Pearson Collaborates With Google to Develop Virtual Reality Learning Experiences for Students
ISTE 2016 attendees will get sneak peek of Pearson’s first Google Expedition trip
Denver, CO – Tens of thousands of educators will be the first to see new immersive learning content from Pearson this week at ISTE 2016 in Denver. The world’s learning company announced today that it is collaborating with Google to bring the next generation of interactive, 360o learning content to students around the world, allowing them to travel to the places they learn about in school from Mars to the Great Barrier Reef.
Pearson is developing its first set of Google Expeditions, an immersive experience that allows teachers to take their classes on virtual field trips, available for back-to-school 2016. Classes can take Expeditions virtual field trips using a smartphone or tablet and a virtual reality viewer and get a window into a different world.ISTE attendees will get a sneak peek at some of the first Pearson content that will someday be part of a Google Expedition, a 3D tour of the London Transport Museum, at Pearson Booth #2306. Pearson’s interactive 360o video virtual tour is given from the perspective of Albert Stanley, a British-American businessman who saved the British transportation system in the early 1900s. When students put on Google Cardboard, they will travel to the museum where they will take an immersive tour – through Stanley’s eyes – learning the history of transportation in Britain, while also viewing old buses, trains, trams and more from the museum’s collection of 450,000 artifacts, clicking on a voice-activated “hot spot” in the tour when they want to go deeper or change direction.
“Imagine being a middle school student in Billings, Montana, with a keen interest in trains, who takes a field trip to the London Transport Museum on a Tuesday morning. Or a third grader in Toledo, Ohio, who wants to explore the depths of the sea and does just that on a Wednesday afternoon in science class – all through the power of today’s digital learning technology,” said Mark Christian, Pearson’s director of learning and innovation. “Developing these innovative immersive learning experiences to engage students in new and exciting ways is illustrative of Pearson’s commitment to the innovative use of technology to transform learning.”
About Pearson
Pearson is the world’s learning company, with expertise in educational courseware and assessment, and a range of teaching and learning services powered by technology. Our mission is to help people make progress through access to better learning. We believe that learning opens up opportunities, creating fulfilling careers and better lives.About Google Expeditions
More than one million students from over 11 countries have taken virtual reality trips through the Google Expeditions Pioneer Program since last September. Starting today, schools will be able to download the Expeditions app for Android, making it even easier for students around the world to explore over 200 places.Media Contact: Hillary Stroud, (202) 407-6661