EdTech Insider

I’ve been reflecting lately about the success I’ve had implementing Virtual Reality in the classroom, so I though I’d make a few posts about those memories here.

I had a student who really stood out to me recently. He came from a disadvantaged home and didn’t get a lot of attention after school, so he would often stay at school and use the VR app, Medium on the Oculus Rift. This software is great for sculpting in VR and he really took to it, spending hours practicing and inventing entire worlds to explore. Here is one of his creations. It was a bit laborious to 3d print it, but it was completely worth it (we had to export it from Medium and import into Blender). Unfortunately, Meta gave up on this project and sold if off to Adobe. It works on the Rift, but not on the Quest… I’ve switched over to “Gravity Sketch” to see if I can replicate this success on the Quest 2.

One of the coolest things about this student was that he was able to take one of his creations and export it to Blender, where we were able to 3D print it. It was amazing to see something he had created in virtual reality (at way larger than life size) become a physical object he can hold and manipulate.

The VR app provided a safe and creative outlet for him. He was able to express himself and let out all of his creative energy in a way that was really fulfilling. It was outstanding to see the impact that technology can have on a student’s life.