GENOA, Ohio — Sometimes learning is easier when it's hands on. And students at Genoa High School are getting those types of lessons without actually getting their hands dirty.
Genoa students are looking forward to math and chemistry class this school year, thanks in part to new virtual reality headsets. The students are being fully immersed inside a virtual classroom through Prisms VR lessons.
The headsets allow teachers to track each student's progress and look into each headset in real time.
Math teacher Courtney Cannon said the district is taking part in a pilot program to see how well these Meta Quest VR headsets help teach these traditional classroom lessons.
"Math is math, geometry is geometry," Cannon said. "But, there just doing it in a way that's appealing to them. And they teach us along the way too."
Chemistry and physics teacher Kim Richards said the program gives students a chance to experience things first hand, without any of the associated risks. For instance, using the headsets students can figure out which metal is best suited as a vital computer component.
"And when they use aluminum, the whole thing blows up because the aluminum is too good of a conductor," Richards said. "So then they have to work through the periodic table and different elements and try and figure out what their different properties are."
The headsets are on loan for the school year from North Point Educational Services, but these teachers would love for the district to eventually purchase their own permanent headsets.
The students said they believe virtual reality and augmented reality will become more incorporated in the classroom in the near future.
"We're just a different generation and we learn in different ways," sophomore James Huston said. "So, I think that this technology is our way of understanding these concepts and thinking about certain things in the classroom."
"It's a lot more hands on, and you can kind of see what you're meant to be working with instead of just imagining it," sophomore Caleb Widmer said.
Teachers believe the buy-in from students will help them use the new technology to learn in new and different ways.
"If we can meet the kids with their interests, we have a better shot of being successful with them, and I think this is on way to do that," Cannon said. "Some kids have these at home and game on them, if we can get some math and science involved then it's a win-win for everybody."
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