Queen Creek students use virtual reality to learn

QUEEN CREEK, Ariz. (KSAZ) - This morning, third and fourth graders from Desert Mountain Elementary used 3D glasses instead of pencils and computers instead of textbooks to learn.

"Zspace... I call it a desktop on steroids," Thessa Monaco said. "What it is it performs the functions of a regular computer, however, it also uses augmented reality and virtual reality to bring lessons to life, so gone are the days when the students are looking at a picture of a heart or dissecting real frogs."

"Today, we're going to learn soil erosion and weathering," Tracy Guilmette said. "We already did a unit on soil and erosion and weathering, but they've done it basically on paper. Now, they get to go in and see how it's going to work in real life."

The lesson is obviously interactive, but it also encourages students to work together.

The Zspace mobile classrom was in Tucson last week, and Buckeye and Marana earlier this week. It will stay in Queen Creek for the rest of this week.