For Putman XR Consulting owner Dr. Shannon Putman, immersive virtual reality is the next step towards more effective education.

“I never change the way my students learn. I change the way I teach,” she says.

“And it’s my job, as a teacher, to figure out how they learn best, and then make the content accessible for them.”

Drawing on her background, both as a university professor and a special-education teacher, she is using immersive technology to expand that accessibility, while customizing education to specific classroom needs.

Earlier this year, Dr. Putman and her team deployed 2,450 headsets at high schools throughout Kentucky. While this particular project marked the single largest rollout of educational IVR (immersive virtual reality) in the country, she sees it as a beginning.

“The ultimate goal for me, at Putman XR Consulting, is to take this outside of Kentucky and…into any educational system that wants to improve their student experience,” she explains.

Dr. Putman talked about her background, explained some of the ways immersive virtual reality can work for teachers (or in teaching situations in general–not necessarily classrooms alone!) and shared her vision for the future.

On this edition of Over Coffee® we cover:

• How Dr. Putman’s career path led her to become an education professional;

• The experience that convinced her of the effectiveness of IVR for education;

• A definition of “IVR” (versus simply, the standard virtual-reality experience)

• The story of this groundbreaking deployment of VR headsets across the Kentucky school system;

• One magical moment she experienced, during the rollout;

• Her vision for the future of IVR in classrooms;

• The story of her small business, Putman XR Consulting;

• A closer look at XReps, an extended-reality game she co-founded, and an important “life lesson” it teaches;

• Her advice to teachers who’d like to implement VR in the classroom but aren’t quite sure where to start;

• An additional “fun” application she recently did in Engage, for teaching in a 3D environment;

• What subjects can fit teaching through IVR;

• How teachers, with their demanding schedules, can consider IVR implementation in their classrooms;