A student expressing early interest in a career as an auto technician can begin investigating the inner workings of vehicles without getting their hands dirty鈥攁ll through virtual reality.
And as automotive technology advances and costs increase, virtual reality applications can save administrators from spending money on equipment for exploratory career and technical education courses.
鈥淚t’s very expensive to run an auto shop,鈥 says Michael Carbenia, executive director of career and technical education at , which makes virtual reality automotive apps and the computers on which they run. 鈥淭he apps are great for smaller districts that don’t have the budget or larger districts that can’t meet the demand.鈥
ZSpace’s computers project . Students use a stylus to manipulate an engine, brakes or other parts to view all sides.
鈥淵ou can walk into an elementary school with a laptop, and take a young boy or girl who likes to tinker and let them take apart a transmission,鈥 says Carbenia, a former auto shop teacher in Florida. 鈥淚t helps them understand the fundamentals.鈥
, it doesn’t matter if students break something. 鈥淓ven with kids who’ve been in a real shop, we’ve seen this help their confidence when they move into a new area,鈥 Carbenia says.
Read the full feature: Auto shop accelerates in high school CTE programs
