A London school has become the first in the UK to host a virtual reality conference focused on education.
Putney High School hosted Virtual Reality: The Future of Education, which featured speakers from Google, PwC and Pearson, and showcased educational VR technology.
The equipment allowed pupils and conference delegates – mainly teachers and senior staff from other schools – to swim through the Great Barrier Reef and travel back to a medieval version of London, all from the comfort of the school’s performing arts centre.
Speakers discussed the benefits of virtual and augmented reality, including how it could encourage pupils to be more critical of subjects through virtual experiences.
The school is already committed to technology in classrooms, with 360 degree cameras helping teachers to review pupils’ behaviour and provide feedback on their engagement.
Conference organiser and head of digital innovation and learning at the school, Andy Perryer, said: “This is a particularly exciting platform for education and we have leading experts in the field to showcase how they see VR impacting on education now and in the future.
“Putney High School prides itself on being technologically forward thinking; our VR in Education conference is a schools’ first.”
Main image: Student digital ambassadors Sarah Wensley, left, and Sophie Wylie
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