Hello, my name is Tiffany Ku and I am a high school teacher in Vancouver, Canada. I have taught Mandarin and French in my previous years of teaching, and ever since I stumbled upon a demonstration of using ImmerseMe, I wondered how much of a difference it would make if I used this in my own classroom. After doing the research, I reflected on the strengths and weaknesses of integrating this new platform into my teaching practice:
The benefits:
Studies have consistently shown that VR is an effective educational tool in language learning (not exclusive to ImmerseMe) and increases speaking practice in language learners.
ImmerseMe can be used with people of different ages, from elementary school through college, and any life-long learner wanting to pick up a new language. I also greatly appreciate that it supports self directed learning.
In research done with ImmerseMe, students significantly improved their speaking skills.
It is marketable to individuals as well as language teachers.
VR seems to be a growing industry in education.
The drawbacks:
A study involving ImmerseMe stated that due to the limited responses that users can choose from to respond to the prompts, learners should utilize additional resources for their learning, in particular for writing. (Soto et al., 2020)
The company is very new and thus there is very little information to find. The website is also not very organized. Cross-checking with different sources, there seems to be many staffing changes (as I have found various websites that listed different individuals as the main contributing team), and there is no official page where employees are listed and introduced. I also could not find any investors listed to research.
Cost. VR requires a versatile headset and VR devices. On their website, they have only listed Android Cardboard, Vive, Rift, GearVR, and does not include Google cardboard- the most affordable headset on the market and most widely used in education settings. Without the option for an affordable VR headset, the cost of using ImmerseMe skyrockets as classrooms would need at least 30 pieces for a class set.
Subscriptions to ImmerseMe's full experience is costly, at $300 USD/year for an individual. The cost for a group or classroom is not listed but it would be more than $300 USD, which is a lot for a teacher to ask for from a district and would likely be rejected. There are cheaper alternatives for a similar learning experience that will not use up a year's worth of classroom budget.
ImmerseMe is in its beginning stages of its venture and undoubtedly a VR platform with potential. However, considering the high cost, current gaps of information, and its uncertain future, the risk is too high to invest in at the current moment.