Rhetorical question→ “Have you ever sat down at a boring lecture? How much did you pay attention? ”
Comic/Graphic of bored kids
Shocking statistic → data (Gallup) “Almost half of students who responded to the survey are engaged with school (47%), with approximately one-fourth “not engaged” (29%) and the remainder “actively disengaged” (24%).”
Video of kids during lecture of info vs while playing game
Snippet of game vs pic of lecture hall → Would you prefer to learn through this or a lecture?
The Challenge
Have a picture, drawing, or some illustration of bored kids
Video of kids during lecture of info vs while playing game
Shocking statistic → data (Gallup) “Almost half of students who responded to the survey are engaged with school (47%), with approximately one-fourth “not engaged” (29%) and the remainder “actively disengaged” (24%).”
Just saying it: “Learners are not excited to learn. They dread being told information the same way they always are: a lecture. The method of presenting information to learners must be modernized and transformed.”
Quotes from learners stating they do not find class as engaging.
The Journey
Lectures have been around as long as learning itself. One higher power spitting out information to a “lesser” audience. Cut to 2021: the audience, so bored that even overdosing on caffeine doesn’t help them make it more than 10 mins into the lecture. With all the technology around us, in all our pockets, why aren’t we using it? But there are some who want to make a change, who care about their audiences. These are our allies. We bring the most immersive, engaging tool at our disposal: *drum roll please* virtual reality technology. Working together with these nature centers, we plant seeds of information in an exciting experience that draws in audiences rather than putting them to sleep. They can time travel, walk through mines and production plants 150 years ago, and everything else you can’t do in a seat in a lecture hall.
The Battle
With our allies, we transform an era of boredom into a world of exciting possibilities. 5 nations united, nature nurture center (NNC), Lehigh gap nature center (LGNC), Delaware and Lehigh National Corridor (DLNC), Jacobsburg environmental education center (JEEC), and RiVR Learning, suit up to find a solution to this tyranny. After years of development, so thoughtfully laid out, and so awesome, they cried of joy. They deliver custom-designed, immersive learning virtual reality games to make education engaging for all who walk through their doors.
The Change
Video of kids during lecture of info vs after playing the game
Survey or assessment taken before the game to establish knowledge baseline and after the game to assess information absorbed
Quotes from learners (example: kid not taking out his phone, even when it buzzed)
History of the Future
What will the world look like if your project fully succeeds? What will people be doing differently? How will they feel differently?
If our project succeeds the field of education will match the modern, technological world around us. Learners will feel excited to learn new content. They will stay engaged, bid boredom goodbye, and likely retain information better. We also increase access to education. Learners who are physically disabled or distant from the centers of education can access our tools and learn in a way they were not able to before. We will also be providing tools to educators, and drawing attention to our partner nature centers in the process. This will allow them to push forward their missions of environmental awareness.
What will the world look like if your project fails? Who will notice? Who will feel the effects?
If our venture fails, the pattern of disengaged learners persists. Learners are not realizing their full potential, and they may be discouraged from future or higher education. They are not exposed to exciting learning tools, so their interest in education declines. Learning remains undesirable, and the world will feel the effects of this as its future workers remain unmotivated to push the boundaries of their understanding. As for learners who are physically disabled or unable to attend learning centers, they will continue to be excluded from the same learning experiences that abled people can access. Educators like our partner nature centers will continue to feel a lack of motivation from their learners, and this barrier of engagement and attention will remain.