New ForestVR 360-degree videos have launched and can be viewed via any device with a web browser or a VR headset. The new video experiences span across three different themes and align to the Australian Curriculum. Source: Timberbiz
The Forest Science Explorers series for primary students in years 4-6 explores the tree lifecycles and adaptations in four different forest types commonly found around Australia – tall wet eucalypt forests, dry eucalypt forests, cypress pine forests, and jarrah forests.
Students also discover how forest scientists, called foresters, work to manage these forests for the environment, biodiversity, recreation, First Nations cultural practices and heritage, and in some forests, for sustainable wood products.
Meanwhile, the Careers in Forests and Wood video resources give students a first-hand, day-in-the-life insight into what three different careers in forestry and wood processing involve, including careers as a forester, environmental forester (Ecologist), and wood processing cadet. Discover how careers in forests and wood can work to help the planet through the science, growth and harvesting of Australia’s only carbon positive building product, and the exciting travel and training opportunities that await.
And finally, the Agroforestry: Trees at work on the farm transports students onto three different Australian farms that are successfully reaping the many and varied benefits of incorporating trees into their farming landscapes through agroforestry – for the environment, biodiversity, land management rewards and timber products.
ForestVR video experiences can support classroom inquiry into sustainability, protecting and managing our environment, adaptations of living things to their unique environments, and careers on offer.
ForestVR also provides a safe way to navigate the health, safety and geographical access issues that can come with in-person excursions to forests and timber processing facilities, as well as provide students with post-excursion forest comparisons with other forest types distributed around the country.
“Teachers across Australia have told us how they have found ForestVR to be a technology-rich and highly effective way of engaging school students, by allowing them to visit places they wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to access during a school field trip,” Beth Welden, ForestLearning Program Manager, said.
ForestVR experiences have been put to great use by educators around Australia.
Grant Dooner, Technology Educator at Champagnat Catholic College in Pagewood said of his use of ForestVR tools in his classrooms: “I have used the existing ForestVR experiences in the classroom to great success, with students highly engaged around an environment they might not otherwise get to experience.”
“A lot of material available to Australian teachers online is American and doesn’t always fit the Australian curriculum or context. The Australian-produced ForestLearning materials, including ForestVR, help overcome this issue.”
The newly launched Year 10 geography resource developed by the Geography Teachers Association Victoria (GTAV) – ‘Environmental Change and Forest Management’ – assists students to explore and understand forest types, Australia’s timber plantations, using data and technology to manage forests, forest cover change, and how Australian sustainable forest management practices compare internationally.
The full resource includes teacher guides, interactive student PDF workbooks for print or online learning, lesson-by-lesson PowerPoint slide decks, KMZ/KML files for spatial mapping exercises and accompanying online video tutorials.
More new ForestVR primary and secondary teaching and learning resources are also in development with GTAV, Design and Technologies Teachers Association Victoria and Australian Science Teachers Association and will be free to download in Semester 2 2022.
These resources will not only embed ForestVR 360-degree video and photo tools, but also utilise subject-specific practical activities such as online spatial mapping, design thinking practical project activities using renewable and sustainable wood and wood fibre, and science investigation activities that align to the Australian curriculum with a focus on sustainability.
All ForestLearning resources and ForestVR tools are freely available to download or view on the ForestLearning website and the ForestLearning YouTube and Vimeo channels. The ForestVR 360-degree videos and virtual tours can also be downloaded to class sets of iOS and Android devices via the ForestVR classroom App as well as for Oculus Go devices.
