VIRTUAL REALITY: EDUCATION'S NEW FRONTIER

WHAT IS VIRTUAL REALITY?

• Virtual Reality can best be defined as: "a realistic and immersive simulation of a three-dimensional environment, created using interactive software and hardware, and experienced or controlled by movement of the body" (Dictionary.com).
• It can also be defined as "an immersive, interactive experience generated by a computer" (Pimentel & Teixeira, 1993).

HOW DO WE CREATE SUCH AN ENVIORNMENT

• We can create this environment through the use of all sorts of technological devices.
• The most important hardware is a screen that projects a virtual image that the viewer is seeing in 3D. From there they respond to what they are seeing through movement. These movements can be done through exercise or they can be done through the use of a control device such as a joystick or remote control.

VIRTUAL REALITY AND EDUCATION

• Virtual Reality brings concepts to life.
• Instead of simply hearing or discussing concepts children can act them out and visualize them through interactive experience.

VIRTUAL REALITY AND SOCIAL STUDIES

• Children can explore virtual replications of historical settings.
• Children can visit locations and people. They can interact and learn first hand what life was like in the past by experiencing their way of life up close and personally.
• Example: Taking a virtual tour of Jamestown and being able to see up close what the settlement looked like in the 1600s.

VIRTUAL REALITY AND SCIENCE

• Children can go on virtual tours of the human body and actually visualize first hand the complexity of organ systems frame works.
• They can explore the depths of the ocean and meet sea creatures that would normally be impossible to meet in every day life in 3D replications.
• They can travel to the moon and walk on a virtual replication of its surface.

VIRTUAL REALITY AND MATH

• Students can play interactive games that involve math skills in a virtual reality setting.
• Counting, sorting, and other mathematical concepts can be worked upon in 3D and through body movements giving students a different experience than the one in their standard classroom.

VIRTUAL REALITY AND LANGUAGE ARTS

• Students can visit virtual settings of assigned literary works. They can interact with characters and visualize settings up close and personal.

SIMULATORS

• For those studying to become pilots or even drivers virtual reality offers simulator experiences of flight and driving.

REFERENCES

• Dictionary.com. (2016). Virtual reality. Retrieved from http://www.dictionary.com/browse/virtual--reality on January 4, 2017.
• Pimentel, K., & Teixeira, K.(1993). Virtual reality through the new looking glass. Retrieved from papers.cumincad.org on January 4, 2017.