More students across the Cobb County School District will soon have access to an experiential learning platform for math and science that uses adaptive Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) to transform the learning experience. 

Designed for tactile, kinesthetic, and visual sense-making while solving compelling real-world problems, Prisms of Reality is designed to extend learning and boost interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Seeing the value of the high-quality learning option, Cobb Schools Board members David Banks and Brad Wheeler advocated making the program available to Cobb students. 

“When we talk about innovation in Cobb, this is a perfect example. I am blown away by what is now possible for students and can’t wait to see our students engaged in math and science in a way no one in this state has ever seen,” said Mr. Scamihorn. “From what I understand, our principals and teachers are as excited as the students will be; I am proud to see the Superintendent and staff bring in such a cutting-edge way for students to learn.” 

Cobb Virtual Academy (CVA) has employed the high-quality virtual option for three years, and data has shown a higher level of student engagement. As a result of the success at CVA, District leaders are expanding the proof-of-concept learning program to 20 middle and high schools across Cobb County.  

The following schools will roll out the virtual reality technology to help students with math and science: 

• Allatoona High School 
• Awtrey Middle School 
• Barber Middle School 
• Campbell Middle School 
• Campbell High School 
• Daniel Middle School 
• Durham Middle School 
• Floyd Middle School 
• Hightower Trail Middle School 
• Hillgrove High School 
• Lovinggood Middle School 
• McEachern High School 
• North Cobb High School 
• Osborne High School 
• Pearson Middle School 
• Pope High School 
• Simpson Middle School 
• South Cobb High School 
• Sprayberry High School 
• Tapp Middle School 

From 45+ STEM-certified schools to elite magnet programs dedicated to STEM, students across Cobb Schools already have access to many STEM learning opportunities. This year, 11 Cobb high schools were designated AP STEM Achievement Schools. Cobb Schools is also home to STEMapalooza, the annual summer event where educators from across Georgia and even out of state come to learn how Cobb educators teach STEM.  

Prisms of Reality is intended to add to those successes. As students engage with the standards-aligned modules on core topics, their teachers can monitor their progress and strategically intervene while students are in virtual reality. The program intends to empower teachers and students to teach and learn math and science through movement, experience, and discovery while rapidly improving student proficiencies on key bottleneck topics in secondary math and science. 

Cobb teachers will be able to individualize instruction thanks to the Prism platform, which provides high-impact analysis of student progress and performance on standards over time and so supports strategic, data-driven instructional planning. 

The platform can be woven into regular or hybrid classroom instruction and can also serve as a remediation tool for in-school intervention or after-school tutoring.