Start-up Costs

Total immersion virtual reality has typically been located in the business sector or major university labs. Total emersion setups consist of special rooms in which the participant wears a head-mounted display and possible other attachments like gloves.

A typical elementary or secondary school is more likely to participate in using some form of desktop virtual reality. This type of virtual reality is presented on a computer screen and involves either the use of the internet or a computer application program in which the students participate in a virtual activity from a first person point of view.

The following plan is written for an elementary campus that will use desktop virtual reality. The potential users are 4^th and 5^th grade science students under the supervision of their science teachers. These students reside in south Texas and will be taking a state standards-based science exam in the spring of their 5^th grade year. Exposure to virtual reality experiences can benefit these students who may not have an actual science lab at their school and who have limited exposure to life experiences that could be beneficial to their test-taking knowledge.

The school has an existing computer lab, so hardware is not a concern for immediate implementation. All future computer replacements need to ensure that they are up to par for multimedia standards. The computers should have a video card, Windows 95 – XP, and will need to have the following installed: Flash Player, Windows Media Player, QuickTime, and Real Player. As well, a mouse and keyboard are needed. Several suggested programs will be based on the internet at no cost. While one is a fee-based subscription. The one purchased product provides a site license to the entire school.

Fortunately, the school has a district-provided computer technician that visits that school on a 2 ½ days a week rotation. The computer technician will install any necessary components of the desktop virtual reality programs during the first two weeks of September, either using the internet or purchased cd-roms. These programs will be available during school hours to the students. Notices will be sent home informing families of any sources that will be available for home use as well.

Upon installation by the campus technician, the campus technologist (a designated campus teacher) will offer trainings during the last two weeks of September for successful implementation of the virtual reality programs. As well, beginning in October, each purchased program will be modeled to the entire campus staff highlighting one program per faculty meeting. This will be a refresher to those already trained and will showcase the virtual reality programs to other staff members not directly involved in the implementation of this innovation. The campus technologist receives a paid stipend from the district, so this cost is unrelated to start up costs of the virtual reality programs.

The 4^th and 5^th grade teachers will be in charge of orienting their students to the use of the programs whenever they are implemented in their classroom lesson plans. It is expected that the programs will begin use by mid October and will continue through April prior to the state Science test.

Key-players, gurus, experts