What if you could test run your dream job before entering the workforce? As a scientist in a lab or a marine biologist in the ocean? With the immersive learning capabilities of virtual spaces, some of our youngest students are being given that opportunity. Listen as Jessica Ochoa Hendrix, co-founder and CEO of Killer Snails, a virtual reality company building games for classrooms, along with Dr. Jacquelyn Morie and Dr. Skip Rizzo chat about how immersive learning is the future of education.

Key Takeaways:

[1:52] Before she was a technologist, Jessica Ochoa Hendrix was the Director of Organizational Learning at a charter school network called Uncommon Schools. At a secret science club, she saw the beginnings of what it would take to get more young people, particularly young women, interested in science. The beginnings of her company, Killer Snails was then formed as a way to make learning even more immersive and put the students into the role of scientists even further. Jessica and her team created BioDive, a VR game for the classroom, that uses virtual and augmented reality to ensure students are capable of doing the actual tasks that scientists do in the workplace.

[4:06] Dr. Morie speaks about how, from the early days, educators looked at VR as a kind of miracle medium. You can make something large or small, and we learn through embodiment.

[6:53] Jessica explains where the name Killer Snails came from. Just as deadly as these creatures can be, scientists have been using their venom to create therapeutic drugs, and the dichotomy highlights how science has incredible yet bizarre creatures constantly being studied and explored.

[7:32] The biggest challenge, Dr. Morie explains, is keeping up with a technology that is moving at light speed. We need schools to have supportive IT departments, so this technology can seem less daunting and overwhelming for teachers.

[12:13] Jessica believes we can use VR to help students and trainees at a new job by creating memorable experiences. This can help students see themselves as future professionals, and spark a passion for fulfilling their career dreams.

[14:20] Dr. Skip Rizzo talks about an example of a cognitive variable called mental rotation, where a large sample size of men outperformed women because of the way the task was presented. Noticing these biases as we build VR and augmented reality is extremely important to even the playing field and also debunking age-old biases in education.

[19:39] We can use world-building games like Minecraft and Fortnite to help students learn how to collaborate and lead, even with other children across different cities, states, and countries. Dr. Rizzo suggests this has the power to change how we perceive ourselves and one another.

[20:53] VR can help promote empathy, inclusion, and show us really what it feels like to walk in the shoes of someone different than us.

[22:50] It is very important to make sure that the creators building our virtual worlds are reflecting all of the realities that we currently have.

[24:11] VR gives users a deeper sense of agency than if they were watching TV because you are actually choosing your experience rather than being a passive participant.

Quotes:

• “VR speaks to our embodied self and we learn things through embodying it.” - 5:00 Dr. Morie
• “You need schools to have a good IT department that can support those teachers and make it less scary, and make their lives a little easier so they can convey the things that they do best to these students. - 10:40 Dr. Morie
• “It's really important to elicit this kind of emotional response from students and particularly girls and other people who are underrepresented in science to get this kind of emotional response because we want them to remember it.  - 14:25 Jessica
• “VR experiences are memorable not only because of their pseudo-physicality but because of their ability to evoke powerful emotions.” - 17:48  Jo
• “I think VR is going to be a powerful force in helping change behavior in a prosocial way in these areas to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.” - 20:34 Skip
• “If we are going to be putting people into simulations in which they are intended to have a bodied experience, we need to make sure that all kinds of bodies are being represented.”   - 22:16 Jo
• “It's not just making a story and putting someone in that story world, it's making an experience where the story arises from a person's choices and actions in that world.”  - 27:05 Dr. Morie 

Continue on your journey:

pega.com/podcast

Mentioned:

• Dr. Morie
• Dr. Rizzo
• Killer Snails
• Immersive Research Learning Network Conference
• BioDive!
• 1000 Cut Journey