Colegio Escolapios Soria (Student Age 1-12)

Colegio Escolapios Soria, Spain is creating engaging, immersive and unforgettable lessons with ClassVR.

We spoke with Rubén Blanco Briongos, English Teacher and Primary Education Tutor at Colegio Escolapios Soria about how they’ve been using virtual and augmented reality, its impacts on learning, and their plans for the future.

Engagement from Day One!

At the beginning of their ClassVR journey, Rubén was surprised at exactly how engaged his students were! The exciting, immersive virtual reality experiences grabbed their attention and sparked their imaginations from day one.

"The kids were really engaged from the very first day. They started moving their heads around, experimenting and saying ‘oh it moves around when I move my head!’. They were so excited! The classroom engagement from the VR glasses actually surprised me. The kids engaged so much with the content."

Using VR to “Hook” and Motivate Students

Colegio Escolapios Soria has been using ClassVR as a ‘hook’ to introduce new topics. By exploring in virtual reality at the start of a topic, teachers can initially engage students with the content while providing a memorable learning experience that students can link back to throughout the teaching.

"Usually, we use ClassVR as an introduction and motivation activity. We use it for around 10-15 minutes per student. So, for example, we might use ClassVR to introduce a topic on animals. We’ll show the kids different animals in VR, and they’ll need to describe the animal, guess what species they are, what family they belong to and so on."

Scintillating Science Lessons

The teachers at Colegio Escolapios Soria have been creating some incredible science lessons with virtual reality. From 3D models to 360-images and videos, they’ve been using the thousands of resources included in ClassVR to enhance science lessons.

"At the moment we mostly use ClassVR in our science and natural science lessons. We’ve used it with animals, landscapes, cycles of life – so much! You can bring the world into the classroom. For example, using a computer I could show you a picture of a volcano on a flat screen. Or with VR, I can show you a 3D model of a volcano that you can hold in your hands, or a 360 image that completely immerses you. It’s just so engaging. ClassVR makes teaching much easier."

Truly Unforgettable Learning Experiences

Using virtual reality in lessons, Colegio Escolapios Soria has seen an improvement in students’ knowledge retention and recall! The immersive nature of VR, alongside the fact that it's a new, exciting experience, means students are more likely to remember the content than traditional teaching methods.

"The kids remember the content in more detail with VR. Days later, even weeks later, if I talk about what they saw when using the VR glasses, they’ll remember! They remember it better than pictures or videos, because they see that content every day. VR is something different, something exciting. It’s more immersive and they're not used to seeing it, so they really remember it."

What’s Next?

Looking forward, Rubén and the other teachers at Colegio Escolapios Soria are keen to use ClassVR within gamification – improving student engagement and motivation even further. What’s more, they’ve also got plans to integrate virtual reality into other subjects, like Spanish!

"We’re aiming to use ClassVR even more! I’m planning to use ClassVR in gamification. I did a Masters in it and I see lots of potential. Even with my kindergarten kids, I could use VR with gamification as an introduction to the learning activities. I’d also love to use ClassVR with more subjects, like Spanish. I can imagine the kids exploring in VR, describing their experiences and then writing about them."

How Would You Sum Up ClassVR?

When asked the big question above, Rubén answered:

"ClassVR brings the world to the classroom in a very real way. ClassVR lets kids explore and enjoy tons of content that's impossible to access by other means. Who can travel through a vein in real life? Or walk among wild animals in a safe way? Or visit every place in the world without spending money? ClassVR makes it all possible!"