A woman uses an Oculus Rift virtual reality headset.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Facebook’s Techstart team announced Thursday what they called a “first-of-its-kind” partnership to provide 500 Oculus Rift virtual reality kits to 254 high schools, educational co-ops and STEM education centers across the state.
The kits, donated by Facebook, include a computer, headset and 360-degree camera. J.R. Davis, director of the Governor’s Communications Department, said the 500 kits are worth about $1 million. Anthony Owen, the state’s STEM careers coordinator, told Arkansas Business each kit is worth more than $1,500.
Hutchinson and Facebook announced the partnership at Little Rock’s Central High School, which will receive one of the kits. The program will give priority to schools with a high percentage of low-income students, the governor’s office said in a news release.
Facebook established and communicated guidelines for the program, based on free and reduced lunch percentages (60% and above) and the age of students that could have access to the VR kit (13 and above), according to Owen.
He also told Arkansas Business that the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) and the Arkansas Public School Resource Center (APSRC) would release the full list of schools in a few days and distribution is set to begin Feb. 1.
Owen said the Education Service Cooperative and STEM Center Network will handle the statewide distribution and training, as there are training requirements prior to distribution at the school level. APSRC will facilitate distribution to the Pulaski County Schools. ADE, the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub and the EAST Initiative will all assist APSRC with distribution and training in the area.
He said the memorandum of understanding with Facebook requires usage feedback with no student identifiable information and decisions on how to distribute surplus kits to the schools will be made, by ADE and APSRC, based on student population and usage numbers.
Facebook’s Techstart program aims to give students access to computer science and virtual reality education, generate interest in computer science careers and provide instruction for students.
The program uses a combination of virtual reality instruction, curriculum support and professional development for educators, access to computer science events and connections to engineering mentors, according to the governor’s office.
Owen said, given the value of the kits, he doesn’t see a checkout system as being viable. He said, “While it will be up to each school to decide how to best reach students, we foresee the kits remaining within one area/class at the school.” But that is not a requirement.
Erin Egan, head of public policy and chief privacy officer for Facebook, said the company’s virtual reality technology is the next platform for learning and communication. She also called it the “next generation” of tech.
Hutchinson said the partnership would continue the momentum of his statewide coding education initiative, which includes coding classes in every high school and the Governor’s All-Region and All-State Coding Competition.
Hutchinson said having the virtual reality experience is important because it will encourage students to gain computer science skills, explore STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) careers and position them to succeed with high-paying jobs in a technology-driven economy.
He also said Arkansas leads the nation in computer science education and the partnership strengthens that lead.
Other local and state officials at the announcement were state Education Commissioner Johnny Key; Little Rock School District Superintendent Mike Poore; Charisse Childers, director of the Arkansas Department of Career Education; and Owen.
Video of the News Conference at Central High
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