by Andy Fidel
Contributor: Lorelle VanFossen of Educators in VR

“If you’re able to pull VR into your program… where students are genuinely excited to come to math class… it’s a lot easier to teach when everyone has a smile on their face and is passionate about what they’re doing,” says Joy Shannon, an enthusiastic teacher integrating virtual reality into the classroom.

Journey from digital to immersive learning

New technologies are changing the way we teach and perceive education. The concept of online schooling isn’t so foreign anymore. How many people use the internet to level-up? Have you ever watched a tutorial or taken an e-course? How many of us have searched: how to — on the web.

Online resources now play a fundamental role in our self-cultivation. We consume digital media on a daily basis. Just look at the world around you. You’re being talked to every moment of the day. Just look at your phone. How many notifications have you received since this morning? How many do you get in a week? If you want to know, check your digital wellbeing — new mobile app introduced to Android at Google I/O in 2018.

Back to digital media.

• The pool of shared knowledge on the internet is growing as content is digitized and made accessible and available at all times (if our location permits it). That information is stored on personal, private or public clouds — fancy word for web storage — then made availabe to all or few.
• We draw information from these knowledge pools for various reasons. When we need additional support, community feedback or need some inspiration 💡

Fun fact: Google receives over 63,000 searches per second on any given day.

• Not only are resources digitized, our communications are going digital. Look at the way we connect with one another. How we moved from writing, to speaking, to seeing, and we’ll get into being with spatial computing in a second…
• Communities are growing in digital spaces. Are you part of any online forum or social media group? These spaces allow people of likemind to unite on subject matters they care about despite remote physical locations.
• Digital interaction fosters real relationships. In today’s digital age, how do we differentiate what happens online and what happens in the physical realm? …aside from the biological factor.
• Most of our communications up until now have been in 2D. We’ve grown accustomed to our computers, tablets and smartphones. With the arrival of immersive technology, we’ve now entered the spatial computing era. We’re moving past flat media and entering 3D environments.
• We can — literally — step into virtual worlds populated with people from around the world, customize our personal avatar, communicate with others, engage in group activities, explore user-generated worlds, and even create our own immersive space without code or any development background.
• Various groups are utilizing spatial networks (Social VR and Social AR) to carry out digital curriculums, to host virtual events, and to build new immersive communities.

The thought of having a virtual professor tomorrow isn’t so farfetched.

Immersive tools for remote teaching

Immersive technology like virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) bring forth new ways of communicating and sharing knowledge. Most devices come with special hand controllers, allowing you move and interact with the world around you. What’s fascinating about virtual spaces, is that all digital engagement happens in real-time.

There are many spatial networks and immersive tools to choose from. Each platform offers a unique set of features for educators, entrepreneurs, creators and students to explore. Most networks allow you to create and customize your spaces. Choose environments from template libraries. Import images and videos. Screen a presentation. Collaborate on a whiteboard. Import models. Build in real-time. Create public or private spaces, and share them.

The look and feel of your 3D space is quite limitless. Traditional? Historical? Futuristic? Really depends on your audience and what you want them to experience. A good place to start… what is your lecture about?

VR/AR devices on the market

Before we further dive into spatial networks, let’s do a brief overview on immersive technology. Hardware has come a long way in the last 5 years and is now available at different price points, varying in quality and experience access.

In short, VR takes you to virtual worlds vs AR integrates your physical world.

In the past years, we have gained access to a great number of VR and AR devices, also known as HMDs (Head-Mounted Displays), which take the form of a headset. Without getting too technical… these immersive experiences are made possible with recent developments in graphic processing, positional tracking, motion controls, spatial audio, and we’ll stop here.

Spatial Networks in 2019

What should we call these virtual meeting spaces? It doesn’t make much sense to label social VR/AR as social media platforms. Granted, there are many similarities… but new words are needed as we push the boundaries of communications. There is a significant difference between media engagement and real-time networking. You don’t interact with digital media feeds in virtual spaces, you’re engaging with real people.

What is social here? It’s YOU, not your media.

Spatial Networking refers to the engagement part of social media. The act of connecting with other people and communities is called social networking. With VR or AR technology, you are spatially immersed in an experience. These spatial networks unlock a whole new perspective on connected learning and real-world engagement.

There are no boundaries to the potential of spatial networks.

Most spatial networks and immersive tools are cross-platform, thus available on a number of different VR or AR devices. Did you know? — a lot of these platforms also run on traditional devices, which means you can join using PC/Mac computers and mobile phones (Android/iOS).

Here are some popular spatial networks you can start exploring today:

Mozilla Hubs:share a private virtual room with friends. Watch videos, play with 3D objects, or just hang out.

rumii by Doghead Simulations:helps distributed teams collaborate using virtual reality. rumii is a collaboration tool used for VR training and VR education.

Engage:a VR Education & Corporate Training Platform. Makes it easy to collaborate and learn through virtual reality. Perfect for educators, trainers and corporate teams.

Bigscreen: an immersive, social computing experience that lets you use your computer in VR.

Spatiate: augmented reality 3D art creation tool for drawing together across major devices such as iPhone, Android, and Magic Leap.

ClassVR: The world’s first virtual reality set designed specifically for schools, ClassVR provides teachers with everything they need to deliver engaging VR lessons.

AltspaceVR by Microsoft:social platform for virtual reality. Meet people from around the world, attend free live events, and play interactive games with friends.

High Fidelity:open-source virtual reality software platform for 3D artists, developers, and creators.

Rec Room:the virtual social club. Play and build games with friends.

Sansar:play, create, and explore with anyone, anywhere in the world.

Somnium Space:open, social & persistent VR world. Buy land, build or import objects, instantly monetize and simply have fun. Universe shaped entirely by players.

vTime XR: the world’s first cross-reality (XR) social network. Meet with friends in AR, VR, or 2D magic window mode.

VRChat:lets you create, publish, and explore virtual worlds with other people from around the world.

MeetinVR: business meetings and collaboration in virtual reality. Meet in virtual workspaces where you can collaborate, create and feel truly together with your colleagues.

NeosVR Metaverse:short for neo spatium — new space, a highly collaborative virtual and augmented reality metaverse.

Vivid Platform: Crypto Analysis & Discussion Platform for Spatial Computers. Pick an avatar, choose your name, and jump into a session.

and many more! Check out Ryan Schultz’s epic list of immersive spaces and virtual world platforms. Last update made July, 2018.

Experiential learning and virtual classrooms

Immersive technology allows the educator to merge the best parts of in-person and online teaching. Imagine the potential of remote classrooms and the ability to bring together students regardless of location and abilities. VR/AR is revolutionizing the digital learning experience —and we’re only at the tip of the iceberg here.

No matter how technologically advanced our education system becomes, there’s no future without teachers. Learning is a social experience, not only with educators but also among peers.

There are three unique challenges ahead for educators and
learners of the future:

• Providing institutions and teachers with these new technologies
• Overcoming new social challenges that will arise in these virtual spaces
• Preparing students for jobs in the spatial computing era

Virtual reality and augmented reality, and the catch-all acronym, XR (Extended Reality), is already in use for training, lectures, meetings, consulting, and all forms of education. VR/AR increases hands-on learning opportunities for subjects traditionally difficult to teach off a textbook and require a deeper understanding of the material. Spatial networks also provide students the means to create their own clubs/associations and to meet outside of school hours.

A few ways VR/AR can be used in academic environments:

• experienced-based learning
• virtual field trips
• peer-to-peer meeting spaces
• virtual simulations & trainings
• 3D visualizations
• personalized learning experiences
• accessible learning experiences for people with physical disabilities
• recruitment tool for universities
• administrative & departmental meeting spaces

As an educator and student, are you considering how to use spatial networks to facilitate global learning opportunities? Over the next week, we will be hosting a few workshops in Spatial Networks geared toward how to include virtual reality and augmented reality in the classroom. These events are available on PC/mobile and in-VR.

Scroll down to discover our calendar of events. For more events on the subject, subscribe to the #GetSocial in Virtual Spaces channel

Educators in VR: immersive pioneers revolutionizing remote education with interactive experiences in social VR

Preparing teachers and academic institutions for future incorporation of virtual spaces and activities into the classroom is part of the Educators in VR mission statement. The community provides educators and learners with a virtual classroom, allowing them to connect with a wider market of students and their peers. Social VR’s free and open access is ideal for schools, educators, consultants, trainers, and entrepreneurs.

Educators in VR started last year in AltspaceVR as a meetup to explore the usage of spatial technologies in education. Co-founders Daniel Dyboski-Bryant and Lorelle VanFossen host monthly events to connect educators, trainers, researchers, organizations, and startups from around the world to share their expertise and explore new ways to apply VR in education.

“It’s taken off in ways we never dreamed possible,” explained Lorelle VanFossen, long time educator and professional trainer in web publishing technologies. “We read the research. We see the studies. We talk to the educators integrating VR into the classroom and they are living the proof that VR is changing education.”

Lorelle VanFossen recently presented the first Educators in VR weekly workshop focused on teaching in the immersive classroom, The Last Glacier.

“Teaching outside of the traditional classroom in an immersive virtual field trip changes the dynamics. It flips the classroom upside down. Students become the leaders, teaching each other and themselves through self-directed exploration, often teaching the teacher. Imagine the empowerment to hand an assignment to a student that says ‘Build a world that represents your vision of climate change.’ I want that homework assignment!”

Teaching within the immersive, virtual environment has been found to benefit students of all ages, especially those with social anxieties and those on the autism spectrum.

“VR keeps students locked in their chairs,” says Daniel Dyboski-Bryant, a foreign language teacher in Wales, England. “They want to engage. They want to learn. They can’t get enough of this, and it’s fascinating and so exciting as a teacher to see this new passion for learning.”

Educators in VR is dedicated to preparing educators for the future with virtual reality, and encouraging student learners, makers, and creators to explore their talents through this thriving technology.

Quelle:

Foto: photo cred: Dr. Sana Farid on XR Education Panel in rumii by Doghead Simulations at #AWECORE (AWE 2019, May 31st, 2019) hosted by MATRIXCORE

https://arvrjourney.com/future-of-education-remote-teaching-in-social-vr-1c836df82274