The Case for Alamogordo Public Schools Use of Virtual Reality Immersive Technology Enhanced Mathematics Geometry Learning

With recent controversies and questions surrounding the contract  awarded by Alamogordo Public Schools around Virtual Reality Immersive Technologies to be implement into the APS System and championed by the military at Holloman AlamogordoTownNews.com and KRAZY KALH Radio is continuing on part two of our series around the use of Virtual Reality Immersive Technology and student outcomes.

When we published our first story in our series several locals in comments and story feedback questioned the wisdom of spending money on Virtual Reality Immersive Technologies when the APS system struggles with positive student outcomes in reading, mathematics and the basics of core curriculum? 

However multiple studies by major universities around the world, and technology leaders show that curriculum that includes Virtual Reality Immersive Technology such as those offered Arizona State University's Dreamscape Learn, Google, Unity Software, Eon Reality, HCL, Immersive Technologies, Aveva Group, CM Labs Simulations, VI-grade and Lockheed Martin. Studies have shown that these companies and programs are the market leaders in innovation, curriculum development and the most positive in student achievement outcomes and retention.

Part Two in our series of the use of Virtual Reality Immersive Technology discusses why it is an important tool to modern learning environments and how it helps outcomes in the basics reading and mathematics comprehension and concept learning.

This series of articles is provided with information submitted to AlamogordoTownNews.com and KRAZY KALH Radio via our research interns from Cal Berkely and via MIT, Standford and Arizona State University.

One study recently conducted with 139 high school students found that using narrative IVR as pre-training material before multimedia lessons significantly increased knowledge transfer IVR can provide an interactive and engaging learning experience, allowing the user to learn by doing. 

Virtual reality has been shown to enhance math instruction and learning in several ways. Engaging with virtual reality technology helps improve spatial cognition, making it useful for spatial instructions and for learning about overlapping and nonoverlapping objects, a concept connected to the Common Core Standards. 

A Case Study:

Teachers at Gavin H. Cochran Elementary School in Kentucky, use VR to help students meaningfully investigate volume and other math concepts. 

 Gavin H. Cochran Elementary School in Louisville, Kentucky support student learning in various math topics utilizing IVR. For many students who struggle with spatial imagination, for instance, immersion in virtual reality provides opportunities to improve their spatial abilities. The school has historically ranked in the bottom 50% of schools but is improving outcomes in reading and math with the use of IVR. Gavin H. Cochran Elementary School is a low-income, urban school. More than half of Cochran's student body identify as African American, and 90 percent of students receive free or reduced-price lunch. As a Signature Partnership school with the University of Louisville, the school receives a yearly grant through the Oxley Foundation to use for whatever the school and university think will best support the professional development of the educators involved. Cochran decided to use the funds to integrate technology into its curriculum, particularly using virtual reality focused on mathematics instruction. 

Math was identified as a priority area because students' overall scores in mathematics were significantly lower than those in reading. In 2014, to address this issue, Cochran piloted the use of virtual reality with some students in math classes. Since 2016, the school's 5th graders have used virtual reality in math classes; they now spend 40 minutes a week using virtual reality headsets known as head-mounted displays (HMD). 

Some studies have demonstrated that using virtual reality improves students' ability to understand abstract concepts by making those concepts more concrete (Passig, Eden, & Heled, 2007). Volume is one such concept. When these 5th graders don the HMD as part of the lesson, they see a computer-generated scene that includes grass, trees, 3D shapes of different colors and sizes sitting on the ground, and a table that appears to be floating and holds the same 3D shapes that are on the ground. Students can pick up, throw, stack, or rotate any of the objects in the scene. The environment simulates real-world gravity; for instance, if a student drops a block, it will fall to the ground. Other features of the environment make things happen that wouldn't if a kid were stacking real blocks. When a learner picks up a block, for example, that block changes to a particular color to signify that it's being held by a student. When two blocks are put together, they change to the same color and the "lines" where they join disappear, giving a more concrete example of how multiple blocks combine to create one volume.

Students work in pairs. First one student, wearing the headset, links blocks to make different block combinations and calculates the total volume that would result from each combination. As that student combines blocks, he or she says something aloud like "one small block, adding one cubic meter to the overall volume, bringing the total volume to four cubic meters." Their partner writes down and tracks the totals along with the active student, then the partners switch roles. Students often struggle with the concept of volume because it requires them to imagine a 3D object. When this 3D object is presented in a two-dimensional way, such as on a worksheet or paper test, the student might not mentally supply the missing information. The virtual reality experience creates the 3D object exactly how it is organically. The student can maneuver a block and, as in this activity, see all the different sides, combine blocks, and effectively feel the volume being calculated. Cochran teachers found that working within the virtual reality headsets supported students' understanding of filling shapes with n cubic units to calculate each shape's volume.

The concept of volume is directly related to how much space an object occupies, so a deep understanding of spatial relationships is required. Manipulating blocks in the virtual environment supported students' understanding partly because blocks could be manipulated in ways the "real" ones could not. For example, students could more easily combine a small box with a big box to create a nonstandard shape, and then find the volume of each section and combine the two to tabulate the total volume. This is a higher-order skill because it adds an extra step to the rote method for calculating total volume; students can't just use the formula length x width x height for the object as a whole. In addition, virtual reality fosters a higher level of immersion than standard practice, which may facilitate deeper learning as kids experience positive emotions like curiosity and fun. Virtual blocks also require minimal fine motor skills. Students simply use the hand controller to "pick up" the virtual blocks and touch them to combine them. This was beneficial for special education students with limited fine motor skills.

In speaking with students about learning math via IVR comments included, "It was way more fun than the blocks we normally use … the box wasn't really there, but I felt like I was holding it. So, I could move it around and fill it with stuff that helped me find the volume." Another student said, "In class, the teacher tells us to imagine what would happen if we filled up a box. But, using this [technology], I can really see it!" 

Students were so engaged in the activity that they did not want to stop. One noted, "I forgot I was doing schoolwork."

When students feel engaged and excited by math activities, they learn more, comprehend more and excel. Immersive Virtual learning tasks give teachers an innovative way to present information to their students. Particularly in math, the technology allows educators to teach concepts in ways that are accessible and exciting, even to students who previously struggled. And increasing motivation is key: Students' motivation in math correlates strongly with math achievement, starting in the elementary grades (Middleton & Spanias, 1999)

Those critical of curriculum and the use of modern technologies for instruction for the APS system need to understand when it comes to the concepts of curriculum development and the tools to teach times have changed. 

Childrens Minds Today Are Developing Different Than Their Parents and Thus Learn Differently:

The children of today are exposed to technologies at a young age, most by age two, have spent time before a smart phone or a tablet handed to them by their parents. Thus, many of the traditional teaching methods we grew up with no longer work. Children absorb information differently than we did due to this new environmental stimulus. Old methods don't work with many children, and they don't comprehend in the same manner as we did. Their brain development is different.

Digital technology’s integration into the daily lives of children and its influence on their cognitive, emotional, and social development continues to increase day by day. Technology offers many opportunities for children to play, explore, and learn (Linebarger & Piotrowski, 2009). Since children’s brains are extremely flexible in this period, these learning opportunities constitute a critical developmental point in children and through the natural exploration and discovery of their own world, new connections between neurons are formed and existing connections are strengthened (Blanchard & Moore, 2010).

Technology and Youth:

In the United States, more than 1,000 parents reported on a nationwide telephone interview that their children under the age of 6 used digital technology an average of 1.58 hours a day, played outside an average of 2.01 hours, and spent 39 minutes reading. In the study, it was found that 36% of the children lived in a house where the television was constantly on, 45% of the parents' used television as a means to keep their children occupied when they had important jobs to complete, and 27% of the children between 4 and 6 used a computer every day.

According to Pew Research more than one-third of parents with a child under 12 say their child began interacting with the smart phone before the age of 5.

Thus, the question for APS parents is not why is IVR technologies being considered? The appropriate question is why haven't we embraced this sooner? And how quickly can we start?

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