Educational VR: The Irony of it All
The stout and trendy presence of virtual reality these days
leaves me with a hefty sense of irony. (Please look at previous posts for the introduction to this series.) I am struck by the incongruity of
the past and the future colliding in an uncomfortable way. I am describing
something we’ve seen before—when we were pushing for 3D visualization tools in
the classroom from 2010 through 2015. Virtual reality is all the rage
today, but in the past, things didn’t look quite so bright. Though the
technologies are really quite similar, something has changed. Here's my next effort at ironic sentiment:
Complaint: I
just can’t find enough 3D content.
Educator response to
3D (5 years ago): “There is not enough academic content to justify our purchase
of this technology.” “Isn’t student-created content too difficult and time
consuming to make?” “I just don’t see the curricular traction, sorry.”
Educator response to
VR (today ), though VR also lacks comprehensive content and is difficult
for students to construct: “I don’t care—this is really innovative, i.e. sexy!”
“Where can I find more free content?”
It's ironic...
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