Giving Compass' Take:

• Teachers are using AR and VR to help children connect with history and develop empathy for the suffering of others. 

• How can funders help to create more insightful and relevant programming for students? How can donors help more students access these experiences?

• Learn about more VR projects aimed at building empathy. 

This past year, a group of eighth graders in Texas got upset about a train that didn’t stop for bathroom visits as it headed toward a concentration camp. In Hawaii, another group of students had to decide which of their possessions to sell so they wouldn’t lose their homes.

The students were taking part in virtual reality experiences in Chris Caldwell’s language arts classes at Chisholm Trail Middle School in Texas, and in various classrooms at Hawaii’s Mid-Pacific Institute.

But they weren’t just learning about history and the human condition. Schools can use virtual reality to help students develop empathy and the ability to look at life experiences from different perspectives.

Caldwell—who used Google Expeditions to deliver a virtual reality experience set in the Holocaust—says that when his students first put on the goggles, they viewed them as a novelty. But within a minute or two, the students became quiet, absorbed in what they were seeing; they realized the “reality of the horror of what was in front of them.” Questions ensued. Caldwell said the students had stronger reactions this time around—using virtual reality—than when he’s taught the same subject without the technology.

Read the full article about AR and VR for social and emotional learning by Tina Nazerian at EdSurge.