“Resistance is Futile…“

I recently tested the HTC Vive virtual reality system in my World History and Human Geography classrooms, and the results were mixed. But before I tell you what I found, know that this is a game changer-at least until we have holograms (yes, by the time I retire, I fully expect to have a Holodeck in my school).

Now I know what you MAY be thinking… “I just got used to iPads, Chromebooks, and cell phone management in my classroom, and you want to make this a…”thing?”

The answer is yes. And it’s coming straight for your face if you don’t learn to use your taser. When the cell phone made it into the pockets of every 13 year old child, there was no going back. You’ve either adapted or are miserable. We are all there. I encourage us to keep adapting.

“Set Phasers To Stun“

So why do I need VR? I teach something called, “the spatial perspective.” No really, it’s in my course standards. And if I can have a kid stand in the middle of a Delhi slum and compare it to a more developed country’s urban ghetto, I’m gonna’ do it.

Can students use their iPads and phones’ Google StreetView apps to tilt their way around Machu Picchu? Yes. But if you’ve ever taken a selfie in the Austrian Tyrol, when you get home, you realize how much depth and perspective is lost in not capturing the surroundings.

Sound hokie?…Maybe it is. But frankly, I love traveling, I love geography, and I want my students to fall in love with the world. So I’m taking the leap.

Our media department received a grant so we decided to invest in the ability to give social science students the gift of a spatial perspective.

Our art department already has a system that they use to paint in 3D like Pablo Picasso.

But if you are a social studies teacher, namely a geography teacher, the Google Earth apps are made for you.

First of all, this is NOT a cheap thing to do. Aside from the headset, the device also has two hand controllers, headphones, and two sensors that can track your movement.

Oh, and don’t forget the PC (yes, a PC) that has amazing RAM capabilities-the fullest capacity that your motherboard can support. An individual in our tech department built a PC solely for this HTC ViVe and we planned to have it on a moveable cart that teachers can check-out.

“I’m A Doctor, Not A Computer Technician“

Once you have all of this gear in one place, you need to set it up. That PC builder of ours was the one who set the system up for me the morning that I wanted to use it. He began at 7:30 and ended at 8:10, but he knew what he was doing and was able to plug in all of the cords to the right place. I wanted to project what the individual student was seeing in their goggles on our main projector, so unfortunately, we needed a wire long enough that attached to the ceiling-mounted Epson projector to the PC that was stationed to the front of the class. After finding one, we were able to rig up the wire across the ceiling with a hook so it was out of the way when the student used the system.

The sensors are also a bit difficult to set up and you can expect some trial and error. First of all, we had to push 32 classroom desks to the rear of the classroom so that there was enough clear space for student movement and sensors. The sensors needed to be on opposite sides of that clear space and slightly staggered. We found that it is better if the sensors are higher up and slightly pointed downward/across the classroom so we needed to screw them in to telescope tripods.  Once we had this set up, there is no taking it down until the day is over-so a dedicated classroom is needed, unless you want to do this 5 times a day in separate classrooms. Once the Steam program is loaded on your PC, we could test that the remotes and headset were charged and being “read” by the sensors.

There are little green icons not he PC screen that will tell you if your headset, remotes, or sensors are out of wack.

Once everything turned green I took masking tape and made boxes on the floor around the tripod sensors as well as the general “action zone” that was in the center of the room. If students walked out of the action zone, these green lights will turn gray. The masking tape around the sensors are necessary to show students where not to bump their book bags and also to remember where to put the sensors when setting the system up again.

“To Boldly Go Where No One Has Gone Before…“

In my Human Geography class, we were in the Urbanization unit and the lesson was to make visual comparisons of the world’s largest cities in both more developed and less developed countries. In my World History classes we were studying the Mexican mural movement and the objective was to tour predominantly Hispanic, urban neighborhoods to view contemporary murals.

At first, the kids are excited to get going because, it is after all, virtual reality and new. But what I found was that this lasts for about 10 minutes when they realize that not everyone will get a turn. With the resources we had, it was best to have a one-person unit projected for the class, but the effect is lost. What happens is that you realize that it’s no different than using Google Street View on their iPads, which I had everyone eventually do as they became bored. 1st hour I didn’t let the kids use their iPads and told them to turn off their phone’s Wifi because we didn’t want a choppy experience-I discovered later that the latency was not compromised when I had students turn it all back on. Our wifi system is very good in the school, but we have a private network for our student devices and then an open guest network that is throttled down.

“I’m Givin’ Her All She’s Got, Captain!“

For the week leading up to the lesson, I practiced a few times with the device because I wanted to be able to provide basic cues in terms of controller movement. There are two learning curves, the first is the VR headset and wands in themselves. Just navigating the Steam foyer to search for an app and knowing how to type on the search keyboard right take you a bit. The second learning curve comes with app specific movements-and Google Earth VR is no joke. You will find yourself head tilting, arm waving, wrist bending, and body turning. Physical walking is not needed.

There are three “levels” of movement within Google Earth VR. The first is a birds-eye view of the Earth where you can zoom in and out. The second “level” is a tilted view where you can fly through 3d buildings and canyons. The third “level” allows for users to drop in to a mapped street or view photo spheres (Google Street View).

via GIPHY

The bird’s eye view is good for looking at the globe in a smaller scale where you can click and drag your way across the earth to find a continent that you want to work with.

via GIPHY

The tilted view gives you a better perspective of building height and depth of physical features. Finally, you can enter Street View and walk the streets (assuming that it’s been mapped by a Google Car or photo spheres have been uploaded by individuals).

If you get close enough in the tilted mode, and in a street-mapped area, a sphere will pop up on your remotes on the screen. You can then select it and it will drop you down into the photo sphere where you can click forward into another sphere (if mapped), or just look around.

“Highly Illogical…“

Fully expect that the first time you experiment with VR in the classroom, you might burn the class period. For your first lesson give students a simple task for the hour and to get them used to the  app you will be using, especially if movement and hand-motions tasks are required. Tell them to expect a learning curve and not to just give up early (unless they feel like vomiting, in which case, partner them with someone and make them fill out the worksheet).

With your first attempts at VR, expect to say things like:

“This is how you put on the headset…”

“This is how you adjust the headset…”

“This is how you find the main menu…”

“This is how you search and type…”

“This is how you can use hand and body motions to achieve a desired effect…”

Don’t expect a five-paragraph essay after their first attempt, is all that I’m saying.

“Make it so…“

Now your class has their feet wet and are ready for something more advanced. In terms of lesson plan logistics, you always want to make sure that your goal for the activity is clearly defined before anyone grabs a headset. Teaching 101 right?

“Today we will be…”

“On your worksheet, you are to…”

“Pause between each new location and…”

“By the end of the hour, you must have…”

A good old-fashioned follow-along worksheet is best if there is only one student in the class directing the Google Earth VR show. This will keep the students engaged and looking for visual clues themselves. If the rest of the class has no purpose, you will find that they will begin tuning out after 10-15 minutes. And despite how cool VR is, and how much everyone really wants to try it, I was surprised to have only a handful of volunteers. Depending on how much your students want to preserve their reputation, only your most confident students will feel comfortable ducking, dodging, and weaving their hands through the air while everyone stares at their backside. It’s for this reason that one unit per class of 32 is not an ideal situation, especially with teenagers who are hyper-aware of their self-image. But if you can get 4-5 students within a class period, you are set. And remember that when every new student jumps in to try, they need a bit of learning curve time. It can be frustrating if you’re not comfortable with the program and you try to help them with verbal cues that they don’t understand. It was a real test in verbal instruction, but good in the sense that it made me aware of how students perceive my verbal commands.

For viewing the scope, breadth, and size of a city, the 3d flyover view in Google Earth VR is best. You can see the height of skyscrapers, the sprawl of the city, and physical features that weave into the human landscape from an aerial perspective. The effects are lost when using Google Street View, but you can still direct students to an address and have them all look at the same street corners at their own pace. For my World History class where we spent the majority of time wandering the muraled streets of Pilsen, Chicago, Google Street View is optimal.

Since my classroom trial, my tech department told me that they would invest in a half-class set of Lenovo Mirages with DayDream.

They are wireless, the programs are built in, and there is a single hand-held remote for students to navigate. I tried it and like it. There is only one HUGE downside. Because it is not powered by a mega processing PC, it does not have the capability to run Google Earth VR.

Cue in the sad violin…

At least it supports Google StreetView as well as Youtube VR, and the other limited news agencies that support VR stories (i.e. the New York Times.) The technology isn’t there quite yet, but it will be soon enough.

If you are lucky enough to have a half-class set of wireless devices, then you should have less of a problem with participation, but that may be replaced with not enough movement space for the 16+ student pairs.

I was updated towards the end of the school year that our school is going to invest in an entire class set of the Lenovo Mirage units and have them available on a check-out cart. While this is the ideal 1:1 situation, I still don’t have access to Google Earth VR or enough class space for them to walk around. To be honest, if every student has a headset and are moving through Google Streetview/Youtube 360/NYT VR stories, then there isn’t a need to get out of their seats. If you have a hand-clickers, Google Earth Streetview does not require hand motions and head tilting. But you will find that they will want to walk and “stand” in their new locations, and I want them to!

Like any other piece of new technology in the classroom, you might have the kid who wants to play VR Tetris. And while you can’t yet monitor their personal HTC or Lenovo screens as effectively as Apple Classroom for iPads, it will become suspicious if the student is flailing his arms and kicking while supposedly watching a Youtube360 on factory farming.

If these systems are too pricey, Google Cardboards are more cost effective, and so are the knock-off versions that I’ve seen at Michaels Craft Supply.  The major difference between using Google Cardboard and something like the Lenovo Mirage is that:

A) students need their own device (phone or iPod touch),

B) They need to be able to download the required apps you want them to use,

C) There is no hand-held remote, so any time they need to move forward, they must push a button in the upper right of the headset to advance and select (Google Street View)-making their hands tired from holding the goggles in front of their face,

D) If they want to go to a new city, you may have to take the headset off, type in their new destination, then reset headset,

E) teenager foreheads are greasy, and that Google Cardboard is not going to last you very long. There are other inexpensive plastic versions I’ve tested that are just as good and even with a battery remote. For a starter VR experience, you may want to start off there. Oh, and buy alcohol swabs so they can clean their mask when done.

“Live Long and Prosper“

In conclusion, I’m sure that all teachers who experienced some sort of tech integration within the last 6-8 years (forced or voluntary) know that there is a learning curve for both teacher and students, but it is the price we pay for staying ahead of the curve. Understanding the limitations of any new piece of technology is critical in an effort to find its maximum classroom potential. This of course, comes from trial and error, an open-mind, and a willingness to fail. At the end of the day, your students will appreciate the effort (even if they don’t say it).

All this being said, I’ve made this a part of my evaluation goals, so I will be writing more about the topic of VR in the social studies classroom.

So if you like, follow along my master experiment and as I share all of the hiccups and successes.

–Human Imprint