Riverside Enters The Metaverse

The metaverse is being built 3D block by block at Riverside Education Academy.

The alternative school’s students are diving into experiential lessons through virtual reality (VR) in the classroom to reflect the new ​“experience age.” 

The start to this shift is made possible through a ​“New Haven Promising Practice” mini-grant that Riverside was awarded from the school system in November. The funds secured have helped the alternative school to create a Riverside Virtual Learning Center after-school program, which started two weeks ago. 

Interested Riverside students are able to join the program after school each day to ​“be trained as leaders to effectively introduce and education all students, and other teachers, in the use of VR program leaning with the intent to build a district-wide VR Program,” the grant proposal states. (Read the full proposal here.)

Twenty-four NHPS teachers won the first round of mini-grants of up to $15,000 each to fund projects to advance NHPS teaching practices. The funding is provided through the district’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) grant, totaling $230,000.

“It [VR] broke my silence,” Riverside sophomore Lisson Brown, 16, said while at the after school program this past week. ​“Now I’m acting here, how I would act at home.” 

Riverside art teacher Michael Pavano introduced his students to VR in 2019 by bringing his personal headset and system to school for the kids to engage with a new form of learning. 

He saw students like Lisson have overwhelmingly positive experiences with the system playing games like Robo Recall, which got him off his feet and ​“sweating like crazy.” (“It was the best experience ever,” Lisson said.) 

So Pavano looked into the impacts of VR in education (read more about that here and here) and how to secure systems for the school and wrote a grant to pay for it.

As an art teacher, Pavano looks forward to using the VR application Tilt Brush with students to ​“allow a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for artist to work in a brand-new medium,” the grant proposal reads. 

Another educational application is Google Earth VR, which Pavano looks forward to bringing to history classrooms. This reporter enjoyed a look at the application last week and explored outer space, soared over the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, and teleported to Australia seconds later. 

The after school-program is housed out of the Riverside Virtual Learning Center (RVLC), which currently has three VR headsets.

The room is also equipped with two new smart boards, which allow players to broadcast their headset experiences on the screen for others to engage with.

The RVLC is organized into three game play areas boxed by classroom desks to keep players in their own space.

Brown switched between standing and sitting to play Battle Discs in an online chatroom called VRChat.

Across the room fifteen year old Talim Miller sat in his gameplay area troubleshooting his headset and learning how to re-calibrate his headset’s system. 

Even when not engaged with a VR application students are able to learn skills with technology as Miller did. 

Pavano and Computer Applications teacher Camar Graves partnered for the program and agreed that the RVLC has helped students to develop relationships with others, express themselves, and gain confidence in their abilities. 

It is Pavano’s hope to help classrooms and educators caught up on technology to ​“reach students with engaging and relevant learning experiences.”

“Instead of just sitting in a classroom you can pop over to Egypt with the students,” Pavano said. 

Applications like VRChat can also assist students with social anxiety in the classrooms to work toward socialization in group settings, Pavano said. 

“Student learning has shifted to online environments where students are becoming acclimated to living their lives online. Learning is not in the Experience Age, where 92% of students spend a significant part of their daily life online in social media, live streaming, video, and messaging apps,” the proposal explains. 

During the after school lessons the students will learn through VR application how to code and lead professional development that will offer educators an understanding of educational programs for classrooms. 

“We really want the students to have the control on how to implement VR. As the teacher our role will be the facilitator,” Pavano said. 

Graves’ computer application classroom transforms into the RVLC after school. His love for VR stems from his interest in computers and technology. In his own technology class he recently branched out his technology use with students to 3D printing. 

He added that VR allows players to ​“take control of their learning” and determine their own pace of learning. 

“Having learning expectations for each grade level has had an affect on their [students’] social performance because we all learn different and at different times,” Graves said.

The proposal continues to explain that VR lessons will allow students to ​“learn through experience rather than teacher transmitted information.” 

Traditional classroom lessons consisting of lectures leaves students ​“disengaged with their learning due to a lack of understood relevance, the proposal continues. 

Instead, VR lessons can offer a classroom with ​“student centered instruction,” entertainment and experience Pavano said. 

The grant funds will supply the RVLC with ten new VR headsets and equipment to expand the program to more student-leaders. 

“As a teacher you’re dedicated to meeting the kids anywhere they’re at,” Pavano said. ​“We can’t leave these kids in the cracks anymore.” 

Riverside Principal Derek Stephenson was convinced to support the program after trying out the VR application Sharecare which allowed him to get a 3D look at the human body and how its parts works. 

The application shows the functions of several organs like the heart and lungs while also providing visual demonstrations of those body parts at work and while in healthy condition or compromised by diseases like diabetes. This reporter traveled inside the heart’s left and right ventricles to see the organs at work. 

Grant funds will also be used to expand the program’s library of applications in science, math, history, geography, architecture, and art allowing ​“learning to come alive.” Pavano expressed interest in downloading an application that allows players to go on virtual tours of the Anne Frank House for a historical ​“immersive learning experience.” 

“We know that hands on play is critical for your younger kids but that need continues,” Pavano said. 

Miller said he enjoys VRChat to make friends with similar interests to his own and in a less intimidating setting than the traditional classroom.

Pavano and Graves agreed that now is the time to invest in VR for classrooms after the Covid-19 pandemic’s exposure to online tools for learning. 

For both Graves and Pavano their use of VR as a pastime doubles as an educational tool. 

“We’re at a point where we’re competing against the internet, social media, and phones for our students’ attention,” Graves said. ​“It’s education and you don’t even realize it.”