it takes to turn your head and the screen to refresh at the same rate.
From the moment you open the browser, you will be presented with immersive experiences that can be enjoyed on a VR headset directly from the Firefox Reality browser. We are working with creators around the world to bring an amazing collection of games, videos, environments, and experiences that can be accessed directly from the home screen.
Many museums now offer makerspaces and after-school programs, and universities have developed low-cost materials to spark students’ imagination and interest, such as the Carnegie Mellon CREATE Lab
Art museums throughout the world offer virtual tours sorted by collection, artist or decade.
After one of these rich experiences, students can use free resources, such as Skype in the Classroom, to connect with experts to engage in scholarly dialogue to make their experience more meaningful and academically relevant or to interact with learners in other parts of the world.
A study from the University of Maryland found that people recall information better when it is presented to them in a virtual environment, as opposed to a desktop computer.
high school students now create infographics, BuzzFeed-like quizzes and even virtual reality (VR) experiences to illustrate how they can research, write and express their thoughts.
technology — using sites like CoSpaces Edu and content learning system Schoology (my note: the equivalnet of D2L at SCSU) — to engage and empower her students.
Thinklink, during a session called “Virtually Not an Essay: Technological Alternatives to a standard essay assignment.” (see this blog materials on ThingLink and like here: https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=thinglink. The author made typo by calling the app “ThinKlink, instead of ThinGlink. Also, to use Thinglink’s Video 360 editor, the free account is not sufficient and the $125/month upgrade is needed. Not a good solution for education)
Jamie: I would love to discuss with you #infographics and #Thinglink for use in your courses and the Departmental course.
Digital literacy (DL): options, ideas, possibilities
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.
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.
A whopping 60 percent of parents are worried about the VR’s health effects, according to a new study from Common Sense Media, while others hope the emerging technology will have profound educational benefits because of its highly-engaging nature.
Jim Steyer, founder of Common Sense Media https://www.commonsense.org/education/
Stanford researchers partnered with Common Sense Media, which has done extensive research on children’s media use, to examine the impact of VR on children. Their report includes a national survey of 12,148 adults, 3,613 of whom were parents.
the study notes that 21 percent of households with children already have a VR device and 13 percent are planning to get one, Common Sense found that many parents are scared of exposing their children to such intense experiences.
Bailenson, founder of Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab, acknowledged the long term effects of VR on developing brains remain unknown. But short term impacts can include dizziness, headache and eye strain. https://vhil.stanford.edu/projects/
While 62 percent of parents surveyed believe that VR can provide educational experiences, only 22 percent reported their child actually used VR for learning. The vast majority play games.
VR also has the potential to encourage empathy among small children, experts say, because it builds bonds with virtual characters and settings, though parents surveyed by Common Sense remain skeptical.
