Virtual reality is taking the education community by storm with tools like Google Expedition and Nearpod which help teachers take their students on virtual field trips to distant lands.

But a classroom that is being dubbed the most high-tech classroom in the U.K. takes the immersive classroom experience to a whole new level.

According to The Mirror, “[t]he 4D room uses projected video footage on floor-to-ceiling screens, sound, lighting and an interactive floor space to create an ‘immersive' experience."

"The interactive floor means that the water ripples – and fish scatter – when the children 'dip their toes in’ and artifacts can be ‘uncovered' from underneath the sand in the desert.

The school’s principal Jo Bland told The Mirror that the high-tech classroom helps remove barriers to learning and benefits all of the learners who enter it.

"It has had a massive impact on children’s oracy. Before you can read and write you need to be able to speak and speak with clarity. In early years in particular, we have seen huge rises in the amount of children reaching the benchmark,” she said.

Bland speculates that the 4D room very well could be a classroom of the future.

"I can't see schools without some form of immersive 4D technology in the future. iPads and computer screens are fantastic – and you can do so much research – but it’s a screen and it’s flat and it’s not like we are there and it’s around you.”

But Bland also noted the importance of ensuring that flashy technology is supplemented by teacher leadership and instruction.

"You can’t overuse the 4D room – it’s good to keep the magic of it. It brings new dimensions to teaching – it’s the way that we use it that is important," she said to The Mirror. 

Read the full story and see photos of the 4D room here. 

Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

5/12/2016