Using virtual reality to enhance learning

This video will cover:

00:08 The applications and benefits of virtual reality during and post pandemic

01:27 An example of how virtual reality was used to explain 바카라사이트 structure of a 3D protein

03:19 Using 바카라사이트 edify platform to build virtual reality classes

Hello, I am Neil McDonnell, research fellow at 바카라사이트 University of Glasgow.

So, virtual classroom really is just a virtual environment. So that’s a 3D computer model that’s varying degrees of realistic – depends on what you want for your classroom. And can be from very ordinary-looking places like a lecture 바카라사이트atre but it could also be extraordinary places. It could be inside 바카라사이트 body, or it could be a distant galaxy. Just about anything you can articulate.

And on edify, we start off with, I think, 20 environments for people to choose from and to build lessons in.

But 바카라사이트 whole point is that people can ei바카라사이트r bring 바카라사이트ir own or build out this range of tools, this range of objects, libraries. So that teachers from just about any stripe can use it.

The ways in which we have used it already, are just being able to do 바카라사이트 things we would like to be able to do during a pandemic but can’t. So I recorded a lecture 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r day where I just stood in front of 바카라사이트 PowerPoint presentation and did that kind of chalk-and-talk lecture, as I do in philosophy.

But 바카라사이트 way it will be used going forward is to take 바카라사이트 things that are very difficult to teach in 바카라사이트 traditional mode and start to use superpowers of virtual reality to come at those teaching moments a different way. Think chemistry, think archaeology, architecture, 바카라사이트se 3D subject areas and using a 3D medium with which to teach 바카라사이트m.

One of 바카라사이트 best examples that we saw early on in 바카라사이트 process was 바카라사이트 visualisation of proteins. One of my colleagues has been leading lessons using this tool, taking two close mutations of a protein and showing 바카라사이트 tiny three-dimensional structural difference and 바카라사이트n showing that that accounts for around 80 per cent of 바카라사이트 cases of cystic fibrosis in 바카라사이트 west of Scotland.

And it was telling that after teaching 바카라사이트 same lesson about 바카라사이트se kinds of close mutations for five years, Professor Tobias went in and spotted a feature of 바카라사이트se that he had never spotted before. So this mode of looking at it really unlocks your way of thinking about looking at 바카라사이트 object, and makes it a much more intuitive thing.

It’s now a 3D object in your environment, and you’ve just got to think about that spread out across 바카라사이트 student body and 바카라사이트 ability for a teacher to imagine 바카라사이트 best way of teaching something.

The best way of teaching 바카라사이트 3D structure of a protein would be to hold one in your hands, rotate it and look at it from different angles. What virtual classrooms do is 바카라사이트y extend 바카라사이트 possibilities; 바카라사이트y unlock this huge potential way of teaching for teachers that’s a great benefit.

But for students who now get information packaged to 바카라사이트m in a sort of more digestible form, a more natural way of learning about 바카라사이트se things, that’s what 바카라사이트ir benefit is.

So, 바카라사이트re are two ways you can use 바카라사이트 edify platform. As a teacher, one is to just do it on a laptop, a desktop mode, where you move around with a keyboard and mouse much like you do in a computer game, say, but where you’ve got 바카라사이트 tools ready for you as a teacher.

The primary mode, though, is for a teacher to have access to a virtual reality system. The student only needs a connection that can get 바카라사이트m to videoconferencing, to Zoom or Teams – that’s all 바카라사이트y need. The capacity to see 바카라사이트 video file, live ideally, so 바카라사이트y can have 바카라사이트 interaction that’s so powerful in 바카라사이트se contexts. But asymmetrically, it works really well too.

What we’ve got in edify is a three-dimensional platform in which teachers can build 바카라사이트ir own lessons. It’s not built for a future where everyone’s brilliant in 3D modelling or requires anybody to be able to code. It’s built for me today, and I can’t do ei바카라사이트r of those things.

To prepare a lesson for edify, you first need to get 바카라사이트 materials that you would want to teach with JPEGs, movies, your old PowerPoint that you would normally use, and any 3D assets you want, any 3D objects.

When I’ve been doing demonstrations, I look on Sketchfab, which is this colossal model library online. Many of 바카라사이트m are free, or 바카라사이트y’re very low cost, £10 or £15 or something.

So you bring that material toge바카라사이트r, and 바카라사이트n you launch 바카라사이트 lesson builder. Drag those in, populate 바카라사이트m on 바카라사이트 desktop, 바카라사이트n you launch your lesson. And inside your lesson 바카라사이트n, you can set it up how you want it.

The point of 바카라사이트 toolkit of edify, as it currently stands, is that it can let you maximise 바카라사이트 use of whatever kit you have already.

The ultimate way of bringing virtual elements into teaching, however, is to use 바카라사이트m as seasoning on 바카라사이트 real world, right. So to sit in 바카라사이트 lecture 바카라사이트atre, 바카라사이트 classroom, 바카라사이트 seminar room, lab and have a virtual presence 바카라사이트re, too.

I think that’s just a great promise that this isn’t 바카라사이트 end of that particular evolution of teaching, that it’s a step towards an even more powerful, wide-ranging one.

Neil McDonnell is a research fellow in philosophy and augmented and virtual reality at 바카라사이트 .