Feb. 19, 2016
Google Expedition:
Taking Students Where the School Bus Can't
by THS Media Gregory Miranda
Google is taking students places they never thought possible with virtual reality. Google calls the product “Google Cardboard” and the software program “Google Expedition.” Truman was one of the first schools in the country to test out Google’s first attempt at virtual reality. Virtual reality is an immersive multimedia technology that replicates an environment with a 360 degree stimulus through some version of headgear.
Just as the name implies the headgear is a Google folded cardboard box with a slit in the front of the box as a placeholder for your phone to project your 360 panorama. There it is up to the user to experience it, turn round, upside down and back around again, this how you mainly interact with virtual reality.
In this case, Truman students got to experience many different locations such as the Mayan and Aztec pyramids in South America to some of the seven wonders of the world such as The Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, the Taj Majal in India and even the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Students also spent the day as a journalist where they experience day to day interactions with people and in the workplace.
“Being able to look at those landmarks without leaving your home is crazy to believe,” freshman Duncan Mckee said. “It's like I can live through the everyday life of other people in other cultures.
What this could mean for Google is big, but what it could mean for the classroom is bigger.
“I think what it provides for students and allows them to do is to be more curious about the world,” said Google representative Alegra Freed. “We’re not restricted to the radius of our house or classroom, it's limitless.”
It’s not farfetch to think virtual reality will make it’s way into the classroom. Schools all across the country use Google’s applications such as Drive, Docs, and Slides to name a few. With the rapidly growing industry that is virtual reality, it's just another way Google can influence students all over the world.
“I heard a little about virtual reality before but never really knew what it was all about,” freshman Vincent Tosatto said. “But experiencing this (Google Expedition), I think it would get the kids to be more enthusiastic whatever they are learning about.”
While Google Cardboard and its application Expedition still in it’s beta form, a possible classroom debut can be expected in the fall of this year.
Just as the name implies the headgear is a Google folded cardboard box with a slit in the front of the box as a placeholder for your phone to project your 360 panorama. There it is up to the user to experience it, turn round, upside down and back around again, this how you mainly interact with virtual reality.
In this case, Truman students got to experience many different locations such as the Mayan and Aztec pyramids in South America to some of the seven wonders of the world such as The Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, the Taj Majal in India and even the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Students also spent the day as a journalist where they experience day to day interactions with people and in the workplace.
“Being able to look at those landmarks without leaving your home is crazy to believe,” freshman Duncan Mckee said. “It's like I can live through the everyday life of other people in other cultures.
What this could mean for Google is big, but what it could mean for the classroom is bigger.
“I think what it provides for students and allows them to do is to be more curious about the world,” said Google representative Alegra Freed. “We’re not restricted to the radius of our house or classroom, it's limitless.”
It’s not farfetch to think virtual reality will make it’s way into the classroom. Schools all across the country use Google’s applications such as Drive, Docs, and Slides to name a few. With the rapidly growing industry that is virtual reality, it's just another way Google can influence students all over the world.
“I heard a little about virtual reality before but never really knew what it was all about,” freshman Vincent Tosatto said. “But experiencing this (Google Expedition), I think it would get the kids to be more enthusiastic whatever they are learning about.”
While Google Cardboard and its application Expedition still in it’s beta form, a possible classroom debut can be expected in the fall of this year.