by Aja Landolfi, editor in chief
Imagine a world where Virtual Reality becomes Reality. Google Expeditions is making this Virtual Reality Possible. On November 12, Google Employees visited the school to give students a chance of stepping into the Virtual world by using Google Expeditions.
Google Expeditions are a collection of 360 degree photos, 3D images and videos. It allows for teachers to take students of trips to places like Europe or to the Great Barrier Reef all from the comfort of the classroom.
“For the classroom the main benefit is the idea of spacial recognition. We feel that students learn better when they feel like they’ve actually experiences a place in the first person instead or just reading about it or seeing a video about it or seeing pictures of it,” google expedition associate Nick Kohler said.
Google expeditions was able to come and visit the school because Mr. Petrotta found out about the trial while attending a professional learning opportunity (PLO). He filled out the application about why the school would be good for this opportunity and eventually got the response back saying that they would come to our school.
Most students thought that the Google Expeditions were amazing and super fun.
“I personally would really like one. I could sit in my bed and then be in Australia or the Great Barrier reef. It would be really cool to own one,” sixth grader Matteus Schmelke said.
The only downside some students had was that it made them feel dizzy.
“It was really cool but at the same time I got dizzy. It was cool that you were able to look all around,” eighth grader Liana Mamone said.
Teachers not only thought that this was a cool experience but they thought that it can possibly become a future teaching method for the classroom.
“I think to be able to see and experience history as anybody who went to Europe on any of our Europe trips can tell you, to see something like that is just life changing,” IEP teacher Mr. Petrotta said.
Overall the visit from Google Expeditions was a success. Diving into the world of Virtual Reality has shown both teachers and students that the future for education is one to anticipate and that anything may eventually become possible.
