Administration

Innovative use of VR creates immersive classroom experience

This immersive learning environment brings the world into the classroom, allowing students to explore without leaving the school grounds.

<p>A groundbreaking example of weaving Virtual Reality into the classroom setting&comma; Coomera Anglican College’s Imaginaruim is a facility most schools would dream of having&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Featuring six laser projectors and cinema-quality surround sound&comma; the Imaginarium creates a seamless 360-degree sensory experience without the need for wearable technology such as VR headsets&period; The learning space&comma; through the use of technology&comma; can teleport students from the icy cold environments of Antarctica to the sweltering Sahara Desert and even the solar system- all in a school day&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;school-news&period;com&period;au&sol;latest-print-issue&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener"><strong>Read the latest edition of <em>School News<&sol;em> HERE<&sol;strong><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Imaginarium is believed to be one of only a few fully immersive and interactive learning spaces in Australia&period; In the five years since its installation&comma; it has become a beloved facility for both teachers and students&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Centred around a thINQ inquiry framework&comma; the school focuses on structured and guided inquiry as the vehicle to develop a curriculum that is both student-centred and student-driven&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;As our students step into the Imaginarium you can feel the excitement and anticipation from the students&comma; as they know they are about to embark on a guided inquiry project&comma;” Coomera Anglican College IT Services Manager Darryl Hall said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The space is large enough that we can basically fit whole cohorts in there&comma; so it’s a really collaborative experience&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The students walk back to the classroom fully engaged after the activity&comma; bouncing ideas off each other&comma; asking and delving into more questions and the teachers are supporting&comma; by extending the engagement further&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Mr Hall added that the Imaginarium is closely tied in with the student&&num;8217&semi;s curriculum and is updated frequently to expand the experiences for students&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;As part of inspiring teaching&comma; learning&comma; service and faith – which is at the core of what we do&comma; we are continually working with teachers around content and ideas&comma; so we can use the facility in different ways&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;As an Early Learning to Year 12 College&comma; our content needs to be adaptable to different age groups&period; Some cohorts are learning about different weather patterns and they can be fully immersed into the Imaginarium and experience in a safe and secure environment bushfires&comma; floods&comma; or earthquakes&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>With such a well-utilised and loved space&comma; when the time came to refresh the Imaginarium and update the technology&comma; Mr Hall knew that he had to reach out to a company he trusted&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Over time the colour and clarity of our old projectors had begun to fade&comma; and we reached out to BenQ after working with them on other projects at the school&comma;” Mr Hall said&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We basically just opened up the conversation and they were able to come on board and help us update the technology&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;24110" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-24110" style&equals;"width&colon; 1024px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignnone"><img class&equals;"size-large wp-image-24110" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;school-news&period;com&period;au&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2023&sol;06&sol;SN28-TECH-BenQ-case-study-4-1024x576&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Technology" width&equals;"1024" height&equals;"576" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-24110" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Image supplied by Coomera Anglican College<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>Martin Moelle&comma; Managing Director of <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;benq&period;com&sol;en-au&sol;index&period;html" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">BenQ Australia<&sol;a> said that the biggest consideration with the Imaginarium refresh was ensuring a long-lasting and accurate colour image&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;This was made possible by the latest laser light source and DLP technology&comma;” he said&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The solution ultimately brought a professional product that can handle high-quality contents displayed using edge blending for the desired outcome&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>When it came to selecting the model of projectors&comma; Mr Moelle said that reliability was key&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The LU9245 model was chosen for its high reliability and low maintenance&comma; meaning no filter cleaning or lamp changes required besides outstanding colour reproduction&comma;” he said&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;This is a big plus when projectors are ceiling mounted&period; Additionally&comma; the LU9245 offers considerably low power consumption&comma; helping to keep the overall installation efficient and at a minimal cost&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Mr Moelle said the new projectors had made a &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;massive” difference to the Imaginarium&comma; with clearer images helping to elevate the space even further&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"alignnone size-large wp-image-24111" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;school-news&period;com&period;au&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2023&sol;06&sol;SN28-TECH-BenQ-case-study-3-1024x576&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"1024" height&equals;"576" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>While BenQ had worked on countless installations over the years&comma; the Coomera Imaginarium held a special place in the team’s heart&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The immersive and simulation trend is in full swing and the Coomera Imaginarium is a brilliant example that is ahead of the curve&comma;” Mr Webb said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Alongside edge blended installations&comma; users are demanding more &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;true to life” experiences for sports and training&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;This is where BenQ projectors continue to shine&period; CAC has created an exceptional learning space for students to really benefit from a technologically leading-edge environment&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;BenQ is proud to have been selected to be a part of their ongoing journey&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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