BLAKE New Zealand Virtual Reality: Using Virtual Reality to Educate about New Zealand's Marine Environment

BLAKE employs several steps to ensure a rich experience for all learners, including both the learners and the teachers they reach.

Outreach:
• E-newsletters are circulated to targeted schools in Auckland and parts of the upper North Island, introducing and promoting the NZ-VR programme. Compelling imagery and video support the content.

Registration:
• Interested schools register online for the NZ-VR programme (sessions last one hour and schools can book up to four sessions per day).
• The NZ-VR programme is free, so it is accessible to all. However, schools are asked for a voluntary koha (donation) to help cover the programme cost.

Preparation:
• Registered teachers are contacted by the NZ-VR educators prior to their visit to confirm dates and times for the sessions.
• Prior to the session, teachers are given an overview of how the session will run, any technology requirements to assist the educators (e.g., a large screen and/or projector for a presentation), and how to set up the ideal classroom. For example, some schools choose to hold the sessions in a library or hall-style setting where children might be seated on the floor, whereas others may choose a traditional classroom where children are seated at desks or tables.
In the classroom:
• Our full-time environmental educators visit scheduled schools with a class set of VR headsets to deliver NZ-VR sessions.
• The educators begin the lesson with an introduction to BLAKE and by getting a sense of the experience the students have had with the marine environment. For example, students might be asked to raise their hands if they have been swimming or fishing in the ocean, been on a boat on the ocean, or been diving/snorkeling and
experienced what’s under the ocean.
• The session is an interactive combination of a visual PowerPoint, inclusive discussions, and questions about what they are learning and seeing, and watching a series of underwater VR videos through headsets controlled by educators.
• Each interactive experience is 5 to 10 minutes in length to keep the class engaged and moving. The experience involves footage of healthy marine ecosystems and those that have been degraded by human activity. During this time, our educators get children to discuss among themselves what they experienced—what they could see and hear. They are encouraged to share this with the educators and the rest of the class.
• The lessons conclude with a discussion about student suggestions on actions that can be taken to reduce the impacts.

Content:

• The overall aim of the lesson is to learn about the critical issues the marine environment faces and discuss what actions can be taken to address these issues. The areas of emphasis throughout the session are the impacts of overfishing, runoff and sedimentation, and invasive species. A new lesson on marine mammal society is currently in development and will be available February 2022.
• The videos show real, 360-degree footage of healthy, thriving marine ecosystems and species— shot in local marine reserves. Students “swim” with schools of snapper, trevally, and dolphins, while seeing sharks, whales, stingrays, and kelp forests up close.
• Students also experience unprotected marine areas shot in the Hauraki Gulf, which include barren underwater environments due to overfishing. The videos showcase the value and importance of protected marine areas and allow students to gain a basic understanding of food chains and the concept of trophic cascade. A trophic cascade is an ecological phenomenon triggered by species loss and a disruption in the ocean’s food web, often resulting in dramatic changes in ecosystem structure and nutrient cycling.
• Students also experience environments that have been significantly degraded due to pollution, sedimentation, and invasive species.

Follow up:
• Each teacher receives a physical handout with information about where they can find online supplementary teacher resources for NZ-VR and further information about BLAKE and all programmes we offer.