News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Stone Memorial High School will purchase virtual and augmented reality headsets for its STEM program with a grant from TVA.
Cumberland Schools STEAM and Computer Science Coordinator Thomas Fuhrman said the headsets will work with the program SolidWorks, which students frequently use to make prototypes via 3D imaging. Fuhrman said the headsets will allow students to better realize the ideas and designs they develop in the program.
“My hope is that the students will be even more energized to continue developing in this way,” Fuhrman said. “They’re going to have experiential learning that they would otherwise not have. It will also allow them to not just be consumers with the technology, but to be creators.”
Fuhrman said the grant will also provide 360-degree cameras so students can capture environments and see them while wearing the headsets. Fuhrman said the whole system will be online and in use before the end of the school year.
“The next steps are financial documentation verification and then as I said before, media and publicity,” Fuhrman said. “The project completion is due by June 1, 2025.”
Fuhrman said the district should receive the grant funding by the end of January. Fuhrman said Stone Memorial High STEM Teacher Tommy Tatum coordinated the grant application and chose to get the headsets because of how often his students use SolidWorks.
“While this is the initial purpose of the grant and these particular devices, I anticipate that they will come up with other innovative ways to use these as well,” Fuhrman said.
