Science

The pandemic has put a spotlight on educational technology, especially in science classes. Teachers have been using existing tech to create virtual labs and share data, making it easier to demonstrate scientific concepts. However, there’s a problem: these digital labs don’t fully meet the goals of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). NGSS calls for a more comprehensive approach to teaching, including mastering various skills and concepts. This has led to a demand for technology that aligns better with NGSS. Enter Educational Technology. Smartphones now enable the use of virtual reality (VR) for virtual field trips, offering students immersive experiences. These VR tools allow students to explore data, learn from experts, and understand concepts more deeply. It’s a seamless integration of modern tech with NGSS-aligned teaching methods.

Virtual reality represents a new direction in technological advancements for educational research. While education has been slow to adopt new technology, educational technology companies have been slow to collaborate with teachers to produce pedagogically valuable resources. This project explores house science educators and science researchers collaborate to produce virtual reality instructional materials for the modern science students. What this means Is that educators can think critically about how technology can become a useful tool for building culturally relevant virtual reality instructional materials. At the 2019 conference for the National Association of researchers of science teaching, we presented a number of new research studies. The studies are here for you to review and share broadly.