How to get the most out of VR and AR in the classroom?

This is the question I am faced with most of the time when I speak with educators. The very people who are often excited about the potential of AR and VR but don't know where to start.

Here are my 5 keys takeaways after creating 400 (and counting) lessons on the EON Reality AVR Platform.

1. Travel back in time

One of the best applications I found for AR and VR, was to replicate environments that were no longer present. AR and VR present such a wealth of possibilities such as heightening spatial awareness of past civilisations simply through interactive self-guided exploration. Here's a research paper on our work with Nanyang Technological University Singapore that provides qualitative evidence of the value VR and AR has brought to an undergraduate history module.

And also, I managed to conjure a woolly mammoth into my living room! (No prehistoric animals or furniture were harmed in the process)

2. Getting up close (almost too close for comfort with the influenza virus)

Using AR and VR is just about the closest I can get to touching and exploring a molecule in real life. Funny that, molecules in the past were represented with foam balls and sticks.. Now that was prehistoric VR... It's time to make Chemistry cool again!

3. Making by Breaking (But without real destruction, self inflicted injuries AND need for cleanup)

As I was growing up, I was infinitely curious about Q and all his contraptions. How did it work? Why does it do that? How can I take everything apart only to put them back again?

I can only wonder what an 8 year old me would say, when he sees all the trucks, machines, engines and generators that can now be carefully laid out in the living room without being yelled at by Mom?

4. Excitement

Seeing an object up close has sparked an innate curiosity that last beyond mere minutes. In an age of screen obsessed students, we might as well turn this phenomenon that we so bemoan to something we can use to educate and engage. It's not them, it's us!

5. Addiction

They say addiction is a bad thing, but not if you're addicted to learning and creating! Making my lessons just made me want to explore the world around me. In the 400 lessons I personally created, I have journeyed back into history, dived into a jetfighter engine and was thisclose to an influenza virus. All these experiences were made possible with AR and VR, not least with the EON Reality AVR platform. With access to more than 870,000 3D virtual assets, I don't think I'll be running out of lesson ideas anytime soon. I call this the "Netflix" of education, with a vast catalogue of lessons that you can pick and choose to learn where and when you want to.

The way I see it, AR and VR is not here to replace teachers. They never will. But what they can do is to take the learning experience much deeper than it could ever have been and the ability to bring a whole new physical dimension to 2D textbooks. There is so much potential to VR and AR that has yet to be harnessed and these are just some of the really small ways we can make a huge difference to learning.

I'm running a series of webinars this month and invite you to sign up if you too would like get the most out of AR and VR in your classroom.

When: 9th December, 16:00-17:00 CEST

What: "Helping Students Learn Through Augmented and Virtual Reality" on 9th December

How: Sign up here