Members of the Pulaski County Public School leadership traveled to Bristol last week to get a first-hand look at a new tool available to students and teachers.
Virtual reality systems, loaded with the proper software, can and are being used as another tool for teachers to allow students to explore different experiences. These programs allow students the opportunity to take on a variety of challenging tasks without the need for sometimes expensive or hard to find resources to work with. It also allows the students the opportunity to make mistakes without costing teachers those resources.
The programs available cover a wide range of topics. Students can rebuild a car engine, dissect a frog, explore the ocean floor, weld, cut and style hair, build a house and wire it for electricity, or any other task that students currently learn in the classroom.
One major benefit of using virtual reality is that it requires less space for labs. Students from a wide variety of disciplines can use the same VR equipment for any number of classroom training sessions.
Another benefit is the cost savings on supplies and materials. Students can practice a task in VR until they feel proficient in it, then begin working on and with real life materials.
While the use of virtual reality training can be a huge benefit for students and teachers, it will not be considered a replacement for normal classroom instruction. Instead, it will simply be another tool in the toolbox for educators.
Dr. Kevin Siers, Mr. Bill Benson, and Mr. Timothy Hurst were among the many school system leaders who attended the recent demonstration at Virginia High School in Bristol.
Click HERE to see the video from NBC affiliate WCYB5 in Bristol.