VR Lesson Plan Learning Reflection:

• Why did you choose this particular technology for your lesson?
  
  

I’ve said many times that I love VR. It has captivated my imagination from the time I was a young boy and saw Tron. I’ve watched as dozens of attempts at VR technology have been released at high price points without sufficient software or a focus on user comfort, leading to a short, gimmicky lifespan. Now there are tons of options that are relatively cheap and easy to implement, not to mention significantly more comfortable. One such method of allowing a wide range of users to access virtual reality is the Google Cardboard that I mention in this lesson plan. Unfortunately, while the cardboard headset is still as easy to make or buy as ever, the Cardboard app is largely unsupported by Google at this point. Many of the great ways to access virtual field trips, like the VR street view built into Google Maps have been pulled. Thankfully, Google still supports 180VR or 360 views on YouTube, and have released a Google Earth VR experience on the Steam storefront. This is a little more difficult to implement in a classroom as it requires a dedicated VR headset, like the Quest, with Steam Link and a PC capable of running the app as it streams the output to the VR headset. This is unrealistic in the classroom for a number of reasons. That means YouTube is the easiest answer, for the time being, and Google Cardboard is the cheapest and easiest pairing.

• How does this technology enhance the learning experience or achieve the lesson’s objectives?

Many times class field trips are limited by time and cost. With VR technology, students can witness monumental art and architecture virtually, which helps them to grasp the scale and, in this case, interconnectedness of the areas. The idea that students can see life being lived around monuments around the U.S. and the rest of the world gives them perspective and helps in their understanding that it is largely similar to the way life is lived here. It can be a window into empathy and awe, and that is what this lesson hopes to accomplish on some level.

• What challenges did you anticipate or encounter in planning for the technology’s use, and how did you address them?

I anticipated running into challenges finding the specific VR content I was hoping to, but I didn’t expect the level of difficulty I ultimately ran into. I ended up finding what I needed eventually, but not until I used my own Quest headset to search on YouTube. I was hoping to use Google Maps Street View in VR as I’ve used that in the past, and was really disappointed it is no longer supported. The Google Cardboard app is very barebones at this point, which was also very disappointing. It was the same limitation as always: a lack of development for VR. Fortunately there are still enough ways to make it happen, and even a few dedicated apps for Google Cardboard style VR on the app store now. I was excited to find 180VR was still an option for YouTube, and that was ultimately my workaround for this lesson.

• How might you apply this experience in future lesson planning or professional practice?

Thankfully, this lesson plan gave me a lot of experience on the limitations of available VR content and the new development that would actually be very useful. There are a couple apps on Quest that would be handy, such as Somewhere and Wooorld (which are VR geo-guesser apps), and a handful of exploration apps made by National Geographic, as well as a few 360 VLOGS that are walking tours of cities like NY. The big hangup is that, with a relatively narrow scope of apps and videos, lessons would have to be built around available content rather than content being accessed for a specific lesson. Still, I can see the content library growing and am excited to stay fresh in this technology as it does so.

VR Lesson Plan: