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Virtual reality will soon be a part of the Ankeny high school experience

Soon Ankeny high schoolers will be able to use VR headsets to explore different careers.

ANKENY, Iowa — Ankeny high school students are going to be introduced to a whole new world this coming fall - a virtuaworld. And it's only one headset away. 

This kind of technology was once a futuristic concept but soon it will be the teaching tool of today in Ankeny. Ankeny educator Erin Van Dorin says the headset lets students explore a day in the life of a career they’re interested in.    

“Whether that’s working in a bakery, or being an ER nurse where you’re putting a needle in an arm…,” she explained.

Van Dorin hopes this will help give kids a sense of direction for life after high school.

“It really excites kids when they get to see I really have this interest in A, this is how A looks like in a job…,” she said. 

Which in turn helps educators steer kids toward relevant classes for that career path.  

“If we know that it’s a high math area and they’re gonna need to take more math, we have those classes…,”  Van Dorin said.  

She adds that giving kids hands-on experience to over 300 careers simply isn’t possible any other way.

“we can’t go out to a wind turbine or some of the really cool things that this allows students to be able to explore," Van Dorin said. 

She says this technology could be used by guidance counselors, at job fairs, or even Orbis classes, which are project-based classes designed to give kids real world experience.

The VR headsets are going to be available for students at the start of the school year. Van Dorin says she hopes to eventually expand the technology into Ankeny's middle schools. 

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