4th Entry: Cost and Capabilty of Classroom VR
Greetings,
While last week I focused on the
current applications of VR in classrooms with examples such as Dr. King’s VR
classroom (see previous entry), this week I want to look at feasibility of VR
classroom employment, primarily cost and capability. VR tech has grown
in popularity over the past ten or so years as made evident by the countless
videos of grandma falling out of her chair while wearing a VR headset that some
jerk set to play a shark attack on. With the popularity and the
advancements in programming software, prices for this technology have
decreased, but are still a huge factor when considering employment of VR tech
in a classroom. This week I decided to look at a couple of VR suites
that are commercially available:
Google
Expeditions VR Classroom Kit
Capacity: 30 students
Cost: $9,937.65
This unit comes with 30 each viewers
and student devices (similar to a smartphone), as well as a teacher’s tablet,
wireless router, charging stations, and a storage cart.
ASUS Google
Expeditions Student VR Kit (30 Pack)
https://www.mobileadvance.com/asus-google-expeditions-student-vr-kit-30-pack/
Capacity: 30 students
Cost: $8,199.00
This unit also comes with 30 each
viewers and student devices (similar to a smartphone), as well as a teacher’s
tablet, wireless router, charging stations, and a storage cart.
Oculus Go
Standalone, All-In-One VR Headset - 32 GB
Capacity: 1 student
Cost: $299.99
A single headset viewer that is a
stand-alone product (no smartphone required). Owned by Facebook, so
a Facebook account and login are obviously required. Empire Building
101, duh!
Cardboard Virtual
Reality Headset
Capacity: 1 student
Cost: $2.49
This is the bottom end
here. A cardboard DIY kit for turning your phone into a VR
viewer. The assembled viewer is capable of holding a 4-5 inch
smartphone (screen size).
So ultimately, my efforts
returned that for a classroom of thirty students it would cost anywhere between
$75 and $10,000 to outfit them with VR capability. Obviously,
considerations such as current student smartphone demographics and school
budgets must be made. Further, the software and data management for
a VR classroom should be factored in as well, but that is a topic for another
day. Until next time.
-Donny
Donny,
ReplyDeleteGreat Post. I think VR classrooms is a great idea. I think the prices as you shown and researched have decreased and are more affordable today but still is a nice chunk of change for some schools to be able to budget this platform. Also, moving students through the VR experience requires preparation and strategic planning from the teachers on how to incorporate students to this learning experience in my opinion. Nevertheless, this concept sounds interesting because of the great strides that has been done to continue to take advantage of all technological advances to enhance the learning experience. Thank you for your post.
Alex
Donny,
ReplyDeleteI find this post very interesting…showing how VR has decreased in cost since its inception. The costs still however are (in my opinion) very high. I would think if a school district wanted to use VR in a K-12 classroom that some arrangement or discount would be available. Training and maintenance of the VR equipment would be important as well so the educators and faculty can increase the longevity and use. Thank you for this information on VR and the analysis you provided.
v/r
Andy E.
Donny,
ReplyDeleteI really appreciated this blog post and like the examples with cost analysis associated in the post. I think VR in the classroom is very tricky and quite difficult. In my opinion, the schools have a requirement to meet all students needs the classroom, district, and state it belongs to. It seems to me it would be quite difficult to manage this technology with the population of some of our schools. The cost at the surface seems manageable but when you take into consideration all the variables each school system considers; this becomes difficult. I do not think any one child should have an advantage over another when it comes to education and with the benefits of VR to help students focus, practice soft skills, and exploration, I feel it gives an edge up on those students with access. Do not get me wrong the technology has serious benefits, but until we can bridge the cost gap and make it available to every child in America there is no place for it in the classroom. The bottom line for me is though it is an awesome technology, the schools are not equipped to pay or manage the ability to provide for every student in the classroom. Thanks for the blog post! Have a great day!
-Kevin
Donny,
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your previous posts I was excited about VR. Then I was curious what the cost would be. So thank you for answering that question. I do see that it could be considered expensive to outfit a classroom, but if you remember back to when we were kids in grade school, there was a computer lab that every one shared and would rotate through. Maybe something along those lines would make this more viable, like a VR room, that teachers could schedule when they wanted to walk their class across Gettysburg, or up a pyramid. I understand budget is a problem for schools but maybe the school districts will see the risk verse the reward and move in that direction. I enjoy your posts, keep them going.
Andy D.
Donny
ReplyDeleteGreat post on VR. I like that you added the cost. Its hard for a school district to spend this much on a product that in two to five years would be obsolete. That is the problem with technology. I remember in high school having the word processing printers with the tabs on the end that would pull the paper through. I went by the school two years later and they had to purchase new printers since the old ones did not work with the new version of Macintosh (I know I am old). I could name so many different products that schools paid tons of money for like floppy disks, betamax videos only to pay more money a few years later for a newer product. I know VR is not going away but three years from now we could be wearing glasses with VR so I would as an Educator not want to spend the money on VR.
Tammy
Donny,
ReplyDeleteI actually watched a ted talk on the cardboard headset that Google developed back in 2015. The reviews on them were positive and children seem to enjoy it. Obviously, the cost is a non-issue but the application far exceeds expectations. Almost every child these days have a cell phone, so schools would be smart to invest in the cardboard VR creation. However, I would not recommend it for much higher level of learning where Colleges and Universities can definitely afford the more expensive kits.
Donny,
ReplyDeleteGreat post, seeing how low the cost of these devices has come, gives me hope that we are closer to seeing them in the classroom than I previously thought. I tried to do some research to figure out what the life cycle of these would be. Couldn't find any information. I also looked for warranties, because usually the time a company guarantees the product, is about how long they last. That could become a big sticking point if they have to spend that much every couple of years. The sooner we get to this the sooner I get to teach from home, so I am all for it lol.
Donny, I was curious about the cost of VR for a classroom. I am thinking that maybe I could just make the cardboard version. I saw what they looked like and it looks doable. The others I am not certain about. I can see schools investing in this technology but I do not think it would be possible for all schools. That is the disappointing part. As always thank you for the information, now let me go find this cardboard...
ReplyDelete-Mandy
Donny,
ReplyDeleteI found myself wondering what the periphery costs are such as maintenance and updates for the systems. I was also curious about at what age this is appropriate for students. I saw another post about the cardboard DIY kit, and that almost every kid has a cell phone these days. Also, what about kids that do not have cell phones? Also, once a school has purchased the systems how much does content and updates for content cost? I am extremely interested in this technology but the old bureaucrat in me is always concerned about cost. I look forward to learning more from your blog in the coming weeks.
Mike W.
Donny,
ReplyDeleteI think that it is possible to cut the cost of outfitting a complete class and just creating one virtual room that can be shared within a grade level or school. If you recall, back when they were initially bringing computers into schools, everyone received a turn in the computer lab. This same concept can be the stepping stone to the VR world. Consolidating the cost, will help build the lessons that will be required to support this type of teaching or it can also be used as a culminating event or evaluation.
Walt