The Madison College Extended Reality (XR) center is a growing project under the direction of Strategic Academic Initiatives. The XR center, located in the Truax Campus, Room C2406, incorporates virtual reality technology into the learning process.
The Oculus Rift-S, Microsoft HoloLens and Oculus Quest Headsets for Non-PC VR are only some of the technologies integrated into this facility.
Carly Brady and Bill Ballo with Strategic Academic Initiatives have led the creation of the XR Center. Brady, the manager for academic technology, has been with the college for over 15 years. She initially brought the idea of virtual reality to the school after she attended a conference at South by Southwest EDU and saw how virtual reality is making a difference in education.
Ballo, is a former EMS instructor whose specialty is cardiology and since 2020, has assisted the faculty in utilizing new and emerging technologies in their classroom. He was recruited for this project after helping the college build its classroom live program. He has always had an interest in finding new and different ways to teach material.
“I’ll figure out any weird way I can to make the information stick, whatever way I can figure out to make the information stick. VR is just another tool just like any other,” Ballo said.
The XR center had a soft opening in February of 2023. According to Ballo, it was a slow start for the first two months, there was only one class regularly using the center and a handful of groups that came to visit. However, things began to look up as the new school year began.
“Come back in August and by September (and) October we were doing two a week, three a week, four a week and then it got to the point where we did our grand opening for faculty. Then we tried to do a grand opening for students. I never had a time frame where I could fit that in,” Ballo said.
The hectic schedule of the XR center includes holding classes for 17 programs including nursing, EMS, dental, respiratory, therapy, CNA, HVAC, vet tech, botany, interior design architecture, disability resources, Languages and 3D art. In addition to these programs, new partnerships are on the horizon, possibly with the automotive program. Other projects include more integration into the language programs.
Brady and Ballo are working with other programs, such as global and community partners to build the student experience. A summer camp, in partnership with the local middle and high schools, is in the works for June. In terms of international partnerships, Brady and Ballo virtually attended a conference in Denmark.
The international partnerships do not stop there. The New Zealand based company ImmerseMe, a virtual reality-based language learning tool already used by the language students, is looking to roll out a new American English language learning software set right in Madison. They may even be looking for talented students to be a part of the new program as actors.
The XR center, although located on the Truax campus, the XR center also serves the regional campus students, where they often see Ballo pack up the portable VR equipment and head over to the Watertown campus. The center looks forward to granting students access at other regional campuses as well.
On the horizon for the XR center is the advent of a new program for botany. This program, set on Mars, will challenge students to apply what they are learning in class to a virtual Mars mission habitat scenario. Students will be tasked with growing different types of crops by manipulating multiple scenario variables.