A Best-in-Network 2018 Finalist
Cross County High School
Teachers: Jason Blake
Course: Environmental and Spatial Technology
Grade: 9-12
Driving Question:
Using technology, experience, and teamwork can we create a way for our local State Archaeological Park to reach a new, wider audience, in an interactive and engaging way?
Project Snapshot
The purpose of this project is to preserve and help spread the history of the Cherry Valley community. My students decided to take their newly gained knowledge and use it to benefit our community in preserving the culture and rich history found at Parkin Archeological Park. Students worked in 3 teams during this project: the Photogrammetry team, the 3D Scanner team, and the Unity team. Each team had their own responsibilities and were held accountable for their progress by the other teams. Students are able to develop their own projects and work with outside clients to use technology to improve our community. There are no set guidelines for this class and students are given the freedom to create and complete their own projects once they have been given approval.
Student Products
- Students created a virtual reality museum with artifacts that would be found in real life.
- Students created a final presentation to showcase their virtual reality pieces.
- Students presented the project at East Conference to over 3,000 attendees.
Teacher Reflection
This project really pushed students to find their own path. I provide guidance, but ultimately, the students are in charge. They used drive and grit to complete this. They truly run the show.
Reviewers Reflection
- “I love that students create and maintain their own clients and schedule their own meetings for this project.”
- “I am impressed that students work with proposals, make commitments to clients, and work on their own to make sure they meet their commitments.”
- “I believe this authentic connection is exemplary in the fact that students will be creating VR experiences for Parkin Archeological State Park Museum.”
Student Reflections
“Photogrammetry was something I had never heard of before and learning it was a little tough because I’m not a text savvy person but it turned out to be really interesting and beneficial for me. The more I did and learned about it the more I wanted to do it. Then, adding all this other technology into made it even better. If it were a regular assignment the technology we were open to wouldn’t have been available. There were multiple times that my mesh didn’t turn out like it should have but I didn’t stop trying because at least it tried and I knew I could find my error. “
“This year we came up with a project to help preserve and spread the history of an Archaeological state park. As we have worked on this project we have learned many skills. My team and I have gone through many failures trying to learn the new technology needed for photogrammetry, but as we pushed through them we picked up these new skills and realized how satisfying it was to keep pushing and complete something. This encouraged us to keep going and keep trying through any obstacles we encountered. We picked up skills like of course using photogrammetry, some professional skills, and more of a drive to learn and accomplish new things. Taking the lead in this project has made me see things differently. This project helped me get out of my box more and overall gave me a great sense of accomplishment.”
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