Los Gatos High School Social Studies Teacher David Homa is partnering with Stanford University’s Human Virtual Reality Design Lab on the use of virtual reality (VR) in schools.
On a team with a Stanford University professor and two graduate students, Homa is collaborating with global organizations to connect students with the world outside their classroom.
With the goal of learning how effective virtual reality is in helping students develop empathy and long-term learning and retention, students have begun to integrate VR into their everyday class lessons. Students will have the opportunity to view video content created for them and creators will have the opportunity to engage directly with students using Zoom.
“The primary goal of this project is to see what value the use of VR in the classroom may have in helping students develop greater empathy for other people and places from around the world,” Homa said.
Over the coming months, Homa’s class will begin working with teachers and students from the Doha Debate Ambassador Program and the Global Schools Advocates Program. The students and teachers in these organizations will be receiving an Insta 360 X3 camera to create their own content from where they live.
The videos will be downloaded to Youtube VR and the participants will do Zoom calls with Los Gatos High School students from around the world. During the Zoom calls, the students will be learning from the participants and watching their newly created VR videos.
Homa, along with the research team at Stanford University’s Human Virtual Reality Design Lab, will collect data throughout the year to better understand VR use in the classroom.
