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Tennessee's Wilson County School District Rolls Out 3-D Learning

After a successful pilot last year within four high schools, the school district is now beginning to incorporate 3-D technology and virtual reality tools within all 21 school sites, including elementary and middle schools.

3-D glasses, holograms and virtual reality videos. Twenty years ago, these were far-fetched concepts of the future — today, they are key components of a classroom. At least that’s what the Wilson County School System is proving as they roll out 3-D technology to help engage and teach students across Tennessee. 

After a successful pilot last year within four high schools, the district is now beginning to incorporate 3-D technology and virtual reality tools within all 21 school sites, including elementary and middle schools. The tools are most often used to teach complex math and science concepts, such as biology and chemistry. For example, high school students in Advanced Placement Psychology are able to view a 3-D image of the brain while moving the different parts to better understand how they function. 

Nina Williams, an instructional teacher for the district’s virtual school and the districtwide teacher leader for the 3-D Classroom Program, uses the technology to support a variety of teaching purposes, including introductory, instructional and assessment functions.

“We use it for introductory to get them engaged, then instructional to explain content," she said, "and then also at the end of the unit instead of taking a test online, we have students create a virtual reality video with the content."

Students use the technology on individual computers and also utilize 3-D televisions for group learning. 

While it’s still too early to evaluate the effect these tools may have on academic performance, it’s clear that they are helping to engage students and get them excited about challenging subjects. Kim Clemmons, instructional technology supervisor for the district, notes that the reaction to the technology has been overwhelmingly positive by parents, teachers and, most importantly, students.  

“The students are very excited to have access to this type of tool and then to be able to create something to recapture what they’ve learned either peer-to-peer or as a whole group instruction,” she says. “It’s exciting to watch. Sometimes it’s those students who don’t normally speak a lot during class that are now able to express themselves better.”

The district has also recently entered into partnerships with companies like Discovery Education to take students outside of the classroom on virtual field trips around the world with the help of Google glasses. Students also use the virtual lab environment on vSpace to learn from teachers in a hologram format.

“Primarily, kids today are very much visual learners and this gives them stimulation in 3-D," Williams said. “Even with Google Expedition, you’re taking students to different countries and museums with kids who have never been out of a 50-mile radius.”

While they’re clear that nothing can replace a good teacher, the district recognizes a strong need to embrace technology in education to stay relevant.

“The student is constantly evolving. As educators and school districts, you have to evolve with them or you will never reach them,” Williams said. “I think digital technology is a huge part of the future. Seeing where we’re going as a society and seeing how the students are inundated with technology — they don’t know a world without technology and see it as a necessity. It’s their lifeline of learning.”