You HAVE To Use Virtual Reality As A Writing Prompt.

I recently needed a short, engaging prompt to inspire my students to write.

---

The lesson focused on ‘show not tell’ when describing feelings –  i.e. instead of telling the reader how they felt “I was scared”, they show how the characters are feeling “my hands began to tremble and a cold pain shot up my spine”.

I thought, why not use virtual reality and see what effect it had?

---

Is it difficult to use VR in the classroom?

 The answer is no.  All you need is a set of cheap VR headsets (my class has 6), paired with smartphones or iPod touches.  Here’s how to set up:

---

I found a great 360 clip on YouTube of a rollercoaster ride; what better way to get the students thinking about feeling words!  Just put the phone in the VR headset, load the video and tap on the VR icon:

---

Watch how amazing VR was at immersing my students in the theme park adventure:

---

The writing produced was excellent and I am convinced VR increased the quality:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

---

Finally, here’s a handy graphic, showing you some more ways to use virtual reality in your lessons:

---

Have you used virtual reality to inspire students?  How?  Let me know by commenting below.