Virtual reality takes Berkeley Prep, Tampa Prep kids to new destinations – Tampabay.com

TAMPA

Students from Berkeley Prep and Tampa Prep are getting a close-up look at ancient ruins, touring faraway places and basking in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower all without leaving their classroom.

By incorporating virtual reality technology from Google Expeditions into the curriculum the students download an app into their cell phones, which attach to virtual reality headsets their world has been expanded and they approach learning with palpable excitement.

Tampa Prep instructor Laura Pereira, who teaches Spanish and French, took her students on a tour of Guatemalan ruins and French museums. Then, using an app called CoSpaces, the students created their own archeological setting and did a Spanish narration, as if they were museum tour guides.

"You hear about something cool offered through virtual reality, but you want cool stuff that accentuates their learning,'' Pereira said. "If it makes the learning experience more profound and effective, then we're on the right track. When it becomes something they are held accountable for, where you can give an assessment, that's when it's truly transformative.

"Through this, the students are brought alive and they're hyper-focused. It's such a memorable experience and as a teacher, you want your students to remember the lesson.''

That's the idea.

"For me, it was so much better of an experience than looking at a textbook and pictures,'' said Berkeley Prep seventh-grader Josh Caron, recounting a recent unit on the Aztec, Inca and Maya civilizations in Meghan Campagna's Global Studies course. "I felt like I was there.''

Campagna, who is also Berkeley Prep's middle division Technology Integration Coordinator, said she was initially hesitant about using virtual reality in the classroom.

"But once I saw the students wanting to see the architecture and the landscape and the ruins, I got a clear picture of why this works well,'' Campagna said. "It's not just to show them pictures and add to what a book can do. It's to physically put them in a position so they can experience it like they are actually standing there.''

The future?

"There are always going to be people who think this is bling or a fad,'' Tampa Prep director of technology Chad Lewis said. "It's not that at all. It's so useful.''

"As soon as virtual reality is more approachable to the educational market, it will be everywhere,'' Campagna said.

It's already everywhere in other parts of life.

Virtual reality, which uses computer technology to generate realistic images, sounds and other sensations to simulate a physical presence in that environment, is used in medicine, military training and video gaming, along with professional and college sports.

Private schools around Hillsborough County are studying the concept or implementing virtual reality programs. There are no immediate plans to integrate a virtual reality curriculum into the Hillsborough County School District.

Give it time.

Tim Torkilsen, who is Berkeley Prep's upper school Global Studies Director and heads the school's International Education Program, needed no time at all to understand virtual reality's impact.

He remembers visiting the school's Technology Center earlier this year, where he was shown a virtual reality viewfinder. He looked at the setting and found it vaguely familiar. Then he turned around and looked up.

"I was standing underneath the Eiffel Tower,'' Torkilsen said. "My reaction was just, 'Wow!' I had been to Paris and this was like being back there.''

Torkilsen, who has been covering South Asia in his Contemporary Global Issues class, recently escorted 28 Berkeley Prep students to Nepal. He took lots of pictures, hoping to incorporate them into his teachings about the area's culture and religion.

Then he learned about a virtual reality tour of Katmandu, offered by Google Expeditions.

"It was interesting to see the difference in reaction between my flat pictures and explanations on the first day versus the second day, where the kids put on the viewfinders and they were so excited and in control,'' Torkilsen said. "They had the same reaction as I did when I looked up and saw the Eiffel Tower.

"The virtual reality was a much more effective medium when it came to learning about cultures. Right now, Google Expeditions has limited offerings, but we take trips all over the place. What if we could create our own journey to show to our kids back home? Five years down the line, I see this happening and being just invaluable.''

As for the present, students are enjoying their new view of the world, all from the confines of a classroom.

"This makes it all so real for me, seeing what things actually look like and helping me to learn how things were built,'' Berkeley Prep seventh-grader Olivia Rabinowitz said. "I could see this being used in Spanish classes to help show the culture.''

"The first time we used this, everyone got so excited,'' Berkeley Prep seventh-grader Breanna McDonough said. "We were walking around the classroom, looking at it all, sometimes bumping into tables. It was cool. It's one thing to read about it, but it's another to actually see it. It's like you are there.''

And, in turn, it is changing the classroom experience.

"What have we seen for the past 100 years? A teacher in the front of the room, pointing up at the board, lecturing and the students being implored to be quiet and stay in their row,'' Lewis said. "Now it's a whole new level of engagement. It's all very exciting.''

Contact Joey Johnston at hillsnews@tampabay.com

Virtual reality takes Berkeley Prep, Tampa Prep kids to new destinations 05/05/17 [Last modified: Friday, May 5, 2017 3:24pm] Photo reprints | Article reprints

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Virtual reality takes Berkeley Prep, Tampa Prep kids to new destinations - Tampabay.com