Meet Kelly Powers
Kelly Powers is a middle school computer science teacher with over 21 years of experience educating students in programming, robotics, and data science. Based in Tarrytown, New York, Kelly teaches fifth through seventh graders at the Hackley School and recently embarked on her first journey into virtual reality (VR) education using Zoe.
Despite her extensive teaching experience, Kelly describes herself as "very new" to VR, which made this project both exciting and challenging for her and her students.
The Rock-Hammering VR Experience
Kelly and her students developed a virtual experience to complement a real-world science activity known as "rock hammering." The goal? To introduce new students to the process of identifying and classifying rocks in a safe, controlled environment.
The project consisted of three key scenes:
- Preparation in the Classroom:
Students start by gathering their tools—hammers, goggles, and buckets—virtually, replicating the setup process for a real rock hammering session. - Rock Hammering Outdoors:
In the second scene, students are transported outdoors, where they "hammer" rocks while wearing goggles and collect their samples. This interactive exploration focuses on safety and technique. - Analysis and Classification:
Finally, the students return to the classroom to virtually clean, examine, and classify their rock samples, identifying mineral types and characteristics.
This multi-step experience was designed to give students a clear understanding of the rock-hammering process while using immersive learning to create a deeper level of engagement and retention.
Skills Learned Through Zoe
Kelly's students gained new skills in VR development, including:
- Asset Management: Students learned to use Zoe’s asset library and integrate custom assets, like realistic virtual rocks created in collaboration with the Zoe team.
- Interactive Coding: Using Zoe’s interaction panel, students coded events such as picking up tools and simulating rock collisions.
- Problem-Solving: The students worked through challenges like making the rock simulation look realistic and ensuring interactive elements worked smoothly.
These activities provided an introduction to programming logic and VR mechanics in a highly accessible way, even for students with no prior experience in either.
Highlights and Challenges
Kelly was most surprised by her students' creativity and technical achievements, such as one student’s visually impressive rock-falling scene.
However, the project also came with challenges. "Classroom management in VR" became a recurring theme for Kelly, as she navigated headset setup, login issues, and ensuring students stayed focused in the virtual environment. This led her to rethink her approach to VR integration, determining that in future, a "Unit Zero" to teach students the basics of using VR headsets and controllers before diving into Zoe would be advantageous.
Advice for Educators Exploring VR
For teachers considering VR or Zoe, Kelly offers the following tips:
- Plan Ahead: Collaborate with your IT department to ensure headsets are connected to your network and preconfigured for quick access.
- Leverage Casting: Learn to cast VR screens to a computer or smartboard for easier instruction and monitoring.
- Start Simple: Begin with an introductory unit on VR hardware and controls to ease students into the technology.
- Engage Students in Problem-Solving: Encourage students to troubleshoot challenges themselves.
Why Zoe?
For Kelly, Zoe was the perfect entry point into VR creation. Its intuitive interface and accessible tools allowed her students to focus on building and experimenting without the steep learning curve of other platforms like Unity.
Zoe removes the intimidation. It’s accessible and empowering for students, which is exactly what I needed as a first-time VR educator.
Kelly’s journey shows how VR can make learning both fun and impactful, giving students hands-on experience in creating and exploring new worlds. Her advice and insights pave the way for other educators eager to bring innovative tools like Zoe into their classrooms.
Inspired? Explore what Zoe can do for your classroom here.