How gaming and education NEEDS to evolve.

Sorry for the delay in posting...having a baby is a big deal.


I am currently a math teaching specialist for a large university in the United States. I have an incredible passion for education as well as video games. In fact, I think their is a strong bond between the two that we have not discovered yet.

Sure, we all have played "educational" video games such as math blasters or Oregon trail, but these are barely scratching the surface of what we can do. I think the problem stems from the fact that programmers and developers do not have the knowledge base on what makes a good lesson, how to align gaming with standards, and how to make education in general interesting and fun. Even large companies such as google are missing the mark as they have virtual field trips with google cardboard. Sure, the kids are really interested for a couple lessons, but the novelty wears off after a while.
We need to do better. We need more immersive technology that assists in learning, instead of supplanting it with an intriguing idea that never fully connects with kids. This happens all the time. I remember when I was in school we had laserdisc which entire districts purchased just to have in their rooms. Once again, to kids it was really cool about the first 5 times and then the novelty wears off.
Having a Vive is different. I've had high school students come over and find surface area and volume of the buildings in Tilt Brush, and actually remember the difference between the two. (How many of you know the difference between surface area and volume without looking it up? It's scary to see how many college students don't know the difference) I've had students build models in fantastic contraption, which I then put real measurements to, to calculate low level questions for lower grades and have shown velocity, speed, and distance/displacement questions relating to them. This is the first time I think students are realizing the difference between subtleties and it can only get better with this technology.
My point is....THIS is how we should be doing education with virtual reality. Immersive experiences in the context of critical problems with virtual models. It will be a game changer for many, especially when the technology goes main stream.
SO HERE IS WHAT I ASK OF YOU.
I have access to over 100 teachers next week who will be trying out the Vive as an end of school year activity. I can survey them however you would like. What would you like to know from a research standpoint about 100 random teachers of all different age,race etc.
I also have access to over 60 low SES kids from local high schools that will be meeting with me in July. What would you like to know about them?
I can post the survey results next week.
TL/DR: I'm a math teaching specialist who loves the Vive. I have access to over 100 teachers and about 60 kids this summer to try out the vive. Developers: What would you like me to survey/research on?