With companies such as General Motors and Ford using
virtual-reality technology to train employees, it was only a matter of time
before it gained a foothold in education. And its place in the classroom is
only going to get bigger as the cost of VR technology keeps falling.
Student-built VR headsets made of foam and cardboard
are now available for about $18 each. The inexpensive headsets use smartphones
to run graphics and don’t require new technology or operating systems to function.
In addition, developers keep creating new ways to use the technology.
More importantly, tech-savvy students are pushing the
move to VR technology in schools. They have grown up using tablets and smartphones
and are ready and willing to use the devices for school.
“Educational opportunities will literally only be
limited by our own imaginations,” Richard L. White, emerging-technologies
developer at the Southeast Kansas Education Center, said in an article for EdTech.