My Take
I see Google Cardboard and VR as a two-sided tool. One can be the user of this technology or the "watcher" of the videos. Or one can be the creator using this technology. Teaching High School I think we would quickly move past the excitement of underwater ocean explorations, etc. I was thinking that my high school students could create their own 360 videos as a project and have other classmates video and score their videos. Almost like a VR competition. With the expensiveness of 360 cameras lessening, I feel that if I purchased one for my class, I could have students borrow the camera for a week or so at a time and have groups create their own VR explorations/videos. I think that this type of technology will only get better and we're just now starting to see this surface. In the next few years I could see almost every grammar school student going on virtual field trips. At the secondary level I would see this more as a project-based application. I feel that the success of a teachers lesson around this is directly related to the effort in planning the lesson. A well thought-out lesson and appropriate execution of the lesson will absolutely enhance the learning experience.
How I Use It
This was my first personal exploration with Google Cardboard and Virtual Reality videos. I have not yet used it in my classroom but I hope to in the future. In my opinion, I think that students in the elementary school would have a lot more fun exploring new places. HS students might get bored quickly just viewing videos. I think that one obstacle would be the financial aspect of equipping my classroom with this technology. Although not extremely expensive, I would need to find a way to secure the funds to make this type of purchase. The videos out there are plentiful and I think it would be easy for me to find some to share to the classroom. I would see using this technology as an exploration for my students. I might even have them find videos relative to our coursework to share with the class.