Reference Medienpädagogisches Zentrum Leipzig (Centre of Media Education Leizpig)

Virtual Reality Enriches School Lessons

Increasing Know-How in a Playful Way

Improved learning outcomes, higher motivation, and more self-efficacy thanks to virtual reality (VR) technology: The Media Education Center Leipzig initiated two VR school projects that were thematically and didactically tailored to the respective schools and individually geared to the respective grade levels. The goal was to familiarize educators with VR technology so that they could provide recommendations for the use of VR in schools.

Telekom MMS designed and accompanied the training and subsequently the VR school projects, which consisted of workshops for learning design thinking methods and two project days.

Reference at a Glance

Task

Active application of VR technologies to identify potential and limitations

Solution

A multi-stage school project in which teachers and students are enabled to use VR technologies creatively

Result

Joint development of practical applications and recommendations for action for teachers

The advantage of this project is that it shows the other side, not just the consumer's side. But to look behind the scenes and develop the VR content yourself – that is a very good and important thing. Christian Felgner, Vice Principal, Pablo-Neruda-School Leipzig

Benefits for our Customers

High participation and self-motivation of the learners
Improved learning outcomes and increased self-efficacy
Promoting media literacy for all project participants

Requirement

Solution

Benefit

Requirement

Testing Virtual Reality as a new, Interactive Medium

Testing Virtual Reality as a new, Interactive Medium
As schools become more digitized, the methods and forms of knowledge transfer are also changing. The teaching and learning options that VR hardware and software solutions offer as a digital medium in the classroom should be determined in the course of a joint project by the Leipzig Media Center, three Leipzig schools, and Telekom MMS.

The focus was on identifying the potential and limitations of VR in the classroom. By actively engaging with VR technology, both teachers and students are empowered to actively use VR themselves. The aim was to create and design virtual lesson content. In this way, a completely new teaching and learning environment should be created – virtual yet real and tangible. Special attention was given to the cooperative collaboration between teachers and students, as well as their empowerment to independently conduct VR projects in the future.

Solution

Learn About and use VR Technology

The project was divided into several phases: In the first part, "Train-the-Trainer," the VR experts from Deutsche Telekom MMS and the system partner, VIL GmbH, provided six teachers, two media education instructors, and other multipliers with an overview of the educational basics of media and the functionality of the VR solution. Following this, the instructors trained in the use of VR glasses and VR software and were familiarized with their potential and application possibilities. This led to initial project ideas for possible course content, and practical VR applications were also tested.

In the subsequent design thinking workshop, teachers developed ideas for using VR in the classroom with their students after gaining insight into methods of generating ideas with analog and digital means. After the students were also able to use the VR system, they eventually created concrete application scenarios in the school project part: They created virtual 360-degree applications in which topics of history lessons were conveyed, scenarios from everyday school life were presented for a French partner school, and general values of their school were told as short stories.

The media production for this – story, audio, video, as well as 360-degree photos and videos – was done as a group effort with one expert each. At a final presentation with a panel discussion, the project participants presented their results and recommendations for action. They encountered great interest from the numerous teachers, students, parents, and politicians in attendance, were critically questioned, and received extensive feedback.

Benefit

More Self-motivation and improved media literacy

Instead of using pre-made VR solutions, participants in the project learned how to create and use VR applications themselves. As an alternative to frontal teaching, learners were able to work independently with the technology and in this way experience teaching content in a virtual and interactive way. This new, digital form of knowledge transfer in schools led to high participation and self-motivation among the students, as interviews showed afterwards. Immersive learning experiences and practical applications also ensure better learning outcomes that remain more firmly anchored in the memory.

At the same time, teachers and students were able to find new problem-solving approaches through cooperative, collaborative work. This promoted a shared sense of responsibility for teaching.

By enabling teachers and students to use virtual reality, they also improved their media literacy.

In a second phase of the project, the insights gained are to be applied, experiences optimized, and further concepts developed.

About the Media Education Center Leipzig

The Media Education Center Leipzig, a municipal institution, advocates for digitalization in schools within the city of Leipzig. This includes support in the areas of media didactics, media education, and media technology by expert teachers, as well as consultations, training, and IT services for schools.

Further links

Creating immersive learning environments: Creative and innovative through virtual reality in the classroom - Digital story by Frank Lamack
VR@Schools Leipzig: How Virtual Reality Enriches the Classroom - A Digital Story by Frank Lamack

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