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For today ’ s media-savvy kids , reading an educational book about a shark just isn ’ t going to cut it . They ’ ve seen shark videos on YouTube , and probably visited the Shark Exhibit at Ocean Park , so what else is there to discover ? Substantially more , it appears : at Nord Anglia International School , pupils can now don special Virtual Reality ( VR ) goggles and go diving with sharks . It ’ s possible to see them swimming in the open ocean , look inside their bodies at the circulatory system , and explore some of the dangers they face . “ At the end of the session , pupils have a much clearer picture of sharks and their habitats than they would have gained from a traditional lesson ,” explains Darren Sutton , Nord Anglia ’ s Secondary Computing Teacher and STEAM ( Science , Technology , Engineering , Arts and Maths ) Coordinator . “ I don ’ t see VR replacing trips and visits , but it certainly has an exciting part to play when introducing pupils to new topics , and giving them experiences that would otherwise be impossible ”.
VR-enabled immersive experiences , robotics , 3-D printing and iPads in the primary classroom – welcome to the new age of learning , where developments in technology have radically changed teaching and teachers . And although the pace of change seems disconcertingly rapid to anyone who laboured over dog-eared textbooks as a teenager , technology is now an integral and seminal part of our children ’ s lives . “ It ’ s important to remember our Primary children were born after the invention of the iPad , and so to them , things that might seem innovative and ground-breaking to us , are quickly becoming the norm ,” explains Ryan Speed , Nord Anglia ’ s Primary Computing Coordinator . “ As such , it is important children aren ’ t using these new tools in a passive way , but are actively encouraged to take control of them , by creating digital content and being versatile in the Apps and software they use ”. He says children are adept at trialling new Apps and figuring out the required inputs and outcomes for themselves . “ For instance , editing a photo on the Pages App is not too dissimilar to cropping a moving image and making a movie trailer with iMovie , and from there , adding green screen backgrounds and a music score comes naturally to them . With this attitude , our children are technophiles who aren ’ t afraid to get hands-on with something that could otherwise seem new or strange , and they see the possibilities and positives of new technology ”.
And those possibilities are huge . Using Virtual and Augmented Realities
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