Since we’re all currently teaching from home, I thought I’d write a bit about how virtual reality has really interesting applications for co-teaching & collaborating.
First, I should say I love VR for pre-recording lessons, and having students experience software. This type of teaching, to me, is on the cutting edge of the SAMR Model of technology transforming /elevating education. However, another place that VR can really shine is for a natural-feeling collaboration long-distance.
Recently, I’ve been trying it out, and it’s been pretty successful! First, I co-taught a lesson with a teacher who happens to also own a VR headset. We did a quick lesson together on angles, and I think it speaks to the efficacy of VR that it was basically one of my co-teacher’s first times in the virtual reality program but she could immediately jump into teaching.
Here’s a clip of that experience:
The students really enjoyed it, the teachers had fun, and overall it felt much less dreary than simply pre-recording a solo-whiteboard video in my house.
Additionally, since not everyone owns VR, there are even some programs will allow one participant to be in their Rift/Vive/whatever (VR Headsets), and the other participant to join from a regular PC or iPad.
The person in VR has a lot more flexibility and control in the world, but it’s a great starting point for teachers that are curious, but not yet proficient in modern digital technology. I used this style of teaching recently to teach a Pre-K counting lesson with a teacher that I’ve actually never worked with before in real life. I think it went pretty well, and you can see the results of it below:
For both of those videos, we’re using a VR program called “Rec Room”, which is a shockingly free program / game.
Anyways, I’m very open to working with more teachers, let me know if you have any ideas for fun lessons, or are interested in collaborating together!
I’ll be posting more teaching videos on my Youtube Channel in the future, hopefully with numerous co-teachers beside me.
Cass Coomber 