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Journal-News: How Middletown is Using Virtual Reality for its High School Art Classes

In this article, Journal-News Staff Writer Michael D. Clark spoke with Middletown High School (MHS) Visual Arts Teacher Rick Krebs about a new program at MHS. The AR/VR--that’s Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality--class teaches computer coding and programming while preparing “students for the future.” A $12,224 grant in 2018 from the Middletown Community Foundation helped pay for the VR goggles.

Read all about it below! 

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How Middletown is Using Virtual Reality for its High School Art Classes
October 21, 2019
By Michael D. Clark, Journal-News Staff Writer

“There’s a new reality for some Middletown High School students who find traditional art classes unsatisfying...

“They can now create art in their own virtual reality… 

“The new program, which uses virtual reality goggles, allows students...to excel in the creation of graphic art and animation produced on classroom laptops...

“Their work, which requires art students to learn computer coding, is then transferred and viewed on high-definition goggles, immersing the teens in their own ‘art work’ and animated scenes… 

“Middletown High School Visual Arts Teacher Rick Krebs described the program as ‘beautiful’... 

“‘The same thing you used to do with a painting you can now do animated and in the virtual world,’ said Krebs… 

And the application of computer coding and other programming skills also ‘prepares the students for the future and it’s all about the future,’ he said… 

“‘It makes it more interesting. Now I can look at what I’ve taught for 20 years in a completely different way,’ said Krebs… 

“Brady Eckhardt, a junior, said that he has ‘never had anything like this’... 

“‘I used to hate art because I couldn’t draw but now I like this because I can do whatever I want,’ he said referencing the boundless options provided by computer graphics he created… 

“The older teens will soon use the computer coding they have learned to create a VR graphic program... that will help elementary students learn...in a different more interactive way… 

“‘It’s a really blast for both my students and the younger kids,’ said Krebs…

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