Matt Tomlinson is one of our Early Years & Foundation Stages teachers who helps Reception students participate in learning and discovery lessons.
Immersive learning is something that we strive to achieve every day at BISC Lincoln Park. As its name suggests, immersive environments allow all children to be totally surround by the topic or theme they are learning and discovering. Giving the children opportunities to use their senses to delve deeper and make their learning process real and meaningful.
As an early year’s practitioner, I believe it is vital that we instill a love for learning in our children right from their very first day, that will allow them to believe that they can succeed and be empowered to achieve all they set their sights on. Our classrooms in Reception and Nursery are designed and created to not only engage but make our children curious about what they are learning and encourage them to pose questions about where their own learning could go. By setting up immersive learning spaces children can use all of their senses to engage with their learning process and not be dependent on what they can see but also what they can smell, touch and even taste.
When immersive environments are created, children are involved in every level taking their interest that they have displayed in class and expanding it to create an environment to excite and motivate. We have also started to use technology to take this further. Using Google cardboards to virtually transport children to different places both fictional and real world to allow them to experience learning at a first-hand level, sparking their interest to write and role play the thing that they have seen and experienced.