Virtual Reality (VR) is increasingly becoming an accessible tool that allows users to integrate themselves into computer-generated environments. While VR is predominately used in video game settings, it is also becoming a valuable type of educational technology. After reviewing the many different educational/school-focused VR products offered and taking into account the wide discrepancy in pricing, I would be inclined to explore the Google Cardboard VR as an option for purchase within my school setting.

Google Cardboard VR is a cost-effective virtual reality platform that can be used in the classroom to enhance students’ learning experiences. It allows students to immerse themselves in virtual environments and interact with educational content in a way that has the potential of being more engaging and memorable than traditional methods. Virtual reality can be used throughout the curriculum in a number of different ways. In my own Primary classroom, I could take the students on virtual field trips to view various structures around the world in Science, explore many communities in Canada and around the world in Social Studies, go to art exhibits and reflect on famous pieces of artwork in Visual Art, and even visit the cities discussed in the Bible in Religion. Google Cardboard VR has various apps that it can work with, as well as programs that students may already be familiar with, such as Google Maps.

The SAMR model could be used to evaluate the use of VR in the classroom and outline some entry points for teachers with varying experience. Learning tasks involving watching videos or going on virtual field trips would fall within the Substitution/Augmentation categories, as these events could otherwise be completed in a similar way on a computer. However, tasks that involve having students create things or interact with each other in a virtual environment would provide learning opportunities in new ways, thus falling more within the transformation categories of Modification/Redefinition. 

While the Google Cardboard VR is cost effective (ranging from $11-$55 per headset), there is one main downfall of this technology (Google Cardboard, “Get Your Cardboard”). The downfall is that you have to supply the device that runs the applications within the VR headset. This would mean that the students would have to provide their own iPhone/Android or the school would have to have access to a set of cell phones. One way to overcome this issue would be to have donations of old devices that could be used specifically for the Google Cardboard VR (I know a few people, including myself, that have an old iPhone in a drawer that is not being used anymore).