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Virtual Reality Learning Excites Bablake Scientists

Senior School Science


When students arrived at Bablake last Friday, little did they know they would be having a tour of Ancient Egypt, look at where aquanauts live or see the wonders of the insides of their own bodies!

Miss Sam Holyman, Junior Science co-ordinator and West Midlands ASE President, arranged for Google Expeditions to visit Bablake with nearly 60 Google cardboard headsets and mobile devices to allow our pupils to unlock the potential of the virtual reality experience to enhance their learning and further ignite their interests.

Explaining how she became hooked on the VR learning experience, Miss Holyman said: “I took my own family to ThinkTank earlier this year, where we experienced a Google Expedition around our solar system. After this, I just had to arrange a similar experience for my students to share.

So, after acquiring my own headset and trying it out with my form, I went ahead and arranged the visit from the Google Pioneer Programme. It was lovely to see so many students enjoying discovering the world, ourselves and space - the hubbub was amazing!

This is a new app developed by Google to open up the classroom for an immersive learning experience and a new tool to help us demonstrate our teachings. With 60 smartphones, 60 Google Cardboards and two tablets to run the Expeditions from, we led over 300 students on an virtual reality field trip linked to current learning and it certainly inspired everyone."

Asked to compose a tweet about the experience, Amelia Henderson wrote: “This was one of the coolest things I’ve done at Bablake – kudos to Google for making such amazing technology!” Olivia Gosling penned the tweet: “Saw amazing landmarks doing VR today! VR is cool like school. #2kool4skool #googlevr.”

After spending the morning in the Senior School Dance Studio, Google Enabler Amait Boora then visited Bablake Pre-Prep where the Year 1 and 2s also had their own amazing virtual experience!

For those interested in replicating this experience, you may download the Expeditions app on your tablet or phone for free by searching the app stores, while the cardboard Virtual Reality headsets may be purchased for less than £5.  



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