Augmented Education in 2038 by Vincent

Augmented Education in 2038 by Vincent - February 2018 Scholarship Essay

"The science of today is the technology of tomorrow (Edward Teller)". From the learned, yet daunting words of our Father of the Hydrogen Bomb, Edward Teller spoke of the blatant truth behind how our country has reached its progressive era throughout the last few decades. There are many advancements in our modern technology, using previous knowledge and sciences from past eras. Many of these advancements also show potential for the upcoming years.
From modern warfare to educational purposes, our technology has continued its growth rapidly, especially in our last decade. The one particular intellection that has increased in popularity recently is augmented reality, or virtual reality. The concept of virtual reality has been around since before the late 1800's. in 1933, however, the Canadian science fiction author, Laurence Manning, wrote a series of short stories that poked upon the idea of an alternative existence. "Laurence Manning's 1933 series of short stories, "The Men Who Awoke"—later a novel—describes a time when people ask to be connected to a machine that replaces all their senses with electrical impulses and, thus, live a virtual life chosen by them." Even though Laurence's fictional plot was briefly mentioned as a theoretical, augmented composite of our own world, it still sparked the flame for the technological fire of our world as a development of the idea for virtual reality itself.
Virtual Reality is already becoming a high sensation in the mass public as a way to communicate and entertain one another, even in its post-primitive state, such as in the VRChat game and Steam's VR Vive device. There is still so much potential in this industry, however, notably for educational purposes. Today, Virtual Reality is used by the military as a way to simulate almost any and all scenarios within the field that they will most likely have to deal with. "Thomas A. Furness III was one of the first to develop the use of VR for military training when, in 1982, he presented the Air Force with a working model of his virtual flight simulator the Visually Coupled Airborne Systems Simulator (VCASS)." There has been experiments and labs using VR in the classrooms of many high schools, such as Japan's online high school, N High School, and others in the US. "Studies have reported increased student motivation, improved collaboration and knowledge construction and enhanced classroom practices."
There are already dozens of prototypes in the making beyond programs such as Kiwi VR, Street Smarts VR, and many others for both classroom and career education. Particular constructed companies that show promise in their upcoming year would be Magic Leap and Avegant, focusing on the cordless tethering and refinement of their products every day.
These ideas will continue to be refined, as they have been for decades and centuries now. They have finally reached the era where they can make breakthroughs with practical ease and finesse within the industry to keep everyone interested. In this sense, it will never lose it's momentum in the upcoming years, including 2038.

Work Cited:
Hendrix, Justin. “Augmented and VR Projects That Point to the Future of Education - EdSurge News.” EdSurge, EdSurge, 17 Jan. 2018

Reality Technology Is Changing the Way Students Learn.” The Conversation,

Riel, Jeremy. “Virtual Reality: Can New Advances Be Useful for Education?” Medium, Medium, 2 Sept. 2016,

Virtual Reality.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, Before the 1950's

Virtual Reality.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, Military Uses,

Weaver, E. “25 Life-Changing Technological Advances The Last Decade Has Seen.