在虛擬現(xiàn)實中體驗上課 Experiencing a class in VR

王延凱

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

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??customizable?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.

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.

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(xué)教授才覺得這項技術(shù)已經(jīng)足夠好，他可以真正在虛擬現(xiàn)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(diào)句。