VR Learning Spaces - Centres Model - Humanities and Sciences
Space can be thought of in two ways: space for actual use and space for storage. The main headset for which physical use space is an issue is the HTC Vive. Users must have either a 10.6 x 10.6 or a 9 x 12 (15ft diagonal) area to walk around in order to make full use of the Vive’s motion tracking technology. All of the other consumer headsets are designed for the user to be stationary in one spot while moving their body. Teachers who use the Vive will cordon off areas in their classroom or find another spare room/area that could be utilized so that students can move around. If you are interested in how these teachers set up the Vive in their classrooms, please watch the video below.
Centres Model - Humanities and Sciences
The type of experience an educator is trying to create with VR is the most important element in how VR ends up getting used in the classroom.
In humanities based classrooms, VR can be a designated center that students rotate through with a small group (a group of 3 works best) when using an advanced headset. That way students are not isolated, have a group of other people that are experiencing the same content and can debrief together. Alternatively, if it is important to the teacher to perhaps highlight a specific geographical region of the world and to have students quickly visit that area together and then get back to another element of the lesson, smaller, more easily accessed devices might be a better option.