Have you ever seen ten year olds taking a golf lesson? So many of them are quick to develop a beautiful, fluid, picture-perfect swing. Try to each an adult that same swing, and it could take years, if it ever happens at all.
I know a few people who grew up either on a farm or on a wide expanse of property, which offered a place where they were allowed to drive a pickup before they were even in the sixth grade. By the time they were old enough for a driver’s license, they had complete command over most things with four wheels and a motor. I don’t have to tell you about the people on the road that still have trouble turning off their turn signal.
Now I watch as my two-year-old granddaughter picks up an iPad and can activate it, and navigate to her favorite game. I gave an iPad to my dad as a gift a few years ago, and for months after he started using it he would repeatedly call me so that I could to explain to him how to turn it on. Some things really are better learned when you’re young.
It recently came to my attention that an elementary school in Buffalo, Iowa, is going to have students study from an Oculus Rift-based science curriculum immersed in virtual reality.
According to the company that made the announcement, VictoryVR, “The curriculum relies on the NextGEN national science standards to develop a series of virtual learning modules for each section. In addition to virtual field trips, science experiments with an elite national teacher, and private movies in a virtual home theater, students also take a 10-question assessment controlled by the student’s eyes within the VR environment.”
A grant from the Bechtel Trust funded the new technology at Buffalo Elementary School, which includes three Oculus VR sets and a five-year license to a curriculum library.
Steve Grubbs, the CEO of VictoryVR, said, “Letting students immerse themselves in science and technology learning through virtual reality is one of the promising uses of this new technology. Not only does it block out distraction, but it creates a 10x improvement over most existing forms of learning.”
My hope is that the use of VR in learning will result in adults who are well versed and skilled in the use of this technology. Then it won’t be so foreign to them when they start work at a job site.
Then they can all be prodigies.
