There, up to 40 juniors and seniors will be among the first high schoolers in North America to take a spatial computing program, utilizing virtual reality and augmented reality devices to create their own applications and environments in the digital world. At least 26 students already have signed up.
To implement the new technology, North Penn partnered with AR and VR training studio Notiontheory for the educational component of the course, and VR software company Unity for the development platform. The program will be funded by the North Penn School District Educational Foundation, which approved a $65,000 grant toward the course — the largest in its history.
The program has been in the works for about two years, after District Superintendent Curt Dietrich was introduced to virtual reality by a friend and began thinking about its educational potential.
Along with programming and designing through VR and AR, students graduating from the course will be able to take a Unity certification exam — a professional credential that tests students' understanding of the technology and preparedness for the industry.
Curt Reichwein, department chair for the Technology and Engineering Education Department at North Penn who will oversee the program, explained the extent to which VR technology can assist learning in the classroom, bringing equipment and technical capabilities beyond students' imaginations.
"We could take apart a diesel engine right here, without having to have a diesel engine, no mess," he said. "Lots of schools have planetariums. Planetariums are expensive. Well, we could sit anywhere you want and see the night sky and study all that from wherever we are."
Spatial computing describes computers' ability to create realistic 3D environments and mirror the real world — essentially, to be "contextually aware" of that environment, said Notiontheory founder Kristian Bouw. He compared spatial computing to the mobile application Pokemon GO, in which the virtual creatures on screen move around and interact with elements of the real world.
"The goal is really to seamlessly interweave these technologies into everyday things," he said, "and the benefits of augmented reality and virtual reality really come to par when they are highly aware of our surroundings."
Bouw conducted a three-day training session for around 15 North Penn faculty members last week, where teachers learned about different VR software and devices, such as the Magic Leap headsets scattered across the room, and the implementation of such technology, such as in the surgical field.
North Penn teachers seemed particularly enthralled with the software, Bouw said.
"It was particularly exciting, because everyone was taking an interest in this, and I think that kind of highlights the significance of the program," he said. "Even people who have never coded before on the faculty, and won't, felt the need to get in and try it out."
Ryan Kolb, who has taught computer science at North Penn for nine years, will be teaching the two spatial computing classes this fall. The skills built into the course, as well as its novelty and role in the evolving job market, make the program an important one for students to take, he said.
"It's really a professional-level environment that (students) have the opportunity to work in, so that they can develop as complex a platform as they want," Kolb said, "but it also is foundational enough that someone without the background can step in and start from scratch."
While promoting the course to potential students, Kolb sought out computer science and engineering students, who he said will already have the background and exposure to programming and VR technology. North Penn also publicized the program through its morning news show, where the program's weekly trivia question centered around VR.
As the high school prepares for a return to normalcy this fall, Dietrich reflected on the gravity of the spatial computing program and its impact on students graduating high school and going to college or out into the professional world.
"We send our students out into the world and properly prepare for the jobs that are available at that moment in time, and many times, that involves anticipating where the jobs will be," Dietrich said. "I'm a big believer that people need to continue to stay on the cutting edge, or they start to get bored and complacent."
Reichwein, who has taught at North Penn for 25 years, said the program is bound to grow into something fundamentally important and technologically profound.
"The impact is massive, but this is, I think, the largest leap we've ever taken into the unknown," Reichwein said. " Neil Armstrong was the first guy to walk on the moon. Ryan Kolb will be the first guy to virtually walk on the moon."
©2021 Bucks County Courier Times, Levittown, Pa. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
