FVE CASE STUDY 1

FVE Case Study: The Future of Virtual Reality and Online Learning
Post University
Amethyst Rice
EDU 505: Future of Education
Prof. Rebecca Waters
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The case study will discuss the educational technology trends , economic and public

policy trends, and demographic trends for virtual reality and online learning. Digital technology

has taken over many classrooms, learning spaces, and homes today.A decade ago no one could

imagine that everything would be digitized. Presently that means there are more digital resources

then printed, which changes the classroom. It goes from twenty students per teacher to four

students per teacher, which helps with more peer to peer learning. Secondly students are less

directed and controlled by their teacher. Both statements clarify that learning in the future will be

a mix of formal and informal learning experiences. The future of education will be more digital

and flexible for all students.

Educational Technology Trends

My FVE case study project is on virtual reality and online learning. In the article, “ 10

Major Technology Trends”, Chris listed mobile devices for school work. For the online learning

section of my project, this would be great. Students are more interactive when they can use

technology , especially their cell phone. “Specifically, said Evans, 89 percent of high schools

students have access to Internet-connected smart phones, while 50 percent of students in grades 3

through 5 have access to the same type of devices. High school student access to tablets tops out

at 50 percent and laptops come in at 60 percent” ( Riedel, 2014). In the Salman Khan talk at TED

2011 video, he discussed a teacher that told students to watch the videos for homework. When

the students would come back into the classroom they understood the material because they were

able to replay and relearn the material as many times as they needed. When the teacher would get

onto the computer they can also see what students need what help on a specific area of the
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homework. That eliminates the question of, “ What don’t you understand” and “What do we

need to go over”. It also helps the teacher know what students can do peer to peer tutoring. That

way the students can be interactive and not scared to learn different things from someone in their

classroom.

Another technology trend that is discussed is, “Gaming is growing and gender gap is

closed”. The second trend has a lot to do with the virtual reality part of my project. Chris stated

that , “ This year’s results showed 60 percent of students using laptops as a gaming device. Cell

phones and game consoles tied with 54 percent use, while tablets clocked in at 44 percent”

( Riedel, 2014) . With so many children using their laptops and game consoles as gaming

devices , this can be great way for them to learn. If children played educational games on their

laptops then it’s beneficial. Students can actually have fun while retaining information from the

class lesson of the day. If they had virtual reality, instead of having to carry the laptops around,

then the games would be liquid gold for students. We are in a digital age, students wants

everything to be technological and fun. When technology is involved students will be excited for

school instead of the typical classroom learning settings.

Economic and Public Policy Trends

The economic and public policy trend that plays a huge part in my FVE case study is

Fund Allocation. This course has a focus on the future of education with teachers, using

technology as a supplement with other class materials and changing the current educational

system by teaching in better forms so digital natives can understand course material better.The

new economic trends are great for the future but have not taken real effect in many classrooms

due to budget. There are many ways for faculty to raise money to get the right materials for

future students, but time is a issue. Many teachers and faculty don’t want to time consume their
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day with combined lesson plans and grading. There is a system that is used to determine whether

a school can afford additional learning supplements or any at all. The system currently used is a

system called “Ability to Pay.” This is a system in which, “states use funding formulas to

determine the base amount of funding that a district is entitled to for the upcoming school year

(Education Commission, 2013, p. 2).Of course this will cause problems because students that are

better communities, middle or high class will receive more educational resources. Low income

families that send their children to the low income schools will receive no books or old books

because the school can not afford it.

“Students living in property-wealthy communities have received a significantly higher

level of educational resources than students living in property-poor areas” (Education

Commission, 2013, p. 1). There have been growth with these issues but there is still a staggering

82% of local funding that is supposed to come from property taxes. “ Up to 82.7% of local

funding for education still is derived from local property taxes—and in some states, 100% of

local revenue comes from property taxes” (Education Commission, 2013, p. 2). When the

government does not consider the real income for taxpayers, it effects the local school districts to

be at a hult finicialy. “By not taking taxpayer income into account when measuring a school

district’s ability to pay, high property-wealth/low- income (HPW/LI) districts may be considered

to have a greater tax capacity than the local community believes it can afford” (Education

Commission, 2013, p. 3).

Then of course there are decreases in the school funding because residents do not care to

vote for higher property taxes. The taxpayers most likely can not afford the taxes that they pay or

do not want to pay for educational programs that don’t benefit them directly. The society we live

in are more about being self beneficial not about what you can do for the next student trying to
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get a education to support his family. In this case study, there are plenty of students that need

materials to actually pass their grade level or understand and retain information in general. For

example on the news, chicago schools do not have heaters for the classrooms making it hard to

teach or learn in that environment.

Demographic Trends

There are two demographics that are interesting, economic demographics and

homeschooling. Demographic economics or population economics is the application of

economic analysis to demography, the study of human populations, including size, growth,

density, distribution, and vital statistics. the demographic transition from "population explosion"

to (dynamic) stability or decline. This demographic has chosen between young students and

older ones. These two age groups have been studied to figure out what schooling techniques need

to be cut or renovated like a old home. The second demographic is home schooling, which is the

education of children at home by their parents. There are many families that are reaching for home

school due to violence in public or private schools, the public school system with bad teachers ,

or both. Homeschooling went from 15000 students to over a few million in the 2000's. This may

be a great alternative for students that can't learn at the same time, at the same piece, and with the

same material for the classroom discussion. In previous lessons, homeschool was mentioned a

little bit. This form of teaching ca over power the way students learn now and may have been

considered as a mistake. Students that learn home are capable of retaining information and

learning lessons daily in the comfort of their own home. Some students like being homeschooled

because they can spend as much time with their family as possible.

In conclusion , educational technology trends , economic and public policy trends, and

demographic trends for virtual reality and online learning are discussed. The economic and
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public policy trend that plays a huge part in my FVE case study is Fund Allocation. The two

demographics that are discussed are, economic demographics and homeschooling.

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References

Riedel, C., (February 3, 2014). 10 Major Technology Trends in Education.

Leer, R., & Ivanov, S. (2013). Rethinking The Future Of Learning: The Possibilities And

Limitations Of Technology In Education In The 21st Century. International Journal Of

Organizational Innovation, ( April 2013). 5(4), 14-20.

Education Commission. (August 2013). Who Pays the Tab for K-12 Education?: How state

allocate their share of education cost. The Progress of Education Reform, 14(4), 1-7.

Education Commission. (August 2011). Higher Education Reform: Next-generation model to

success and control cost. The Progress of Education Reform, 12(4), 1-4.

The Lawlor Group. (2014). Tips and Tools for a New Era of Lead Generation. (Topic: Higher

Education Enrollment Trends)

Taylor, P., Parker, K, Morin, R., Fry, R., Pattern, E., & Brown. A. (2014, Feb 11). The Rising

Cost of Not Going to College: Overview.