Montgomery Public Schools in Montgomery, Ala., has taken STEM learning to the next level in recent years with a large-scale initiative to create STEM labs in every one of the district’s elementary schools. The initiative has reinvigorated educators and expanded educational opportunities for approximately 27,000 students across the district.��

“This initiative has resulted in every student at every elementary school having access to cutting-edge STEM technology and engaging curriculum,” said Bryan Cutter, Ph.D., principal of Dalraida Elementary School.����

Supporting STEM with AR/VR��

Cutter initiated the first STEM lab as a pilot at his school. In 2022, Dalraida Elementary School opened the Exploration Lab for kindergarten through second grade students as well as the Innovation Lab for grades 3-5. The labs provide hands-on activities that encourage students to be creative innovators, critical thinkers and problem-solvers.����

“Teachers and administrators can tell the initiative is hitting the engagement goal out of the park just based on the reactions of students,” Cutter said. “The STEM labs have brought excitement and engagement to learning, which is the litmus test for a successful project.”����

The STEM lab initiative also proved successful at Garrett Elementary, where students are using the technology to explore engineering concepts as well as to understand how sharks swim, and robotics programs are now available for all primary grade students Highland Gardens Elementary School and many others across the district.��

Technology to Support Curriculum��

In addition to other learning and teaching aids, Montgomery Public Schools chose to integrate virtual and artificial tools into its STEM curriculum. The technology has been shown to enhance classroom learning across grade levels, helping students grasp abstract concepts and gain hands-on experience. The independent Information Technology & Innovation Foundation has touted AR and VR education tools for their potential to transform the way students learn by offering the ability to share information in new and engaging ways, offering virtual experiences that can mitigate barriers related to factors such as cost or learning ability. The organization also noted that AR/VR can provide K-12 educators with more options for interactive and engaging classroom learning on a variety of subjects or learning objectives.��

“AR/VR experiences can engage students in hands-on, gamified approaches to learning in a variety of subjects—which have been shown to support cognitive development and increase classroom engagement,” according to a 2021 report by the ITIF.��

A study published in the Journal of STEM Outreach also found that virtual reality has benefits for distance learners, who can experience greater feelings of social isolation, disconnection, distraction, when compared to in-class learners. This can result in lower engagement rates as well as decreased motivation and academic performance. In a study of rural students who were connected via VR with college-student mentors to study human anatomy, results indicated that the remote learners experienced “increased motivation, engagement, and satisfaction while learning in VR compared to traditional online methods” and suggested that the technology may even boost students’ critical thinking skills.��

The Right Technology Partner��

Recognizing the value of AR- and VR-supported learning in STEM applications, Montgomery School District officials introduced the technology across the district’s elementary school STEM labs.����

“I wanted to find a way to use VR to immerse students in experiences where they can virtually travel to different places and have experiences that enhance the curriculum,” Cutter said, noting that the technology provides students with “endless opportunities and immerses them into different environments at their fingertips.”��

As in many schools throughout the district, Dalraida Elementary’s STEM labs feature a set of Avantis Education’s ClassVR all-in-one VR/AR headsets as well as other technologies and equipment, providing students with immersive experiences and hands-on learning while engaging them in STEM content.����

The all-in-one VR/AR headset and content platform was designed specifically for K-12 classrooms and the technology is used by more than 2 million students in 200,000 classrooms in 90 countries. To get schools up and running with the technology quickly, Avantis Education provides all the necessary hardware, software, tools, training, and support — including access to the Eduverse, a vast library of VR and AR content to engage students at all learning levels in a more dynamic and interactive way. This critical learning component includes hundreds of thousands of content options, including standards-aligned lessons and more than 500 3D models which students can examine and interact with using the ClassVR headset’s front-facing camera and Avantis’ AR cube.��

At Montgomery Public Schools, teachers described using technology to virtually take students inside of a tornado, travel through a blood vessel, and virtually hold a frog in their hand using the AR cube.��

A Cost-effective Investment��

As many school districts are constrained by space and funding to invest in new construction or a variety of equipment, virtual reality technology is often a more convenient, realistic and immediate solution to support STEM learning. It can be used in existing classroom space and does not require new construction or modification to existing facilities. Headsets can be stored in convenient lockable charging carts —ClassVR’s are even equipped with active cooling fans and wheels which easily fit into storage closets when not in use.��

From a staffing and integration standpoint, AR/VR technology can generally be implemented using a school’s existing staff and networking infrastructure. For example, ClassVR’s ergonomically designed headsets and controllers, the intuitive classroom management portal and administrative controls, and the classroom-focused charging carts are all built to simplify both classroom integration and IT setup. ClassVR is optimized for educators, allowing them to focus on creating engaging and immersive learning experiences without a technical hassle.��

“The labs provide hands-on activities that encourage students to be creative innovators, critical thinkers, and problem-solvers,” said Cutter. “They give every student the opportunity to experience STEM learning.”��

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A new study commissioned by Andover-headquartered Schneider Electric shows that facility managers are looking to leverage the Internet of Things (IoT) by implementing new digital technologies to improve building performance. Eighty-nine percent of respondents said they expect to achieve a return on IoT investments such as intelligent analytics to improve maintenance decisions and operations within three years. Seventy percent of respondents think that IoT will shape their building and maintenance policies in a year’s time — a direct result of the facility manager’s ability to measure success using digital technologies.

“To make the most of building systems, forward thinking facility managers are making a shift toward predictive thinking and taking proactive approaches to maintenance that enhance both operations and energy efficiency,” said Brian Ratcliff, U.S. EcoBuildings services director for Schneider Electric, in a statement. “As the adoption of analytics and IoT becomes more regular, the use of digital technologies for predictive building maintenance will continue to expand, with steadily increasing ROI through the coming years.”

While the study found more than 90 percent of respondents believe connecting systems to the internet ensures smart, productive and profitable operations that provide better value and maximize energy and sustainability, only 15 percent of respondents said they fully use predictive maintenance tools. Similarly, only 35 percent said they have a proactive approach to building system maintenance by conducting regular preventative maintenance on equipment. The other half of facility managers described themselves as reactive.

Regardless, the interest in new technologies and connected services continues to rise with 42 percent of respondents saying they are very interested in using an analytics-managed service to plan effective building maintenance. It seems most are just scratching the service though, with only 32 percent of respondents saying they have analytics solutions in place. And only one third of those who say they fully use predictive maintenance tools have adopted analytics.

The main barrier blocking facility managers from achieving building maintenance goals is the investment (according to 43 percent), while 23 percent of respondents indicated a lack of internal resources available to interpret the data was a key barrier. The study, conducted by Morar Consulting, surveyed 300 U.S. facility directors and managers as well as operations, maintenance and energy personnel in January 2017.

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