This term I’ve been working with Year 5 creating Google Sites for their Science and Technology unit on animal adaptations. Each class was commissioned to conduct important research for the CSIRO where they would discover and document an Australasian animal. At the end of term their websites will be showcased in an outdoor gallery with images of animals accompanied by QR codes displayed in our school garden. The idea is that parents and students can wander through the garden, discover animals in a natural habitat and then scan the QR code to learn more through the Year 5 websites. As part of this project we have been exploring Virtual Reality (VR) using Tour Creator.
Virtual Reality
So what is VR is and how it can be used to heighten student learning? VR provides opportunities for students to participate creative, immersive and engaging learning experiences. Students can interact with their learning using VR to deepen understanding and knowledge retention as they connect with a virtual world. A virtual world can be real or imagined, set in the past, present or future. The process of immersion into this virtual world really motivates students to understand it. Through VR students are not limited by text descriptions or images. Instead they can explore and see for themselves, by personally experiencing a new place or environment. We know that students learn best by doing. So VR provides an experience anchor as students learn and discover for themselves.
Tour Creator
Tour Creator uses Google Maps to create virtual tours. It uses 360° photos which can be overlaid with text and images to provide information. In Tour Creator students are not only learning through VR but they are creating their own VR experience for others to engage with.
Our students had to select three or more locations across Australasia where their animal could be found. This required high level research skills as general habitat descriptions such as ‘central Australia’ was not sufficient for finding specific locations using Google Maps.
Once they selected a location they had to add information about the environment and why this was suitable for their animal. We also encouraged students to explain how their animal adaptations correlated to the environment. The information was not just based on their research but also on their experience. Students had to observe and interact with the habitat and think about why this would be a suitable location for their animal to live.
To further create the VR experience students found audio files on SoundCloud that matched their environment (for example birds chirping or waves crashing) and then added these to each location of the tour. I found it was most effective to search for tracks using terms such as ‘Nature Sounds’. If a track was copyright free then it was downloaded using SoundCloud Downloader. Students then used the embed code (which is accessed after the tour is published) to add the tour to their Google Site. To provide explanation for viewers students added the following: ‘This is a virtual tour of the habitat of my animal. Click on the cog in the top right hand corner to hear the ambient audio.’
In a sense our outdoor garden gallery showcase will also create a VR experience for the school community as they explore the animals in a natural habitat and then connect to the Year 5 student websites.
