Page 18 - ELG1707 Jul Issue 449

COMMENT .

Point

of View

Mark

Steed
The great

disruptor

Virtual reality technology could bring top-quality
education to millions of learners

ne of the greatest challenges where they look and what they focus on, this
for education in the twenty- inevitably leads to greater engagement. Indeed,
first century is that there is an VR allows the user to experience what is going
Oever-increasing divide between on in a way that feels authentic.
the demand for learning and the supply of At the Jumeirah English Speaking School
schooling. This is seen most obviously in the (JESS) in Dubai, we use VR extensively in our
global shortage of teachers, but it extends to a primary schools to take children on virtual
dearth of school leaders and the unavailability school trips – travelling around the world, back
of schools themselves. in time and even into space.
According to Unesco, there are currently In the past few weeks, Year 5 (ages 9 and 10) providing access to some of the best teaching
263 million children not in education, and children have met some ancient Egyptians, Year in the world to millions of children who are
the world will need 3.3 million more primary 4 (ages 8 and 9) have been to London and Year currently not in education.
teachers and 5.1 million more lower-secondary 6 (ages 10 and 11) went to ancient Greece. The Virtual Reality Teaching (VRT) has the
teachers by 2030. children ‘felt’ what it was like to be there and potential to allow children in Calcutta to feel
These statistics demonstrate that we are the experience helped them to develop mature as if they are in a classroom at JESS in Dubai.
failing millions of young people. Our current responses at a significantly deeper level than Earlier this year, Steve Bambury, the director of
model of teaching, with a specialist standing would ever be possible from watching a video. innovation and digital learning here, conducted
in front of a class of twenty to thirty pupils, Possibly the greatest strength of VR is that a ‘proof-of-concept’ test of VRT. We aimed to
is inefficient and unsustainable. We need to give students an immersive experience of being
find a way to bring education to all. There is Imagine the effect in a classroom, rather than passively watching
no easy solution to this problem, but I believe Virtual Reality could a video conferencing screen. This involved
that teaching using virtual reality (VR) has the putting a 360-degree camera in the second row
potential to make a difference. have in English language of a classroom and running a live stream to a
Most people are familiar with VR – it is classroom next door, where a student wearing
transforming the gaming industry and it is teaching: to be able a VR headset ‘participated virtually’ in the
now finding its way into classrooms around to experience lessons lesson.
the world. The technology is simple: it works The experience of the remote student
very much in the same way that enabled a taking place thousands was not perfect – there was a time delay and
previous generation of children to enjoy 3D of miles away some buffering – but he felt like he was in
images through a Viewmaster. The headset the classroom. This has the potential to be
projects a slightly different image to each eye, revolutionary. The technical processor speed
which gives a 3D effect. As the viewer moves the experience is personalised – the child is in and network bandwidth issues will be resolved
their head to the left and right, the image also control of the experience and can go at their sooner rather than later in accordance with
changes, giving a strong feeling of being in situ. own pace, choosing to look at what they want, the inexorable progress of Moore’s law. We are
By turning around, the viewer can see what is taking time to look for detail and moving on confident that it is only a matter of time before
behind them; by looking up they can see what’s only when ready. students will be able to attend classes at JESS
above them – it’s ‘real’! I believe that VR technology is more than remotely via VRT. Imagine the effect VR could
The greatest difference between VR and, say, just the latest in the long line of technologies have in English language teaching: the ability
watching a DVD is that VR is an active rather that can be harnessed by teachers to help them to experience lessons taking place thousands of
than a passive process. It feels like the real make their classrooms come alive. It has the miles away in a fully immersive way will be a big
experience. Because the viewer is controlling potential to be the ‘disruptor’ of education, step forward from ordinary online learning.

18 July 2017

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