Mini-Grant Application for School Year 2016-2017

Submitted by: Brian Nanns Email: brian.nanns@sdhc.k12.fl.us Grade Level: 9-12 Subject: Career & Technical Ed
Co-Applicant: Email: Grade level: Subject:

School: Freedom High School Type: Public Grade Levels:9-12 County:Hillsborough

Approx. Enrollment: 2000 Number of teachers:120 % of Free and Reduced Lunch:54

School Address:

17410 Commerce Park Blvd Tampa, FL 33647

Phone: 813-558-1185 Principal:Kevin Stephenson Email: kevin.stephenson@sdhc.k12.fl.u

Project Title: Virtual Reality in the classroom
Project Dates: 11-01-16-ongoing Grade Levels:

Focus Area(s) :Emerging Technology- Career & Technical Ed- College Prep -

Abstract:
Virtual Reality has been used for years by the military, law enforcement, NASA, and others. However, it has never been practical in education due to cost restraints. Only recently have the barriers to education been eliminated by the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. These headsets have the ability to fully immerse students in a whole new world. We can now launch a student into space, travel around the world in a 50 minute class period, prepare a virtual meal from scratch, learn military drills, and even take a virtual tour of college campuses all from a classroom. I want to bring this exciting new technology to Freedom High School to give our students experiences that otherwise they would not get.

Proposal:
Innovation Virtual Reality (VR) is a very new technology when it comes to educational and consumer use. Now that the technology is cost effective, we can bring a whole new world to our students. Through virtual simulations and field trips, we can now fully immerse students into our curriculum like never before. Since the technology is so new, there is a high demand to develop new programs and uses for VR. Freedom will challenge our students to come up with new and innovative ways to incorporate VR into more classrooms. Curriculum Our Career & Technical Education (CTE) department at Freedom includes Business Education, Agriculture, Culinary Arts, JROTC, Barbering, and Family & Consumer Science. Each one of those areas could enhance their curriculum with a virtual reality simulation in their respective courses. My vision is to start small by getting the students excited about VR. I will do this by introducing the students to educational games already developed for the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. Next I would like to explore career focused simulations that could be used in our CTE programs to seamlessly integrate VR into the curriculum. I also envision using VR with our ESE population to really bring things to life for them. I will also investigate impacts on autistic students' achievement with this technology. Long Lasting Change My hope is that by bringing VR into the classroom, we can bring our curriculums to life in a whole new way. When we talk about space, students can explore it for themselves. When we learn about ingredients in a recipe, they can try it out virtually first. I would like to see our teachers think about alternative teaching methods that allow students to immerse themselves in the content. Technology Through a high powered computer, the VR system will display video and sound through a headset that fully immerses the user into the world that is being displayed. Student Gain Specific numerical evidence may be hard to obtain at first. However, through student immersion, we will see high achievement. Allowing students to see and feel the material has been proven to provide results in achievement. I would like to do some experiments with specific classes by using VR in one lesson with a class and then not using it with another class on the same lesson. Using data from this experiment and many others, may provide validation to continue using VR and even expanding on its use in education. Sharing with the Community My plan is to work with the morning show teacher to produce a video to get students excited. I will also work with my department teachers to train them on the system. Once we are fully utilizing the VR system, I will invite our local New Tampa community newspaper to come out and write about what we are doing. PTSA can also play a big role in getting the word out and share what we are doing with the community. Note about the request: Because VR is so new to the consumer/education world, my request includes 2 different models of VR systems. One is the Oculus Rift and the other is the HTV Vive. Both very similar in that they come with similar equipment. However, the applications are different. I would like to be able to pick and choose which applications work best on the different systems. Through my research, the Oculus Rift works best with applications that do not require much body movement. While the HTC Vive allows full body motion. The have slightly different fields of vision and adaptability to students that wear glasses. For those reasons, I want to make sure we use the correct VR system for the intended educational outcome as well as the comfort of the students.

Budget:

I, Brian Nanns, certify that the application is complete and final, AND I verify that I have received permission to apply for these funds from Kevin Stephenson,the Principal of Freedom High School and any other individuals required by my school district.