Add item to your planner: Scheduled Event: Workshop: 3D-Based Learning and Underserved Communities
Date
Oct. 28, 2021
Time:
8:30 AM-10:00 AM
Descriptiopn
Historically, underserved children have been last to benefit from new innovations in educational technology. This gap has led to digital inequity, which in turn further exacerbates educational inequity. There will be lifelong economic and societal impacts for these students if the digital divide continues (Rideout & Katz, 2016). With the continued escalation of technology in the digital age, it is imperative that students have equitable access to promising new resources. What happens when the needs of these students are addressed in the design and development of new educational technologies? 3D-Based Learning was pioneered by African-American technology researchers to specifically address the learning needs of children from underserved communities, and help teachers engage those most in need without raising costs. The potential of 3D-Based Learning in education is limitless. It literally opens up new realms in education, where the abstract becomes real and students walk through magnetic fields, fly through the dense clouds of the Planet Venus, and cross underground magma chambers to understand plate tectonics. 3D and VR learning has been typically confined to expensive VR headsets and clinical operating environments. How can educators now take advantage of the newfound ability to explore the inside of a human cell or fly through a black hole and put it to use to engage underserved students?