Expanding horizons with virtual reality at Three Rivers Community Schools
KALAMAZOO, Mich.—A one-day experiment with virtual reality has grown into a highly-anticipated event for elementary students at the Three Rivers Community Schools (TRCS). Thanks to a partnership with the University Libraries, students are exploring technology they might not otherwise encounter in their early education.
Jamie Phillips, TRCS’s technology integration specialist, worked with the University Libraries’ Tech Lab to arrange the initial one-day virtual reality (VR) experience for a small cohort of students at two schools. Although the first year started small, interest in the program has skyrocketed, and multiple sessions were offered at four schools in 2024.
“It's nice because the teachers then get to see how excited the students are, which in turn, makes them want to include more of those technical things in their classroom,” says Phillips.
“We had participated in a few off-campus elementary and middle school events in the past, but this was a completely new scale. We were transitioning to make our Meta Quest 2 headsets into a mobile lab, so it was perfect timing,” says Alex Teal, emerging technology specialist at the University Libraries.
During the visit, students get hands-on time with a VR headset to experience and navigate a virtual environment. After their turn, students can create ‘flipgrid’ videos, which are recorded like a TikTok, to discuss their experience.
Beyond the fun, Phillips has enhanced the program by incorporating articles, videos and career exploration into the experience, including conversations about safely using technology. Phillips also ties the experience to previous technology lessons with robotics, touching on concepts like programming, algorithms and computational thinking.
“At first, it was just pure excitement, and then we were able to go back and talk about more of the computer science part of it,” says Phillips.
“VR is still a dynamically changing field and it challenges you to think in new ways,” Teal adds.
The TRCS visits have also been an excellent opportunity for Western students to get hands-on experience teaching others how to use technology.
“I thought it was really interesting to see just how much they got into the experience,” says Nicholas McManama, computer science major. “For the younger kids, it was a bit harder to teach them what was happening, but they learned the games that we were showing them much quicker than I expected.”
“I loved having the opportunity to work with the students at Three Rivers. For many students, that was their first experience using VR,” says Elana Wierenga, Tech Lab employee and social work major.
Before working in the Tech Lab, Wierenga had limited exposure to VR, but her experience prepared her to introduce it to others.
“I now have the ability to not only use VR for fun and education but also to show and teach others how to use it,” Wierenga adds.
Looking ahead, Phillips hopes to secure grants for VR headsets that teachers can integrate directly into their curricula.
“By having this collaboration, I can start to build the excitement over [VR] so that when I have my sets through the grants that teachers will want to use them,” Phillips adds.
“I'm just so thankful for this partnership because it allows me to expose so many students to something that they might not have an experience to have before.”
“It’s been a huge win for our team to push us to make our skills better in device management and customer service and to think about VR beyond just our own Lab experience,” says Teal. “Hopefully we found a few future Broncos along the way.”
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