There are several interesting crosscurrents flowing through education right now. On one hand, there has been tremendous growth in classical education, with more and more families looking to schools that eschew fads and focus on the timeless lessons of the Great Books. At the same time, there has been tremendous growth in educational technology, with more and more families and schools using computer-, tablet-, and phone-based resources to aid in the instruction of children.
In a school in development in Florida, old is meeting new. Optima Classical Academy, slated to open next school year, plans to use virtual reality and online learning to teach classical education. Sounds pretty wild, right? I sent some questions to Erika Donalds, President and CEO of the Optima Foundation, who is founding the school, and she graciously responded to them. Our lightly edited conversation is below:
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Mike McShane: Can you give us an overview of the Optima Foundation?
Erika Donalds: I started The Optima Foundation after serving a term on my local school board. At that time, I concluded that the problems in our education system can only be fixed with a robust free market where parents can vote with their feet. Prior to serving, I volunteered with other parents to start a charter school in my community, and I learned that many families are dissatisfied with the current education options available—even in the most desirable school districts. I wanted to ensure that every family who wants or needs, something different for their child can access it. I decided to leave my career in financial services in order to lend my expertise in compliance, operations and finance to bring high quality schools of choice, focused on the classical, virtue-based model of education, to parents across the country.
The culture of our organization is centered around “service,” which is one of seven pillars of virtue we teach our students. I’ve hired some of the most talented people I know to run the business operations of our charter schools, each a multi-million-dollar enterprise. We do this in service to our school leaders, allowing them to focus on servant-leadership of their teachers, who can in turn focus on serving students and families. Optima’s mission is to provide the maximum time and resources to the trusted academic professionals who are doing the most important work in education—directly meeting the needs of students.
McShane: What drew you to classical education?
Donalds: I have three sons who are each very different. When my middle son started kindergarten at our high-performing neighborhood public school, it just didn’t work well for him. I started looking into other options and discovered classical education.My son’s attitude towards learning changed completely. He was excited about all the knowledge he was acquiring and enjoyed reciting poetry to me, sharing the lessons in the great books he was reading, and reciting the virtues he was being taught. As I researched this knowledge-rich and virtue-based curriculum, I came to believe that it is far superior to the progressive education program in the traditional public schools, including those I attended growing up. My son knew more about history, geography, grammar, and literature in 2nd grade than I knew in my 30s! Not only was he receiving a superior academic experience, but moral character and civic virtue were infused throughout the curriculum. I just knew we needed to bring back this time-tested curriculum into the mainstream of American education as a major component of modern education reform efforts.
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McShane: You have argued that schooling needs to be decoupled from childcare, can you explain that?
Donalds: In this new, more flexible working environment, parents’ childcare needs are not all the same. Some families need full-time care during a traditional workday, some only require part-time, and some off-hours. In this age of technology and customization, why shouldn’t education and childcare be delivered a la carte to provide maximum flexibility for families? If a mother’s only free time with her children is from 8am-10am, wouldn’t it be best for them to start school after that (and have childcare) while mom is working? Our goal is to pair families with similar childcare needs together, deliver a more flexible, yet higher quality form of virtual education, and help families maximize their most precious asset—their time together.
McShane: Tell me about your new school, the Optima Classical Academy.
Donalds: Optima Classical Academy is the first and only classical virtual charter school. OCA will be available tuition-free to students in grades 3-8 across the state of Florida in August of 2022. What makes OCA unique is the classical model, currently unavailable in any other public virtual option, the virtual reality classroom, and finally, a focus on student independence.
Classical education delivers rich content knowledge which fosters a natural love for learning and thinking. Students learn about historical events, characters, stories, fables, poetry, scientific facts, and mathematical proofs. They read the classics as whole books in great depth and learn to approach books both with motivation to learn and courage to question. The principles of moral character and civic virtue, now absent from most public school classrooms, are fundamental to the classical curriculum.
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Each day at OCA, our scholars will receive live instruction in the metaverse—our virtual reality classroom that could be anywhere from the ancient theater in Pompeii to a prehistoric watering hole. Scholars experience an immersive, collaborative, and socially appropriate experience with their instructor and peers unlike any other virtual school available.
OCA is organized to empower students to work through the material and program independently, without a facilitator in the home. During the pandemic, parents were frustrated with how much assistance was needed just to move from one activity to another
McShane: How much of a child’s day will be spent in virtual reality?
Donalds: Scheduled live sessions total approximately three hours a day for four days a week, so around 10-12 hours weekly. The remainder of the curriculum is experienced either online in two dimensions, outdoors on projects and assignments, or traditionally, such as with paper books. Each component of the classical education model was evaluated to determine the most effective delivery method (live, asynchronous, online or analog) as the curriculum program was built. The virtual reality component provides online students with a “classroom” experience, where they can receive instruction, interact with their teacher and peers, and build relationships unlike in “Zoom school”.
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McShane: What will their experience look, sound, and feel like?
Donalds: OCA scholars will be transported from their homes into a virtual classroom environment like no other. In the traditional online delivery model, students are staring at a two-dimensional screen with the “checkboard of faces” and the audio is consistently lagging. Teachers are managing more than 20 different classrooms as students deal with distractions at home. On our virtual reality platform, scholars are immersed together as avatars in a traditional-looking and -feeling VR classroom and can be transported again to whatever learning environment is relevant to the lesson. For example, while our 3rd grade scholars are reading The Whipping Boy, they can be in a castle setting, more closely aligned with the context and setting of the book. Marine biology studies can be done underwater. A study of the United States Constitution can include a visit to the Constitutional Convention. This additional element of learning leads to deeper understanding and better Socratic discourse.
McShane: Why hasn’t anyone created a virtual reality school before?
Donalds: Prior to the pandemic, virtual reality headsets were prohibitively expensive and needed to be tethered to an expensive computer. Thanks to advancements in technology, reasonably priced standalone headsets are now available, which has increased access and scalability. We anticipate that our virtual reality school will be the first to offer a complete curriculum in VR, but we will not be the last. Many projections suggest that we will have a billion VR headsets users by 2027. Education leaders around the world are analyzing how COVID-19 will change the education landscape, and we believe that more virtual learning, including VR, and greater flexibility in access will be part of those changes. However, we at Optima Domi are also asking what must stay reliably constant despite all the changes that have come from a post pandemic world. We want to maintain a love for the Great Books and a focus on teaching civic virtue. The only way to teach virtue online is through the common courtesy of connection that only virtual reality can deliver.
The conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity
So, in summary virtual reality helps education by creating immersive lessons that are engaging, memorable and impactful for students. These VR experiences improve learning outcomes and help students build important interpersonal skills such as empathy, collaboration, and social skills needed for the future.
VR is a technology that can transform graduates' skillsets immediately recognized through practical applications. Learning through play, first-hand experiences and applied knowledge creates a more appealing environment for students and results in much stronger skillsets.
Virtual reality enhances learning and ensures that students are engaged. The significance of VR is to transform educational content by creating a virtual world. A real and imagined world is created, which helps a student to understand what is being taught. It allows learners to see and interact with a virtual world.
Simply put, the term Virtual Reality is used to characterize an interactive three-dimensional computer-generated environment or a 3D computer simulation which an individual can explore and experience.
These benefits include examples such as risk reduction, reduced time taken to train staff, increased contextualization, cost savings, emotional responses, and memory retention.
Educators can utilize VR technology to fully immerse learners into whatever they are studying. Instead of depending on textbook material to teach concepts, educators can lead learners into virtual environments where they can obtain a 360-degree view of whatever they are learning.
Virtual reality improves teamwork and social skills through creating exciting, collaborative learning environments. Students can safely communicate and investigate learning topics virtually in pairs, groups in the educational metaverse – all of which benefits interaction and collaboration in the classroom!
VR enhances education. According to educator Micah Shippee, PhD, this technology is changing education for the better, providing affordable learning tools that will bring more benefits to schools. VR will solve problems and take education to the next level.
Innovative technology is transforming the traditional ways of education. Just as Napster and later iTunes transformed the way we listen to music, or Wikipedia changed the way we access information, the way we learn is set to change dramatically in the coming decade.
The use of VR technology positively impacts students' perceptions of their experience. They value the VR assistance to help them better understand the vector concepts in the class, and some value the tool even if its use does not count toward credit. Students' perceptions agree with their learning.
Our study confirmed that a boring virtual (online) learning method, stress, fear of examinations, and decreased productivity were significantly associated with increased depression. In addition, 75% and 79% of the students suffered from stress and fear of examinations, respectively.
Developing More Content. One of the biggest challenges faced by virtual reality in education is the lack of content. The fact is that developing more content can be very expensive, and not every educational institute has the means to hire a software development company to help them produce content.
Virtual Reality (VR) is a computer-generated environment with scenes and objects that appear to be real, making the user feel they are immersed in their surroundings. This environment is perceived through a device known as a Virtual Reality headset or helmet.
In 2010, when the contemporary VR headset began to emerge, their integration in schools became more widespread. PC-connected VR headsets allowed students to zoom in on parts of a desktop screen and "immerse" themselves in an image.
Virtual reality is the creation and application of a simulated world. This virtual world is separate from the one the user experiences on a daily basis. Despite being a completely fabricated realm, designers of virtual reality have the goal of making the world as believable as possible.
The immersive nature of VR provides the flexibility to create various types of environments or experiences. Accordingly, VR can be used to experience situations that are hard to come by in real life, or that can be dangerous to go through in real life.
Regardless of where the teachers and students are, a virtual classroom allows them to connect and learn without having to physically travel to the school. This way, cost-effective quality education can reach students around the globe conveniently.
Online learning is not only more effective for students, but it is also better for the environment. Online courses consume 90% less energy and release 85% less CO2 per student than traditional in-person courses, according to the Open University in the United Kingdom.
The power to move from one place to another inside a virtual world and the ability to change the environment are the best interactivity elements that VR can provide. The virtual environment should provide users with an environment in which they are completely immersed.
While students get more attention in classrooms, online learning is technology-dependent. If the teacher is successful in bringing a productive outcome through online classes, it can be a highly beneficial experience. There, the effort from both sides can make the learning process worthwhile.
More Interaction and Greater Ability to Concentrate
While not true for every student, studies suggest that students who are shy participate in online class discussions more easily than face-to-face. Some students also report better concentration in online classes due to the lack of classroom distractions.
In VR-based courses, it is just learners and software, and this can deteriorate the relationship between students and instructors. The lack of flexibility in VR-based classrooms can be a disadvantage for students, as education is not a fixed activity, and each student learns at a different pace.
But now the question arises whether online learning will replace school classes. Traditional schooling and online school learning both have unique advantages. Ideally, people should learn to make the best use of both systems. But school classes should not be replaced by online learning.
With virtual school, students can complete lessons at their own pace. They can take extra time with subjects that are more difficult for them. Kids who excel can move ahead to the next lesson when they are ready – they don't have to complete busy work while they wait for the rest of the class to catch up.
Teachers in all-remote environments reported higher student absenteeism and less student work completion than teachers in face-to-face classrooms. These online teachers also said that they needed more support and guidance in planning instruction than their colleagues who were teaching in-person.
Time management is one of the most common struggles for diverse learners taking class online. Without physical boundaries or physical location changes it can be hard for students to organize their thoughts and time and know when to switch their attention from one subject to another.
In their newest findings, they share that families reported a rise in temper tantrums, anxiety, and a poor ability to manage emotions, especially among the young elementary-aged children during remote learning.
Virtual learning is flexible, and there are no restrictions on getting late to the class or missing out on lectures, etc. With fewer limitations and more ease, learners can complete their respective courses taking their own sweet time and whenever it is feasible for them.
Virtual Reality is essential for the growth and expansion of the metaverse industry. The technology supports the vision of metaverse clusters by aiding in creating the 3D virtual world. With VR, users can immerse themselves in interactive experiences that are hard to access in the physical environment.
Virtual reality is a simulated 3D environment that enables users to explore and interact with a virtual surrounding in a way that approximates reality, as it is perceived through the users' senses.
Through these materials, they get the right amount of knowledge that will get them ready for the next grade. An online school has an entirely different schedule compared to a regular school, and the way this learning material is sorted and presented plays a huge role.
What Is Virtual Reality? Virtual reality is the use of computer technology to create simulated environments. Virtual reality places the user inside a three-dimensional experience. Instead of viewing a screen in front of them, users are immersed in and interact with 3D worlds.
Introduction: My name is Stevie Stamm, I am a colorful, sparkling, splendid, vast, open, hilarious, tender person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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