Sarah Dettmer , sdettmer@greatfallstribune.com Published 6:09 p.m. MT Feb. 23, 2017 | Updated 3 hours ago

Students view Google Expeditions through a smartphone device. The image moves with them as they look around the virtual environment.(Photo: Photo Courtesy of Jill Swanson)

There are no distractions in outer space at least not when youre there virtually.

For the students at the Utterback School in Conrad, exploring the International Space Station is as easy as looking through a View Master-like device.

Thanks to a grant from the Conrad Community Education Foundation, students and teachers at Conrad Public Schools can utilize their new Immersive Virtual Reality Lab. The school reports it is the first program of its kind in the state.

Whats special about the table? Jill Swanson, Conrad Public Schools tech coordinator, asks the students. Why would the astronauts put Velcro on their table?

Swanson monitors the scene on her phone and taps the table to create an attention point. As the students turn in their chairs and look around the space station, a white arrow appears and directs them to look at the marker Swanson set.

Even if the students arent looking where theyre supposed to, they are still engaged in active learning and gaining an experience no textbook can compare to.

This is a fun way to learn, 12-year-old Brinkley Evans said. The space station was cool because all of the tools and supplies are different from what we use on Earth.

Swanson opens up a pane and reads information to the students about life in space including the need for table Velcro to keep their utensils from floating away.

The students look around the station as if they are standing inside. Through a porthole, they can see Earth.

I think this is going to be huge, fifth-grade teacher Jennifer Schlepp said. Its like the adage, If you give a man a fish. Its similar in that kids get the experience of being there and looking around. Instead of just listening to me, theyre experiencing. Its active learning.

Conrad Public Schools received 25-piece lab complete with its own wireless router and rolling case to transport between classrooms and schools. The set cost about $8,500.

The system utilizes Google Expeditions, Googles education-based virtual field-trip app built to coincide with K-12 curriculum.

Google Expeditions partnered with organizations including the Royal Collection Trust, Wildlife Conservation Society, NASA, the Smithsonian and American Museum of Natural History to create more than 200 virtual field trips. Last year, Google came to Montana and filmed the Crow Fair and the Little Bighorn Battlefield for a Google Expedition.

Trips range from exploring the Taj Mahal or taking a trip to the North Pole to exploring the inner workings of the human lung learning about burning hydrogen.

Brady Barnhill and Brinkley Evans, sixth-grade students at Utterback School in Conrad, explore the International Space Station with Google Expeditions.(Photo: Tribune Photo/Sarah Dettmer)

When I used it, we went to Giza and saw the Sphinx and cool things in Egypt, 12-year-old Brady Barnhill said. Then, we went into the ocean and learned about whales.

CPS new VR program also offers resources for upperclassmen exploring college and career options. Students interested in out-of-state universities can take virtual college campus tours. Google Expeditions also offers career exploration programs.

Theres not many zoologists in Conrad, said Ashley Bushnell, CPS librarian and Spanish teacher. Even if theres not an expert present, this gives students an interactive experience in the day of the life of different professionals.

Bushnell demonstrated a career exploration trip for the faculty at the Utterback School. She guided 15 adults through an industrial metal design studio. Though Bushnell admitted to knowing nothing about industrial metal, she used Googles preloaded attention points to highlight different work areas and explain what the employees were doing.

Modern classrooms are made by what teachers have access to, Bushnell said. Can this replace something else? Probably not, but its a great tool. Anytime you take go beyond the four walls of the classroom is fantastic.

CPS is still training teachers and experimenting with different ways to utilize the system. High School students have begun creating their own expeditions through building virtual tours of their high school for incoming students.

The teachers said they hope the technology continues to advance beyond panoramic images to include moving videos and sounds.

Read or Share this story: http://gftrib.com/2mdguIQ

Read the original:

Conrad develops modern classroom through virtual reality - Great Falls Tribune