Flock XR (https://flockxr.com/) is a 3D programming environment combining block-based coding with visual tools to create interactive 3D projects. It is aimed at learners aged 9 to 14+ in schools, maker spaces, clubs and at home. It has been designed to be an inclusive tool to enable a wide range of young people to be able to express themselves creatively, and I wanted to find out how it can be used to engage learners with SEMH needs and teach them the basics of programming a 3D world.
Please note that this work was made possible by funding from the NLNet Foundation.
What is SEMH?
“Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs refer to a broad spectrum of challenges that affect a student’s ability to manage their emotions, build relationships, and engage effectively in learning within school settings.” (https://semhinschools.co.uk/) It is one of the four broad areas of special educational needs, and SEMH behaviours may reflect underlying health issues such as depression and anxiety or a disorder such as attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD).
Young people with SEMH needs may experience difficulty concentrating and processing information, difficulties with social interactions, reduced motivation and interest in lessons, low self-esteem and resistance to change. It is important to acknowledge that students also bring different strengths to learning, for example young people with ADHD can be very creative and may solve problems in innovative ways.
Teaching Flock XR
In order to test out the suitability of the application, I taught an introductory lesson on Flock XR to a mixed year 8 and 9 class (12-14 year olds) at a special school in Sheffield. The students all had SEMH needs, and a number were also autistic. They had previously used Scratch and the micro:bit in computing lessons, so had a basic understanding about block-based programming languages and program structure.
To begin with, it was really important to engage the learners in the application and I demonstrated one of the demo projects (Forest Base) to show off the 3D nature of the tool and how you could move around the world. They were suitably impressed and so we began a cycle of me modelling parts of the software and then providing time for learners to put it into practice. I made sure explanations were short and simple, and provided a task sheet for students to follow with images to ensure they could find each block. The pace of the lesson was kept high by moving on to the next part once students had completed the essential task, and keeping each element short and self-contained – e.g. adding sky and ground, then customising a character.
Flock XR is currently in early access, and therefore not everything works exactly as it should yet. In order to counter the feeling of frustration this might have caused, we told the class that they were helping to test the software, and asked them for any improvements. This worked really well at engaging them and managed their expectations. Encouraging this mindset of exploration and even actively looking for things that don’t work can be effective across a number of applications for SEMH learners.
After they had learnt the basics about customising the scene, adding a character and animations, I provided a completed program based on the forest base demo, but with simpler code around the creation of trees and movement. Students could upload this and then modify the character and scene, plus start to investigate the more complex code that made the character move. This ensured that there was a degree of guaranteed success in the activity, and provided scaffolding for learners that needed it. Some students simply altered the appearance of the scene and character, while others began to add their own objects and modify the code to change the speed of movement or add an animation. By the end of the lesson, every student had engaged with the software and created their own version of a forest base.
Benefits
The immediacy of the programming environment proved to be engaging for learners, as they could see the effect of any changes straightaway. The very visual nature of the tool also supported a level of choice and personalisation that students enjoyed when creating their own characters. They particularly liked the 3D nature of it (“it’s like Scratch mixed with Minecraft!”), and the number of options for customisation. The nature of the software also supports an exploratory approach, so learners could experiment with the given blocks with little risk as part of a demo project. Learners stayed on task throughout the session, showing a good level of focus.
Challenges
Some students wanted to run before they could walk – keen to create some complex games and artefacts that reflect the games they play at home. Keeping the pace high helped to ensure these students remained engaged, plus providing small extension tasks whilst they waited for others to finish – for example exploring the x, y and z co-ordinates and experimenting with colour gradients. The forest base task allowed them to explore and create more complex projects with a level of guaranteed success, as they could modify working code.
The programming blocks contain quite a lot of text, and some learners with SEMH needs may struggle with reading and processing text. To mitigate this, key language should be taught explicitly, together with modelling of the blocks that will be used. A visual list of blocks and where they can be found was useful for many learners.
The visual element of a project is set using the code blocks, leading to quite a lot of complex-looking code in the scripts area. Use of comments might be useful here to clearly show what each part does, plus time to explore what each block does.
Teaching strategies
Here are some general strategies for working with young people with SEMH needs on Flock XR:
- Keep instructions very clear and concise, using suitable language (no jargon, with an appropriate level of vocabulary).
- Explicitly teach key vocabulary e.g. alpha, T-pose, sequence, using images to support comprehension.
- Provide a task sheet with image support for students to tick off activities as they complete them to help retain focus and provide a reference. You can download a sample here: Getting Started with Flock XR helpsheets
- Provide problem-solving approaches for when things go wrong, e.g. a simple checklist of common issues to work through (press run to show any updates to the character). You can download an example here: Debugging strategies
- Emphasise that debugging is an integral part of programming, and failure is just part of the process.
- Provide self-contained extension tasks for learners who require more challenge to keep them motivated.
- Using the Use-Modify-Create framework helps to support students moving from programs that are not-mine (low risk) to mine (higher risk), with scaffolding where needed – so learners can explore the demo projects, then modify a working program, before creating their own versions if appropriate.
The software could also be used to support the social skills of the learners by using the different animations to discuss the positive and negative emotions they might be feeling. You could include some movement breaks by asking them to act out their animation sequences – this will help students to concentrate and helps with regulation of emotions.
Summary
Feedback from the class teacher was very positive: “They all enjoyed it! The students were engaged and motivated by the 3D element of the software and enjoyed testing its boundaries to see what they could do.” They were also keen to suggest improvements to the software and generated a wish-list of features that has been fed back to the developers!
Flock XR is a great application to work with learners with SEMH needs in upper primary and secondary schools, being engaging and easily customisable. It is simple enough to allow for students to create something meaningful quickly, with plenty of scope for teaching more complex concepts such as selection and variables as learners progress.
Catherine Elliott, July 2025
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