Virtual reality is hard to to escape at the nation鈥檚 largest ed-tech conference this year.
Several dozen sessions at the International Society for Technology in Education鈥檚 annual conference in Chicago touch on VR or offer tips for integrating it into the classroom, Google is offering tutorials for its Google Expeditions virtual tours, and a handful of VR vendors dot the exhibition hall.
But only about . The technology can be expensive for cash-strapped districts, and . And even at a conference that draws tech-minded educators from around the country, some expressed reservations about VR鈥檚 potential as a learning tool.
Education Week talked with educators about their hopes for鈥攁nd concerns about鈥攖his new classroom technology.
鈥淭here鈥檚 lots of ways to do virtual field trips, but this is a little more engaging,鈥� said Pamela Fontaine, a library media curriculum and instructional leader with Manchester Public 69传媒 in Manchester, Conn., who uses Google Expeditions.
Teachers in her school鈥檚 medical careers academy use the virtual tours to introduce the human body in action鈥攕tudents can follow the digestive system in one of the expeditions.
It鈥檚 more engaging for the students than watching it on a screen at the front of the room, said Rachel Discko, the district鈥檚 technology integration specialist.
Some classes also use the expeditions to supplement language instruction, leading students on tours of different countries.
Discko and Fontaine hope to expand the use of virtual reality in their district, as they say the technology captures the interest of students who get frustrated or fidgety during 鈥渟it-and-get鈥� instruction.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard for kids to sit and listen and absorb a lot of information, but if they see it on their own, maybe they could remember it,鈥� said Discko.
For now, though, there are only a few teachers in the district who are interested in using VR, she said. Google Expeditions are all developed by the company (though teachers can make recommendations for topics they鈥檇 like to see), and there isn鈥檛 as much content available for English courses as there is for STEM subjects.
When the Novelty Wears Off
But some teachers say simply touring a digital space doesn鈥檛 meaningfully change learning.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just substituting a picture book with technology,鈥� said Simon Dudar, a 5th grade science and social studies teacher at Haldane Central School District in Cold Spring, N.Y., of Google expeditions.
Dudar sees more promise in Poly, a Google VR platform that allows users to create their own 3-D spaces. He and his colleagues are hoping to map an inter-grade virtual world where 4th through 6th graders can create their own 鈥渞ooms鈥� and view their peers鈥� work.
Integrating virtual reality is only worth the money and effort if it allows students to create and experience something they wouldn鈥檛 have been able to build before, said Michelle Hartford, a 4th grade teacher in the district who works with Dudar.
With Poly, 鈥渢he headsets are the endgame,鈥� said Dudar. 69传媒 do the work to create the virtual realities on Chromebooks鈥攖he VR headsets are just the venue for displaying the final product. They鈥檙e not 鈥渞eally a part of the creation process,鈥� he said.
The biggest barrier to expanding virtual reality is cost, said Dudar. Purchasing headsets for Poly is a significant expense for his district. The school bought eight, he said, which students will share.
Regardless of the hardware, it鈥檚 important that VR platforms serve a greater function than just a personal movie screen. 鈥淭hey all have phones, so they [view] it at home. The novelty of just looking at it has worn off,鈥� said Dudar.
鈥淲ithout making the stuff inside of it, it鈥檚 just a bell and whistle. It鈥檚 not worth it.鈥�
Photo: Tara Cahill, director of technology integration for Grand Prairie school district in Dallas, Texas, tries out an underwater virtual reality headset at the ISTE conference in Chicago, on June 25. 鈥擬ichelle Kanaar for Education Week
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