Virtual Reality
Wow. The world of virtual reality is creeping up upon us. I never really considered that it would be a new wave of the future in educational technology but after looking into it, I see how it could definately impact our world. People can create atavars and visit other virtual environments. I saw information on attending virtual conferences. I wonder if this will lead to us never having to leave our homes to attend conferences or such. I’ve heard of virtual schools and thought that it was a good idea but I feel that there needs to be face-to-face social interaction among students – this is a vital part of the growth and learning process.
I was watching TV a couple of days ago and I can’t remember if it was CSI or Law and Order, but a homicide investigation focused on a virtual reality game where the players created atavars and lived in a virtual world. It seemed to me that the players created atavars with characteristics and behaviors that were much more exagerated and usually extroverted than their characteristics in real life. The crime in the show was actually solved by seeing who was playing the game at the actual time of the real homicide. I watched this show before I looked into virtual reality so after I looked into what the current trends in virtual reality are, I kept flashing back to this show. I am interested to see how far this phenomenon goes!
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I am really starting to wonder when teachers are going to become obsolete because of technology; how many more years will be needed? Since there are virtual schools, textbooks and classes are online, and students can listen to lectures over podcasts, we will no longer be needed. I wonder how long it would take for the educational system to ‘catch up’ with these trends in technology. Because of the lack of resources, schools always seem way behind the learning curve in regards to technological advances. It will be interesting to see if we will be phased out during our careers. I hope not because the human component and interaction is so important for childhood development.
Cool story and topic. I hope you are enjoying our UNIT X. Scott just made this one up, but it is a good topic to review with VR. I really do think they will perfect this tech, to where it will be eventually used in reg. classrooms. Think of all of the possibilities VR offers. It is pretty great. Teachers will never be obsoliete, however, are strategies may change drastically if VR can be used more easily in education. If we can get all of the students to see the VR environment, teaching will be soooo cool. You could take your kids anywhere a creative software program can go. It would be fun to teach in that environment. I say in about 10 years VR will be greatly improved for more general consumer use. We will have to see.
Our school has lost two teachers in the last couple years to teach in satellite school settings. These are similar to VR classrooms, but the students use web-cams instead of Avatars. I can see the web-cam going away and VR classrooms creeping in over the next 10-15 years. The satellite school idea seems to be taking off for kids with disabilities, traveling families, etc. I like the satellite school concept, but not sure about the VR classroom. Even when kids can’t attend a regular school, I feel their visual self needs to be seen. We read so much from our students based on their reactions and facial expressions.
Well, while everybody is interested in new technologies or virtual world thing, it is kind of scary to think about future. My middle school showed a presentation at the beginning year basically telling teachers technologies are moving forward and scientists have invented [or will have this done soon]some kind of machine that can think better than humans. Then shift happens…
We, teachers, lose our jobs, or maybe we become technicians behind these machines or sub teachers for these machines when they have glitches.:)
I’ve been to the Second Life world of C.S.I. New York and it is pretty cool. The TV show “the Office” has a set up in SL as well but I have not seen that one.