University of Saskatchewan duo uses VR to teach Prairie students about ocean sustainability

A metaverse created in a University of Saskatchewan course centred around teaching about sustainability through technology, helping people in the Prairies learn about the oceans.

Two graduate students at the University of Saskatchewan created a virtual world to teach people in the Prairies about the oceans.

Kristin Moskalyk said the course they created the project in was centred around teaching people about sustainability through different technology.

“It was just the thought about our students being from the Prairies, being landlocked, lots of our students not ever being to the ocean, so they maybe don’t understand what’s really going on out there,” Moskalyk said.

Last year, Moskalyk and her research partner Nicole Lamoureux presented their virtual reality metaverse at the United Nations Science, Technology and Innovation Forum, going by the name “techy teachers.”

“I do think that having students within a platform does give them a different opportunity for learning,” Lamoureaux said.

Lamoureaux and Moskalyk met the UN delegates from the forum inside their virtual world and gave them a tour of what they created.

The pair finished the competition as finalists, placing in the top 15 out of 257 groups.

Paula MacDowell, assistant professor of curriculum studies, said students who are landlocked might not think about the impact that they have on the ocean and marine life as a result of the distance between them.