Teaching

The commercial introduction, roughly a decade ago, of the DK 1 headset from a then little start up called Occulus initiated my interests as a learner and a professor. Those of us, all of us, who teach must continue to learn, no? The early devices provided a glimpse into being “in world” and characteristic human movements. As we have advanced, content continues to exist as a place for investment which utilizes Career and Technical Education (CTE) and what we have tagged STEA3MB(e) - as a developing marketplace for learners or those who seek to be trained that are interested in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Aviation, & Agriculture, Mathematics, and lastly Business as entrepreneurship. TMobile for Education shares in our narrative and is motivated to impact lives through education and connectivity. We believe this provides us a guidebook or literal beacons for intentional stackable credential development towards skills that lead to career employment. Our developing enterprise approach is currently co-opting and filling partnerships with industries across Robotics, Mechatronics, Healthcare, OEM, Tier One Manufacturing, Educators, Government Agencies, and within our communities. The Pell Eligible fall-tospring (fall 2021 to spring 2022) retention rate is 74% for T-Mobile phone users and 68% for the overall college wide Pelleligible population. This marked 6% difference also holds true for Non-Pell eligible students, where 80% of T-Mobile 5G platform device users were retained fall-to-spring versus 74% for the overall Non-Pell eligible population. We have learned that the best prepared are prepared on day one.

Moreover, in another focus population, Black male students who were T-Mobile 5G device users also retained from fall-to-spring 5% higher than the overall student population, at 67% for phone users versus 62% overall. As an organization, we are still learning, but we are also more broadly mindful today. We cannot provide the students support needed now if we don’t till the landscape or sow what needs to rise to create awareness. More bluntly, 5G and beyond infrastructure is no longer a discussion point, it is a must for success. We can posit or debate the platitudes of roughing out the existential use of the realities in the Metaverse or tools, but shall we await broader onboarding? No, we cannot, we should not, we ought not. Let’s further push and promote for the vertical integration of emerging technologies for the purposes of improving the human condition. Teachers are our innovators, let us support their exploration. Students are our opportunity, and we depict here what must be in the palms of their hands; devices on a network that come readily equipped to meet the demands of the TILT environment. This partnership has displayed what works. However, we know that we have other questions that we can still ask and answer which will redress findings and certainly create additional topics for discussion and action.

Motlow State XR labs connection to automation, robotics, cyber tinkering, health sciences, and mechatronics allude to the development of Robotronics. The broadening categorization of blockchain paradigms create linear continuums. From the existing interoperability of personal sovereignty, digital skills wallets, learner cards, the 4th Industrial Revolution, *R, integrative artificial intelligence (AI), and attention to sustainability; innovation rises. We sought useful tools that promote the value of skills and can be combined across many or all verticals/domains. T-Mobile willingly endeared themselves to us by uttering a commitment to impacting our local community of students and employees. We spoke about, “Remembering pagers and bag phones, tethered joy sticks and block characters in learning simulations" . The realm of realism is so crisp now, the mind not only sees, but intuits presence in virtual collaborative spaces. These spaces can be in 2D, 3D, or completely immersive with 180 and 360 degrees of freedom also known as 3 degrees of freedom axis and 6 degrees of freedom axis.

T-Mobile’s network connections create digital success pathways to innovative and academic skillsets to which academically underprepared students do not always encounter and/or engage. Our data clarified that for the academically underprepared focus population, the 6% difference for phone users still holds true, with 76% of academically underprepared. TMobile phone users retaining fall-to-spring versus 70% for the overall academically underprepared population. The 5G phone and AR enabled devices on T-Mobile’s network have supported the innovative efforts the Motlow State Community College community embarked upon.