Thank you for watching our BioDive video on using emerging virtual reality and digital technologies in the classroom! We are interested in bridging the research on virtual reality with classroom practices. We would like to get feedback from:

1. Educators: How can we help you use this product in your educational venue?
2. Researchers: We’d love your comments on merging research with practical instructional design. Can you please share any successful instances? We are particularly interested in perspective-taking in virtual reality as well as collaborative virtual reality for students in grades 6-12.
3. All attendees: What emerging technologies you are excited to see transformed for educational use?

Thank you for sharing BioDive with us (and for sharing the lesson plans in the resources section)! The video mentions that students will be introduced to a diverse group of scientists through the VR experience. Can you please say more about who the students meet along the way and how you found/chose these scientists for the experience? Along those same lines, are there extension activities or examples of how teachers can use BioDive to clear up misconceptions (like you do for science concepts) about STEM identity/equity/belonging in STEM? 

Very nice project! Thank you for your work on this!

I have greatly enjoyed learning about BioDive and how engaging it is for the students. Very exciting work!

I was wondering if the team has investigated enabling students to take various perspectives in VR?

For example, having the students posit a hypothesis as a marine botanist and then as a marine biochemist. It would be interesting to afford students opportunities to wear multiple scientific hats and think about how scientists with different disciplinary interests approach research differently. This role-taking aspect might also be good for introducing a collaborative component where students take roles of different but equally important members of the research team and work together to build a holistic understanding of the phenomena.

Just to add to Noelle's note, we're very inspired by some of the work Meredith Thompson has done examining how roles can be used in VR to promote collaboration! For example: 

Rules , Roles, and Resources: Strategies to Promote Collaboration in Virtual Reality Contexts

I'm only beginning to understand VR technologies and their applications in the classroom, but am excited for the possibilities that a tool like this could provide.  The interactive digital journal looks like a particularly useful tool since it helps to focus the students to LEARN the objectives vs. just play around and get lost in the game / technology.  This journal is a definite upgrade compared to less structured explorations I've seen since it focuses the students.

Have you thought of other worlds you'd like to build?  I'm a physics and chemistry teacher and would love to see such interesting and engaging experiences outside the biology / ecology realm.

Have you found that the headsets excite students even more about BioDive? What a cool feature to add to the program! We've found that role-playing is key in increasing students' self-efficacy! 

This looks really cool! I love that students are actively engaged with observing. Some of the VR activities are so passive. What's the platform for this like? Did you have to work very closely with a programmer or is it something that you could slot in other topics? I can imagine adapting existing Google Explorations with some of the journaling options shown here.

What a great use of VR!  I love seeing the kids in action, looking through their viewers.  I agree with the earlier comment about the active engagement of the students.  It's so great to have them not just looking at the underwater environment, but also taking part in simulated research situations.  That certainly adds an important element and is something for us to think about as we get more and more involved with our own VR and AR projects.

How did you adapt using AR/VR technology during the pandemic?

Great video! How are you scaling the program? Are you marketing to schools, teachers, parents, and/or informal education institutions? 

Thanks for the link to the curriculum!