Five Easy Ways to Use Virtual Reality in Geography Lessons!

Help immerse your students in the world around them without having to leave the classroom!  Virtual Reality (VR) headsets are becoming rapidly more affordable and as a result more exciting and varied content is being made.  Most students these days have a smartphone, or at least one that they could share with a peer group within a classroom setting.  The smartphone needed for a VR experience can be Android or iPhone and the higher the screen resolution, the better the experience.  With new ideas emerging every day you're bound to find something to inspire you!  

1.  Get a headset!

If you're on a tight budget (and if you're a teacher, you probably are!), then a Google Cardboard headset is the cheapest way to go.  'Google Cardboard' refers to the software developed by Google that divides a photo or moving image on a smartphone into two, so that when it is viewed through a cardboard headset, the image or video appears 3D.  Then, as you turn your head, look behind you, look up or down, your view of the image moves too!

There's a huge variety of compatible headsets that range from a few pounds to around fifty pounds.  Mine cost £5.99 on Amazon.  Here it is....

You can see I splashed out for the hands-free version (although actually as a glasses wearer, I find it a bit tight).  Notice the high quality cardboard, the velcro connections and the hi-tech elastic band to help hold your smartphone in place!  

If you think a literal cardboard headset won't last five minutes in your classroom, there are plastic ones easily available, which may be far more durable.

2.  Get the 'Cardboard' app

If you're on Android, go to the Play Store, search for 'Cardboard' in apps and install the Google Inc app.

This app allows your smartphone to view cardboard-compatible content!  It also includes some demos, a link to a VR YouTube channel called 360 Videos and acts as a library to store other VR apps.  Definitely watch the demos, check out the video channel as you get to know your headset and it's capabilities.

3.  Google Street View

Within the 'Cardboard' app, go to 'GET APPS', find and install Google Street View.  Once installed, open the app.  You can either explore the map, zoom and click on where you want to go or type a place name in the search bar at the top.  Once you've found a place you want to explore, in this case I chose Peru.  Once the image has opened, you can either navigate your view with your finger, or select the 'cardboard' icon (circled in red on the photo below).

It will then change your view to something like this...

It is now time to pop your smartphone into your headset and have a look!  As you turn your head, it is like you are looking around Peru.  Oh look, is that Machu Picchu over there?!

You can view 'web spheres' like this all over the world.  There's probably hundreds in your local area!  Thousands of people all over the world have been taking these 360 degree photos, such a fabulous collaborative resource!  Great for introducing a case study location, looking for landscape features, comparing two areas, looking at how a city changes along a transect... The possibilities within Geography are endless!

4.  YouTube

A good starting place for VR videos is via the '360 video' link within the Cardboard App you downloaded to your smartphone.

Otherwise you can search 360 video on YouTube along with a keyword and see what you can find!  When you find a video that is compatible with Cardboard, click the icon as circled in the screenshot below:

Here's some videos to get you started! 

*  Chase a tornado in the USA (see screenshot above) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCXp9Y5uPn4

*  The 'Beyond the Map' series exploring Rio de Janeiro - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsUa1i5QQ0g  *other videos within this series can be found, I've linked to the one on favelas here.

*  Go on an expedition to the heart of an active volcano - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBp2EWPjotk

*  Meet threatened and endangered species - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-aOVE22lEw

*  Snorkel the Great Barrier Reef - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Yv7hJCpMPU

*  News report on earthquakes in Japan - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCT3UBPSTaY

5.  Students create content!

There are several apps that students can download and create their own VR content as part of a project, fieldwork or homework.  The easiest way is probably to get the 'Cardboard Camera' app from the Play Store.  You'll find the ideas will come easier once you've had a chance to play and explore the possibilities yourself.

Good luck, have fun and let me know if you have any questions, ideas, examples, links, suggestions or feedback!