The SLPS district is leveraging federal ESSER funding to secure XR learning software and hardware. Moreover, according to Avantis, this gives the 17 schools “thousands” of AR and VR learning content from its ClassVR service. Avantis also notes that its ClassVR solution qualifies for ESSER funding due to proven support for student achievement and addressing learning losses.
Avantis Education’s Chief Executive Officer, Huw Williams, added:
School and district leaders are increasingly looking to new and emerging technologies to help them support student learning, and AR/VR is a big part of these conversations. ESSER funding is making these technologies even more accessible for schools, and we are looking forward to bringing the power of virtual reality into even more classrooms, both in St. Louis and across the country.
The ClassVR content offering covers various subjects ready via all-in-one AR/VR headsets. Moreover, Avantis built its service to match K-12 schools’ expectations, which includes hardware, software, and training – with the firm stating that ClassVR has reached more than 1 million students in roughly 100,000 classrooms worldwide.
ClassVR gives teachers the tools to enhance traditional teaching methods with immersive visuals and environments to help translate certain subjects, and for the current 2023-24 school year, Avantis is supporting 400+ lessons for students in US State Standards in science, social studies and English language arts.
Douglas Combs from Haddock Education Technologies, who assisted with the ESSER funding, also added:
When schools come to us asking about the benefits of AR and VR technology in the classroom, we know ClassVR will provide them with what they want. At SLPS, school leaders were seeking something cool and exciting to engage students in the content they were learning in class. ClassVR is the perfect fit.
Avantis plans to implement its ClassVR solution later this school year as it scales up its immersive learning platform.
Avantis Launches Eduverse Learning Platform
The news comes as Avantis steadily runs its Eduverse immersive learning platform. The firm debuted its Metaverse, a shared immersive learning platform for selected K-12 learning institutions in the UK, in 2022.
The UK-based company offers its VR-based Metaverse learning solution to schools, providing immersive learning spaces that enable students and teachers to interact in VR classrooms from a secure and controlled environment.
Huw Williams said at the time of Eduveres’s debut:
“The Eduverse powers all our world-class VR offerings and helps teachers bring thousands of amazing, immersive educational experiences into their classrooms in a safe and secure online platform. It provides them with endless possibilities to engage their students, all from a collaborative environment to bring subject matter to life.
Avantis Education developed Eduverse as a web-based solution that is cross-platform compatible, meaning it works on laptops, Chromebooks, tablets, phones and VR headsets. The service is also compatible with Avantis Education’s purpose-built headset and Google Expeditions kit and is specifically designed for use in classrooms. According to Williams, the goal was to make the K-12 metaverse accessible to all teachers and students, regardless of their device.
