UT Researchers Study How VR Can Improve Learning and Accessibility
UTIA researchers explore how virtual reality technology could benefit agricultural education, improve student access to new learning opportunities, and increase overall interest in agriculture and farming careers. I am researching. Photo courtesy of UTIA
KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — Researchers at the University of Tennessee Agricultural Institute developed a virtual reality (VR) experience for agricultural education and to analyze the benefits of using this type of activity in the classroom, USDA-NIFA received a $500,000 grant from Led by Tyler Granberry, assistant professor in the University of Texas School of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication, the project uses VR to improve learning and participation in the classroom, while increasing student agricultural literacy and exposure. Train educators on how to career.
VR systems provide users with immersive experiences through advanced interactive technology, giving students and educators a realistic digital learning environment without the need to leave the classroom. By immersing students in agricultural experiences, VR can improve academic performance by providing easy access to mock tours, demonstrations, and other learning opportunities that were previously inaccessible.
The researchers will create the Agricultural Science Metaverse Academy, a learning program that brings together 28 agricultural science educators from Tennessee and Nebraska. These participants will participate in five days of in-person workshops, receive training to integrate VR technology into their classes, and create curricula utilizing the Metaverse, a fully interactive online environment. Each teacher will receive a class set of her 11 Meta Quest 2 VR headsets and her 360-degree camera to use to deliver the new curriculum. Over the next school year, researchers will analyze the benefits of her VR learning to determine if the technology is improving agricultural literacy and increasing students’ interest in farming careers.
“Our role as educators is to create an engaging and equitable learning environment that not only teaches but also inspires,” says Granberry. “The agricultural industry is so geographically diverse that VR technology can provide a deeply immersive way for students of all backgrounds to instantly move from the classroom to farms, forests, or production centers around the world. The implications of this technology are amazing, not only to improve agricultural literacy, but to enhance experiential learning in ways never thought possible.”
Grumberry will lead the project alongside Jamie Greig, Assistant Professor of Agriculture Leadership, Education and Communications at UT. Taylor Ruth, Assistant Professor, UT School of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication. Nathan Conner, Professor of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The three-year study is funded by: USDA-NIFA Through professional development programs for agricultural literacy.
The University of Tennessee Agricultural Institute touches and gives authenticity to people’s lives through its land grant mission of research, education and extension. life. solution. utia.tennessee.edu.
– Rebecca Ownby, UTIA
