Page 13 - May Newsletter

When @Rach_Ribeiro ‘s A1 adult learners ‘visited’ London using VR it was memorable and
she could see that her students had never traveled abroad. So, VR brings the understanding
closer to you.

@heikephilp said that she is surprised that the extensive research on language learning in
virtual worlds seem overlooked. Lots of research has shown the great benefits of real time
communication at a distance and the lowering of effective filter. She also added that it seems
to her that everyone jumps on a trend without looking at past and if you look at what VR is
intended to be, it is certainly not 360° photo for a cardboard like device. It is much more.
@SophiaMav then asked, “But where is the distance? We talked about real class
environments here. Isn’t there a clear difference between MAVR and Virtual worlds – apart
from the obvious similarities?” @ChrisRHastings argued that the VR in MAVR is more
concerned with highly immersive headset-based VR, rather than simply any
computer-generated 3D virtual environment.

@teacherphili then asked, “Is there a minimum age of students you would use VR in the
classroom?” While @oyajimbo believed that he does not use with young learners as it can be
addictive very quickly, @ParisaMehran pointed out that young learners are “digital natives”
and are already addicted.

@SophiaMav said that all this sounds very promising. But how can we tackle the issue of VR
equipment being so unaffordable? Aren’t prices prohibitive for the average classroom/
teacher/ institution?

Chatters provided the following answers:

● @gegnagoya : It depends on what you want to do. Google Cardboards can go as
low as 500 or 600 yen, but if you want very immersive VR programs, it will be a
while before the cost comes down, unfortunately.
● @ChrisRHastings : Students already own part of the hardware component,
smartphones, and headsets can cost from as little as $10.
● @gegnagoya : With university students a BYOD policy usually works since they
mostly own smartphones. If you provide the headsets as the instructor, the
overall cost can remain quite low.
● @SophiaMav : With BOYD policies though students – especially young learners
and teens need digcit skills otherwise they may get very distracted – by using
their devices for other reasons than learning.

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