SpaceBuzz: VR Education Programme for Children to create Ambassadors of planet Earth

Background

SpaceBuzz is the world’s first real life VR-enabled education program that teaches children about Space, Earth and STEM. A real-life rocket vehicle comes to schools to launch entire classrooms into orbit to experience the astronauts view/perspective on planet Earth, the so called Overview Effect. The spaceflight is a real-time VR experience commanded by European astronaut André Kuipers. This key experience combined with their education program aims to turn children worldwide into ‘ambassadors of planet Earth’. SpaceBuzz is also a scientific pilot into the effectiveness of VR for learning.

Idea

Fewer than 600 people worldwide have experienced the cognitive shift in awareness that is being reported by astronauts when seeing our planet from space. People that have experienced it, all feel a sense of duty to protect our beautiful but fragile home planet. This is the Overview Effect. SpaceBuzz mission is to scale the Overview Effect to children all over the world through an immersive real-life 4D VR experience. The aim is to make a new generation of people aware of the beauty and fragility of planet Earth and turn them into ambassadors dedicated to ensuring life on Earth can thrive. The experience is embedded in an educational program for maximum impact. Topics include Space, Earth and Technology (STEM). The program is supported by an online learning system, making the lessons plug & play for the teachers

Results

Over 5000 people (children and adults) have experienced SpaceBuzz so far. Several focus groups have been conducted with pupils and teachers that yielded very positive feedback. Some additional points were also received for improvement as well, particularly in how the SpaceBuzz program was embedded in the practical reality of schools and teachers. The first results of the scientific research experiments are promising. The first quantitative studies (e.g. eye tracking, surveys prior and after the VR-experience) indicate that experiencing the Overview Effect through the VR-experience impacts learning ability and creates learning gains. Another indicator of success is the incredible enthusiasm of schools to participate. Without any significant marketing. There is a waiting list in the Netherlands until the end of 2021. A second rocket will be launched in September 2020. SpaceBuzz starts its European tour in October 2020 and will be introduced to school children in the USA in 2021-2022.