LAURENS COUNTY, Ga. — Many schools canceled field trips once the pandemic hit, but Laurens County students can still see the world without ever leaving the classroom through the use of VR.
East Laurens Elementary fifth grader Demarcio Holliman and his classmates Mason Lopez and Joanna Strickland used 3D virtual reality goggles for the first time at school.
"It felt like I was on vacation. I didn't want to come out of those goggles," Holliman said.
"We got to see things such as the 9/11 Memorial and the Solar System," Lopez said.
"It really brought learning to life and we were able to look around and see all the places that we were learning about in class," Strickland said.
Their principal saw schools in Atlanta were using the goggles. She brought the idea back to Media Specialist Anna Collins.
"There are no field trips allowed this year, so students are able to visit anywhere with this. [Most] of the time they'd go to the zoo at the end of the year or to the Coca-Cola factory in Atlanta. We can't do that, so they're able to now with this virtual reality set," she said.
The screen inside the goggles is programmed to follow the teacher's iPad. Collins can choose from over 100 places to show her students.
"They love it. I really feel like it takes what they're learning to a whole new level and it really helps to just implant that in their mind and helps them retain the information better," Collins said.
"It helps me gain a better understanding of like what it looks like and the details of it," Lopez said.
"It was really a dream come true, cause like I always dreamed to go to places like that but with the coronavirus I couldn't really go nowhere," Holliman said.
They have 25 goggles, which cost about $8,000 total, covered by federal funds.
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