Virtual reality falls on face1/28/2024 ![]() “VR technology just takes it to another level in terms of that sense of engagement.” “I think everybody wants more flexibility and more engagement with one another,” he said. Virtual Reality isn’t necessarily new, but Rhode says they feel like they’re on the cutting edge of its potential for education - especially with the pandemic already opening people up to virtual tools like Zoom. A history teacher and his students can stand on and walk around a virtual map to learn about the Vietnam War, complete with VR replicas of the military weapons used in the battle. Other educators are already using VictoryXR for classes like science and history. NIU nursing programs want to use VR to run simulations so students can practice responding to patient situations and then go back and rewatch how they did. Students could explore the anatomy of the inner ear as if they were walking through a massive one. Jason Rhode says they have an audiology class interested in using VR for a project. Initial findings from other universities support that.Īnd, soon it won’t just be for PE instruction. But he says VR has been an effective tool for his students who have used it. Wahl-Alexander reiterates that nothing beats face-to-face instruction, full stop. I do it with cones and with baseball bats.” “So, like if I’m in Anderson Hall, I can go to the item bank and put a T-Rex into the gym space, and then manipulate it and flip it upside down. “You can go to this item bank, and then you can just pull items and put them in the space that you’re in,” he said. So, VR can help provide a space - with a little extra creativity. It’s hard for each of his students to gain access to a gym where they can run through a lesson plan. “Prior to doing that on campus,” said Wahl-Alexander, “our students would go into the VR space in that same space that they’re gonna teach their peers, lay out the whole lesson, they would record like their interactions that they would get, they record some of the feedback that they might give, and then I would watch it and kind of get some feedback on that.” VictoryXR CEO Steve Grubbs teaches about the Vietnam War in VR Courtesy of VictoryXRįor him, it’s all about high-quality practice. In the class, they have to create lesson plans and teach them to their peers in the REAL Anderson Hall gym. And he had ideas of how it can help his students prepare for clinical teaching experiences in real, physical gyms. teacher prep class as NIU’s first immersive VR course? For one, he already had some experience using VR with students. They held a faculty workshop in the fall to let faculty try out the technology, and she says they formed an informal group of interested educators. She says they’re planning to initiate grants for faculty to transform their curricula and VR will be a part of that. And, as I learned myself, a shaky WiFi connection or network error can boot you from a session.īut, Celeste Latham, NIU associate vice president for resources and facilities, says the university is embracing VR’s potential. It’s not photorealistic - it looks more like high-end Nintendo Wii graphics. You can even go inside of the student center. ![]() But, it includes a virtual version of Altgeld Hall, among a few other campus buildings. It’s not the full campus - there’s still lots of open cyberspace. They built a VR version of NIU’s campus, which I got to toss on a Meta Quest headset and visit with Jason Rhode, Associate Vice Provost for Teaching, Learning, and Digital Education. NIU is one of 10 pilot institutions working with VictoryXR. Wahl-Alexander just piloted it with a class in the fall and will totally integrate it into his class this spring. He’s also the first NIU professor experimenting with virtual reality as part of the university’s collaboration with VR education company VictoryXR. “It’s cool to know,” he said, “that it’s the first time being integrated in physical education across the country, using this technology.” ![]() Wahl-Alexander teaches students training to be physical education teachers. Particularly, the gym in Anderson Hall, where he’s an assistant professor in the kinesiology & physical education department. DEKALB - Northern Illinois University professor Zach Wahl-Alexander pulls a virtual reality headset over his face, ready to transport to any number of far-flung alien locales, scenic vistas or even a virtual Oval Office.
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