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Seeing Is Believing – Google Launches Educational VR Initiative

Google Expeditions Pioneer Programme now inviting sign-ups from schools across the country

Teachwire
by Teachwire
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If you’re a teacher keen to explore the educational potential of virtual reality, then good news – the ‘Google Expeditions Pioneer Programme’ is currently inviting expressions of interest from schools in and around London, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Leeds, Glasgow, Belfast and Cardiff.

Organised in partnership with several content providers, including TES and the educational film specialist Twig, the initiative will see Google representatives visit a number of schools and provide a short training session on how the company’s Google Cardboard virtual reality viewers and Google Expeditions app can be used to add an extra element of immersion to the teaching of various subjects – particularly science, geography and history.

To date, Google’s VR technology has been used to teach lessons to over a million students and young people across 11 countries, enabling them to explore spaces ranging from the interior of Buckingham Palace to the depths of the Great Barrier Reed and even the surface of Mars as environments rendered in VR.

Schools can express their interest in getting involved by filling out this sign up form; those that are selected will then get to hold a day-long learning session for up to two of their classes free of charge.

These will involve a visit by a Google representative, who will bring with them an ‘Expeditions kit’ containing a tablet, 30 Google Cardboard viewers, 30 phones and a router. After around 15 minutes of initial set up and training, teachers will then be able to lead their class in one of over 200 ‘Expeditions’, which will see pupils interact with annotated virtual panoramas and 3D image using the phones and viewers – picking out specific details and points of interest while answering a series of questions, in response to teacher selections made via the tablet.

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