My Journey into VR so far so good ?

My name is Jonathon Simons and I an an ex primary school teacher that decided to go into business for myself running coding, robotics and 3D printing workshops Under the name of Code Inventorz (www.codeinventorz.com).  It is my third year in business. It is a tough transition from teaching to running a business but has been such an enjoyable experience and is really the subject of another post. 

Firstly a disclaimer. These are my Views on my experiences of integrating VR into workshops. There will be things I didn't know or not aware of. I am only human , just. 

One of the things that I like doing is looking out for things that I think my students will enjoy and really learn from and take tangible skills from that they can use in the future.

The first thing that you need to know about VR is that it is expensive , really expensive. But that doesnt mean it cannot be started in a small way and grown. 

I have a few rules when it comes to introducing new technology into my workshops. I like to pick the most open platform possible so I have more control, the application has to be built from the ground up for education not reverse engineered, have a long shelf life,  and it has to have a real educational value. 

This approach meant that I wasn't going to be going the route of the more established VR offerings as I really did not want to go the way of offering an experience such as going around a foreign city. I wanted to offer something where students can be really creative and learn a skill. 

The challenge for VR is that realistically it is still in fairly early stages as far as education goes especially for younger children. Plus the technology is ever evolving I have been on the hunt for a few applications I could use . 

The two I have picked so far are Gravity Sketch,  an application that allows students to create designs in 3D another bonus it that it offers a certification programme so students and achive a certificate. Mesh training based in Nottingham Trent University also offer teacher training at a reasonable price to help you get started in using Gravity sketch which I took advantage of. 

My second choice is Zoe Interactive which I am now happy to say I am a beneficiary of a grant to explore aplications in the classroom which I am so excited to be a part of. It is a App that allows students to build interactive worlds and scenarios. I saw and amazing application of the technology in teaching someone how to administer an epi pen. 

I am mid testing with some of my students using gravity sketch  and I cant wait to see what they create. It has a fairly low bar to entry and I can imagine year 5-6 students getting used to the controls fairly quickly. Also Gravity sketch is free with some minor limitations. Which is a major avantage.

It is true  that regular breaks are needed for VR and it can take time to get used to and that has to be structured into lesson time. 

The advice that I have been given is that all work needs to be based around a project with a goal  and I really believe that is the key to being success full with VR in the classroom. 

Headsets can be streamed to a laptop so students can be observed whicth what they are doing and can work together on a design. I am looking into the internet requirements for this. Most of the apps work directly from the headset. So streaming could be the issue I have a 5G WIFI box which I hope can deal with that .

For safety the headsets can be set into a Kiosk mode this means that students can only access the apps you want students to access. 

The real elephant in the room is the cost. There is no way around it VR is expensive. There are things you can do to mtigate the expenses. Such as look at free apps also look at ways of how students can share headsets during the lesson. 

There are advantages to looking at the second hand market and older headsets can be purchased at low prices. Each path has its own obvious advantages and disadvantages and time needs to be taken to weigh up the different options. 

I hope my first steps can be of some use to others and encourage you to take the leap. 

If any of you have any questions or would like to book a workshop for your students please be in touch  Jonathonsimons@codeinventorz.com  or linkedin linkedin.com/in/jonathonsimonstheedtechmaven