Grundy Center students get a visit from Virtual Reality trailer

By: 
Michaela Kendall

GRUNDY CENTER – With the help of their new STEM Virtual Reality trailer, Hawkeye Community College is bringing virtual learning to schools around the area, and this week, the trailer will be parked outside of the Grundy Center Secondary School.
The STEM trailer, which doubles as a portable classroom, gives students the opportunity to experience cutting-edge, virtual reality technology in an applied manor.
Inside the trailer are a number of 3-D computers for students to experiment with. By simply donning a pair of 3-D glasses and using the computerized stylus pen, students can dissect a 3-D heart, explore the laws of motion in the form of a video game, conduct virtual physics experiments and even design their own buildings.
Rob Gingery, online learning director at the school and administrator of Talented and Gifted and the Robotics Club, said that the virtual reality computers are a great tool for students, with nearly endless topics for learning. Students can explore everything from human anatomy to botany to zoology to microbiology to chemistry and even paleontology.
Gingery said that he wishes the school had a machine of their own.
“Teachers could use it to support almost any topic, and it’s even compatible with the school’s 3-D printer, so students could ultimately design and print their own creations,” he said, adding that his Robotics Club students could even create their own parts for their robots.
 Students testing out the virtual reality computers had positive feedback about the technology.
“The computer is really cool, and we’ve never had access to anything like this before,” said GCHS Sophomore Jared Melcher, adding that it’s interesting to see the reaction between the user and the computer.
The STEM trailer will be parked at the school until the end of the week, and then it will be back again around the end of November to beginning to December.  

The Grundy Register

601 G. Avenue - P.O. Box 245
Grundy Center, IA 50638
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