LAVALLETTE — Virtual reality (VR) integration, intended to help students better understand practical applications of math and science lessons, is coming to Lavallette Elementary School, with eighth-grade math and science teachers currently training in the technology.
The Lavallette Board of Education received an update on the upcoming VR curriculum integration at its meeting Oct. 17, when it became acquainted with the technology and its applications in math and science education.
Superintendent and Principal Lisa Gleason, who did doctoral research on VR in an education setting, explained why she supports of a curriculum bolstered by the technology.
“It’s three years ago that I interviewed with this board,” said Gleason, “and if you remember, one of the things I was excited about at that time in bringing to the school was some opportunity for virtual reality. I did my doctoral thesis on it.”
“There was very little research when I started my dissertation 10 years ago on virtual reality,” she added, “but I was so excited about how to get kids really immersed in learning environments, instead of looking at textbooks or passively receiving information through videos.”
Gleason said eighth-grade math and science teachers are training to be able to teach using VR, specifically an educational VR platform known as Prisms VR.
“Fast-forward 10 years later. There’s some really great work being done, and this board has been very supportive as we look at access points for kids,” she said. “So we’re bringing in virtual reality integration; our math and science teachers in grade eight just started training. The company is called Prisms; the developer of the company is an MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) graduate who also worked for the Massachusetts Department of Education and has a really impressive background.”
According to the Prisms website, Prisms VR is a “spatial learning platform that enables students to perceptually experience a real world context.” The goal is, through the use of VR headsets, to help students engage more immersively in math and science content, which would in turn help boost math and science test scores.
Currently, the school has 25 PICO Neo3 headsets, which were purchased using federal American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) funds, allocated originally “to support local educational agencies in preparing for and responding to the impact of COVID-19 on educators, students and families,” according to the New Jersey Department of Education.
“They are high-end, full-immersion headsets with audio as well as video, and they have haptic vibration,” the superintendent said, similar to the touch-sensitive vibrational functions of a smartwatch or phone.
“Why it’s so important is because, when we talk about these abstract concepts in math and science, sometimes kids don’t have the background knowledge to understand what it is they need to know before we teach them this,” Gleason said. “Or, we teach them the skill or concept, and they have no way to really apply it — answering that ‘When will I ever use this in real life?’ question.”
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