Some Madison County fifth graders have been around the world! WAAY 31 peeked in on their classroom as they tried out some new virtual reality goggles at Monrovia Elementary.
"Amazed I think is a good word, you hear the whoa's and the wows," Amy Willis, a technology teacher at the school, said
The students were the first to get their hands on virtual reality equipment the school got as part of a grant.
At just the swipe of an iPad, the teacher can take students anywhere around the world. They get an experience as if they're there in person.
"It really kind of shocks them I think to be in space, or at Mt. Everest or wherever we go," Willis said.
Teachers say not only does this technology make learning fun and interactive for the students...it gives them a chance to experience the places they study like never before.
"We can visualize without just looking at a picture in a book, we can visualize and look around and see what's there," Luke Jensen, a fifth grade student, said.
It also gives students the opportunity to feel like they are traveling to places they may never see.
"A lot of these places I always wanted to go, I really wanted too," Jensen said.
Students also said it's opened up their eyes to what's out there in the world.
"Some places I hadn't even thought about going and now I want to go because it's so cool," Jensen said,
The equipment will be available to all students at the school. Teachers will be able to check it out and use it for any of their lesson plans they feel it'll be beneficial for.
