News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Tennessee Tech’s Jeffers Learning Resource Center will offer expanded technology this fall to train teachers.
The center provides access to materials, resources, and current technologies for pre-service educators. The center recently expanded its Virtual Reality Lab and Creative Studio. Development Director Genny Patterson said the idea of the lab is to better prepare future teachers.
“Having the ability and the access, you know, to learn how to use all of these things is just invaluable,” Patterson said. “It’s just going to make you stand apart as a teacher, having the knowledge of this and also just knowing how to use it.”
Patterson said they added multiple 3D printers and heat presses, a glow forge laser engraving machine, a sewing machine, laminator, and a silhouette.
“So the idea of this is just for students to be able to learn the software, learn how to use these devices, and then also learn educational uses for them…,” Patterson said. “We’ve been developing a lot this summer a lot of educational models for all these different devices.
Patterson said the Director of Pre-Service Educators Jason Beach went to surrounding county schools and used 360 degree cameras to capture real classroom footage. This allows students to be able to put on the virtual reality headsets and immerse themselves in a real classroom setting.
“So we have kindergarten through twelfth grade every subject,” Patterson said. “We also have some IEP meeting and then we’re working on getting some more content. This semester we’ll be focusing on exercise science, so P.E. classes, sports, you know that kind of thing, wellness classes.”
Patterson said there are at least two courses that host a couple sessions the center that teach students how to use the technology. She said it is especially important for future educators to learn to use the 3d printers as they grow increasingly popular in high schools.
“From the tours that we’ve been getting in with high school, the teachers’ feedback (for) us for this area has been excellent because they’ve mostly said that they have these 3D printers at their school but nobody knows how to use them,” Patterson said.
Patterson said the Resource Center is currently only available to College of Education Students but that the University is looking to open these services up to Tech alumni by next summer.
