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EDUCATION

VR Gear, a Gift That Opens a New World

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South Korea Samsung Smart School

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Enabling the developmentally challenged: Riding the bus in VR

Getting on the transit bus, scanning the ticket and pushing the bell to get off at the right bus stop. These things may appear simple, but for the developmentally challenged kids, just riding the bus all alone is not easy. The busyness of public transport could be unfamiliar and sometimes their fear and stress leads to unintended conflicts with other commuters. “How can we help them ride the bus?” This was the question Sang-chul Oh kept asking himself. Oh is a teacher at Seo-kwang School and also the winner of Samsung future education competition.

“Seo-kwang School is for developmentally challenged students. There are around 200 students, but only one is comfortable with public transportation. This is something that they will have to learn eventually,” said Oh. “After much thought, I said to myself, ‘How about if we teach the skills needed with VR gear?’”

Seo-kwang School beat 40-to-1 odds this past July and became part of the Smart School program. The classrooms were upgraded with electronic blackboards, tablet PCs, and VR Gear. And Oh’s experiment got its start. “As soon as we implemented the smart devices, we went through the bus-riding experience and recorded the whole process, turning it into a VR simulation. Doing this in real life for the first time would’ve been difficult, but the students really enjoyed experiencing this virtually,” said Oh. His experiments did not stop here. He started utilizing the smart devices in his regular curriculums as well.

“Using VR gear, the students can now experience the outside world, whether it’s under the sea in Jeju Island or through the city of Paris. Tablet PCs and apps are also useful for other curriculum, especially language education. The screen and the music capture the students’ attention, increasing their ability to concentrate.”

Getting the colleagues on board with digital education

Seo-kwang Smart School-enabled classroom is now being utilized all week, around 35 hours a week, almost without breaks, but this was not always the case. Often, the teachers did not feel comfortable with the digital devices. Confident of the impact of Smart School, Oh stepped up his efforts to help his fellow teachers. He used digital devices to produce video contents and initiated a program titled “How to Utilize Smart School”. “The smart classrooms were often empty in the beginning, but now the weekly scheduled is packed. I feel really proud about everything when I walk pass the classroom and see the resources being fully utilized.”

Growing as a teacher

It was not always easy to get the students familiarized with Smart School and the digital devices. Especially when it came to VR gear, some students were afraid of the temporary dark surrounding at the beginning of the program. But Oh remained patient and continued his attempts to incorporate this element. “Last winter, I showed them falling snow with VR gear and they acted as if snow had really fallen and they were throwing real snowballs. After the initial discomfort, they were finally getting used to the equipment. And now they really enjoy the experience of virtual reality.” Oh’s efforts and dedication to his students did not go unnoticed. In 2019, Oh received three big awards for his contributions to digital education over the last three years. He was recognized for taking the lead in digital education by the Minister of Education, the Minister of Science and Information and Communication Technology, as well as the superintendent of the Gyeonggi Office of Education.

High hopes for the students

“For the developmentally challenged, learning to deal with the outside world is an ongoing progress. Every student is at a different comfort level and it’s difficult for us to predict their behaviors,” Oh said. “This is precisely why we need VR-based education using smart devices.” When Oh reflects on the Smart School experience, he feels very proud of the students’ progress. “It would be great to have the students take the bus alone and be able to cook for themselves, but the most important thing is their self-satisfaction. If they can move from one place to another, if they could cook for themselves when they are hungry, they will be satisfied with themselves. We want to teach them independence and self-reliance and we are sure that we could achieve this. We are grateful to Samsung Smart School for recognizing the need and supporting this effort.” Including Seo-kwang School, there are 81 organizations designated by Samsung Smart School as of 2018. Especially starting this year, the Smart School program is being made more accessible, Hackathon with Samsung employees is being offered, and new support programs are being initiated, including Samsung Smart School on and offline meetings. Samsung is attempting extensive changes to close the education gap through digital technology and will continue to work with individuals committed to innovating education, such as Sang-chul Oh, to empower students’ lives and improve the education system.

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