In Term Four, Sheldon College Year 7 students have used Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality resources to explore important systems of the human body in HPE/PHD classes held in the College’s ArtScapes and Virtual Reality learning spaces.

The body systems that were identified for studying were those associated with how the body moves during sport and physical activity. These are the skeletal, muscular, circulatory and respiratory systems.

Being able to explore key concepts using technology has made student learning of anatomy more engaging, fun, and interactive. There were also opportunities for students to satisfy their own curiosity with each system through pre-selected applications. For many students, this was their first-time using Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality in classroom lessons and this approach to delivery of the topic has generated a lot of interest from the students and has increased their engagement levels.

The key learnings taught by Sheldon College educators targeted the shapes and functions of bones in the skeleton, the interaction between bones and muscles to facilitate simple movements of body parts, the four chambers of the heart and how blood is circulated, the process by which oxygen is taken into the body and delivered to the blood via tiny capillaries and the effect of poor health, diet and lifestyle decisions.

The power of Augmented Reality to really enliven any science lesson is limitless. Students can get a whole new perspective on often quite abstract scientific concepts and get to interact with something far more tangible than the alternative flat 2D image can. Through the use of innovation this interactive and engaging teaching method has enabled students to fully understand how oxygen and other nutrients are delivered to muscles through a fully immersive experience.