Curiosity by Halle

Curiosity by Halle - February 2018 Scholarship Essay

Six light years away lies the planet, Mars. At first, this planet was taught to students using only textbooks. In these heavy books, endless sentences of information droned on with an occasional illustration on the side. The lack of engagement makes teaching young students by using textbooks not the best method- one can tell by the doodles and scribbles on every few pages of most textbooks.

Decades later, whiteboard-sized computers were installed in some classrooms. Teachers and students could draw digitally on the board, create interactive games, and even project internet websites onto the screen. Educating students about Mars became much more engaging than by using textbooks by combining sight, sound, and touch... but a crucial ingredient to learning was missing:

Immersion.

One advance in technology that I believe will be an integral part of education in the year 2038 is a more immersive virtual reality. Using virtual reality headsets combines sight, sound, touch, and immersion to create the ideal learning platform for young students. A student can be shown a glossy picture of Mars in a textbook or shown a projected video simulating Mars' landscape, but neither compares to experiencing Mars in virtual reality. With virtual reality, a young student could be taught about the red planet by the Mars rover Curiosity, or an older student could study its fascinating geological features while Marsquakes thunder beneath the planet's ground. Combining classrooms with virtual reality opens a new world of learning possibilities.

Within each child is an enthralling will to explore. This will is how so much has been accomplished, from diving into freezing oceans and trekking in humid rainforests to eventually colonizing Mars. All that has been and will be discovered is a result of this human curiosity. Learning about these discoveries begins in classrooms and should always be engaging for young students. The advancement of a more immersive virtual reality could make even the smallest exploration the most rewarding discovery for students everywhere.