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| Image from Freepik |
“VR and AR are not gimmicks and must be seen as valid additions to the toolkit that may be used by libraries to engage their audience, not only with the latest technology but also with the goal in mind of ensuring a proper approach to teaching information literacy (Massis, 2015).” Augmented reality and virtual reality can help your library patrons better understand the world around them and utilize the latest technology.
For school libraries, AR and VR can allow students to experience the school curriculum in a whole new way. For example, students can experience the full force of a storm virtually or learn about the anatomy of the body using virtual reality. Bringing AR and VR into your library does not have to be expensive. There are several ways to explore AR and VR for free online. Google Arts and Culture have tons of virtual field trips for students to experience. YouTube has several 360-degree videos. When used with special VR goggles and a smartphone it turns into an immersive experience.
Image from CoSpaces Edu
Another great way to bring AR and VR into your library is by using CoSpaces Edu. CoSpaces Edu easily allows students to build 3D models with kid-friendly tools, write code with block coding, and explore their creations in AR or VR. Signing up for CoSpaces Edu is free. A free account offers many perks such as: inviting up to 29 students, creating up to 2 CoSpaces and 1 class, creating 1 assignment, uploading up to 10 external files, and coding with basic CoBlocks. A Pro account offers many more features for a small fee. If you are interested in using AR and VR technology, consider CoSpaces Edu. Check out the video below to learn more about this awesome resource.
Citations
Massis, B. (2015), Using virtual and augmented reality in the library. New Library World, Vol. 116. Iss 11/12 pp. 796 - 799
CoSpaces Edu license plans for schools and districts. (2020). Cospaces.io. https://cospaces.io/edu/pricing.html
Thank you so much for your post! I plan to explore CoSpaces EDU a bit more as it seems like something my students would really enjoy! It might be a great resource to introduce during Hour of Code that we do in December.
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