Jackson students explore virtual reality


              In this Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016 photo, Catherine Wilhite, 14, dissects a virtual brain using 3-D virtual reality technology inside a zSpace Mobile Classroom in Jackson, Tenn. Roger Choate, co-owner of Learning Partners, which sells zSpace immersive 3-D virtual reality says, “It addresses many different learning styles that are tougher to address in a traditional classroom." (Katherine Burgess/The Jackson Sun via AP)
In this Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016 photo, Catherine Wilhite, 14, dissects a virtual brain using 3-D virtual reality technology inside a zSpace Mobile Classroom in Jackson, Tenn. Roger Choate, co-owner of Learning Partners, which sells zSpace immersive 3-D virtual reality says, “It addresses many different learning styles that are tougher to address in a traditional classroom." (Katherine Burgess/The Jackson Sun via AP)

JACKSON, Tenn. (AP) - Tommy Lowe, 15, felt the heart pumping in his hand as he pulled it out of the screen in front of him. With a flick of his wrist, he turned the beating heart around, then clicked a button to make it beat faster, then faster - as if its owner had started to run.

A few feet away, a girl used her own stylus to pull a butterfly out of the screen toward her, making it come alive with 3-D glasses. When she released a button, the butterfly flew away, back into the green world on screen.

Students on board the bus could dissect a brain, pull apart a robotic limb, examine the body's nervous system and more - all in immersive 3-D.

"I got to see a lot of things I've never seen before in 3-D, up close, without actually having to touch anything," said Lowe, a student at Jackson Central-Merry Early College High School. "It was a lot of advanced technology that I've never experienced before."

The zSpace Mobile Classroom stopped in Madison County on Tuesday, first visiting the Jackson-Madison County School System's central office to be toured by principals and administrators, then heading to Early College High and Madison Academic Magnet High School.

Roger Choate, co-owner of Learning Partners, which sells zSpace immersive 3-D virtual reality, said the technology is sold in labs of 10. An entire lab costs about $40,000 to $50,000. That comes with software, hardware and on-site training.

"It addresses many different learning styles that are tougher to address in a traditional classroom," Choate said. "This is immersive. It immerses you in the learning. It's experiential. It's also collaborative - you can have more than one child behind a station at a time."

With the $50,000 price tag, zSpace might not come to Jackson-Madison County classrooms on a permanent basis anytime soon, but board chairman Bob Alvey said he would love to see technology like this used in the classroom. He also took a turn with the 3-D glasses to find out how the immersive technology works.

"I think about the display I saw on the heart, how I could rotate the heart and take it apart and look," Alvey said. "It's a powerful tool for students to actually see how those work. . The board is committed to try to enhance the use of technology."

LaDonna Braswell, principal of Lincoln Elementary School, couldn't wait to see her own students trying out the technology. She said it was fascinating to bring the butterfly out of the screen, see the patterns on its wings and see how a cocoon is made.

"I've never seen anything like it," Braswell said. "This is a phenomenal tool that schools could benefit from."

Before she left, Braswell started arranging to have one of the units visit Lincoln.

"I'm an adult and I was excited, so I know children will take this and run with it," she said.

Aubrey Hill, 15, packed into the mobile classroom with others from Madison Academic Magnet High School. Once inside, she donned her glasses and set to work moving 3-D chess pieces. Not long after, she was able to dissect parts of a 3-D human body.

"It felt very real," she said. "I think that it'd be something that would be a very good experience in school."

After looking over the beating heart, Lowe moved on to try other programs, dissecting a 3-D brain, building a house from blueprints and more.

Something like zSpace would be a perfect fit for a science classroom, he said.

"In biology we like to dissect things - but things are kind of gooey and stink - and so with zSpace technology we won't have to go through the mess and everything," Lowe said. "It'll be pretty cool for us to see things hands on, with just technology and computers."

___

Information from: The Jackson Sun, http://www.jacksonsun.com

Upcoming Events