The evolution of Artificial Intelligence has become a part of our daily lives. We use multiple artificial intelligences within our first hour of every day! Every time you initiate your cell phone, prepare an email, conduct a web search, commute using a map app, you are utilizing artificial intelligence. Can you even imagine a day without you being supported in some way by AI? It is fascinating to me that AI has been evolving since 1959, and received a massive boost in the 1990’s because of computing power evolution at that time. Around the same time, Virtual Reality arrived, closely followed by Social Media, the youngest in the line up, coming to us in the early 2000’s!
AI, VR, and Social Media have prevailed, and as an educator, it looks to me like the perfect storm for the future of our workforce and economic development! My husband is a wise intellectual, and said to me today “there are careers today that simply will not exist in 5 years because of the advances we are seeing in these technologies”. I agree! Change is happening fast, AI is changing the world and how the world works! Our workforce needs to stay on top of these changes and adapt as needed. I know that change can be scary, but it can also be exciting! There are such great challenges for our teachers to prepare students for what they will see when they enter the workforce! It is happening so fast that our teachers are ill equipped on several levels, such as training and support, to envision what our students will need to know! With the advances in the field of Artificial Intelligence, it is now possible to teach with Virtual Reality, which means that teachers will be able to prepare our students for the future workforce where they can be employed by any industry and use any technology.
With all that being said, I want to introduce you to a project that I have been working on for several months, in my spare time, with a small team of fellow experienced and passionate educators from across the state of California. My role in the project involves training teachers how to use VR to support their curriculum, so that they may more fully engage and inspire their students. Because of the hard work and dedication of this small team, a grant proposal resulted in the Kern Adult Education Consortium being awarded the Perkins Innovations Grant to support the implementation of the Get Focused, Stay Focused Career Choices & Changes course, along with a virtual reality component. I am so excited for the students who will have the privilege of using immersive technologies in their learning. I’ve seen firsthand how these technologies can transform and enhance the learning experience of adults, and I am confident that students will also find themselves more engaged and motivated thanks to their use. A quick search for scientific research proves my point, the research is showing that immersive technologies are a major positive for learners of all ages. I am thrilled that I have the opportunity to help prepare our workforce for the future by helping our educators.
The video clip below provides an early glimpse into preparations that have been occurring for the virtual reality component of the project. Any questions, let me know!
To see more about what I do in the VR world, check out https://thevrmentor.com