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Virtual reality, or VR, is taking off in education with an increasing number of schools adopting the technology. Katrin Soika, a Chemistry teacher at Gustav Adolf Grammar School in Tallinn, Estonia tested Futuclass VR models and equipment in their chemistry lessons for their secondary education students. As a result, students showed an ​average of 68 % improvement​ in a test taken after learning the metal oxides during a 30-minute lesson using VR compared to the results before.

## Chemistry is an abstract field and therefore quite difficult to comprehend for students


> “As a chemistry teacher, I know that some of my students hate chemistry although I really hope I am able to show the value of chemistry and they would like to come to my lessons”, admits Katrin Soika, a Chemistry teacher at Gustav Adolf Grammar School.

Making chemistry lessons engaging and understandable for students is a great challenge for many teachers who are passionate about their subject. “There are various kinds of chemical reactions that remain so abstract to students making it difficult to understand. As a result, they become bored, disengaged, and usually question why they are learning the topic in the first place”, explains Katrin Soika with 20 years in education. 

## With VR Chemistry classes students have an opportunity to learn by doing rather than passively reading.

The abstract level of the subject and poor engagement were the main reasons why the chemistry teacher at Gustav Adolf School tried to find more innovative and engaging ways to make knowledge transfer easy, quick, and effective. 

When they wanted to put together chemistry lessons on a more visual level the school was lacking the needed materials, lab, and safety equipment. Therefore, Katrin Soika decided to try VR classes for chemistry. 
Understandably, Katrin Soika was a little hesitant to start experimenting with the Virtual Reality lessons. “At first I was a bit afraid because I didn't know how to use VR devices in my chemistry classes. Furthermore, how to build up meaningful classes while having 36 students in the  class and only 11 Oculus sets to use?” 

After testing different approaches, the best results proved to be with group work and paper worksheets. Students with VR headsets were expected to communicate what was going on and solve the worksheets together with the students without the VR sets. 

Several studies have revealed that first-hand experience is four times more effective than traditional theory learning.  “I believe that we should mix the experience from VR equipment and practical work and this would be effective learning,” admits Katrin Soika.

According to Ms Soika, virtual reality offers a new vision of life sciences, which makes it easier for students to understand complicated concepts such as atoms or molecules. With the help of technology, students can see how certain substances react with others at different temperatures or pressures, which helps them to improve their understanding in class or at home when doing homework assignments related to these topics.

> “We need to improve the quality of education, and Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality experiences are becoming a key component of STEM education. It's engaging, realistic, and allows students to experience situations that otherwise would be dangerous or too expensive,” says Katrin Soika enthusiastically about the benefits of virtual reality in education.



## 68% better chemistry test scores after learning with Virtual reality 

With VR education, learners are inspired to discover for themselves. Students have an opportunity to learn by doing rather than passively reading or listening. After the VR chemistry lessons students were surveyed about their experience and the results were significant. The survey revealed that students showed an ​average of 68 % improvement​ in a test taken after learning with Futuclass VR lessons compared to the results before the 30-minute VR lesson. 


> “In our conducted survey, 75 % of students stated that chemistry became more interesting for them than it was before and 81% agreed that they would like to continue using VR devices in the lessons”. 


## Besides improving the tests scores, Katrin Soika counted other properties that make a virtual reality in education so powerful: 


  - In VR it's possible to visualize abstract chemical processes during the studies (it is easier to understand abstract chemical processes that are invisible and at the microscopic level).
- VR approach provides more than just a visual representation; it allows students to actually experience chemical reactions first-hand through simulations and experiments. 
- VR immersive experience makes learning an active, collaborative process. Students must explain and describe the experience, which increases engagement and communication.
- Personalized approach. VR classes offer the flexibility to hand out models according to students' needs.
- VR lessons decrease chemistry anxiety among students. 



Soika says one of the best things about using VR is that it has made learning more fun for both students and teachers: “The atmosphere during lessons changes totally when we use virtual reality glasses instead of just looking at diagrams on the blackboard with our eyes only. Now when we go into the classroom with the VR boxes, students are excited and looking forward to my chemistry class”, shares Katrin.




Twenty-first-century classrooms will be technologically advanced places of learning, with VR technology significantly increasing students’ engagement and learning. Futuclass teaches STEM subjects to secondary school students through gamified experiences in Virtual Reality. Each study module has been co-created with educational experts and passed the test with the target age group for learning value. The Futuclass team knows that students learn better with real-time feedback and in a distraction-free environment where it is fun to experiment. 

Talk to our experts and [book a demo here](https://futuclass.com/)


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How VR lessons increased chemistry test scores by 68 % in a leading Estonian grammar school

Revolutionary new teaching methods have given more responsibility to students to direct themselves. This self-directed learning approach has led to huge improvements in learning goals by engaging students on a deeper, more enjoyable level.

Particularly with the COVID-19 pandemic, self-directed learning has emerged as a fantastic solution to the lack of engagement currently experienced with remote learning. [Only 25% of students and teachers have found online teaching as effective as its classroom equivalent, and 1.6 billion children have been learning remotely in the past year.](https://eonreality.com/self-directed-learning-initiative-pr/) The disengagement problem is immense.

But with self-directed learning, and combining it with the help of virtual reality technology, students can learn quickly and effectively from anywhere, whether it’s at school or at home.

In this article, we’ll dive deeper into what self-directed learning is, what its advantages are, how VR can be used, and some of the benefits of virtual reality education. Read on to learn about these modern learning solutions for your students.

### What Is Self-Directed Learning?

Also known as autodidacticism, self-directed learning broadly means a learning environment where the learner is in charge of their own lessons.

Rather than being guided by a teacher lecturing at a blackboard, self-directed learning allows students to take their education into their own hands. It gives them the freedom to explore and interact with open-ended problems, coming up with unique, creative solutions.

Instead of having right-or-wrong answers to strictly concrete questions, students are free to follow their intuition and experience to come up with answers. For example, in a chemistry lab, a student could be given several known compounds and asked to use them to identify an unknown compound with a few different instruments.

The student gets to work. With their instruments, they notice that they can measure mass and volume quite easily, and they also can perform a flame test. Of the known compounds, they note the density of each material and the color that shines when placed in the flame. Then, they take the unknown material, calculate its density, and note its color in the flame. The unknown material’s properties are identical to one of the compounds, and the student thus deduces the identity of the unknown as being the same as the compound it matches.

Note the difference between this method of learning and the traditional lecture-based (or even lab-based) approach. With traditional learning methods, students are tediously guided through each step of the process, being told what to do - first, calculate density, then note the flame color, then compare. The procedure is predetermined, and there is not much for the student to discover.

With self-directed learning, on the other hand, the student is encouraged to look at the resources they have available and creatively come up with ways to use them to solve problems and integrate new information.

### Advantages Of Self-Directed Learning
![2222.png](/uploads/2222_18d8ad061d.png)

*Self-directed learning allows students to follow their own curiosity and discover new lessons about the world around them*

Because of its open-ended and experiential approach, self-directed learning offers several key advantages over traditional lectures that have been widely documented in [scientific research.](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10055-019-00381-1)

Since students are allowed to follow their own direction, the learning process becomes exploratory, making it both engaging and fun. Rather than being told what to do and going down an already-discovered path with already-known results, students are encouraged to experience the results for themselves. The fact that they don’t know what is going to happen sparks their anticipation, charging their insights with excitement and helping them remember the lessons better.

Allowing students to follow their own direction also helps them develop their creative problem-solving skills. Perhaps they try to solve a problem one way, but then don’t come up with the answer. They then will take a step back, have another look at the problem, and come up with new ways to approach it until they find the right answer.

With self-directed learning, students take an active, participatory role in their own education. They are taught to explore, question, react, and respond to their experiences as they discover them. Beyond the lesson concepts themselves, this method of creative thinking is invaluable for kids and will serve them for the rest of their lives.

### Using Virtual Reality For Self-Directed Learning
![iywcis.png](/uploads/iywcis_12ea2fd24f.png)

*Virtual reality provides a fun, engaging, and immersive environment for students to learn in*

In the past few years, virtual reality education has supercharged the efficacy of self-directed learning, allowing students to experience a huge variety of new situations to solve in an engaging, first-person way.

The possibilities for VR lessons are endless, and they are all fully immersive for students. Instead of performing experiments in labs, VR allows science education to come to the students instead. To enter the lab, just put on your headset.

The virtual lab is fully customizable, of course, so students can be given any lab to perform and practice. They can be given instruments and materials on a benchtop and a simple guiding problem such as “identify this compound using these other compounds and these instruments.” In no time, the student gets to work, testing each compound and scrupulously noting its properties.

VR can be used from anywhere, making self-directed VR learning well-suited for remote learning and homeschooling. All that is needed is the headset and a few guiding questions. Students are then free to explore and discover new knowledge for themselves.

### Benefits of VR Self-Directed Learning

When students are in the virtual world and the virtual lab, they have access to a huge variety of experiences. But besides that, they approach them in a unique way that maximizes their learning.

VR lessons are fully immersive, making students feel like they are actually there, performing experiments. Students feel that their actions are consequential, and they scarcely notice they’re in a learning environment, making them highly engaged.

Thankfully, the student's actions are only consequential in the virtual world, so if they perform a dangerous experiment and accidentally combine sulfuric acid with organic compounds, the resulting explosion will not harm the student. It is much better to make this mistake virtually rather than in the real world.

Another advantage is that students can repeat their experiments as many times as they would like. If they try the experiment one way and don’t get good results, then they are free to reset the lab with the push of a button and try again.

Students receive immediate feedback on their results, so they know when they’ve succeeded or failed at their task. This encourages them to strive for their goals, which require them to absorb their lessons along the way.

Besides teaching students in a much more engaging way, self-directed VR lessons allow students to approach problems creatively, building on all the benefits of self-directed learning. Instead of a simple classroom self-directed learning activity, where the word “activity” alone can give students an ounce of boredom, VR lessons are more like games for students to play. When in the virtual world, students forget that they’re at school in the first place, and just enjoy the experience as they live it.

VR learning is well-suited to the modern world and will prepare students with digital skills that will accompany them for their entire lives. By integrating VR technology into education, particularly science education, students will be more comfortable using it later on.

### Summary

Self-directed learning has countless benefits for usage in the classroom, as does virtual reality education. By combining the two, virtual self-directed lessons give students an opportunity to explore unique worlds and concepts in an engaging, fun way. Not only do students enjoy their lessons much more, but they retain the information much better and gain valuable critical thinking skills and comfort with digital technology that will serve them for years to come.

#### Additional Reading:
https://eonreality.com/self-directed-learning-initiative-pr/

https://eonreality.com/self-directed-learning-with-the-avr-platform/

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wmn8jq7e9u8oo4y/16.%20Remote%20Self%20Directed%20AVR%20Learning%203000%20Students%2030%2C000%20Leasons%20v2.pdf?dl=0

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10055-019-00381-1

https://www.strivr.com/blog/defining-immersive-learning/

https://hbr.org/2020/09/is-vr-the-future-of-corporate-training

https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teaching-tips/tips-students/self-directed-learning/self-directed-learning-four-step-process


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Step Towards Self-Directed Learning

Virtual reality has emerged in the past decade as a powerful tool, expanding our perception of things that aren’t immediately discernible or accessible. It can transport us to faraway worlds, act like a microscope to examine tiny objects or create new experiences for us to participate in.

At Futuclass, we use virtual reality to teach concepts in chemistry and STEM with VR’s many benefits. Here are a few of the best aspects of virtual reality education, and some of the unique subjects that we can visualize with it.


### Virtual Reality Education
In the past, education has always meant sitting in a classroom, listening to a teacher lecture, and showing concepts on a board at the front of the room. Sitting still for 8 hours can be quite a challenge, and it’s hard for students to stay focused the entire time. Much of the lesson is lost, and students with ADHD and other learning disabilities struggle especially.

Virtual reality provides an engaging alternative. While the first virtual reality devices were used for entertainment purposes, in recent years, virtual reality education has become much more popular. Studies have shown the benefits of using VR lessons to engage students more effectively with hands-on experiences. 

Instead of sitting in a classroom all day, with virtual reality education, students can enter an immersive new world of unique experiences. Kids love to explore these worlds and interact with them. The experiences can contain embedded lessons about history, science, or countless other topics, providing both education and entertainment. This also makes VR perfect for help with homeschooling.

Particularly, virtual reality has great potential for science education because of its ability to visualize the invisible and to provide interactive experiments. Students can enter the virtual world and examine all manner of scientific objects that they otherwise might not have access to because they’re too small, too big, too expensive, or too dangerous.

Here are a few examples of the things VR lessons can show that will revolutionize science education by visualizing the invisible:


### Small Things
![iki.png](/uploads/iki_dcc86ae91a.png)

The world is made up of tiny particles like atoms that can be easily seen in VR

In 1668, Anton von Leeuwenhoek invented the first microscopes for use in science. He quickly discovered a world of tiny bacteria and cells, changing biology forever. A little more than three centuries later, virtual reality now provides an easy alternative.

Virtual reality headsets can be used to show the tiniest objects, from cells to molecules to atoms. They save the trouble of setting up a microscope, which is both challenging to use and lacks the resolution to see the nanosphere.

In a VR lesson, students can visualize cells and probe their different organelles. They’ll see the nucleus, the mitochondria, the ribosomes, the lysosomes, and more as they float around the cytoplasm, enclosed within the cell membrane. Instead of having to view these organelles drawn roughly on a blackboard, they can see intricate digital renderings before their eyes.

Besides biology, VR lessons can be used to teach chemistry. Atoms and molecules aren’t visible to the naked eye, nor are they even visible to traditional microscopes. But with our interactive experiments, students can view molecules and the atoms that make them up, and hold them in their hands.

For example, consider water. In our VR course, students can see water molecules, demonstrating how the two hydrogen atoms bond around a central oxygen. But VR lessons can also be used to show the intermolecular forces (hydrogen bonds) between water molecules. They can even visualize phases by examining the different structures of ice, liquid water, and steam.

As another example: it’s obvious that graphite and diamond are different substances. But why? Both have the same chemical formula - they are both pure carbon.

With VR, students could pick up a block of graphite and zoom in to notice its chemical structure. They note that each carbon atom is bonded to three others. They put down the graphite block, and examine a diamond stud next to it. In the virtual world, they zoom in and see - Ah! Each carbon atom is bonded to four others in a diamond. The two materials have the same chemical formula but a different physical structure; they are called allotropes.

Rather than being lectured, students can discover for themselves what these materials are and how they are different by visualizing them in minute detail. This makes virtual reality education far more engaging and enjoyable for students, making them more likely to remember their discoveries.


### Invisible Things
![uc.png](/uploads/uc_49fb2b99eb.png)

Visualize and control gas pressures in immersive VR laboratories

Each second, around 100 trillion neutrinos pass through the human body. These tiny particles are released by fusion in the sun. They travel at the speed of light, have no mass, and don’t interact with just about anything. Yet when balancing nuclear chemical reactions, neutrinos are created because spin must be conserved.

How could you conceptualize something that is massless, incredibly fast, and doesn’t interact?

You could do it the old way, talking about it on a chalkboard and saying why it matters and how it’s created, but you’re more likely to confuse your students than teach them something meaningful.

With virtual reality education, showing a neutrino is easy: you can show the field of moving particles, moving quickly, and not interacting. You could also show how they are produced in the Sun’s core, and how they travel immensely quickly.

Another great example is air and other gases. Air is everywhere, but it is invisible and cannot easily be visualized. At the atomic level, air consists of countless gas particles flying around very quickly. Students can be shown a container of gas, and see the different particles flying around.

What about gas pressure? Students can increase the number of particles in their gas container, and they can note an increase in the measured pressure that they record on their virtual instrument. Or, they could make the container larger, and note the decrease in the pressure that they measure.

Students thus can experimentally discover what gases are, and how pressure changes with volume or number of molecules, with a simple interactive experiment in our VR class module. Doing this in the lab at school would be immensely impractical and extremely challenging to visualize, and wouldn’t be nearly as effective at teaching the concept.


### Big Things
![dord.png](/uploads/dord_83db41f7a5.png)

Visualize the giant expanse of space in virtual reality

The Sun is quite far away, and Jupiter too. Students have been told that the Sun is far larger than both the Earth and Jupiter. But how could they fully grasp this without having visualized it?

With virtual reality, it’s easy. With their headsets on, students can be taken out to space and shown the Sun alongside Jupiter and the Earth before their eyes. They instantly grasp the enormity of the Sun, which is 1.3 million times the volume of the Earth, and they gaze at it with a new feeling of wonder.

They can zoom out further, and locate our sun in its local cluster of stars. Now they’re looking at a reference frame on the order of tens of light-years.

Or how about taking an even bigger step back, and examining the intricate beauty of the spiral Milky Way Galaxy? Or the Virgo Supercluster of galaxies?

Showing students scales of this size is utterly impossible, and incomprehensible, using normal learning methods. With virtual reality, students are given a lens to move around with, giving them an immersive, more complete sense of scale and dimension that they are free to explore, helping them visualize giant objects like stars and galaxies.

Besides, with VR education applications, teachers can highlight the important viewing objects for their students to note, showing the Milky Way inside the huge Virgo Supercluster, the Sun inside the Milky Way, and the Earth inside the solar system.


### Dangerous Things
![bes.png](/uploads/bes_9d66baa4ca.png)

Safely handle dangerous chemicals in virtual labs

Metal sodium is highly reactive, and dropping a small chunk of it in a glass of water leads to a not-so-small explosion. If you move down sodium’s group in the Periodic Table - known as the alkali metals - the elements get progressively more reactive, and more explosive.

Science teachers would never dare put their students in the same classroom as pure sodium, potassium, rubidium, or cesium metals. This is quite disappointing because students would very easily understand and remember these metals’ reactivity if they simply saw the boom that each of them makes.

With virtual reality, students can do the interactive experiment themselves. They can safely experiment on sodium, potassium, and countless other metals to examine their reactivity. They’re sure to remember the differences between each metal, and it becomes easy for teachers to crystallize the concept of reactivity.

It’s important to remember that virtual reality provides a way to learn that doesn’t feel tedious or boring for students. Performing interactive experiments in VR is not only engaging but also fun!


### Expensive Things
![alti.png](/uploads/alti_e78b546230.png)

An unlimited amount of silver, gold and other expensive materials are at your fingertips in virtual reality

Immerse a copper wire in a solution of silver nitrate, and you’ll slowly see silver start to form on the surface of the wire. This is a beautiful example of a single replacement reaction.

But you read that right: silver nitrate is, as you might expect, quite expensive. Many schools don’t readily have access to such an expensive material, and even the ones that do would be wise to use it sparingly.

Virtual reality easily solves this problem by providing free repeatable experiments. Once you’ve purchased the module for the reaction, you can run it as many times as you want, and you’ll never have to buy more expensive silver nitrate.

All your students can perform this reaction as many times as they would like, and you’ll never have to pay an extra dime. We believe that cost shouldn’t hold students back from learning important concepts in chemistry, and over the long run, virtual reality education can save your school thousands of dollars.


### Summary
Virtual reality has immense power to visualize things that are invisible or difficult to work with, giving it a huge potential for applications in science education. With our virtual reality headsets and our VR education applications, your students can engage with the tiny world of cells and atoms, the invisible world of neutrinos and gases, the huge world of galaxies and stars, the dangerous world of, well, chemistry experiments, and their learning won’t be limited by economic costs. These are just a few of the infinite possibilities for lessons.

Whether it’s being used in the classroom or for chemistry homeschooling, VR will help students make discoveries on their own and engage them so that they’ll remember lessons vividly. At Futuclass, we believe this is a better way of learning science - it’s the way of the future.


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Visualize The Invisible: The Power Of Virtual Reality

The concept of virtual reality has been closely linked to gaming in the minds of the public, and even some in the tech world. But the virtual reality in education is making a big footprint, with limitless potential to become one of the most successful teaching tools of the 21st century. 
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## How Will Virtual Reality in Education Change How We Learn and Teach?

Liz Kolb was an associate professor of education and learning technologies at the University of Michigan.  In 2011, she developed an educational model that focuses on three components. She proposes that educators should consider thinking about these three components before adding any technology teaching tool.  This framework is meant to help coach teachers and administrators to decide on the overall impact of their technology choices. These three components, known as the [“Triple E” framework](https://www.tripleeframework.com/about.html) are:
1. **E**xtend Learning: Does the technology tool extend learning outside of a student’s typical school day?  Does it connect students with everyday life experiences?
2. **E**nhance Learning:  Does the technology tool offer students a more in-depth, enhanced, or angled approach to the subject matter?
3. **E**ngage Learning:  Does the technology tool help curb distraction and motivate students?  Will they be active participants in their own learning? Does it increase student engagement?
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![people-2562207__340.jpg](/uploads/people_2562207_340_7ea1103334.jpg)

Virtual reality in the classroom ticks all of those boxes.  It’s as if the checklist was developed specifically for VR classroom technologies.  Bringing VR into the classroom at any age group can extend and enhance learning while engaging students.  

Some apps even allow teachers to design their own virtual reality lessons.  The ability to customize the experience to any subject gives VR limitless versatility. The future of education will be directly impacted by edTech tools like VR, AR, and MR (Mixed Reality) mediums to supercharge lesson plans.
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## Implementing Virtual Reality in Middle School

Homeschool parents, public school administrators, and even smaller private schools are quickly realizing the value of virtual reality in education.  Middle school is perhaps the most difficult adjustment period for students, both academically and socially.  It’s a tough and awkward time for many.

![istockphoto-143071473-170667a.jpg](/uploads/istockphoto_143071473_170667a_433481d864.jpg)

VR lessons, labs, and experiences can inject excitement into the awkward atmosphere in a middle school classroom.  Bridging social barriers with exciting new technology can promote student curiosity, engagement, and success in the classroom.  

Middle school years tend to bring about a heightened level of rigor - those classes are getting more difficult!  Specifically, middle school science becomes more focused on project-based learning and putting the scientific method into practice.   

Keeping students on top of academic requirements with a technology tool like VR in the classroom prepares them to move on to even higher learning standards in high school.  

One of the negative impacts of middle school years is a loss of interest in academics. Social priorities tend to take center stage.  Conversely - elementary students cling to that “love of learning”, which inevitably diminishes as they age.  The impact of technology like virtual reality can lengthen the period of time that students truly love learning.  This can be life-changing for their educational journeys.
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## Implementing Virtual Reality in High School

Imagine spending hours in a lecture-style class, pouring over a textbook.  You’re trying to understand how to balance a chemical equation.  You’ve watched a video, read a textbook, taken notes, and completed practice problems.  But you’re still unsure if you’ve done the last example problem correctly.

![photo-1584418879404-85eb6c39c30c.avif](/uploads/photo_1584418879404_85eb6c39c30c_743b23e284.avif)

In fact, this balancing chemical equations unit is new material.  You know it’s important, but it’s far beyond what you’ve been presented in the scope of your middle school science classes. Memorizing the periodic table and using its information to solve a math equation is difficult at best and boring for certain.  

Imagine being able to practice balancing those equations with hands-on gamified virtual reality lessons in a risk-free digital environment.  It’s a game.  It’s a video.  It’s a lesson.  It’s. FUN.  Before you know it, your score has improved, because you understand the concept, after **physically balancing the equation by hand.**

It’s this kind of immersion that translates complex high school material into a solid knowledge base during critical years.  High school students are making real decisions about their future, their careers, and their opinions of their abilities in academia.  

Educators are vying for every tool available to give their students a leg up on peers - and an edge that could set them up for success in their post-secondary education and careers. Virtual reality in education is quickly becoming a tool of choice.
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## Implementing Virtual Reality in Homeschool Classrooms

Homeschool parents face their own set of challenges.  There are limits to what can be included in a homeschool curriculum when learning occurs in the home.  Field trips can be lackluster. Daily physical education is limited to what can be done without a full-sized gymnasium.  School laboratories, filled with equipment and materials, are not always at the ready.  

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Virtual reality in the homeschool classroom can hurdle many of those obstacles.  Field trips can travel across the globe without ever leaving the dining room.  Virtual lessons in homeschool chemistry classes can be completed anywhere in the house.  Conduct labs without the added danger of harsh chemicals, fumes, glass, and heating elements.

The financial barrier to entry is not nearly as scary for homeschool students. VR becomes more affordable when investing in equipment and curriculum for a single student rather than a class.  Homeschool parents do not need to be tech-savvy or STEM literate to use virtual reality in their homeschool plans.  Most companies, like Futuclass, offer easy setup and great user support.
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## Virtual Reality is Leading the Charge in Revolutionizing the Future Education 

Virtual reality in education is revolutionizing the way teachers and parents keep students interested in their own learning.  It’s growing rapidly in both the public, private, and homeschool education arenas.  As the edTech world continues to recognize VR as more than a gaming tool, companies like Futuclass are finding ways to reach students virtually.

Interested in the quickly changing landscape of virtual reality in education settings?  Want to know more?  Let us keep you informed on our newest chemistry, physics, and biology modules as they become available for your classroom.  Keep up with this fast-growing teaching tool by subscribing today to the free newsletter by Futuclass.  


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Virtual Reality in Middle, High, and Homeschools

What’s the difference between these two terms?  Are they synonymous?  The quick answer is: no.  Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality are both incredible concepts that are versatile in the classroom, but they are not one and the same. 
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## Augmented Reality in the Classroom
When we talk about **augmented reality** in education, we’re referring to a smart device superimposing pictures or content on top of the actual environment students are in.  This type of augmented reality is what we have previously seen in the popular Pokemon Go! craze or the Harry Potter: Wizards Unite game that was released in the summer of 2019.  These games superimposed creatures into the environment users were already in using camera features on their smart devices.  
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Augmented reality is not usually used as a primary method for delivering classroom content.  It’s a versatile supplemental tool but is difficult to use as a standalone teaching method for most classrooms.
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#### Some examples of how augmented reality is being utilized in classrooms globally
- Allowing students to see and possibly manipulate 3-dimensional geometric shapes for a more concrete experience with interactive augmented reality from [Ventura Educational Systems](https://www.venturaes.com/iosapps/geometryar.html).
- Exploring parts of a plant and watching it grow from seed to blossom with an interactive augmented reality experience offered by [Arloon](http://www.arloon.com/en/apps/plants/).
- “Hunting” for letters throughout their homes and classrooms is a perfect AR experience for pre-K and kindergarten students.  They can use their gathered letters to make words with [Catchy Words AR](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/catchy-words-ar/id1266039244).
- Breaking open planets, and exploring them layer by layer with full narration.  Explore the inside of the human body with a simple t-shirt.  These experiences are now possible with AR in the classroom brought to you by [Curiscope](https://www.curiscope.com/products/virtuali-tee).
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#### Benefits of augmented reality in schools
- A break from traditional textbook learning.  This adds to student engagement and excitement.  This increased motivation translates to better recall and student achievement. 
- A better understanding of geometry and spatial concepts through the manipulation of virtual items. 
- A cross-curricular tool -  Science, language arts, social studies, math, and art concepts can all be supplemented with AR education applications.
- Simple to implement.  All your homeschool or public school classroom needs to use VR is internet access, a smart device, and an AR app tailored to your needs.

## Virtual Reality in the Classroom

**Virtual reality** in education is a fully immersive learning experience.  In a true VR experience, the room students are standing in disappears.  Students see, hear, and manipulate the digital environment that’s been downloaded to their senses.  As opposed to many AR applications, virtual reality applications can be more than a supplemental tool.
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Entire curriculum unit and, complete virtual lessons can be delivered successfully  Full science virtual labs, and even class field trips can be done with VR technology. Notes, lectures, experiments, and even student-to-student collaboration can occur in virtual environments.
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#### Some examples of how virtual reality is being utilized in classrooms globally
- [Futuclass](https://futuclass.com/) bringing safer chemistry to homeschool students (who traditionally lack equipped chemistry labs) worldwide.  With research indicating a 70% improvement in student assessment, Futuclass’s gamified chemistry, physics, and biology lessons are changing the approach to traditionally complex subjects.
- [VictoryXR](https://www.victoryxr.com/) is using VR in education to provide a humane solution to frog dissection with a realistic, step-by-step biology lesson that rivals the real experience. 
- [Doghead Simulation](https://www.dogheadsimulations.com/doghead-blog/2019/1/12/rumii-redefining-language-learning-and-teaching-in-virtual-reality)s is redefining language learning and instruction with VR in education at the college level.
- [Project VOISS](https://www.projectvoiss.org/) is allowing students with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) to immerse themselves in virtual environments where they can hone social and language skills through virtual lessons. VR is appropriate for many types of learners.
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#### Benefits of virtual reality in schools 
- Learning through play is not exclusive to pre-k and primary grades.  Virtual Reality gamifies learning for middle and high school students.
- Increase cultural awareness as students immerse themselves in international experiences - or collaborate with classrooms across the globe in digital environments.
- Extend learning beyond classroom walls when budgets, (or pandemics) make such exploration seem impossible.
- VR labs take the danger out of working with volatile materials, burners, and glass.  All reactions are true-to-life, while the level of safety in the room never changes. 
- [Virtual reality in education can help students meet learning goals](https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2020/02/how-virtual-reality-can-help-students-meet-learning-goals), as outlined by Jon Spike, of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater at IDEAcon2020.

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What Are The Differences Between Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)?

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Educational VR games

### *Asking how to teach is as important as asking what to teach.*
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Research shows us that curriculum alignment and student achievement have a very strong correlation.  But where does curriculum alignment fit into the “edutainment” industry? The term **edutainment** refers to games, films, or interactive media that is marketed as educational.
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Newsflash:  Just because something is being marketed as educational, does not mean that it was designed to be educational. When it comes to education gaming: Curriculum alignment needs to occur from the very first stage of the game development life cycle (GDLC).    
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## What is Curriculum Alignment, and Why is it Important?
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We know that teaching methods, content and standards don’t look the same today as they did decades ago.  Why?  The answer to that question is curriculum alignment.  
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Curriculum alignment is the term used to describe the process that educators and administrators use to formally evaluate an education program to ensure it fits well with their standards-aligned curriculum content.  This process of aligning teaching tools and methods with the content is an ongoing process.  It’s the driving force behind the updates and changes in education programs in schools.  
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This process is important for educators because it ensures that their programs provide the best delivery methods and content. They want to eliminate gaps in the curriculum, and stick to the most up-to-date standards for the subject matter at hand.
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![VR lesson image salts.jpeg](/uploads/VR_lesson_image_salts_7acb2885a9.jpeg)
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## Chemistry Curriculum:  How to Enhance Student Learning With Interactive Classroom Activities
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NGSS Standards have become the Bible of STEM in many parts of the United States and in some instances, internationally as well.  These standards help us figure out **what** to teach.  But, standards in STEM require students be exposed to, and sometimes proficient in some pretty complex topics.  Chemistry is one of those topics.  It’s not a simple topic, and students struggle with the complexity.  Educators and curriculum developers are tasked with figuring out how to present this complex subject matter in a way that kids can understand and retain.  
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It’s clear that monotonous reading from dry textbooks followed by wordy paper assessments isn’t the most effective way to present subjects like chemistry, physics, and biology to teenagers.  Educators need to get creative to find the best way to teach  these classes, without sacrificing student engagement.  Developing a well-rounded curriculum involves evaluating subject matter and delivery methods.    
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It’s tough topics like chemistry, physics, and biology that have driven an entire industry based on presenting complex material under the guise of gaming.  We know that interactive activities improve achievement.  Video games put students in a “familiar” environment where they learn through play.  This idea of “gamifying” learning began long ago.  As early as 1971 with the release of the epic, time-tested “*Oregon Trail*”, companies have been trying to get educational games right.  We all remember the geography-centered “Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?”.  But so often, these games are shaky at best.  They create extra work for teachers, without a lot of gains for learners.
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Why do so many educational games out there miss the mark?  
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## Find the Motivation. Appeal to Curiosity. But Don’t Forget the Relevance.
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One of the biggest mistakes developers make in the GDLC is going it alone.  They know children are motivated by video games.  They know they can peak curiosity by presenting the material on a colorful screen and give students some control over the outcomes.  But everytime, they forget something.
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At the end of the day, game designers are not educators and often fall short of delivering the relevance.  At [Futuclass](http://www.futuclass.com), we began our project with collaboration from teachers **and** game designers.  Each member of our curriculum alignment team held a specific role in making sure that our lessons were not just fun and engaging, but **relevant** to the subject matter.  Each step of development was conducted in collaboration with natural science teachers and expert educators.
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![image4.png](/uploads/image4_0b32ea58db.png)
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Part of aligning the program to the curriculum involves finding gaps and problem areas.  We decided to help teachers tackle the problem areas in their curriculum.  By simplifying the most complex parts of chemistry, we can offer teachers additional tools to help students reach academic success.
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We’ve surveyed teachers to determine which specific areas of chemistry and physics are the most difficult to drive home in the classroom.  We took that data to begin choosing what areas to focus on.  Designed corresponding lessons in collaboration with a carefully chosen curriculum alignment team.  Lessons were tested and refined repeatedly by educators to ensure our content was aligned with the designated curriculum.  
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This is where games fail. In order to be highly effective, each step of the development process needs to be closely monitored, and not just by developers and graphic designers. The finished product must be analyzed and refined through actual beta testing phases. Futuclass is now at the point where students achieve 70% improvement with some of our study modules during post-lesson assessment.  
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Quality educational gaming isn’t just about having fun (though that is a bonus!).  It’s about delivering or aiding in the delivery of concept mastery. Concept mastery isn’t a result attained with rushed development, and definitely isn’t going to accompany a game that isn’t aligned with classroom curriculum.

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## Implementation and Evaluation:  Recognising Limitations
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While educational games should be relevant, enhance student learning, and help make curriculum visible - they are merely tools, and not solutions. Educational games should not be designed to work autonomously, but in cooperation with a well-rounded curriculum and a capable teacher.  
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![image5.png](/uploads/image5_64b159e682.png)
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Futuclass is celebrated as a youth-friendly tool that essentially simplifies complex ideas so that students develop a deeper understanding upon completion. It was designed to fit the curriculum. Our lessons go through a rigorous cycle of usability testing with partnering schools. So while we boast a contextualised, hands-on problem-solving approach to increase retention while holding student interest - we recognise that our lessons are only a teaching tool in a well-rounded curriculum.  The important part is that this teaching tool must be curriculum-aligned, and pertinent. Teachers should be able to implement curriculum-aligned educational gaming into their existing lesson plans without much adjustment. 
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## How To Teach the Most Complex Science Topics?
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No teacher wants to see their students struggle through the more difficult sections of their curriculum. The major challenge there is that students aren’t interested.  They aren’t motivated enough to meet the demands of the class on their own. Part of figuring out how to teach difficult science topics is about finding a way to get students motivated.  
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![image6.jpg](/uploads/image6_81440a603b.jpg)
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[Dr. Chun Wu, professor of Chemistry](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3902633/) at Mount Marty University in New Mexico published a paper alongside Jordan Foos in [PMC](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/) that specifically addresses the challenges of getting students motivated by thinking-outside-the-box when teaching difficult topics. She outlines the lack of motivation and interest as the problem to target, and does so using the following teaching methods:
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Friendly Presentation
    - Audiovisual aids
    - Powerpoint presentations
    - Overhead slides
    - Unspecified Computer-Related Technology
Illustrate with Analogies
    - Accompany analogies with visual representation
Correlate with everyday life
    - Have conversations outside of the textbook
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In her paper, she challenges instructors to “*make chemistry vivid and understandable to attract student interests*”
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Keep in mind that this paper was developed in 2010, long before virtual reality in the classroom was commonplace. Imagine how very **vivid** concepts will be in virtual reality. 
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What could motivate students more than an opportunity to get out of their seat, and interact with the curriculum in a virtual setting that puts them inside the lesson. By targeting those trickier sections of chemistry and physics with a gamified lesson program that is not only curriculum aligned, but motivating to students - educators can make that knowledge not just attainable, but dare we say enjoyable!
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We conclude by challenging educators out there to think not just about **what** they are teaching in chemistry, but also about **how** they go about teaching it.  Are you addressing more than the subject matter?  Are you addressing interests and motivations?  Are you keeping it relevant?  Are you making it *vivid*?  
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If not, learn how Futuclass can bring that vivid motivation, and increased understanding to your chemistry or physics class today.  [Subscribe to our newsletter](https://futuclass.com/lessons) and be notified immediately as the best in chemistry curriculum alignment becomes available through our carefully crafted VR lessons. 
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Curriculum Alignment - Where Does Gaming Fit in Chemistry Education?

 
 
Behind us is an action packed 2021. For Futuclass it has been a successful and a productive year, where our products have taken significant steps forward. In addition to launching the Futuclass Teacher Portal, new study modules and lesson plans, our year was filled with many more exciting adventures! More details in the recap below…
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![Numbers_EN.png](/uploads/Numbers_EN_b2595393d6.png)

 
 
### Futuclass school bundle - schools asked, we provided
Due to Estonian schools wanting to gain access to virtual reality as easily as possible by buying hard- and software in a single package, we brought the Futuclass VR School Bundle to the market. One Futuclass VR School Bundle includes:
- 1 VR-headset
- Futuclass VR study modules
- Over 20 learning apps by other studios to use in different lessons
- Access to Futuclass Teacher Portal
- Lesson plans for individual learning and Group Lesson Plans for group learning using a VR-headset
 
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![Futuclass Oculus Quests.webp](/uploads/Futuclass_Oculus_Quests_147a603f00.webp)
 
Bundles like this ended up in **eight** schools in Estonia with **over sixty devices** in total. In addition, starting this year, there will be educational VR content available in subjects other than Chemistry and Physics as well. We have entered into cooperation agreements with Swedbank, Mondo and Päästeamet (Estonian Rescue Board). All of them have developed educational VR apps that will be finding their way to Estonian schools through Futuclass. You will be able to read more about our partners’ VR apps in our next newsletter, but if you cannot wait, then [write](mailto:kristen@futuclass.com) to us!
 
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### Futuclass is now accessible on three platforms!
 
Until fall 2021, Futuclass was accessible to the general public only by Steam. Now you can access our content on three separate platforms:
- Oculus [Quest and Quest 2](https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/3900127736753019/) headsets
- Wired devices on [Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/search/?developer=Futuclass)
- [Pico Neo 3*](https://www.pico-interactive.com/) devices (not publically)
 
**Pico Neo 3 is similar to the Oculus Quest 2 headset.*
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![92.webp](/uploads/92_2b504ab07d.webp)
 
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### The results of students’ VR-games are now visible to teachers!
 
The first version of Futuclass Teacher Portal was launched. One of our team’s daily tasks is to create educational VR content or study modules, as we like to call them, that students can play to master the topic at hand. Until this day, teachers have not been able to get direct feedback on how their students perform in VR (other than by physically written worksheets). Soon this feedback will be conveniently and readily available in our Teacher Portal!
 
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![Futuclass Teacher Portal - VR lessons.png](/uploads/Futuclass_Teacher_Portal_VR_lessons_83d017132c.png)

 
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Futuclass Teacher Portal is located at portal.futuclass.com, where teachers can log in with their account and guide Futuclass VR lessons. The portal serves three main functions:
- Overview of Futuclass study modules
- **The ability to see students’ VR lesson results in the web**
- Easy access to Lesson Plans, tests and best practices of teaching in VR
 
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![Futuclass Teacher Portal.png](/uploads/Futuclass_Teacher_Portal_4f4b1cbe44.png)
 
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### Journalist Priit Pullerits visited us to find out more about VR-glasses and the world of virtual reality
 
"Estonians are creating an opportunity to venture into time and space" - is how he reviewed our virtual reality experiences. You can read the article [here](https://leht.postimees.ee/7346332/eestlased-loovad-voimalust-ajas-ja-ruumis-rannata?fbclid=IwAR2PFm93FBKUejMJidcX6om3P-KHL7IacIE1Gh7vFCwh6X-MBYRM2Y5js8g). The picture, published in Estonia’s leading daily Postimees, brings out how virtual reality glasses work and why they have cameras and other sensors.
 
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### A creative year
In the first and last quarter of the year we were mainly focused on developing new study modules. An entire **eight** new study modules were created in this period. Five of them are interactive physics stories with diverging storylines. The rest are educational games focused on chemistry. 
 
![2021 modules.webp](/uploads/2021_modules_fd7143fb6e.webp)
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In the picture below, you can see us setting up the “movie set” to shoot the physics modules using a 360 degree camera. Arnold Rein Tatunts, our educational content designer, was the irreplaceable leader of this project.
 
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In addition to developing VR content, we also started to prototype and test an [AR aka augmented reality](https://futuclass.com/blog/ar-test-session-2/) study app to teach the balancing of chemical reactions. The idea is simple - mobile devices and tablets are more frequently found and used in schools compared to virtual reality headsets. This means the app has great potential to spread quickly and far. 
 
Test lessons went smoothly and soon the project was used in the masters’ degree final thesis by Roland. Right now the project is on hold as we still consider VR-study content to be our strong suit. The learning efficacy that can be achieved in the focused attention of a VR world is a huge advantage with nowadays students, and the key reason why we prefer developing VR content over AR content for the foreseeable future. 
 
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![image.jpeg](/uploads/image_1faa27c391.jpeg)
 
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### Teacher-initiated lesson plans
 
Many schools don’t have enough VR-headsets for all the students to get to play a study module at the same time. To address this problem, enthusiastic Teachers using Futuclass took matters into their own hands and wrote lesson plans for group work lessons, where students share a headset in a group. These lesson plans currently exist for the following Futuclass modules: Salts, Hydrogen and Oxygen, Reaction Balancing. Thank you, Krista Kõiv, Merit Eier ja Katrin Soika!
 
![LessonPlan_EN.png](/uploads/Lesson_Plan_EN_7231dbe2e6.png)
 
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In the picture below, group work is performed this way in a chemistry lesson in Gustav Adolf Grammar School, with students taking turns solving problems using shared VR headsets.
 
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### And what were Futuclass artists doing last year?
 
In addition to educational content, a new environment was made for Futuclass! The new space was created to feel friendly and open. In its design, it was important for the spaces where students study to be inviting and pretty, but at the same time not too interesting to avoid cognitive overload. The main focus in virtual reality lessons must remain on the objects and tasks necessary to achieving the learning goals. 
 
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![Environment Progress.webp](/uploads/Environment_Progress_9791bce153.webp)
 
 
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### Futuclass during sTARTUp Day
We attended sTARTUp Day in 2021. It was an event where many visitors could try Futuclass and to get to know the product as well as the team building it.
 
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### Virtual reality (VR) in education Facebook group
 
We helped kickstart a FB group to exchange knowledge, experience and ideas about teaching using virtual reality. The group brings educators who are also interested in virtual reality closer together. The group has a little less than 200 people at this point, with already a ton of useful topics having been shared! If you feel like you would fit the target audience then join [here](https://www.facebook.com/groups/190517346368663)!
 
![Screenshot 2022-01-07 133748.webp](/uploads/Screenshot_2022_01_07_133748_15dd1e9726.webp)
 
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### Futuclass in ERR news
 
In Estonia’s leading news programme, Parksepa school introduced the school’s teachers’ and students’ experiences in using virtual reality in the classroom. ERR wasn’t the only outlet covering Futuclass in 2021. As another example, for the launch of Estonian Virtual and Augmented Reality Association a [video](https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=417703006462335) was made to introduce various applications of virtual reality. 
 
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### "Virtual reality (VR) in education" web seminar and workshops for teachers
 
Just before Christmas break we organized a web seminar, which included topics like:
- What is VR? 3DOF vs 6DOF. Main use cases for VR.
- Schools’ experiences (Parksepa School, Ene Veberson and Vändra Secondary School, Merit Eier)
- Students’ experiences with Futuclass
- Available VR-applications for different subjects
- Futuclass school bundle introduction
- Most common problems in using VR in education + solutions
 
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![virtuaalreaalsus hariduses webinar.jpg](/uploads/virtuaalreaalsus_hariduses_webinar_7e78c590a3.jpg)
 
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### We also participated in many other workshops throughout the year
 
Teachers got VR-glasses onto their heads and started familiarizing themselves with the available content. The picture below shows a workshop held in Tartu Kivilinna School where many teachers who got VR glasses through the Klass+ project introduced the educational content and lesson plans they themselves had created. It was very interesting to hear how teachers “thrown into the cold water” talked about their experiences of VR with great enthusiasm. 
 
![IMG_20211026_130001.webp](/uploads/IMG_20211026_130001_6e3fa8b640.webp)
 
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### Futuclass team exploring the world
 
It has become a tradition in Futuclass that once a quarter we go to a so-called work camp. Which means we would rent a house where we combine work and fun. In 2021 we had 2 “workations” - once in Ottepää and once in Pärnu. This was not just about fooling around, but also about writing code deep into the night and prototyping a lot of cool future content for Futuclass.
 
![IMG_20201214_145208.webp](/uploads/IMG_20201214_145208_7fc3f54907.webp)
 
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And to conclude our year - a picture of four of our team members (from the left Kristen, Tuuli, Karl and Märt) 5 kilometers high into the clouds with a Futuclass flag.
 
![IMG_8657.webp](/uploads/IMG_8657_db395baf19.webp)
*5138 m Mt.Ararat*
 
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A big thank you to everyone who has come along for this ride with us! 2022 will be even crazier!
 
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2021 Highlights


## Overview

As every teacher knows, engaging students at a distance is particularly challenging. Using VR lessons on specific complex topics can alleviate this problem. These benefits include complete attention from students, progress tracking, and content that supports the student at their own pace.
The Futuclass team, together with Kuristiku school Chemistry teacher and educational technologist, held a 45-minute Chemistry lesson with students at Kuristiku high school. The schools VR headsets were sent to the student's homes in advance. 
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## Results

The reaction balancing module was a big hit with students, and the students all passed the module. There is high student engagement together with concentration and focus in the VR lesson at hand. Asking questions from the students during the experience can be difficult because of this. (some Futuclass VR lessons have in-game questions that solves the issue)
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## Chemistry teachers feedback

Guiding the students at a distance can be difficult, but this is the case with regular distance lessons as well. 
It's a lot easier to get students interested in Chemistry with Futuclass VR. In the later lessons on the topic, this interest remains.
Setting up the lesson is no more complicated than setting up a regular Chemistry class when working with the help of the school's IT team or educational technologist. 
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> ## Kuristiku High School's educational technologist's comment  
> We wanted to cooperate with Futuclass to contribute to the development of educational games and to create synergies between educators and enterprises. Localized VR learning games are (at present) a rare phenomenon, but their development is vital to the global education system.
Futuclass Physics and Chemistry games give students various opportunities for hands-on experiments, discovering and studying natural phenomena, all without the risk of endangering themselves if they make something explode in the game by accident or on purpose.
Furthermore, VR can be used to view objects that would be impossible to see in the real world, especially in school settings, since laboratories and microscopes are rarely readily available. In addition to being a good tool for learning, a well-designed learning game with a lesson plan also makes lesson preparation easier for the teacher. 

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## Plans for the future

Kuristiku high school plans to continue using VR for distance learning and in-person lessons when there are no Covid related restrictions. 
Both the students and the teachers have a strong interest in various Chemistry and Physics topics, and all parties see value in using them.
Kuristiku High School has 7x Oculus Quest and 10x Oculus Quest 2 devices available at their school. 

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How Kuristiku High School used VR for distance learning lessons


Whether you’re in a realistic environment similar to your own, or a fictitious alternate universe that looks nothing like the world around us, virtual reality’s capability to make us think we are somewhere else is unbelievable.  How did this technology come to be?  How can we present our brains with “made-up” sensory information and feel physically transplanted into another space?  What IS virtual reality?  Let’s dive into the rich history of VR, and explore how such a remarkable technology came to exist.
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## What is Virtual Reality?

If you asked the average bypasser, “What is Virtual Reality?”, you might get answers like: a headset, a video game, or a computer program.  The truth is that virtual reality is none of these things.  The term virtual reality is referring to the simulated environment that we interact with as users of the virtual reality technology.  The participant is immersed in this “nearly” real environment, and can view it in 360 degrees. 

The written virtual reality definition in the dictionary goes something like this: 

*Virtual Reality - (noun) - the computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional image or environment that can be interacted with in a seemingly real or physical way by a person using special electronic equipment, such as a helmet with a screen inside or gloves fitted with sensors.*
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Most consumer’s first thoughts when hearing the term ‘VR’, relate it immediately back to virtual reality games.  But there are plenty of practical virtual reality applications that have nothing to do with virtual reality video games.  There are types of virtual reality designed specifically for training in the medical field, providing realistic flight experience for training pilots, training military personnel in risky simulated situations, PTSD therapy or, like Futuclass, teaching students abstract concepts with tangible environments.
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## A History of Virtual Reality Technology

Virtual reality began with truly archaic technology and ideas that were developed over hundreds of years.  Innovators, dreamers, inventors, engineers and eventually computer scientists developed the technology with a combination of several underdeveloped ideas.  We can trace the idea of creating misperceptions of reality with 3-dimensional images as far back as the 1800’s.

![unnamed (7.png](/uploads/unnamed_7_59efb083fa.png)
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### Evolution of the Stereoscope and Related VR Technology

In the mid 1800’s, records and illustrations have educated historians about the creation of the first basic stereoscope contraption, credited to Sir Charles Wheatstone and thus dubbed the Wheatstone Stereoscope. The Wheatstone stereoscope used perfectly angled mirrors and a manipulation of human depth perception to create 3-dimensional images out of 2 flat images.  The contraption played on the combination of the vision of the left eye and right eye.

This contraption was revisited, refined, and reinvented with the creation of the Brewster Stereoscope and the Holmes Stereoscope.  The Holmes Stereoscope is reminiscent of the more modern 20th century toy that many of us played with as children - the patented ViewMaster.

![unnamed 6.png](/uploads/unnamed_6_a535b5c89b.png)

The ViewMaster was a handheld stereoscope that resembled binoculars.  It was created and patented by an Oregon postcard producer and photo finishing company called Sawyer Inc.  It became a globally known name with it’s iconic picture discs.  

All of this early stereoscope evolution was essentially the birth of modern day VR.  By working together to block out physical, environmental stimuli by covering the eyes, and simultaneously manipulating the brain’s visual and depth perceptions, it allowed users to feel as though they were looking directly at a single 3-dimensional scene.

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![unnamed 5.png](/uploads/unnamed_5_1a12cf797e.png)

### Envisioning Virtual Reality Technology in Literature

The beginning of VR as we think of it today was originally as fictional as the environment it creates.  The idea blossomed in a 1935 story written by Stanley Weinbaum entitled “Pygmalion’s Spectacles.” The classic science fiction story outlined a man’s experience with a pair of goggles invented by an “elfin” professor. 

The goggles in the story allowed the user to the experience sight, sound, taste, and smell of a movie.  At the time the book was written, such technology was completely fictional.  Weinbaum described an experience with virtual reality technology that, decades later, would be put forth by companies like Oculus and Playstation. 

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![unnamed (4.png](/uploads/unnamed_4_ee52d725c2.png)



### The 3-Dimensional Movie (3-D Films)

In the fall of 1922, what is recognized as the first true 3-D film was shown at the Ambassador Hotel Theater in Los Angeles.  The movie attendant wore a special pair of glasses that made certain aspects of the film “pop” from the screen and add depth, in addition to the length and width typically viewed on the average movie screen.  The movie, entitled “[The Power of Love](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0013506/)” was produced by Harry Fairall, and is now considered a “lost” film.
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### Early Attempts at True VR Technology

In 1956, an attempt at a more true to current VR experience was developed with the creation of “Sensorama”. The “[Sensorama](https://www.engadget.com/2014-02-16-morton-heiligs-sensorama-simulator.html)” was a bulky booth-like movie viewer developed by Morton Heilig and patented in 1962.  The booth layered sight, sound, smell - even wind machines and vibrating seats to create a full sensory experience.

![unnamed (3).png](/uploads/unnamed_3_bb8ef6f3e8.png)

The films were created by mounting three 35mm cameras on a cameraman.  One film captured the cameraman’s ride through the streets of Brooklyn on a motorcycle.  Viewers in the “Sensorama '' watched an edited version of this film.  During their viewing, they could feel the vibration of the motorcycle seat and the wind in their hair as they smelled the city scents and heard a collection of the urban sounds recorded on the biker’s adventure.

Only six films were developed for the “Sensorama” and it didn’t take off as Heilig expected, despite providing an incredible VR experience for it’s time.  Without practical application, the Sensorama was difficult to market.  Another barrier to success was the exorbitant cost of creating the films.

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### The Development of the HMD (Head-mounted Display)

Morton Heilig (creator of the Sensorama) had another patent for a gadget that has traveled in different forms with VR technology to present day.  This ‘gadget’ was known as the “Telesphere Mask” and was essentially the first Head-mounted Display (HMD). 

The iconic HMD  is what most people picture when they hear the question, “What is Virtual Reality?”.  It’s an image of a person wearing a sleek, cutting-edge pair of VR Goggles, like those developed by Oculus and Sony Playstation.

Present day HMD’s have gyroscopes, HDMI technology and motion tracking.  But one of those key features of VR - motion tracking - didn’t arrive on the scene until the year after Heilig patented his [Telesphere Mask](https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Morton-Heilig-Telesphere-Mask-1960-Source-Wikimedia-Commons_fig3_319618259).  Motion tracking is the ability for the HMD to sense the movements of the head and follow them in order to look around the virtual environment users are immersed in. 

This motion tracking was implemented by Philco Corporation as they developed cutting edge military technology called “[Headsight](https://patents.google.com/patent/US3205303)”.  Headsight allowed the military to travel into dangerous spaces with cameras that would move in synchrony with the head movements of the personnel conducting the investigation.  They could essentially look around a dangerous zone from a remote location of safety.
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### The Government’s Role in the History of VR

In the late 1960’s, the Air Force began using its first flight simulator model.  This flight simulator was developed by Thomas Furness in the Armstrong Laboratory at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. 

Exploring the training capabilities of this technology spurred the US Government to invest military funding into continuing to develop VR technology.  With additional funding and support, Furness continued improving, expanding, experimenting and working on the flight simulator until he released the completed [VCASS](https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA039999) (Visually Coupled Airborne Systems Simulator) which was a much more advanced, working flight simulator for the United States Military. 

![unnamed (1).png](/uploads/unnamed_1_f33b3e07b1.png)

This technology advanced further with the development of the “Super Cockpit” program in the late 1980’s.  Furness authored the program and developed the technology. It provided a realistic stream of continuously changing information, as well as visuals that were realistic to what pilots would face in-flight.  
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### Getting our Hands Involved

The handheld controllers often used in today’s modern virtual reality video games and simulations had to start somewhere.  Most believe that somewhere was actually the creation of the “[Sayre Gloves](https://www.evl.uic.edu/research/2162)''.  These techy  mittens used light emitters and photocells in a pair of wired gloves to simulate hand movement that matched the user’s hand movement.  This was a precursor to VPL Research’s “Data Glove” and Mattel Inc.’s “Powerglove”.  All hints at the hand control technology level we are at today.

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### NASA Gets Onboard

You know technology is getting serious when NASA gets involved.  In the late 1980’s, NASA used the brilliant mind and technological skills of one Scott Foster to develop audio components for the Virtual Environment Workstation Project (VIEW) - a VR training simulator for astronauts. NASA even uses a VR system to steer the robots roving Mars in real-time.  This “Computer Simulated Teleoperation” was designed by Antonio Medina, another scientist at NASA.
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### Modern Gaming Recognizes the Potential in VR Technology

Though there were hints of gaming entertainment in previous VR advances, the mass production of a virtual immersion arcade game known as “Virtuality” really launched a VR gaming explosion throughout the 90’s and early 2000’s.  

SEGA tried to get into the game with the SEGA VR headset in 1991 but never launched for reasons unclear.  They ended up coming out with the SEGA VR-1, which was an arcade style game launched in 1994.

Nintendo rolled out their “Virtual Boy” console, which was portable, in 1995 - but it was discontinued after only a year in production.  

![virtual-boy-all-about-101-featured.jpeg](/uploads/virtual_boy_all_about_101_featured_3250e340fb.jpeg)


In just the last decade or so, VR gaming has grown in leaps and bounds.  HMD based VR consoles are in many homes today.  But how did we get here?  A quick breakdown of how the 21st century changed the history of VR gaming:

- 2010 - First prototype of Oculus Rift headset developed by young entrepreneur Palmer Luckey 
- 2012 - $2.4 Million in Kickstarter investments launched Oculus startup 
- 2014 - Facebook buys Oculus for $2 Billion  
 Sony announces the PS4 Headset   
 Google comes out with Cardboard (A cheap HMD that is compatible with smartphones   
 Samsung comes out with its own HMD, the Samsung Gear VR   
- 2015 - Glovestone VR gloves released 
- 2016 - HTC releases its VIVE Steam VR Headset 
- 2017 - Google, Apple, Amazon, Samsung, Sony, and Microsoft are all developing their own VR headsets 
- 2018 - Oculus proposed the prototype of their Halfdome 
- 2019 - Oculus quest sells out everywhere as Facebook’s newest “stand-alone” headset    
 For the first time, more than one million VR headsets were connected monthly to STEAM   
- 2020 - The year will go down in history as one of the craziest years of our lives.  But Futuclass was busy continuing to push VR technology forward, developing outstanding VR STEM Lessons to present to students worldwide in chemistry and physics. 

![VR lesson image salts.jpeg](/uploads/VR_lesson_image_salts_7acb2885a9.jpeg)
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## We Understand the History of VR, But What Does The Future of Virtual Reality Look Like?

Like most technologies, virtual reality has come so far, yet it’s not nearly a complete development. It’s still considered an “emerging technology” despite being developed for over 50 years. The future of virtual reality will surely show us improvements regarding visual quality, level of interaction, and unique, creative applications.

The future of virtual reality looks like the development of “Extended Reality”.  This combines VR, AR, and MR to create a mind blowing experience that we can’t yet fathom.  It will likely make today's revolutionary VR technology obsolete and archaic in just a few years time.
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## Takeaways: 

Today’s VR owes its very existence to the pioneers throughout the history of VR technologies past, from the archaic 19th century stereoscopes to the Powergloves of the 80’s.  So the next time someone asks you “What is Virtual Reality?”, consider something more than goggles and gaming.  Consider virtual reality helping surgeons, veterans, soldiers and children in so many unique ways.  

Check out some of the [virtual reality chemistry and physics lessons Futuclass](https://futuclass.com/lessons) is offering to children in middle and high schools all over the world.  We’re working to create a tangible way to learn abstract concepts - and have fun while doing it!

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What is Virtual Reality? A History of VR

Homeschool Chemistry doesn’t need to be so intimidating for parents or students.
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## Why is Homeschool Chemistry Such a Struggle?

If teaching homeschool chemistry is becoming a nightmare, rest assured that you are not alone in your pain.  Homeschooling parents often struggle to teach secondary-level sciences to even the brightest learners.  Many parents become intimidated by the idea of teaching middle or high school chemistry, biology, and physics when they are still on the distant horizon.  

Thinking “How am I going to homeschool subjects like chemistry?” is a common fear.  The most important thing to remind yourself is that your concern is a sign that you’re already doing a great job.  Many homeschool families have faced these same problems and come out on the other side.  

We’ve created a list of clear, actionable tips to make homeschool chemistry a bit more painless for everyone.  Maybe you are in the throes of a high school chemistry struggle already.  Maybe you’re still teaching elementary-level sciences and simply planning for the future.  Whatever situation you're in, these tips can smooth out some of the inevitable bumps in the road.  

Before we decide how to tackle homeschool chemistry, we need to look at why it scares you in the first place.  This self-reflection will help you refine your teaching approach.  

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## 3 Reasons Why Homeschool Chemistry May Seem So Hard

1. How long has it been since you took chemistry?  If it’s been more than a dozen years since you took a chemistry class, you probably don’t remember a bit of that content.  You likely have no chemistry experience at your current job.  This leaves you with the same lack of knowledge as your student.  If you can’t recall a bit of your own distant class, how will you be able to teach homeschool chemistry to your child?
2. Is it possible that you had a bad experience in chemistry?  Think about your chemistry class memories.  Did you end up with a failing grade?  Did you have an unforgiving teacher?  Your negative memories of chemistry could be getting in your way.  They can distort your mental picture of what homeschool chemistry will look like for your family.  Understand that if your experience was bad, that cycle is not destined to repeat itself.  It doesn’t mean your child’s destined to also have a bad experience.
3. Is your student a math struggler?  Are you a math struggler?  Math is an essential part of chemistry success.  If your student is weak in math, you may be hesitant to introduce a new math concept.  
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## An Overview:  What Do You Learn in Chemistry and Why is Chemistry Important?

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Homeschool chemistry can begin in middle school, or earlier.  Curriculum should introduce students to basic metric units, measurement, observation, and scientific methods.  These kinds of introductory topics are introduced in the late elementary or early middle school years. They are usually exposed to these things in their general science courses, and more difficult chemistry topics come in late middle school, and more often high school.

What’s the basic content that should be included in a middle or high school homeschool chemistry curriculum?   Comprehensive chemistry classes cover a multitude of topics including (but not necessarily limited to):  

- Math Basics including Algebraic Concepts
- Atoms, Molecules, and Moles
- Stoichiometry (chemical conversions and equations)
- States of Matter
- Chemical Reactions
- Periodic Table and Periodic Trends
- Solutions
- Gases
- Acids and Bases
- Thermochemistry and Physical Chem
- Kinetics
- Electronic and Atomic Structure
- Nuclear Chemistry (radiation and radioactive materials)

This feels like a lot of information to cover. Could you just skip homeschool chemistry altogether and call it a day?  Probably not.  Why is chemistry important?

![Chemistry Advancement.png](/uploads/Chemistry_Advancement_9358a5d995.png)
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Chemistry is central to almost every single thing we do, use, see, and eat.  From the batteries in your cell phone to the chocolate cake that you had for dessert last night, chemistry played a vital role in all of them.  Chemistry research has led to life-saving medical treatments.  It’s created strides in plastics manufacturing, the oil and gas industry, and the testing of safe drinking water.
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## Is Painless Chemistry Even Possible?

It’s important to take a deep look at the type of learner your student is.  Do they do well with rote memorization and dry text?  Do they thrive on handwritten reports, research, and multiple-choice tests?  The answer is probably not.

Homeschool chemistry curriculums have been developed by companies using research-based learning theory.  You can choose to adopt a pre-planned curriculum and follow it to a ‘T’ or adjust it as needed.  Lean into the homeschool community to get hands-on testimonials, recommendations, and reviews from families who have experienced success with their homeschool chemistry curriculum.  You can find forums and social media groups of homeschool parents online that can give you first hand accounts of their experiences. There is no “one-size-fits-all”.  The best homeschool chemistry plan is the one that fits your child’s learning style.

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Some of the more notable homeschool chemistry curriculums available on today’s market are:

- [Apologia’s Chemistry curriculum](https://www.apologia.com/product-category/science/?a_aid=5a15db50739a1&subject=advanced-chemistry,chemistry,chemistry-physics) offers everything you need from student textbooks to exams and lab kits in both basic and advanced chemistry for middle and high school students. It’s one of the most often touted and highly recommended as the best homeschool chemistry choice on the market.  Apologia also has homeschool high school science options for everything from general science to physics and biology.
- [Friendly Chemistry ](http://www.friendlychemistry.com/index.html)has great basic science coverage that would serve in an upper middle school or high school homeschool chemistry setting.
- [Alpha-Omega’s homeschool chemistry](https://www.aop.com/) comes in the form of Christian-based, student-led Life Pacs that are a popular choice among parents.

![pexels-zen-chung-5538618.jpeg](/uploads/pexels_zen_chung_5538618_628aa0dd09.jpeg)
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## Thinking Outside of the Box for Middle and High School Chemistry Curriculum

Keep in mind that choosing to homeschool means choosing freedom.  Freedom to self-pace and adjust as you see fit.  Buying a prepared curriculum doesn’t mean you can’t sub in more interactive hands-on science content whenever and however you feel appropriate.

That freedom can go as far as scrapping a prepared homeschool chemistry program and building your own learning path from the ground up.  You might know from an experience with an older sibling, or a fellow homeschool family that your learner will not strive in the models available.  

Curating a chemistry course of learning that will work for your student can revolutionize their experience.  If you’re feeling intimidated, here are 8 actionable tips to make homeschool chemistry a more pleasant experience for you, and ultimately a success for your learner.
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## 8 Homeschool Chemistry Tips to Make Learning Easier

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### 1. Start Your Learners in STEM and Chem Early.
Research tells us time and time again that the earlier students are introduced to STEM topics like chemistry, the more comfortable they are with the complex version of it that’s introduced in upper grades.  Inspire in young children a love of learning and a sense of inquiry in chemistry, and you’ll see that enthusiasm carry over into middle and high school years.

Chemistry in elementary years can look like basic, [at-home kitchen chemistry](https://www.thoughtco.com/kitchen-science-experiments-for-kids-604169) experiments. Though structured chemistry classes don’t usually begin until middle school, there’s no reason why you can’t ignite excitement and interest in your kids early on.

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### 2. Set Your Student Up For Success With Your Own Attitude.
If during our previous point of self-reflection, you came to terms with the fact that you had a bad chemistry experience - choose not to share it.  Don’t tell your child that chemistry is hard.  Don’t tell your child that you failed.  And don’t tell your child you were “bad at chemistry”.

Your negative opinion of chemistry as a subject is adopted by your child and inherently becomes fact to them.  Gift them the opportunity to form their own opinions based on the experiences that they have.  

![RB I screenshot 12.png](/uploads/RB_I_screenshot_12_dd3181ecd8.png)
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### 3. Make Homeschool Chemistry Fun and Engaging
Keep the topic as fun and engaging as possible.  It may seem difficult to make chemistry “fun” if you took chemistry 20 years ago.  Technology has come a long way since then, and the edTech industry has managed to “gamify” all the most difficult parts of learning for children.

Middle-schoolers can learn the periodic table with Proton Don in a gamified, interactive periodic table on a website called “[Funbrain](https://www.funbrain.com/games/periodic-table-game)”.

Take us here at [Futuclass](https://futuclass.com/) for example:  balancing chemical equations is one of the most difficult parts of chemistry for students who are weak in math and algebra.  Our virtual reality set-up literally gets students ‘ hands-on’ when balancing chemical equations.
Finding new and different ways to make the most difficult parts of homeschool chemistry fun again goes a long way in enjoying the class, and ultimately retaining that knowledge.

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### 4. Allow Time For Interest-Led Learning in Your Homeschool Chemistry Timeline
We always have end goals when we lay out what our homeschool calendar will look like.  We know roughly how long it should ideally take us to get through a course from beginning to end, and we try to stick to that timeline.

But the truth is - we are remiss as educators if we are not blocking out some wiggle room for our kids to pursue interest-led learning endeavors.  Curiosity promotes deeper understanding.  So if your child gets really interested in how chemistry affects our drinking water, let them run with that and facilitate that learning in every way you can.

![annie-spratt-VzIsqZ8K9LI-unsplash (1).jpeg](/uploads/annie_spratt_Vz_Isq_Z8_K9_LI_unsplash_1_0c735861c5.jpeg)
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### 5. Meet Your Child Where They Are
Choose an age-appropriate course of learning.  Starting with content that is too rigorous is guaranteed to derail your homeschool chemistry experience right out of the gate.  One of the easiest ways to do this is to research your state’s homeschool laws and recommendations.  

They’ll often list course and credit recommendations meant to guide parents in choosing what subjects to teach as they move along in homeschooling their children.  For example, algebra is often a prerequisite to chemistry.  If your child has not had a basic Algebra I class, the significant amount of math and equation balancing that goes on in a chemistry class will be difficult if not impossible for them.

![pexels-cottonbro-4778621.jpeg](/uploads/pexels_cottonbro_4778621_bc710738fd.jpeg)
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### 6. Rely on Your Community Whenever Possible. (After all, it takes a village!)
Keep your eyes and ears peeled for community programs that could serve as enrichment to your existing chemistry plans.  

Consider joining a homeschool co-op.  Chemistry is one of those subjects that are best performed in groups.  Labs and experiments thrive under the collaboration and compared results that occur in group learning. 

Consider reaching out to local chemists, chemical companies, or other professionals that could shed light on the career opportunities in the chemistry field and schedule a talk with your co-op group.  

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### 7. Admit Your Limitations.
If you hit a snag in the road, and it seems that you’re at an impasse, admit your limitations.  Admitting that the content is above your head does not mean you have failed as a homeschool parent.  

If your child needed glasses because they were struggling to see, you would not feel shame in taking them to an eye doctor to get the help you arent’ qualified to provide.  With that being said, there is no shame in admitting that you aren’t qualified to teach high school chemistry and reach out to tutors, professors, or other professionals who can give them the help they need. 

![pexels-andrea-piacquadio-3768146.jpeg](/uploads/pexels_andrea_piacquadio_3768146_6cdc66ebb6.jpeg)
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### 8. Keep Your Homeschool Chemistry Relevant.
How many times did you ask during your time in school, “When am I ever going to need this?”.  Relevancy gives us purpose.  Give your learners purpose by showing them as often and in as many ways as possible how chemistry is relevant to their lives.   

Let them bake with you.  Explain why you use which ingredients.  Let them salt the icy porch.  Explain to them why you chose salt instead of some other material.  Point out why things are stored a certain way in the garage to avoid combustion.  Show them how you use chemistry every day to clean, cook, and live out your daily lives.  

Take these tips and go forward confidently.  **Homeschool chemistry doesn’t have to be a nightmare** for you or your student.  You **can** create a plan, and put it into action with a positive attitude - all the while knowing you’re creating the best learning path possible for your child.  Let companies like Futuclass continue to develop solutions to help make homeschool chemistry fun and engaging.  Subscribe to the official [Futuclass newsletter](https://futuclass.com/) to keep up to date on the latest virtual reality product developments in chemistry and STEM learning enhancements.




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8 Homeschool Chemistry Tips to Make Learning Easier

Education got a lot more fun in recent years, with many teachers worldwide redesigning their lessons in the form of games. Termed &quot;gamification,&quot; this novel approach to teaching has had immensely positive results.

Students love the role-playing aspect of games. When applied in the classroom, gamified lessons are both educational _and_ entertaining. Because of this, the added immersion of virtual reality education has great potential to teach students even more effectively.

More than the other subjects, science education has arguably the greatest potential for gamification. Science lessons tend to be hands-on, and by turning concepts into game mechanics to be followed, students can learn them more effectively. Elements of exploration and information synthesis can easily be implemented into games, which are both vital for success in science.

In this article, we&#39;ll discuss what gamification is, how it works, what its benefits are, and how virtual reality can be used as a level up for gamified science education.
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## What Is Gamification?
![image4.webp](/uploads/image4_8090c46917.webp)

_Gamification introduces game elements and mechanics to make non-games - like lessons at school - more enjoyable_
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Gamification can have [two meanings](https://ssec.si.edu/stemvisions-blog/5-benefits-gamification): it can refer to adopting games into everyday processes, or it can mean using game elements and mechanics to make non-games more enjoyable.

In the classroom, we&#39;re usually using the second meaning. Education is traditionally a non-game. When we [gamify education](https://www.edutopia.org/blog/gamification-in-education-vicki-davis), we introduce elements such as narrative, roles, strategy, aesthetics, and mechanics (rules of play) to make things more interesting.

Rather than being seated at a desk all day and staring blankly at a lecture at the front of the room, gamification engages students with new fervor. No longer is the math problem in front of them a challenge to solve for x - rather, it is the puzzle that must be solved to defeat the evil math wizard, Kirais. Which sounds more fun: doing homework, or going on a quest?

By gamifying subjects, [students no longer see lessons as boring or tedious](https://www.edutopia.org/blog/gamification-in-education-vicki-davis). Rather, the lesson becomes a fun, interesting narrative structure for them to engage with. This is well-adapted to the playful imagination of adolescents. It is perhaps unrealistic to expect that children should be all business in the classroom, since they love playing everywhere else.

Indeed, play has been shown to be one of the most important aspects of learning for adolescents, for both humans and other species. With the exploratory nature of games, confined within the structure of game mechanics, [young members of many species simultaneously explore the world and synthesize and discern the most important, useful information](https://www.teachthought.com/the-future-of-learning/12-examples-of-gamification-in-the-classroom/).
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### Gamification of Science Education

Games naturally lead to combining knowledge to discern patterns. This makes games extremely useful for science education. The [Next Generation Science Standards](https://www.nextgenscience.org/) for education include teaching core ideas, scientific practices, and the ability to &quot;cross-cut&quot; knowledge across different disciplines.

Games are particularly good at teaching all three of these standards simultaneously. Games can be structured so that &quot;winning&quot; is founded on a firm understanding of core ideas, utilized through practices. And the exploratory nature of games is perfect for promoting crosscutting of scientific disciplines, as solving the next level may require using past concepts in novel ways.

[One article](https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00607/full) proposes a fantastic way to think of it. Scientific literacy is characterized by content knowledge, procedural skills, and an understanding of the nature of science as exploratory and constantly evolving. Games are great at developing scientific literacy by implementing motivational scaffolds to engage students, cognitive scaffolds to develop reasoning abilities, and by promoting metacognition, forming connections between different knowledge bases.

Whether it&#39;s science or another subject, games imbue students with the vital skills to succeed in the modern world.
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### Fundamentals of Gamification: Dynamics and Mechanics

Gamifying is more than just calling an A a &quot;master&quot; badge, and a B a &quot;journeyman.&quot; Instead, gamification requires implementing both [game dynamics and game mechanics](https://www.edutopia.org/blog/gamification-in-education-vicki-davis) into lessons.

Game dynamics are the narrative and aesthetic elements that can make a lesson feel like a game. These include a narrative, with different characters, roles, and emotions, and a progression or storyline. These elements capture the imagination - and thus, the attention - of students, and engage them emotionally. No longer is it a boring lesson on the chalkboard. Now, it&#39;s a story about a friend, or a quest to defeat evil.

Game mechanics, on the other hand, define the structure of how the game is played. These can include the game&#39;s rules, scoring, and levels. Usually, the mechanics will make up most of the &quot;lesson&quot; side of the game - students will be required to understand a concept to succeed in the game.

By combining both interesting dynamics and useful mechanics, games are uniquely positioned to teach in a more engaging way.
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## Benefits of Gamification

![image1.webp](/uploads/image1_374b7baf8e.webp)

_Gamification helps students learn faster and more effectively - all while having fun!_

Teachers who have gamified their lessons have had great success. Not only do students reach learning objectives much faster, but they also become [eager to learn and participate in their education.](https://www.teachthought.com/the-future-of-learning/12-examples-of-gamification-in-the-classroom/)

By turning routine questions and problems into quests and adventures, students become more excited about learning new material. It is important to emphasize that almost any lesson that can be taught on a chalkboard can be taught through a game. The difference is not _what_ is taught, but rather, _how_ it is taught.

Besides this, collaborative games can foster [communication, cooperation, and in some cases, healthy competition, for students](https://www.teachthought.com/the-future-of-learning/12-examples-of-gamification-in-the-classroom/). One teacher found that using games led his students to speak three times more than usual. Students love to play, and when playing games, students feel more free to be social and active with others.

With their mechanics, games are great tools to simultaneously teach and test students. A student&#39;s score on the game is a good reflection of their understanding of the underlying principles. Because of this, games are just as useful for evaluating student performance as traditional assessments.

Last, but certainly not least, the immersive nature of games is stimulating for a student&#39;s creativity and imagination, helping them to think in new ways. This helps them develop the skill to think of the world and solve problems with unbounded novelty.
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## Level Up: Gamifying Virtual Reality Education
![image2.webp](/uploads/image2_875882b15d.webp)

_Using virtual reality to gamify education allows students to explore and discover fascinating new worlds of information_
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Science is founded on the creativity to synthesize fundamental principles in new ways while exploring natural processes. In doing so, new information and theories are discovered.

The immersive nature of games engages students&#39; creativity, making games well-suited for science education. It also makes a particular kind of games, using virtual reality, especially effective.

There are always uncertainties in the lab, and particularly in research labs, the answer to a puzzle is not always known. Teaching students the appropriate way to approach scientific problems using data, experimentation, and reasoning, founded on content knowledge and connections between different disciplines, will give students the [ability to think scientifically and to solve problems in creative new ways](https://www.thetechedvocate.org/how-teachers-can-gamify-science/).

With interactive experiments and VR lessons, virtual reality can be used to help students see and feel like scientists. These can be used to cultivate an experimental and exploratory understanding of the world, using reasoning and trial-and-error to solve scientific puzzles.

In the real world, scientific concepts can be challenging to visualize and understand. While a student may learn how to balance a chemical reaction on paper, they rarely get to see what actually happens when they run the reaction.

In virtual reality, they do. Students can balance a combustion reaction, for example, and based on how they&#39;ve balanced it, they may observe complete or incomplete combustion of a substance in the virtual world. If the game is structured such that they want to achieve the highest efficiency of combustion, they can tweak their balancing until they reach complete combustion.

Not only do students learn how to balance the equation, but they [learn how to use data as a metric for their success](https://www.teachthought.com/the-future-of-learning/12-examples-of-gamification-in-the-classroom/). They also learn how to apply balancing principles to a variety of reactions, not just the one that they test.

With virtual reality education, students develop the three pillars of the [Next Generation Science Standards](https://www.nextgenscience.org/). They develop the core knowledge of scientific subjects, the procedural approach to scientific problems, and the ability to cross-cut their knowledge of different scientific disciplines. As with all games, students also develop these skills much faster than with traditional learning methods because they are more engaged and are having more fun along the way.
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## Summary

Gamification has great potential to revolutionize education, particularly science education, by engaging students emotionally in their learning and by teaching them to think with purposeful reasoning.

Using virtual reality maximizes these beneficial qualities of games, and makes virtual reality education especially useful for science by developing students&#39; abilities to creatively synthesize information to solve practical problems.

With the fast expansion of games into classrooms worldwide, combined with the [technology boom for digital and remote learning observed in the past year](https://eonreality.com/self-directed-learning-initiative-pr/), it is only a matter of time before VR lessons become a mainstay of science education.
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### Sources &amp; Further Reading:

[https://ssec.si.edu/stemvisions-blog/5-benefits-gamification](https://ssec.si.edu/stemvisions-blog/5-benefits-gamification) 

[https://www.edutopia.org/blog/gamification-in-education-vicki-davis](https://www.edutopia.org/blog/gamification-in-education-vicki-davis) 

[https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00607/full](https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00607/full)

[https://www.thetechedvocate.org/how-teachers-can-gamify-science/](https://www.thetechedvocate.org/how-teachers-can-gamify-science/)

[https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1106923.pdf](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1106923.pdf)

[https://www.teachthought.com/the-future-of-learning/12-examples-of-gamification-in-the-classroom/](https://www.teachthought.com/the-future-of-learning/12-examples-of-gamification-in-the-classroom/)

[https://www.nextgenscience.org/](https://www.nextgenscience.org/)

[https://eonreality.com/self-directed-learning-initiative-pr/](https://eonreality.com/self-directed-learning-initiative-pr/)



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Gamification In Science Education

Futu-AR is an AR app that we are prototyping in parallel to our VR content development. The app is currently focused on visualizing chemistry and learning to balance chemical reaction equations. 
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## 05.05- Second Futuclass AR test session with students

As Roland had made many improvements and students were back at school, it was time for Kristen and Arnold to test the AR app on students, face to face. 
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## Summary
The updated “find the correct” mode was successful. Students like it and could remember the fun facts about different molecules after playing the game. The new format has potential and most of the students could clear the game. A comparative testing has been done about our 2 different designs of the reaction balancing mode. A lot of meaningful feedback has been collected. They are very informative and provide us inspiration for further improvement.
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## General
- 16 students from 9th grade and 1  chemistry teacher took part of the lesson 
- Lesson was hosted physically in TERA : students were grouped into small groups of 2-3 people
- It was Futuclass AR ver. 0.08 that was tested
- Delivering the application to the students’ iPad via TestFlight was unsuccessful due to Apple School Management permission issue
- Alternatively, application was installed on the iPad provided by Futuclass
- Feedback form was created using Google Forms by Roland to let students fill them in after the testing session
- Overall 13 of 16 raised their hand if asked: “Would you like to learn chemistry using an analogous AR application.”
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## Actionable feedback 
- Could not exit the game to change the game mode when playing find the correct ->** Add a pop-up menu and gather all the functional buttons there including an exit button**
- Although taping to choose a molecule was intuitive after playing through find the correct, students still did multiple taps to feel confident. ->** Design a multiple tap confirmation feedback (on-screen or in AR)**
- One of the students managed to induce a crash by spamming reset. -> **Review implementation and block button spamming**
- More equations, more contents -> **Add more contents to the reaction balancing**
- When they look at all of the cards at the same time, 3-4 molecules are visualized and others are blinking. ->** due to environmental reflection, review if it is necessary or add a control allowing user to disable it**
- Many equations are balanced from the start. -> **Generate random multipliers for the equations at the beginning of the task**
- Game mode based on periodic table -> **Review the current design or create a new design to fit periodic table**
- Make the game more colorful -> **Polishing**
- Devices are hot and battery consuming fast ->** Study AR application performance tuning**
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## Find the correct
- More than 90% of the students could pass all the levels of the game
- 12 out of 16 students found the game easy (1 out of 5 points), the rest found the game fairly easy (2 out of 5 points)
- Most of the students like this game mode (12 out of 16 students with positive feedback)
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![joonis 1.PNG](/uploads/joonis_1_b3d51314f2.PNG)
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![joonis 2.PNG](/uploads/joonis_2_3fbea06f57.PNG)
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![joonis 3.PNG](/uploads/joonis_3_456eee7ea5.PNG)
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## Reaction balancing - on screen vs AR models
- Students thought the on-screen design is easier to understand
- More students prefer on-screen design (11/16) than the AR design
- Most of the students who prefer on-screen design think it is easier and simpler to use
- One of them replied it is because the molecule AR models become boring after completing several times
- Students who prefer AR design think it has a better visualization and is more interesting
- Brainstorm about the design of reaction balancing is necessary
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![joonis 4.PNG](/uploads/joonis_4_079e73f63c.PNG)
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![joonis 5.PNG](/uploads/joonis_5_560981e5b7.PNG)
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### Students quotes
- "This game has a lot of potential (energy, that can be transformed to kinetic energy what can be transformed to thermal energy, to warm the hearts of little kids on the path of learning)."
- "This seems to be more immediate and interesting"
- " it is simpler to balance, when you can visually see the molecules."


*This blog post was written by Roland.*




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Augmented Reality in Chemistry Education - Second Test Session in School  

Futu-AR is an AR app that we are prototyping in parallel to our VR content development. The app is currently focused on visualizing chemistry and learning to balance chemical reaction equations. 


## 01.04- First Futuclass AR test session with students.

Kristen, Arnold and apprentice Roland from UT have been working on a side project - molecule visualisation and reaction balancing in Augmented Reality. Prototype version of the app is ready and had it's first test session in a public schools regular natural science class. Over the web. 


## Summary
AR application has potential. Students liked the lesson and described it being interesting and fun, a lot more engaging than sitting and listening to the teacher. Brought out one specific game mode as their favorite. Natural science teacher said she'd use this app in her class. Problems we had during the test session were technical and are solvable. 


## General
- 10 students from 7th grade and 1  chemistry teacher took part of the lesson - 11 testers in total (7x Android, 4x Iphone)
- Lesson was hosted on Zoom: everybody had their web cameras on for testers and teacher being able to track progress, help and make notes
- It was Futuclass AR ver. 0.07 that was tested, previous versions have been tested internally by Kristen and Arnold
- Teacher did a reflection round asking about what were the interesting fact that each of the students learned when playing the "Find the correct" mode. 
- Lesson was hosted in a stress free online chemistry lesson with a teacher that has good trust and relationship with her students. Meaning students aren't afraid to speak out. 


## iOS vs. Android  
**2/7 Android** users were not able to run the app. Google Play store gave an issue that the app is not compatible with their phone. One of the students had Samsung A5. So probably both of them had older Android OS than Futuclass app requires (8.1).

**2/7 Android users had serious tracking issues**. One of them uses Xiaomi Redmi 9 and the other one Samsung A71. Examples: 
1) Showed only one molecule although two or several were in the focus area. Playing with the angle and phone distance didn't help.
2) Molecules were located in random places around the display area, not on top of their marker cards. 
3) Molecules didn't go away when markers were out of visual area. 
3/7 Android users were able to run the app without any problems - **43% of testers**

**4/4 Iphone** users had no issues with the app: tracking worked perfectly and everything ran smoothly - **100% of testers**


## Actionable feedback 
- "Find the correct" asks for the same molecule too often (H2, Fe, S were mentioned).-> **Make the pool larger**
- Students who have a phone that isn't  compatible with the app feel left out -> **Define what is the criteria for the phone and OS beforehand **
- Some Android phones tracking in the app is very poor -> **Improve tracking **
- It is hard to measure educational impact and make notes if there are technical problems during the lesson ->** If we' d like an ideally working test session then we need to test in schools that have iPads available**
- Some molecules are missing the fun facts -> **Add fun facts for every molecule**
- "Find the correct" mode was this test groups favourite -> **Develop levels for this game mode, increase pool size**
- Same fact is presented multiple times if you get the same molecule -> **Multpile facts per substance**


## Quotes from students
- "This way of studying is a lot better than just sitting and listening"
- "Much cooler than textbook and TV"
- "I liked that I got to know a fact about every molecule in Find the right game mode"
- "I really like that I can see molecules!"



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Augmented Reality in Chemistry Education - First Test Session in School  

Homeschooling is a globally growing education solution. This schooling
method gives parents and students more control over their own education
experience, rigor, and pace.  

Every January, America celebrates Educational Choice Week. More families
than ever are choosing to homeschool. In the United States alone, 4 to 5
million students are “homeschooled kids”, learning daily in a homeschool
environment. This number encompasses students from every demographic,
race, religion, and political background. The reasons to homeschool vary
from family to family, but there are some trending themes. So why do
people homeschool? This is a question that millions of parents asked
themselves amid school closures during the pandemic of 2020.  
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![A bar graph indicating the most commonly reported reasons to homeschool among surveyed families. Why do parents homeschool? 22% reported wanting to create a safe environment. 12% reported wanting increased instructional value and one on one attention. 9% reported a desire to inject morals and values into the daily routine in a more meaningful way. and 8% of parents reported discipline, class size, and religious environments as their reasons to homeschool. 76% of homeschool families are satisfied with their current education situation. This information is based on a 2019 National Survey published by EdChoice.](/uploads/Why_Do_People_Homeschool_0_d744cc727c.webp)
  
If you were forced into a pandemic-driven homeschool situation by your
child’s school district over the last year, you know that wearing the
hat of parent and teacher at the same time is extremely difficult. Why
would anyone choose to educate their child from home?
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## What does it mean to choose homeschool?

Homeschooling is a choice parents make to remove or never enroll their
school-age children in public or private schools in their district. Many
homeschool parents will argue that online chartered schools do NOT meet
the definition of “Homeschooling.”  
  
Homeschool parents cultivate their own learning programs by picking,
choosing, and combining different homeschool curriculums on the market.
Parents typically vet these curriculums themselves and adjust as
necessary until they find the best fit for their own child. They don’t
have to go it completely alone, though. Many homeschool families are
part of a larger community of homeschool families known as a “co-op”.

**Homeschool co-ops** are groups of families of homeschooled kids
working cooperatively to achieve common goals. Co-ops can organize
social events, community service projects, or field trips that bring
homeschool kids together.
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## How do homeschooled kids turn out? Will they be behind their publicly-educated peers?

Many families choose to teach their children at home despite false
theories about homeschooled kids. There are misconceptions about how
homeschooled kids develop socially and perform academically. Why do
people homeschool if their kids are going to be academically behind? Why
do people homeschool if homeschooled kids turn out ‘weird’?

![Three adult volunteers plant during a beautification project of some kind. Research indicates homeschooled kids volunteer and contribute to their community at higher rates than their institutionally educated peers.](/uploads/Why_Do_People_Homeschool_3_1cdfbc315c.webp)

While homeschooled children’s experiences may look different, the
National Home Education Research Institute reports that homeschool
students, on average score higher on SAT, ACT, and standardized testing
than students involved in institutional education. [NHERI reports that homeschooled kids](https://www.nheri.org/research-facts-on-homeschooling/#:~:text=The%20home%2Deducated%20typically%20score,on%20standardized%20academic%20achievement%20tests.&text=78%25%20of%20peer%2Dreviewed%20studies,schools%20(Ray%2C%202017).)
are more likely to participate in community-based volunteer work as an
adult than publicly schooled students. They also report data that
indicates homeschooled adults are more likely to vote, and are more
politically tolerant than their institutionally educated peers.
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## Top 6 Reasons to Homeschool According to Parents

While studies and surveys have turned up dozens of different reasons to
homeschool, there are about 6 emerging trends when this question is
brought up among homeschool parents and families. Futuclass decided to
dig into the depths of the internet’s data realm and figure out what
motivates families to pull their children from institutionalized
education. Why do people homeschool?

![Two boys wrapped in their blankets work on school work at their kitchen table, illustrating the most common answer to the question, &quot;Why do parents homeschool?&quot; Safety and control of their environment](/uploads/Why_Do_People_Homeschool_4_fb77976af0.webp)
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### 1. Safety and Control of Environment
Almost a quarter of surveyed parents cite safety and security as their
number one reason for choosing to homeschool their kids. With the rise
in school violence across the globe, parents fear the security
limitations of their local districts. 
 
Having complete control over their child’s educational environment
means many things to parents. It means reducing exposure to violence.
Eliminating the presence of drugs. Negating peer pressure - all things
that can go unchecked in crowded school hallways.

Bullying and cyberbullying are making headlines as students are
suffering at the hands of their peers. A lot of this behavior
originates at school and can be eliminated by pulling students out of
their public district or institution.

![](/uploads/Why_Do_People_Homeschool_5_a073da4751.webp)
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### 2. One on One Attention and Instructional Quality
Students who are struggling can ‘fly under the radar’ among a larger
class of their peers. We see this when class sizes get too large.
(Spoiler alert! Reason \#6)

But did you know that an **entire** class of students can ‘fly under
the radar’ among a group of same-aged peers? It’s a fact that some
school districts are providing sub-par or inadequate instruction in
one or more subjects. Those students are falling behind by national
comparison.  
  
There are a lot of reasons why a district is delivering lousy
instruction. They may be using flawed delivery methods. They may need
additional training to deliver the material. They may lack support
resources, materials, and technology. Schools are often not meeting or
even addressing basic education standards set forth by their governing
bodies.  
  
In these circumstances, the disparity between students and their
same-age peers grows year over year. The only solution some parents
see is to handle it on their own before it’s too late. Parents of homeschooled kids say they feel they can deliver higher quality
instruction at home than is available to their child within their home
district or alternative institutions.

![A young girl wears a t-shirt that says, Right to be Wrong, BE Free. Go Your Own Way. Injecting personal morals and values in a more meaningful way is one of the reasons to homeschool reported by surveyed parents.](/uploads/Why_Do_People_Homeschool_6_0ae1304c0d.webp)
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### 3. Morals and Values Instruction
While guidance counselors put a lot of effort into anti-bullying,
kindness, and activism programming in most public schools - it falls
short according to some parents. Raising good citizens is as important
as raising smart ones. Many parents cite their reasons to homeschool
as being backed by moral convictions. They want more community service
and volunteer opportunities integrated into their child’s education.  

Being productive members of society, and good stewards of the
environment and its resources are secondary to programming students
for standardized testing. It’s because of this lack of direct moral
lesson planning that some parents choose to educate their students at
home.

[NHERI reports that adults who were homeschooled](https://www.nheri.org/research-facts-on-homeschooling/#:~:text=The%20home%2Deducated%20typically%20score,on%20standardized%20academic%20achievement%20tests.&text=78%25%20of%20peer%2Dreviewed%20studies,schools%20(Ray%2C%202017).)
are more likely to internalize the values and beliefs of their parents
at a high rate, which is exactly what some homeschooling parents hope for.

![Many homeschool families want religion at the core of their curriculum, and that is why they choose to homeschool. This is an image of a bible, pages blowing in the wind at sunset.](/uploads/Why_Do_People_Homeschool_7_c217004094.webp)
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###  4. Religious Environment
With a clear line of separation between church and state, public
schools are not able to offer religion anything more than a historical
context. In the US, prayer and worship are now allowed in publicly
funded schools.

While this may seem to go hand-in-hand with the morals and values
instruction, parents who cite religious reasons for homeschool often
want a curriculum that is biblically or religiously based.  
  
They are looking not just for encouragement to be good citizens but to
adhere to their particular religious beliefs by ingraining them in as
much of the education process as possible. There are Christian,
Jewish, Muslim, and even Buddhist-based homeschool curriculums that
run a thick thread of religion through the center of their
programming.

![Lack of discipline for bullying is often one of the biggest reasons to homeschool according to surveyed parents. This image shows a boy wearing a backpack and headphones holding another boy up against a wall, gripping the front of his jacket. The boy on the wall looks frightened.](/uploads/Why_Do_People_Homeschool_8_1fb9ca9fbe.webp)
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###  5. Discipline
One of the many difficulties of being a school administrator is doling
out fair and appropriate discipline. It becomes a bone of contention
with parents who believe their child has been over-disciplined, or
that an aggressor has been under-disciplined.

Disagreements about discipline often boil down to published school
policy. With these policies in writing in widely distributed
handbooks, it doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle-room for discretion based
on circumstances. So a student smuggling a switchblade knife in their
locker ends up with the same punishment as the kid who forgot to take
their nerf gun out of their backpack this weekend.

This inability to compromise with parents on discipline has caused
plenty of parents to pull their children from school. This ensures
that they have complete control over proper discipline for academic
and behavioral infractions.

![Why Do People Homeschool 9.webp](/uploads/Why_Do_People_Homeschool_9_e69e8a391c.webp)
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###  6. Class Size

Large class sizes can overwhelm even the best teachers. Students who
are struggling get left in the dust. Students with special needs or
learning disabilities get lost in the shuffle. They often can’t be
given adequate accommodations to succeed.  
  
Having a huge class size eats up a lot of transitional time. This
means less time spent per day on meaningful instruction. This lost
instructional time translates into lower student achievement. Class
size is one of the first things parents ask when scoping out new or
potential school districts.  
   
Small class size can be a huge selling point or bragging right for a
school. It often goes hand in hand with increased student achievement.
One of top the reasons to homeschool comes back to keeping a child
from falling through the cracks. Parents want their child to get
meaningful instruction, and some individualized attention.  
  
So what causes huge class sizes? It boils down to budgets. School
districts can’t afford to add teachers, or building space to spread
students out and lower class size. This is something that is out of
parents’ control, and they find the solution in homeschooling.
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## How Do Parents Prepare Homeschooled Kids for the 21st Century?

Teaching students in 2021 is a different world than teaching students in
1995. Textbooks have transformed into iPads. Lunchmoney is loaded on
debit cards. Elective classes include subjects like computer-aided
drafting, computer programming, and advanced AP classes. Chemistry,
biology, and physics have become inquiry-based and hands-on.

!["A student sits at her desk at home with a VR headset at home. Virtual reality is one of the ways homeschool families are expanding their curriculum in new and innovative ways to keep their kids engaged](/uploads/Why_Do_People_Homeschool_10_ed0e184958.webp)
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How are parents possibly expected to keep up with these subjects at home - especially if they don’t have a modern teaching degree in their
toolbox? The simple answer is to rely on experts. Just like we’d call a
contractor to build an addition on our home, calling in the
professionals to construct parts of our child’s education can be
helpful.  
  
Why do parents homeschool if they don’t know how to teach it all? Not
even trained public school teachers know how to teach it all. This is
where Futuclass comes in. Homeschooled kids can experience engaging and
interactive chemistry, biology and physics lessons right in their own
homes, with no need for an expensive lab! Safety is one of the most
commonly cited reasons to homeschool.  
  
Subscribe to Futuclass’s newsletter to get all the latest updates on our
growing catalog of Virtual Reality Lessons for Homeschool Families.



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Augmented Reality in Chemistry Education - Second Test Session in School

Augmented Reality in Chemistry Education - First Test Session in School