UPDATED 11:45 EDT / JULY 31 2020

EMERGING TECH

UK schools embrace VR to prepare children for class during pandemic

A school district in the United Kingdom is embracing virtual reality technology to provide virtual tours of its classrooms and video introductions to bridge gaps in the face of the current COVID-19 pandemic.

In a report covered today by The Eastern Daily Press, the Norwich Opportunity Area in conjunction with Norfolk Early Years Service in Norwich has produced 3D virtual tours of 18 Norwich primary schools, with videos to help students who will be coming to school in the fall.

In order to reduce potential exposure during the worldwide pandemic, schools cannot allow outside visitors onto campus. As a result, incoming students do not have a chance to see the learning spaces, meet teachers or understand procedures.

Schools in the U.K. are hoping that these technological provisions, in addition to other new safety features, will help ease some of the new tensions created by the pandemic. This is also part of an evolving trend toward using distance learning technology to help reduce the spread of the pandemic and make schooling safer.

“These tours really are an invaluable resource that can help lower the anxieties and worries of our preschool children and their families,” said Ashley Cater, Early Years Service project manager. “So many children have missed out on that transition period, normally they’d have loads of days visiting their new teachers and exploring classrooms.”

The interactive VR tours are provided by Insight Media, a studio that makes 360-degree VR tours for exactly this sort of purpose.

Schools in the U.K. have also begun to feature different classroom and learning styles. For example, the U.K. Department of Education set up guidelines for class “bubbles.” These bubbles limit the numbers of students who can mix together by avoiding classmates outside their own cohort during school. Teachers will also have to maintain a “safe distance” from students.

The 18 Norwich schools that are receiving virtual tours now have guided virtual tours available online that can be used with almost any VR headset on the market. These tours can also be viewed using standard web browsers and include not just floating around a 3D view of the classroom, but also videos featuring teachers working at the facilities who will speak to what students and parents can expect.

Although distance learning through video and VR is being embraced by many school systems during the COVID-19 pandemic, not all families and children have equal access to the resources needed to make it work. As a result, classrooms are needed for many people to provide an educational experience. Home learning is still on the table, but the district is also sensitive to families who may need access to educational resources.

“Home learning has been a challenge for a lot of parents and many want to support their children but often don’t know how,” Cater said. “NOA is focused on working with a lot of disadvantaged families and there is a lot of issue with adult literacy so videos are really accessible. And because they are very visual, for families where English is an additional language, they are the best format to get the message across.”

The Norwich school districts participating in this program hope that this will help reduce the anxiety about this transition and provide a view into supplementary resources that will help schoolchildren and their families through the coming school sessions.

This use of technology is part of a trend showing how virtual reality and video can be used to help bridge the gap created by the safety needs given the pandemic. It also opens opportunities to show how VR could be used to provide socialization and preparation for children and parents as they’re thrust into a new learning environment that has changed dramatically in the past year.

Image: Insight Media

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