Australian students being taught via hologram

AUSSIE students are learning in a way nobody else in the world is. Mixed-reality technology is the future with this experimental program.

AUSTRALIAN students are being taught via hologram in a revolutionary world first that is being trialled at a Canberra school.

The new “mixed reality” technology will enable history students to walk through a 3,000 year old building or science students to step inside a molecule or witness the inner workings of the human heart.

The experimental program, being conducted by global education company Pearson, uses the Microsoft HoloLens, which is described as “the world’s first untethered holographic computer”.

Unlike conventional virtual reality goggles, the device inserts a 3D interactive hologram into the “real world” – much like a real life Roger Rabbit.

The user is able to interact with, for example, the inner workings of a life-sized human body in the classroom or walk among a 3D rendering of the solar system.

The technology also has the potential for a student to “HoloSkype” into a lesson, enabling teachers to interact with whatever the student is doing in real time.

In short, it makes Princess Leia’s message to Obi Wan Kenobi seem like it really does belong a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

The technology is being trialled this week by Pearson’s Immersive Learning division at Canberra Grammar School.

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Pearson told news.com.au this was currently the only high school in the world where it is being trialled.

Pearson’s Global Director of Immersive Learning Mark Christian said the technology was completely changing the way everything from history to science to maths could be taught.

“Gaining access to actual artefacts from ancient civilizations is incredibly difficult,” he told news.com.au.

“With this technology we’re building a holographic box of artefacts that bring ancient objects to high school students. So instead of reading about ancient Chinese architecture or looking at a picture of a 3,000-year-old house, students can walk inside the house and experience for themselves what it was like to live inside one.”

The world-first hologram trial will enable students to see inside the human body.

And for students struggling with maths, the technology can make equations literally come alive – with physical representations of what the numbers mean.

“We’re doing similar things with chemistry, anatomy, physiology, art and design, and economics.” Mr Christian said.

“We’re just getting started, but we see incredible potential.”

The devices, along with specially designed programs, are being trialled Tuesday and Wednesday at the school.

Canberra Grammar teachers helped design five apps and they are now part of the school’s coursework.

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Nursing school staff at the University of Canberra are also trialling the devices.

There are also pilot programs at universities and colleges around the world, however Canberra Grammar is the first high school to properly trial the technology, Pearson said.

The company expects it to evolve into online tutoring that could be used for everything from nursing to engineering and construction.