St. Walter School (Student Age 3-14)
St. Walter School, Illinois has been engaging students and enhancing learning schoolwide using the No.1 VR & AR solution for schools, ClassVR, alongside other educational technologies.
We spoke to Lisa Johnson, Technology Director at St. Walter School, about how they’ve been creating unforgettable learning experiences with ClassVR, and their future plans for immersive learning.
Making The Classroom Exciting for Students
St. Walter School has been using ClassVR to capture their students’ attention and inspire their imagination. By providing access to this exciting technology, they offer incredible new opportunities and impossible learning experiences to ensure the classroom is always an exciting place to learn.
“These kids really want this technology. They crave it. Their engagement level is so high when you use technology like ClassVR. Now that can sometimes be frightening for those of us who are adults and not used to it. But we’ve got to get out of our comfort level and start bringing it to them.”
“Parents always ask us ‘What can I buy my kid? What can I get them?’. It’s not the stuff they can buy that’s important, it’s the experiences. Take them to the park, take them out to explore. We're too busy these days and we don't do these experiences as much as we should. But now we can do them in virtual reality, with ClassVR!“
Building Virtual Worlds with ClassVR & CoSpaces
St. Walter School has been allowing students to get creative and imaginative by building virtual worlds in CoSpaces, such as a setting from a book, which can then be experienced and examined in ClassVR! The whole class have been able to explore the top creations in virtual reality, allowing for collaborative learning and peer feedback.
“Our third graders went into CoSpaces and they created the setting of the book The One and Only Ivan. They were so creative. The students needed a lake, so they used other objects and transformed them in CoSpaces. We had someone create a lake by taking a dog bowl, making it blue on the outside and twisting it!
“Then I went back a few days later when they were done and said that we’ll explore the three to five best in ClassVR. It’s like hanging up the best papers in the hall. The lesson became about more than the setting of the book. It was also about how each student used their imagination and created their content in CoSpaces.”
Supporting 3D Design & Printing
Alongside ClassVR, St. Walter School has been integrating lots of exciting technology into their teaching, including experimenting with Tinkercad and 3D printers. Using these three tools together provides the perfect 3D design kit!
“One of the things we're hoping to do is use ClassVR with Tinkercad. The 8th graders have just started their 3D design unit, and they're creating toys in Tinkercad for their first and second grade buddies. We'll print these toys on the 3D printer, but first we’ll import them into ClassVR to see if there’s going to be any printing errors.”
Collaboratively Creating and Exploring Content
The long-term goal for St. Walter School? To keep creating their own content! Looking forward, students will continue being creative using all the exciting technologies on offer at St. Walter School, where their creations will be made explorable for the class in VR.
“The goal is for the kids to keep creating their own content. Whether they're teaching each other or demonstrating what they understand and what they've learned. The aim is to have them create the content for our other kids to experience. For example, our 8th graders could be creating content for our first graders to use and learn from with ClassVR. Or, instead of giving students a grade at the end of a topic, we'll use their creations instead. If they can accurately create a setting from a book they're reading, it shows they’ve understood the characters, setting and plot, all while getting creative!”
How Would You Sum Up ClassVR?
When asked for some final thoughts on ClassVR, Lisa answered:
“ClassVR is a great way to bring new experiences and the world to our students in ways that otherwise wouldn’t be possible. It also gives our students the chance to get creative while showing what they know and what they’ve learned!”
