在虛擬現實中體驗上課

河北 王延凱

一位斯坦福大學教授在他的“虛擬人”課上教授了260多名學生，學生和教師在虛擬現實場景中進行學習之旅。 學生們的虛擬定制化身參與了虛擬現實場景中的討論小組。 因虛擬現實強大的影響力，一些教育工作者將這項技術視為未來重要的學習工具。

主題語境：人與社會 篇幅：360詞 建議用時：7分鐘

Jeremy Bailenson has studied virtual reality (VR) for decades. But it wasn't until last year that the Stanford professor felt the technology was good enough that he could actually teach a class in VR.

Over the summer and again in the fall, Bailenson taught more than 260 students in his “Virtual People” class, which explored various aspects of virtual reality.Students and instructors gathered in VR for a virtual journey. Students' customiz able avatars （化身）participated in discussion panels in VR and created a final project for the course—a full-fledged VR scene that others could visit virtually.

There are still open questions about the effect of VR in the classroom as well as questions about the risks it might pose to the developing eyes and brains of younger users. The headsets also remain too pricey for many people.Still,some educators see the technology as an important learning tool going forward.

Last spring, Jane, a self-described“VR junkie” who already enjoyed using the technology outside the classroom, received approval from her school to hold her first class in VR. She used an app called Aristotle that she designed, which was built by a Turkey-based friend. Ten students used Quest 2 and older Quest 1 headsets to gather as angular （有棱角的）avatars around a conference table in a virtual classroom and talk. A virtual whiteboard let Jane show slides and other documents to students.

“What it does is focus the classroom,” Jane said. Students were less likely to be diverted by other activities like texting and checking email, and, she pointed out, if any of them took off their headsets while they were supposed to be in her VR classroom, their avatars would noticeably droop.

VR is not just being used for college classes. Starting in February, Longview School will offer a once-a-week, 2-hour VR session in the school's gym for kids in grades 5 through 10.

Even if VR becomes more capable,some people think the technology is still only useful for certain kinds of lessons.Because VR is just starting to be used for more than the occasional lesson, it's still hard to tell when and how it will be most useful.

Reading Check

1. What's people's attitude towards the class in VR?

A. Supportive. B. Doubtful.

C. Hopeful. D. Controversial.

2. Which word is closest to the meaning of“diverted” in paragraph 5?

A. Disturbed. B. Controlled.

C. Encouraged. D. Entertained.

3. What can we infer about VR from the last paragraph?

A. VR is familiar to few people.

B. VR still has a long way to go.

C. VR only suits occasional lessons.

D. VR is a useful and capable technology.

4. What's the purpose of the text?

A. To comment.

B. To advertise.

C. To offer tips.

D. To inform readers.

Language Study

Difficult sentence in the text

But it wasn't until last year that the Stanford professor felt the technology was good enough that he could actually teach a class in VR. 但直到去年，這位斯坦福大學教授才覺得這項技術已經足夠好，他可以真正在虛擬現實場景中教授一門課程。

【點石成金】本句中的it wasn't until last year that...為強調句。