STANFORD, Cal. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — According to a new study from Stanford University, nearly 16 million students in the U.S. missed a quarter of the school year. That, of course, leads to falling behind in class. The issue is more concerning for seriously ill children who are hospitalized and face the worry of being held back a grade. However, one hospital in California may have found an innovative solution to the problem.
Today, eight-year-old Elijah Suba is time traveling from his hospital room back to ancient Egypt. Teacher, Faith Collins went along for the ride, too.
Virtual reality has replaced Elijah’s school books during his months’ long stay at Stanford Children’s Health while he receives a bone marrow transplant. The life-saving process requires him to stay in his hospital room, away from the threat of germs. Mom, Janet Shayo, was concerned how it would affect his learning.
Elijah’s mom says, “Me being a teacher myself, was very worried about his education. And, so, the moment I got here, they made it very clear that there are options that we can use.”
Tom Caruso, Co-Director of the CHARIOT Program at Stanford Children’s Health says, “And we’re hopeful that using immersive technologies, such as virtual reality for education, that we will be able to return that sense of well-being to children.”
Faith Collins, Educational Technology Coordinator at Stanford Children’s Health explains, “For patients that cannot leave their room, we bring in teachers to the bedside. I’m one of them and I get to come in and bring virtual reality experiences to the children. We are avatars. So, I create my avatar. The patient creates their own avatar. Then we can travel the world. So, I get an understanding of what they’re interested in and I can curate a lesson for them. If they’re interested in dinosaurs, we might meet in the prehistoric era.”
Shayo says, “Now he can’t wait for VR to come.”
Elijah says, “It feels like I’m learning. It’s also, I’m playing a game.”
Shayo explains, “It’s fun to see how animated he is now, about going to school. Elijah’s learning.”
Faith visits up to 10 students a day in their hospital rooms. Oftentimes, she even arranges for patients who are in isolation to meet with other patients in an online virtual reality classroom setting. Currently, Stanford Children’s Health is the only hospital in the country offering this program.
Contributors to this news report include: Jennifer Winters, Producer; Roque Correa, Editor and Joseph Alexander-ShortVideographer.
Sources:
NEW KIND OF CLASSROOM FOR SICK KIDS
REPORT #3139
BACKGROUND: Virtual Reality (VR) is a computer-generated environment with scenes and objects that appear to be real. VR allows a person to immerse themself in video games as if they were one of the characters, learn how to perform heart surgery, or improve the quality of sports training to maximize performance. Some areas that have already taken advantage of this technology are medicine, culture, education, and architecture. From guided museum visits to the dissection of a muscle, VR allows a person to cross boundaries that would otherwise be unimaginable. Big technology companies are already working to develop headsets that do not need cables and allow images to be seen in HD. There is even talk that in the next few years they could integrate artificial intelligence.
VIRTUAL REALITY AND EDUCATION: Serious illnesses and extended hospitalization can lead to a loss of school days and education for children. It can also create social and learning challenges due to prolonged or intermittent absences from school. For those patients, VR lessons at the bedside brighten their school day and are another educational tool to enable deeper learning and allow them to experience the world beyond the classroom walls. The VR lessons are part of the Immersive Technology Education program launched by the Stanford CHARIOT program. It’s an internationally recognized group from mixed subspecialties that uses immersive technology, including VR, to reduce anxiety and pain in pediatric patients and improve their well-being. VR devices are loaded with math, science, and history lessons and lead children on cognitive field trips far away from their hospital room. “VR class makes learning feel like an adventure, no matter how limited the young patient’s world is inside the hospital,” says Faith Collins, a former elementary school teacher.
NEW VIRTUAL REALITY RESEARCH AND MENTAL HEALTH: A national study has found that automated virtual reality (VR) technology can successfully help people recover from mental health problems. Researchers at the University of Oxford revealed the automated therapy was shown to work well for patients diagnosed with psychosis, with the biggest benefits experienced by those with the most challenging psychological problems. The gameChange VR program targets a problem that is common in people diagnosed with psychosis: intense fears about being outside in everyday situations. The program is designed to treat this agoraphobia and help patients re-engage with day-to-day activities. It takes them from a housebound existence to life back in the world outside. “Looking to the future, we hope to implement gameChange virtual reality therapy into routine clinical services,” said Elizabeth Murphy, MD, gameChange Trial Coordinator and Research Clinical Psychologist. Patient feedback showed that the treatment was very popular.
* For More Information, Contact:
Elizabeth Valente-Pigato
EValentePigato@stanfordchildrens.org
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