0:00:00.879,0:00:02.881 Today, I am going to show you 0:00:02.905,0:00:07.334 how this tablet and this virtual-reality[br]headset that I'm wearing 0:00:07.358,0:00:11.399 are going to completely[br]revolutionize science education. 0:00:12.100,0:00:13.895 And I'm also going to show you 0:00:13.919,0:00:18.703 how it can make any science teacher[br]more than twice as effective. 0:00:19.124,0:00:22.588 But before I show you[br]how all of this is possible, 0:00:22.612,0:00:28.151 let's talk briefly about why improving[br]the quality of science education 0:00:28.175,0:00:30.615 is so vitally important. 0:00:31.513,0:00:32.674 If you think about it, 0:00:32.698,0:00:34.973 the world is growing incredibly fast. 0:00:35.322,0:00:39.207 And with that growth comes[br]a whole list of growing challenges, 0:00:39.231,0:00:42.244 challenges such as dealing[br]with global warming, 0:00:42.268,0:00:44.631 solving starvation and water shortages 0:00:44.655,0:00:46.107 and curing diseases, 0:00:46.131,0:00:47.656 to name just a few. 0:00:48.402,0:00:53.882 And who, exactly, is going to help us[br]solve all of these great challenges? 0:00:54.733,0:00:58.170 Well, to a very last degree,[br]it is these young students. 0:00:58.194,0:01:02.036 This is the next generation[br]of young, bright scientists. 0:01:02.060,0:01:05.080 And in many ways, we all rely on them 0:01:05.104,0:01:07.906 for coming up with new, great innovations 0:01:07.930,0:01:11.641 to help us solve all[br]these challenges ahead of us. 0:01:12.708,0:01:14.659 And so a couple of years back, 0:01:14.683,0:01:19.042 my cofounder and I were teaching[br]university students just like these, 0:01:19.066,0:01:24.180 only the students we were teaching[br]looked a little bit more like this here. 0:01:24.204,0:01:25.268 (Laughter) 0:01:25.292,0:01:28.130 And yes, this is really[br]the reality out there 0:01:28.154,0:01:31.679 in way too many universities[br]around the world: 0:01:31.703,0:01:34.356 students that are bored, disengaged 0:01:34.380,0:01:37.985 and sometimes not even sure[br]why they're learning about a topic 0:01:38.009,0:01:39.208 in the first place. 0:01:39.763,0:01:44.097 So we started looking around for new,[br]innovative teaching methods, 0:01:44.121,0:01:46.944 but what we found was quite disappointing. 0:01:46.968,0:01:50.633 We saw that books were being[br]turned into e-books, 0:01:51.495,0:01:54.511 blackboards were being turned[br]into YouTube videos 0:01:54.535,0:01:57.679 and lecture hall monologues[br]were being turned into MOOCs -- 0:01:57.703,0:02:00.004 massive online open courses. 0:02:00.694,0:02:01.941 And if you think about it, 0:02:01.965,0:02:05.548 all we're really doing here[br]is taking the same content 0:02:05.572,0:02:07.120 and the same format, 0:02:07.144,0:02:10.070 and bringing it out to more students -- 0:02:10.565,0:02:13.403 which is great, don't get me[br]wrong, that is really great -- 0:02:13.427,0:02:17.054 but the teaching method[br]is still more or less the same, 0:02:17.078,0:02:19.374 no real innovation there. 0:02:19.863,0:02:21.882 So we started looking elsewhere. 0:02:21.906,0:02:26.533 What we found was that flight simulators[br]had been proven over and over again 0:02:26.557,0:02:28.024 to be far more effective 0:02:28.048,0:02:33.314 when used in combination with real,[br]in-flight training to train the pilots. 0:02:33.338,0:02:34.963 And so we thought to ourselves: 0:02:35.532,0:02:37.869 Why not just apply that to science? 0:02:37.893,0:02:42.444 Why not build a virtual[br]laboratory simulator? 0:02:43.563,0:02:44.811 Well, we did it. 0:02:44.835,0:02:46.653 We basically set out to create 0:02:46.677,0:02:52.292 a fully simulated, one-to-one,[br]virtual reality laboratory simulator, 0:02:52.316,0:02:54.513 where the students[br]could perform experiments 0:02:54.537,0:02:56.447 with mathematical equations 0:02:56.471,0:02:59.690 that would simulate what would[br]happen in a real-world lab. 0:02:59.714,0:03:01.393 But not just simple simulations -- 0:03:01.417,0:03:03.483 we would also create advanced simulations 0:03:03.507,0:03:05.431 with top universities like MIT, 0:03:05.455,0:03:09.824 to bring out cutting-edge cancer[br]research to these students. 0:03:10.520,0:03:13.403 And suddenly, the universities[br]could save millions of dollars 0:03:13.427,0:03:16.357 by letting the students[br]perform virtual experiments 0:03:16.381,0:03:19.493 before they go into the real laboratory. 0:03:20.303,0:03:22.835 And not only that; now,[br]they could also understand -- 0:03:22.859,0:03:25.292 even on a molecular level[br]inside the machine -- 0:03:25.316,0:03:27.992 what is happening to the machines. 0:03:28.016,0:03:29.915 And then they could suddenly perform 0:03:29.939,0:03:32.567 dangerous experiments in the labs as well. 0:03:32.591,0:03:34.077 For instance also here, 0:03:34.101,0:03:37.713 learning about salmonella bacteria,[br]which is an important topic 0:03:37.737,0:03:41.708 that many schools cannot teach[br]for good safety reasons. 0:03:42.315,0:03:44.052 And we, of course, quiz the students 0:03:44.076,0:03:46.481 and then give the teachers[br]a full dashboard, 0:03:46.505,0:03:49.431 so they fully understand[br]where the students are at. 0:03:50.134,0:03:51.342 But we didn't stop there, 0:03:51.366,0:03:53.691 because we had seen just[br]how important meaning is 0:03:53.715,0:03:56.001 for the students' engagement in the class. 0:03:56.025,0:03:57.747 So we brought in game designers 0:03:57.771,0:04:00.652 to create fun and engaging stories. 0:04:00.676,0:04:02.510 For instance, here in this case, 0:04:02.534,0:04:06.657 where the students have to solve[br]a mysterious CSI murder case 0:04:06.681,0:04:09.375 using their core science skills. 0:04:11.861,0:04:14.305 And the feedback we got[br]when we launched all of this 0:04:14.329,0:04:16.281 was quite overwhelmingly positive. 0:04:16.305,0:04:18.108 Here we have 300 students, 0:04:18.132,0:04:20.847 all passionately solving CSI murder cases 0:04:20.871,0:04:22.736 while learning core science skills. 0:04:22.760,0:04:25.005 And what I love the most about this 0:04:25.029,0:04:28.673 is really when the students[br]come up to me sometimes afterwards, 0:04:28.697,0:04:30.812 all surprised and a little confused, 0:04:30.836,0:04:35.539 and say, "I just spent two hours[br]in this virtual lab, 0:04:36.432,0:04:38.611 and ... and I didn't check Facebook." 0:04:38.635,0:04:39.964 (Laughter) 0:04:39.988,0:04:44.639 That's how engaging and immersive[br]this really is for the students. 0:04:44.663,0:04:47.483 And so, to investigate[br]whether this really worked, 0:04:47.507,0:04:51.910 a learning psychologist[br]did a study with 160 students -- 0:04:51.934,0:04:56.180 that was from Stanford University[br]and Technical University of Denmark. 0:04:56.204,0:04:59.736 And what they did is split[br]the students into two groups. 0:04:59.760,0:05:04.011 One group would only use[br]the virtual laboratory simulations, 0:05:04.035,0:05:07.735 the other group would only use[br]traditional teaching methods, 0:05:07.759,0:05:09.674 and they had the same amount of time. 0:05:10.801,0:05:11.953 Then, interestingly, 0:05:11.977,0:05:15.644 they gave the students a test[br]before and after the experiment, 0:05:15.668,0:05:20.021 so they could clearly measure[br]the learning impact of the students. 0:05:20.045,0:05:21.213 And what they found 0:05:21.237,0:05:27.038 was a surprisingly high 76 percent[br]increase in the learning effectiveness 0:05:27.062,0:05:31.906 when using virtual laboratories[br]over traditional teaching methods. 0:05:32.349,0:05:33.834 But even more interestingly, 0:05:33.858,0:05:37.072 the second part of this study investigated 0:05:37.096,0:05:40.000 what the teacher's impact[br]was on the learning. 0:05:40.024,0:05:41.175 And what they found 0:05:41.199,0:05:43.861 was that when you combined[br]the virtual laboratories 0:05:43.885,0:05:46.489 with teacher-led coaching and mentoring, 0:05:46.513,0:05:52.329 then we saw a total 101 percent[br]increase in the learning effectiveness, 0:05:52.353,0:05:56.785 which effectively doubles[br]the science teacher's impact 0:05:56.809,0:05:59.167 with the same amount of time spent. 0:06:01.784,0:06:04.494 So a couple of months back, 0:06:04.518,0:06:06.031 we started asking ourselves -- 0:06:06.055,0:06:08.602 we have a wonderful team now[br]of learning psychologists 0:06:08.626,0:06:10.982 and teachers and scientists[br]and game developers -- 0:06:11.006,0:06:12.547 and we started asking ourselves: 0:06:12.571,0:06:15.166 How can we keep ourselves to our promise 0:06:15.190,0:06:18.154 of constantly reimagining education? 0:06:18.178,0:06:23.279 And today, I am really excited[br]to be presenting what we came up with 0:06:23.303,0:06:26.207 and have been working[br]incredibly hard to create. 0:06:28.228,0:06:30.861 I will explain briefly what this is. 0:06:30.885,0:06:33.621 Basically, I take my mobile phone -- 0:06:33.645,0:06:36.351 most students already[br]have these, smartphones -- 0:06:36.375,0:06:40.899 and I plug it into this virtual-reality[br]headset, a low-cost headset. 0:06:40.923,0:06:42.892 And now what I can effectively do is, 0:06:42.916,0:06:46.066 I can literally step[br]into this virtual world. 0:06:46.090,0:06:49.174 We'll have some of you[br]in the audience also get to try this, 0:06:49.198,0:06:52.354 because it is really something[br]that you have to try 0:06:52.378,0:06:54.673 to fully feel how immersive it really is. 0:06:54.697,0:06:58.474 It literally feels like I just stepped[br]inside this virtual lab. 0:06:58.498,0:07:00.001 Do you see me up on the screen? 0:07:00.025,0:07:01.176 Audience: Yes. 0:07:01.200,0:07:02.803 Michael Bodekaer: Great! Awesome. 0:07:02.827,0:07:05.725 So basically, I have just[br]turned my mobile phone 0:07:05.749,0:07:09.413 into a fully simulated, million-dollar[br]Ivy League laboratory 0:07:09.437,0:07:12.262 with all this amazing equipment[br]that I can interact with. 0:07:12.286,0:07:15.659 I can, for instance, pick up the pipette[br]and do experiments with it. 0:07:15.683,0:07:18.103 I have my E-Ggel, my PCR[br]and -- oh, look there, 0:07:18.127,0:07:20.648 I have my next-generation[br]sequencing machine, 0:07:20.672,0:07:24.170 and there I even have[br]my electron microscope. 0:07:24.194,0:07:27.624 I mean, who's carrying around[br]an electron microscope in their pocket? 0:07:27.648,0:07:29.520 And here I have my machine, 0:07:29.544,0:07:31.714 I can do different experiments[br]on the machine. 0:07:31.738,0:07:33.192 And over here I have the door, 0:07:33.216,0:07:35.584 I can go into other experiments, 0:07:35.608,0:07:37.541 I can perform in the laboratories. 0:07:37.565,0:07:39.771 And here, I have my learning tablet. 0:07:39.795,0:07:41.249 This is an intelligent tablet 0:07:41.273,0:07:44.121 that allows me to read[br]about relevant theory. 0:07:44.145,0:07:46.447 As you can see, I can interact with it. 0:07:46.471,0:07:50.365 I can watch videos and see[br]content that is relevant 0:07:50.389,0:07:53.254 to the experiment[br]that I'm performing right now. 0:07:54.074,0:07:55.477 Then over here, I have Marie. 0:07:55.501,0:07:59.020 She is my teacher --[br]my lab assistant -- 0:07:59.044,0:08:02.221 and what she does is guides me[br]through this whole laboratory. 0:08:02.245,0:08:03.404 And very soon, 0:08:03.428,0:08:06.396 the teachers will be able[br]to literally teleport themselves 0:08:06.420,0:08:08.979 into this virtual world[br]that I'm in right now 0:08:09.003,0:08:12.233 and help me, guide me,[br]through this whole experiment. 0:08:12.257,0:08:14.567 And now before I finalize this, 0:08:14.591,0:08:17.559 I want to show you[br]an even cooler thing, I think -- 0:08:17.583,0:08:20.619 something you cannot[br]even do in real laboratories. 0:08:20.643,0:08:21.881 This is a PCR machine. 0:08:21.905,0:08:24.385 I'm now going to start this experiment. 0:08:24.409,0:08:28.642 And what I just did is literally[br]shrunk myself a million times 0:08:28.666,0:08:30.225 into the size of a molecule -- 0:08:30.249,0:08:32.598 and it really feels like it,[br]you have to try this. 0:08:32.622,0:08:35.225 So now it feels like[br]I'm standing inside the machine 0:08:35.249,0:08:37.842 and I'm seeing all the DNA,[br]and I see the molecules. 0:08:37.866,0:08:41.469 I see the polymerase[br]and the enzymes and so forth. 0:08:41.493,0:08:43.096 And I can see how in this case, 0:08:43.120,0:08:46.197 DNA is being replicated millions of times, 0:08:46.221,0:08:49.054 just like it's happening[br]inside your body right now. 0:08:49.078,0:08:53.205 And I can really feel and understand[br]how all of this works. 0:08:54.219,0:08:57.513 Now, I hope that gives you[br]a little bit of a sense 0:08:57.537,0:09:01.663 of the possibilities[br]in these new teaching methods. 0:09:04.230,0:09:05.572 And I want to also emphasize 0:09:05.596,0:09:09.287 that everything you just saw[br]also works on iPads and laptops 0:09:09.311,0:09:10.482 without the headsets. 0:09:10.506,0:09:12.870 I say that for a very important reason. 0:09:13.394,0:09:16.879 In order for us to really[br]empower and inspire 0:09:16.903,0:09:19.071 the next generation of scientists, 0:09:19.095,0:09:22.619 we really need teachers[br]to drive the adoption 0:09:22.643,0:09:25.218 of new technologies in the classroom. 0:09:26.542,0:09:28.420 And so in many ways, 0:09:28.444,0:09:32.799 I believe that the next big,[br]quantum leap in science education 0:09:32.823,0:09:35.132 lies no longer with the technology, 0:09:35.156,0:09:37.037 but rather with the teachers' decision 0:09:37.061,0:09:40.266 to push forward and adopt[br]these technologies 0:09:40.290,0:09:42.037 inside the classrooms. 0:09:42.061,0:09:45.898 And so it is our hope that more[br]universities and schools and teachers 0:09:45.922,0:09:48.787 will collaborate with technology companies 0:09:48.811,0:09:51.335 to realize this full potential. 0:09:52.989,0:09:54.434 And so, 0:09:54.458,0:09:57.291 lastly, I'd like to leave you[br]with a little story 0:09:57.315,0:09:58.877 that really inspires me. 0:09:58.901,0:10:01.322 And that is the story of Jack Andraka. 0:10:01.346,0:10:03.108 Some of you might already know him. 0:10:03.132,0:10:10.124 Jack invented a new, groundbreaking[br]low-cost test for pancreatic cancer 0:10:10.148,0:10:12.569 at the age 15. 0:10:13.758,0:10:17.497 And when Jack shares his story[br]of how he did this huge breakthrough, 0:10:17.521,0:10:21.346 he also explains that one thing[br]almost prevented him 0:10:21.370,0:10:23.163 from making this breakthrough. 0:10:23.543,0:10:28.603 And that was that he did not[br]have access to real laboratories, 0:10:28.627,0:10:31.156 because he was too inexperienced 0:10:31.180,0:10:32.621 to be allowed in. 0:10:33.853,0:10:36.055 Now, imagine if we could bring 0:10:36.079,0:10:39.348 Ivy League, million-dollar[br]virtual laboratories 0:10:39.372,0:10:41.443 out to all these students just like Jack, 0:10:41.467,0:10:43.074 all over the world, 0:10:43.098,0:10:46.654 and give them the latest, greatest,[br]most fancy machines you can imagine 0:10:46.678,0:10:49.224 that would quite literally[br]make any scientist in here 0:10:49.248,0:10:51.721 jump up and down out of pure excitement. 0:10:51.745,0:10:56.355 And then imagine how that[br]would empower and inspire 0:10:56.379,0:11:00.558 a whole new generation[br]of young and bright scientists, 0:11:00.582,0:11:03.785 ready to innovate and change the world. 0:11:04.187,0:11:05.338 Thank you very much. 0:11:05.362,0:11:13.425 (Applause)