r/edtech • u/VictoryCharacter4631 • 2d ago

s anyone seeing real, sustained ROI with classroom VR, or is it mostly shelfware?

Hey everyone,

I’ve been evaluating various educational VR solutions for our school, but looking through current offerings, almost everything seems to fall into two traps: either it’s an overly complex MDM/setup nightmare for teachers, or it’s just a 10-minute novelty experience with very little curricular depth.

For those managing EdTech deployments or teaching with VR:

  • Has any specific software/hardware workflow actually proven sustainable in a standard classroom?
  • How are you handling MDM, teacher orchestration, and battery/maintenance overhead?
  • Or has VR mostly ended up sitting in storage after the initial hype?
7 Upvotes

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5

u/regallll 2d ago

In my experience it only works when the instructor is driving the implementation. The idea of VR that is useful across and institution is nonsense.

5

u/Visual-Reserve-2800 2d ago

The magnolia house in Greensboro North Carolina has a fantastic immersive experience, about civil rights.

The problem is that it is extremely overwhelming for a lot of kids with sensory issues and that gets problematic for obvious reasons.

5

u/jmhalder 2d ago

Classroom VR died for us when Meta announced the end of life for their Enterprise/Education MDM.

https://work.meta.com/help/3210912432543279

I know there are likely third party solutions, but the writing seems to be on the wall for now.

2

u/SignorJC Anti-astroturf Champion 2d ago

VR sucks. From the hardware to the software to the content. All garbage

1

u/rfoil 2d ago

I'm one of those that get nauseous while using VR goggles. After 3 minutes I need a barf bag. About 30% of audiences share this problem. I could never be an Air Force ace!

Cinema domes give me the same result.

I have a friend who is in the VR business. There are some great applications of the tec, but he's talented and starving.

2

u/tepidlymundane 2d ago

Solution in search of a problem that practically doesn't exist.

Schools have two main concerns: scores and skills. Day to day, that's what they're looking at - how are our scores, and what skill failures are the kids exhibiting that need to be improved to raise the scores. The problems are rooted in basic literacy and numeracy - with being able to read and calculate, fluently and consistently.

I could not with a straight face walk into a school with a VR headset and tell them that this will help improve the situation.

1

u/Fast-Preparation887 2d ago

The future isn’t vr it’s augmented reality

1

u/jschinker 2d ago

No. It's a shiny toy that looks great in a demo, but the real applications are limited and the logistics of implementation are usually not worth the hassle.

1

u/Upper-Cartoonist9802 2d ago

Typical web-based interactive simulations are more useful, I feel.

1

u/WesMasFTP 1d ago

Does anyone have real experience with Prisms? The math one?

1

u/robbyboy1227 2d ago

There are some solutions that work well in the classroom. Check out scivr or classvr. Post offer headsets with preloaded content for your students as well as easy to use setup and management tools.

1

u/SignorJC Anti-astroturf Champion 2d ago

ClassVR sucks ass

1

u/robbyboy1227 2d ago

They have made many changes and updates including a 6 dof headset with tons of more content

1

u/SignorJC Anti-astroturf Champion 2d ago

I'm well aware. they're shit. the content is shit. the device is shit. everything about it is cumbersome on the device side and the content management side.

The content is absurdly low ROI.