By Tatianna Competello

For our blog post this week we had the choice of picking a learning tool that can be used for virtual reality in classrooms. The tool I decided to talk about is called Google Cardboard. You may be wondering what this app is and how it works. This is an app where you can try virtual reality right from your phone, using Google Cardboard. This virtual reality headset is built from basic cardboard or plastic that brings the viewer in a video or gives them a 360-degree view of an image. It makes the viewer feel like they are actually in that location when in reality they are in the comfort of their own home or classroom. You can view pictures, play games, and experience virtual reality through a VR viewer that you can buy or make at home. This is a great and fun lesson to teach your students especially if you are teaching virtually. I added a video below explaining what exactly Google Cardboard is and how to use it in class. I think this is an interesting video and explains everything you need to know about this app perfectly. You can click here to watch it.

The first step to using this learning tool is to go to your app store and download the app.

When it comes to teaching students of any age reality can always be a challenge. One of the biggest problems being you are not face to face with the students and this can be make learning difficult. I think any app that will allow students to learn something new and be creative is the best lesson a teacher can teach. With Google Cardboard students develop creative skills and be in charge of their own learning. With this app you can teach students how to use virtual reality technology can be used to engage students in topics related to geography, history, or literature by offering a deeply immersive sense of place and time. For example, you can take the students on a virtual field trip and how the students watch the trip the whole time through the google cardboard they created with their phone. I found a very detailed and interesting link that examples several ways how virtual reality with google cardboard can be used together in a classroom. This link truly shows you so many reasons why you should use this app for teaching and learning. You can click here to find it.

Now you may be wondering what are some specific ways the teachers and students can use this in the classroom. To start, you can take the students on virtual field trips. With this, students can choose a place they would like to go to, based on the current area they are in during the class time. The students could all go to the same place if they want or different places, that part does not really matter. The students can look at this location through their google cardboard and then share with the class what they learned from this lesson as well as what this site looked like through the cardboard.

Another way the students can use this app in class is by watching 360- degree videos. There are hundreds of videos the students can watch and on almost any topic the students want to watch the videos on. Such as skydiving, sharks swimming or taking the children on a tour of a museum with history made in it. When it comes to teaching a specific lesson in class you can find a video of the topic you are teaching and have the students watch this video in class.

A very creative way students can use google cardboard in the classroom would be to let the students create their own projects or lesson plans. This can help students can a real idea of how to use this app and all the features that come with it. The best part about this assignment is that the students can make their own 3-D pictures and then share with the class their picture is and why they chose it. This also helps to improve students’ creativity skills. You can click here to see twelve fun ways the students can use this app in the class with specific details for each assignment.

You can watch this video below with students using Google Cardboard for the first time as well as their reactions. I thought this video fit perfectly for this assignment. You can click here to watch it.

The last part of this discussion is to talk about how google cardboard can contribute to a successful global collaboration. According to the website creware.asia it states how “Virtual Reality creates an artificial environment with software. The artificial environment gets presented to the audiences in a way that encourages them to accept and believe it as a real environment. VR technology creates primary experience focusing on two senses, i.e., vision and sound.” One of the best traits that make google cardboard so successful is that students can go on virtual field trips around the world, and be able to see all these places just with their computer at home. The students do not actually have to go to these places physically. When it comes to global collaborations, as a teacher you can have your students interact with other students around the world by going on skype or zoom, and the students could even work on similar assignemts together. A great assignment would be to create a google classroom and then have the students come up with a lesson plan on how to use and create google cardboard and then show other students around the world how to use this, and share that experience together.