With the 2019 grant of Virtual Reality (VR) Headsets from the Foundation, Educational Technologists, Laura Grigg, Corey Holmer, and Jimmy Juliano are able to collaborate with teachers across all departments to support instruction. Recently, the headsets have allowed students to tour the digestive system in Ms. Pranke and Mr. Harmsen's Biology class. In Ms. Flangel's and Ms. Kyrias's U.S. History classes, students found themselves in the middle of a Revolutionary War reenactment of the battles of Lexington and Concord. And in Mrs. Finley's Humanities class, students engaged in a variety of VR experiences including swimming in the ocean, walking in outer space and watching other 360o videos to provide them with a shared experience, which enhanced their discussion on the philosophic idea of appearance vs. reality. The VR technology was also used as part of a team-building activity in Biology classes where most of the freshman used the headsets to participate in a bomb-defusal exercise. These are just a few examples of how this technology is being used to engage students in new ways, and transport them around the world without leaving the classroom!
