Today was the realization of something I have been mulling over and envisioning for a long time. Something that isn't really new or even new to education but new to me and new to my schools. But watching a group of students get excited about cells through the use of virtual reality gave me an immense feeling of excitement and satisfaction. I think I even had goosebumps.
Keep in mind, these aren't just any kids- they are 7th graders. The hardest of kids to get buy in from ever. They are too cool for everything and won't play along with pretend scenarios or any of that anymore. This though...this virtual reality, 360 degree view inside a cell, they got. This had them hooked and involved in a way that a worksheet or even a video can't do. I was hearing oooo's and aaahhhh's, they were ducking their heads and reaching out to touch the parts of the cell. I heard students saying they didn't know where to look because there was so much going on. Not quite the static image of a cell students are used to seeing. Then, the guided tour kicked in, turning the mitochondria into little factories and zooming them into the nucleus, floating around the DNA. An experience that brought to life all they had been learning about the parts of a cell. And it blew their mind.
Since it was their first day, we let them explore a few more scenes including underwater with great white sharks, flying through the universe and chasing a tornado as it formed. Each new experience brought more excitement for both the students and us teachers as we saw more and more applications for various areas of science.
One students asked, "Can we just do this all day instead of learning?" She almost fell over when the science teacher responded with, "What if you are learning and you don't even know it?" That's the beauty of this kind of experience. Without even realizing it, students are learning about something or someone or somewhere without even realizing it. Their brains are making new connections with the information they already know and students just think they are "playing around" with a cool gadget. Sneaky teachers. 