“Ten years ago, the world was a different place,” says Ignited CEO Shari Liss. “Our education system must keep up with the dizzying pace of change, and it must prepare our students to tackle big challenges and opportunities like climate change, cybersecurity, world hunger, healthcare, space travel, and others.”
These are challenges that VR and other emerging technologies are uniquely positioned to solve. As the newest member of Ignited’s Summer Fellowship Program, Oculus hosted four teachers over the summer, each with a different background in education. High school teachers Ryan Stagg, Betsy Huynh, and Bryan Reed teach physics, science, and theater, respectively, while grade school teacher Kevin Olson is focused on technology enrichment classes. They all came prepared to learn the specialized business and technical skills necessary to work in VR and navigate its challenges — so they can share that knowledge with students in their classrooms.
“The idea of using VR to help students explore any world — any environment — opens infinite possibilities for learning that typical classrooms haven’t afforded our students,” explains Liss. “The use of VR will allow them to do the work, to use their own hands and experience what they’re learning versus just reading about it. This is a game-changer.”
Most students want to do something meaningful — and preferably interesting — upon graduation, though few of them know exactly what that dream job might be. That’s why the embedded fellows tackled different projects at Oculus. Each was designed to spark the curiosity of different students, from would-be roboticists to future educators, while helping create a clear path forward to real-world applications and tangible opportunities.