Twitter Book Study and being an ISTE connected learner: Reflection 1

Over the past 5 weeks, I have been more active on Twitter than ever before. I have been participating in a slow chat (my first ever Twitter chat) about a book through the ISTE EdTech Coaches Network on Twitter. The book, "Learning Transported: Augmented, Virtual and Mixed Reality for All Classrooms" by Jaime Donally, was broken into five segments, one for each week.  Participants were asked questions throughout the week with one final reflective question at the week's end. My participation in this book group helped me meet the ISTE standard for coaches regarding being a connected learner. More specifically, I feel it directly connects to the Connected Learner Standards 2a: Pursue professional learning that deepens expertise in the ISTE Standards in order to serve as a model for educators and leaders, and 2b: Actively participate in professional learning networks to enhance coaching practice and keep current with emerging technology and innovations in pedagogy and the learning sciences. (See my Wakelet by clicking the link VR/AR/MR in the Classroom or scrolling to the bottom of this post for evidence of my participation.)

Virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) are all areas of technology that I have dabbled in or wanted to learn more about. The idea of bringing the world to my students when they haven't even left their home state has been a goal of mine for at least the last few years. There have been a lot of things that have held me back, the first being lack of equipment. Pages 68-76 in “Learning Transported” discuss the issue of equipment and infrastructure necessary to make my dreams a reality.  The biggest issue I have seen has been that my school has a 1:1 Chromebook program. We also have a few class sets of iPads that are available when requested as well. However, none of these devices will fit in a VR headset. As it turns out, that is OK! While a Chromebook can’t fully immerse students into the setting of, say the Coliseum in Rome, it can still give them a 360º view of locations through their web browser on their Chromebooks using Google Earth. This has been an option that I have already used, but never really considered it a VR experience. In my head, you needed something like Google Cardboard or another type of headset and a smaller mobile device to bring VR, AR, or MR into the classroom. The biggest challenge I was facing was my own narrow-mindedness when it came to what VR could be.  

Through the Twitter chat about “Learning Transported” I was able to read about what other educators were using to implement VR, AR, and MR into their classrooms.  I could see some of the possibilities that were out there. In the book, I was introduced to many great programs, apps, and websites like Nearpod, CoSpaces, Figment, Orb, RoundMe, and Virtual Speech. I have spent a lot of time looking more closely at these different options and how they can be used. I was really excited about trying Figment and Orb with my students, but then realized Orb is no longer available and Figment is only available on mobile devices (not through a browser) and it hasn’t been updated in two years. VR tech is still considered new so it seems as if some programs, apps, etc. aren’t stable enough for educators to really know what is going to stick around. There are still some great options for me to use immediately in the classroom though. CoSpaces reminds me of building with Minecraft. I have had students work collaboratively to build cities based on ancient Roman standards with Minecraft and found it to be a valuable experience. CoSpaces would bring more options than Minecraft has to offer, such as images, documents, etc. I found one CoSpaces design that was a virtual Civil Rights Legislation museum that was made by a student (not my student). RoundMe and Google Tour Builder also offer great VR opportunities that I can easily weave into my Social Studies classroom. With Virtual Speech I can have my students practice their presentations without the fear of failing in front of their peers. Basically, there are still plenty of options available to me that seem like they will be around for long term use.

Am I all set to get started with more VR/AR/MR use in my classroom?  YES! Do I still want the headset capability? Absolutely! Will it be possible any time soon?  I doubt it for a few reasons. While I am comfortable letting students use my own iPhone in a headset, it does not always work the way I want it to (it’s hard to make the selections while in VR with ios and some headsets). Also, in order to use the headset technology, my supervisory union will need to take a lot of other factors into consideration, such as the wifi capabilities and where to get the mobile devices and headsets. We are a newly merged supervisory union that now has a common budget between schools, this means spending will be tight for the first few years. I do not know if or when this technology will be available in the classroom but, in the meantime, I know I still have other options.