GoalExplain what virtual reality is and give two ways it can help learning.
New words
virtual reality (VR) · a world made by a computer that you can look around and feel you are insideheadset · a device worn on the head with screens for the eyes and speakers for the ears3-D · having length, width and depth, like a real objectvirtual · made by a computer, not real
Explanation
Virtual reality, or VR, is a world made by a computer. Usually you wear a headset. It has a screen for each eye, so the world looks 3-D, and it covers the real room so you cannot see it. When you turn your head, the picture turns too, and you hear sounds all around, so you feel as if you are inside. In class, VR can show things we cannot visit: a tiny insect or an atom made huge, a museum in a far-away city, or a place as it looked hundreds of years ago. After a lesson like that, children can often remember more, because they have seen it as an experience. Always use VR with a grown-up, and take breaks. Remember that everything in VR is made up: the coral reef is not wet, and the old market is not really there.
headset on→computer draws a 3-D world→you turn your head→the view turns with you
Worked examples
Mariam’s class ‘visits’ a coral reef. They look left and see a fish, look down and see a rock. The reef is far away, but the lesson feels close.
Seif wants to know what an ant looks like up close. In a VR lesson the ant is as big as a room, so he can see its six legs clearly.
A museum is in another city. A class in a small village wears headsets and walks around its halls together with a teacher. Nobody travels, and nobody gets lost.
Class activity
Plan a VR trip on paper. Draw four boxes like a comic. Box 1: where you start. Box 2: what you see on the left. Box 3: what you see when you look up. Box 4: what you learned. You do not need a headset. Choose a place you cannot visit in one day.
Practice
1
What does the headset do in VR?
It gives each eye a screen and covers the real room, so you feel inside a made-up world.
2
Name two things VR can show a class.
For example: a tiny insect made huge, a far-away museum, a place long ago.
3
Is the coral reef in a VR lesson real or made up?
Made up by a computer.
4
Why should a grown-up be there when children use VR?
To keep them safe and to make sure they take breaks.
