[From The WCF Courier, where the story includes images]

After-school program exposes local students to virtual reality

October 7, 2012
By Emily Christensen

CEDAR FALLS — The teeth of a John Deere combine poke out into a dark theater.

Students raise their arms and try to touch the behemoth as it floats what seems like inches from their faces. But their efforts are futile. Their hands can’t grasp the 3-D image on the screen in front of them.

But their imaginations can.

Nearly 50 Cedar Falls elementary and junior high students recently traveled to Iowa State University in Ames to learn more about virtual reality and how it can help them bring their own ideas to life.

The trip was coordinated by Cedar Falls schools Superintendent Mike Wells to get students excited about a new after-school virtual reality program in the Cedar Valley.

Virtual Reality Educational Pathways, or VREP, was started in 2006 by East Marshall High School Principal Rex Kozak. Since then, Kozak — with the help of corporate sponsors — has expanded the K-12 program to schools across the country.

[Continue reading at The WCF Courier]