An examination of the practicality of virtual reality in the 

classroom 

New York Institute of Technology

EDIT 663

Joseph DiBello
 Introduction

Virtual reality is quickly becoming more and more accessible in today's world. In 2014

facebook bought a company called oculus for 2 billion dollars. Oculus is the maker of the the

Rift, a virtual reality (VR) headset that, when connected to a computer, tracks the headsets

position and contains a display that allows the user to look around in a virtual world. The

devices come with controllers that allow the user to pick things up in the virtual world and

manipulate objects by moving their hands. The hope was to create a virtual environment that is

as intuitive to interact with as the users everyday life. However, this kind of power did not come

without a cost. In 2018 the rift costs 400 USD and this does not include the computer required to

use the headset. According to hardware manufacturer Nvidia in 2016, only 1% of computers

used globally are capable of running VR. (BBC, 2016) However, thanks to smartphone demand

continually pushing smartphone tech development, the VR landscape has changed.

Industry leaders such as Samsung and Google have marketed their own VR headsets

that use the user's smartphone display and built in sensors to track motion. These devices are

not nearly as refined as devices like the Oculus Rift but offer the experience of virtual reality for

a fraction of the cost. This is good news from an educational standpoint. While many schools

computers would not be capable of playing VR content, a vast majority of students have

smartphones that are capable and this makes bringing the virtual experience to students

possible. It also means that students can have access to virtual reality content both in class and

at home.

This opens up various possibilities for VR to re-shape the way students learn. It could

provide students with a new way to view content. Imagine a history lass viewing a civil war battle

reenactment in virtual reality. It also can allow students to view live streams of their classroom
when they are home and incapable of making it to school. It can also provide a social platform

between students of other schools. This begs the question: Is it possible for schools to make

virtual reality a reality in their classrooms today at a reasonable cost or is this technology not

ready to make the leap into mainstream education yet?

Purpose

To examine the practicality of virtual reality usage in the classroom in three main ways.

First, is it possible to deliver meaningful VR content in the classroom? Second, is it possible to

use virtual reality as a method of flipping the classroom? And third, could VR be used as a form

of social media to enhance the learning experience? Each will be examined with the cost of

entry in mind as well as a full class size (i.e 28 students). Another factor in this analysis will be

ease of use. Many teachers are reluctant to try new technology in their school, however, when

these pieces of technology are intuitive to use, teachers will be much more likely to devote time

into lesson development with that tool.

Virtual Reality in the Classroom

More and more teachers are using youtube in their class. In the past, a teacher showing

a movie in class was viewed as a way of “phoning it in.” However, with many teachers having

access to Youtube and a large format projector/TV, showing clips to augment a class has

become very common. While many may think that Youtube is used for cat videos, it turns out

that Educationally categorized videos are viewed twice as much as videos in the Pets and

Animals category. (Forbes, 2015) One of the pioneers in this field was Sal Khan, the man

behind Khan academy that delivers over 440 million free micro-lectures to over 2.2 million

subscribers on Youtube. (Forbes 2015)

 Today, youtube now supports 360 degree video. 360 degree video is video that is is

filmed using an array of cameras. The video from each camera is then “stitched” together by

software on a computer allowing the viewer to see in all directions around the camera without

the distortion of a fisheye, or wide-angle, lens. These types of videos can be viewed in two

formats on youtube. The first is using a traditional screen and the user is given the ability to click

and drag with a mouse or touch screen and change the viewing angle. The other is using a VR

headset to look around. The latter is much more intuitive and gives a sense of presence.

Presence occurs when an individual's perception fails to accurately acknowledge the role of

technology in the experience. (Ching, 2016) This state is where meaningful learning will occur

and be an improvement to traditional in class videos. In a study done while training surgeons,

this state of immersion led to more experience in a stress-optimized environment. Something

that had been lacking from surgical training in the past. (Haluck, 2000)

This type of technology is now easily available on smartphone devices. Google has

developed an app called ​Cardboard​ that will play these videos in a virtual reality format. Users

can then use a phone based headset such as the Google Cardboard. The google cardboard is

sold for $15 and is simply a cardboard headset that comes complete with straps and lenses.

This allows anyone with a smartphone to enjoy this sort of content for only $15. This makes it a

very promising options for teachers working in districts with tight budgets.

Google expeditions is an app developed for teachers by google. With this app, teachers

can control multiple students’ google cardboard headsets in real time from a tablet. An example

of its use may be a teacher playing a 360 degree youtube video on every student in the classes

headset. This ensures that the students are indeed watching the intended content on the

headsets and it also allows the teachers to pause and start the video. This can lead to students
learning while immersed in a new technology while also not taking the teacher out of the

equation and allowing them to control the direction of the content.

Virtual Reality Outside of the Classroom

Flipping the classroom is a method of teaching that has become more and more

common as more and more students have capable access to technology at home. This is

equally true about 360 degree video content with headsets and apps like google’s cardboard

headset and app. This means teachers can place their student in a certain setting and teach

certain concepts before the students arrive to class the next day. However, there currently is not

a lot of content filmed in 360 that is readily available for specific topics and standards like there

is in traditional 2D media.

However there are easy and affordable ways for teachers to create their own 360 degree

video content. This can enable a teacher to film classroom activities and demonstrations in an

immersive environment. Samsung has released the Samsung Gear 360 camera that comes

equipped with easy to use editing software for under $100. This can be used in a variety of

ways. Teachers can film lessons to be posted later on a class website for review. Or teachers

can film certain experiences outside of the classroom and bring it to their students in an

extremely immersive format.

The next step would be for teachers to create true 3D environments using game engines

to explore more abstract concepts. The Unity game engine is available for free and allows for

“drag and drop” development. This means that tech savvy teachers with no 3D modeling or

video editing experience can create professional 3D environments. This will enable students to

experience architectural designs and chemical structures to involve local and remote learners
to collaborate and enable students to integrate different types of data (graphs, charts, and 3D

models) in meaningful ways.(Hew, 2010)

Virtual Reality as a Form of Social Media

Social media is traditionally thought of as a space on the web that allows users to

communicate in text format. Facebook and Instagram two of the most popular social media

platforms that allow users to share multimedia. However, facebook has already started

integrating VR into their platform in the form of 360 degree photos and videos. A wide array of

social VR apps have already taken off, fostering vibrant communities of people willing to come

together from around the world as simple yet surprisingly effective avatars, facilitated by high

end VR headsets like the rift and HTC Vive. (Strange, 2017)

Trends in technology also show that Virtual reality may be the next logical step for social

media. Products that advertised on social media platforms like facebook started using just

photos and text. Now, studies show that four times as many consumers prefer watching a video

about a product to reading about the same item. (Kabrovski, 2017) Due to it’s immersive nature,

virtual reality will be the next best way to research and shop for products. If virtual reality

becomes part of people’s day to day lives, people may prefer to spend a majority of their time in

virtual spaces.(Kim, 2016) This may be the gateway for users to use virtual reality as an escape.

Similar to how many people binge-watch TV, they also maintain online identities that may or

may not be consistent with their real identities on various social media. This escapism will be

even more pronounced in the future if Virtual Reality does become the norm.

So how can Virtual Reality be useful in a school setting from a social standpoint? Many

school districts in this country have very narrow demographic groups while others very broad.

VR chat rooms can allow students from anywhere in the world to work cooperatively with each
other. They could potentially work in environments that highlight cultural differences and learn

from each other. A driving force in IB curricula is global context. VR gives students the

opportunity to enhance this global context as well as allow more co-curricular opportunities.

Working with VR will also give teachers the opportunity to model proper online behavior

in this new context. The idea of a life lived online, or outside of regular society, is largely seen

as dangerous and unhealthy. (Kim, 2015) Teachers can teach the dangers of negative online

behavior while promoting students to be 21st century digital citizenship in a new form of media

as it is being developed.

Conclusions

The world of VR is a truly exciting and new form of media that is becoming more and

more accessible to the mainstream consumer. This means that it will soon be part of our lives

and our students lives. Currently there is a lot of good, potentially educational, content filmed in

a 360 degree format. There are also tools such as google cardboard that could bring this to

every student in a classroom at a reasonable price. Tools like google expeditions also allow

teachers to stay in control of the content and design their own investigations and promote

inquiry in their class. These types of headsets, utilizing smartphones, make the time investment

during a class period minimal as well. This can make watching a 1-2 minute video in a headset

worth the time investment.

There are also tools that allow teachers to create their virtual reality own content. These

tools are available at a reasonable price that can allow teachers to experiment and create

without the constraints of a budget. As the media becomes more popular, the editing tools and

applications will only become more capable and more intuitive. Today’s tools are certainly

capable, but newer and more fluid interfaces will appeal to more teachers. Once teachers can
edit video like this within a browser, meaning they could work on a school issued chromebook or

any other non PC, this type of content creation may be as commonplace as screencasting.

Using VR as a social platform may not be ready for schools quite yet. No smartphone

headset applications are capable of running virtual chat rooms, these experiences are only

available to high end headset users. This may make it extraordinarily difficult for public schools

to adopt this technology. However, when affordable headsets are available, it is imperative to

bring this type of social media into the classroom. Many dystopian books, like ​ready player one,​

have been written about users being drawn more to virtual reality than actual reality. While

these works are technically fiction, they do illustrate humanities need for escapism. Teachers

have the opportunity enter into this technology with their students and can help model proper

usage and behavior in virtual reality from the beginning.

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