St. Cloud State University has been awarded a $1.88 million grant from the National Science Foundation for the Resource Collaborative for Immersive Technologies (RECITE) initiative.
This three-year Advanced Technological Education (ATE) project will support two-year technical educators as they integrate cutting-edge Extended Reality (XR) technologies, like augmented and virtual reality, into the classroom.
A striking gap has been identified in the research and application of XR technologies in technician education in the United States. RECITE was crafted to address the critical needs of the modern educational framework, targeting the enhancement of XR technology adoption within two-year colleges.
Through RECITE, SCSU and its partners will explore the current landscape of XR in education, develop comprehensive professional XR training programs and introduce an XR-centric website and product repository to support technician education.
“Our country requires a highly skilled technical workforce to navigate the unique challenges of the 21st century,” David Anderson, who led the crafting of the project, said. “With RECITE, we’re equipping technical educators with state-of-the-art XR tools and readying our students to rise to these challenges.”
RECITE will be housed within SCSU’s Visualization Laboratory (VizLab), a cross-disciplinary center for XR technology on campus. The VizLab works with multiple stakeholders on a variety of academic and industry projects by developing individual and collaborative XR experiences.
“RECITE will be great for SCSU,” VizLab Director Mark Gill said. “Students from all disciplines will be able to take advantage of the practical experience. It will lower the barrier to entry for educators interested in using XR in their classes, and it solidifies SCSU’s status as a nexus for XR-centric innovation and collaborations.”
“RECITE is cementing SCSU’s national distinction in visualization and establishing its role as the leader in this multi-million/multi-institution consortium,” added Dr. Adel Ali, dean of SCSU’s College of Science and Engineering.
The RECITE team includes Clemson University, NSF ATE EARTh Center, Somerset Community College, Motlow State Community College and CAST.
For further information about RECITE, please visit recitexr.org.
