By Lauren Kobley
PHOENIX – Have you ever been inside of a cancer cell? Or 30 meters below the ocean’s surface? Elementary students at ASU Prep Pilgrim Rest Elementary & Middle School have (virtually).
The school is the first in the U.S. to offer the innovative learning experience that immerses K-12 students in places and topics they study, through a partnership with Arizona State University and Dreamscape Learn, which says it’s “a transformational education experience born from a groundbreaking entertainment platform.” ASU offers a similar program with Dreamscape Learn for college students.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, student engagement has been a topic of conversation at schools across the country. “Things like Dreamscape Learn help students find things to dream about, and it brings more engagement opportunities to our students and gets them excited,” said Marissa Schneckloth, principal at ASU Prep Pilgrim Rest.
Officially unveiled Thursday, the Dreamscape Learn pod – or classroom – provides virtual reality-enabled courseware that teachers can use to immerse classes in virtually rendered locations that coincide with lesson plans.
There are two modes of learning within the Dreamscape Learn pod. The first is similar to a story mode where students are navigated through the curriculum by a narrator, while the second is more interactive.
On Wednesday, students at ASU Prep Pilgrim Rest had the chance to take part in the virtual learning experience for the first time using the first, narrator-driven mode. To begin, students calibrate themselves with the virtual reality headset and joystick. From there, they are prompted by a narrator to begin their session.
The narrator takes them into their virtual world and explains the lesson as they go step by step to solve problems and find solutions. In the experience Wednesday, students were virtually transported into a nanobot and had to use joysticks to locate a cancerous cell in an animal. From there, they had to destroy the cell before releasing the animal back into its natural habitat.
Averie Escamilla, a fifth grader at ASU Prep Pilgrim Rest, said she did not expect for the virtual reality experience to feature hand tracking or that she’d be able to “drive” into a cell.
“The whole experience is so cool. You can have so much fun with it and learn new things that you didn’t know before,” Averie said.
“The expressions on the students’ faces yesterday were worth all of the time, effort, energy and enthusiasm,” said Richard Yarbough, president of Pilgrim Rest Foundation, which is affiliated with the school. “It could not have been more warmly received, and this is just the tip of the iceberg for what this is going to mean, not just in terms of education, but in terms of exposing our students to worlds and to things that they never would otherwise be exposed to.”
“Oohs” and “aahs” filled the halls at ASU Prep Pilgrim Rest Thursday as students were trying a second style of interactive virtual learning from Dreamscape Learn. This mode is more interactive than the first.
As they traveled around from King Tut’s tomb to a library that looked like it could be out of a scene from “Harry Potter,” the students were able to converse with each other and the teacher about what they were seeing and learning. The teacher also had the ability to move throughout the virtual landscape and draw attention to elements like signs or sculptures.
“This platform is changing what a school can be. The schools we all grew up in were places that you went to as a destination, and then you isolated from the outside world to learn and study,” said Josh Reibel, CEO of Dreamscape Learn. “We’re turning schools into departure hubs, where you come to journey away from the school, out into the universe, to any imaginable place with your teachers.”
ASU Prep Pilgrim Rest is made up of about 95% students of color and 90% who get free or reduced-price lunch, according to Schneckloth. The program aims to provide equitable education experiences to students from every background to visit places that many students may not be able to visit due to financial or other barriers.
ASU Prep Pilgrim Rest will incorporate the technology into its curriculum this spring, when students will be learning about the branches of government. They will have the chance to be immersed in their subject material by holding classes in the Supreme Court, the U.S. Senate chamber and more.
“Instead of learning from just a textbook, the textbook becomes live. They (the students) are living and dreaming in these spaces, and it’s limitless. It really builds excitement back into education,” Schneckloth said.
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