Immersing Students In History

The article, Immerse Your Students in History by Andrew Wheelock, is all about engaging today’s kids in History.  Andrew Wheelock describes his efforts to increase the appreciation of history by helping kids, teachers, and parents experience the events first hand. Through the use of a 3D simulator, Andrew and the creators of the application have developed a virtual reality that lets you experience what it was like to be in Amsterdam during the Holocaust. There are various interactive activities such as making a candle that would reveal a student’s reflective essay about the Holocaust if clicked.  They also align with Common Core State Standards so that teachers can use this in the classroom. It’s not just history that is applied in this program. Wheelock mentions students using math to measure and compare the rooms of the annex versus their own and even studying science by researching wildlife in Holland.  Although the intent of this app was to promote history, it can clearly be used for so much more than that. There has been so much success with this program that two more are being made. One is a medieval role paying game and the other focuses on the time period of the H.M.S Titanic.

    I think this is a really cool concept. Kids love playing video games and to be able to incorporate it into education is awesome. I know as a child I loved playing virtual reality games. To be able to customize an avatar and go out and see what it was like to live in another country during another time is amazing. Although the game obviously could not come close to explaining the emotions that people during that time were feeling, I think it is a good educational tool. I worry though that kids might just click through the various objects just to see what’s there without actually reading and thinking about it.

  The ideas in this article coincide with the creativity and innovation standard, the communication and collaboration standard, and the research and information fluency standard. Through students acting as curators of their own virtual Holocaust museum exhibit, the following standards are displayed: use models and simulations to explore complex issues, communicate information to multiple audiences, and finally to locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media.

   

    Wheelock, Andrew. (2012). Immerse Your Students in History. Learning & Leading with Technology, 26-27.