Arizona State University brings immersive VR curriculum to Phoenix school districts
Arizona State University (ASU) and VR platform Dreamscape Learn have co-developed an immersive STEM curriculum, bringing VR to school districts in Phoenix.
The first two Dreamscape Learn mobile pods, which seat 16 children each and will be rotated around the district’s 12 schools, launched this month at Pendergast Elementary.
The labs offer students a chance to experience a virtual immersive biology curriculum as part of Dreamscape Learn’s STEM curriculum.
“What it means now is that every kid in this district will have access to the most advanced learning tool that humans have ever created,” says Michael Crow, President at ASU. “Process that for a second. Anyone can dream about whatever they want to do, and they can find a way to do it. They can dream about how to learn because learning is activated in a way that you learn from other people in a lived experience.
“We’ve never had a way to teach biology that way. We’ve never had a way to teach chemistry that way. We’ve never had a way to teach astronomy that way. So how about everyone has an opportunity to understand who we are, what we are, where we are, and you can do anything you want. That’s what this moment is about.”
An ASU study previously found that students enrolled on Dreamscape Learn courses were 1.7 times more likely to receive an “A” grade in lab assignments.
Josh Reibel, CEO at Dreamscape Learn, adds: “This is really about a very significant step in rethinking of what children’s education can be,” Reibel said. “We have known for millennia that story is what people lean into. We’re all addicted to episodic Netflix stories. We have known since the dawn of time that the one thing that gets humans to feel like, ‘I can’t wait to find out what happens next’ is a good narrative.
