“Every story I write adds to me a little, changes me a little, forces me to reexamine an attitude or belief, causes me to research and learn, helps me to understand people and grow.”

-Octavia Butler

Immersive Learning Subcommittee

Led by: Kasiemba Okeyo (call me “Kas”, which rhymes with “grass”)

Current UCLA Position: Innovation and Technology (I-Track) Educator

Affiliated UCLA Department(s): Geffen Academy @ UCLA

As an I-Track Educator at Geffen Academy on the UCLA campus, I’ve spent over 5 years teaching design thinking and technology to middle and upper school students. In my second year, I created an original course curriculum called Designing the Story World, where students explore how design thinking can shape worldbuilding across storytelling mediums. Using a mix of traditional art, Blender 3D modeling/animation, and Photoshop compositing, students bring their imaginative worlds to life. This year, we’re excited to take things further by exploring XR (Extended Reality) as a new tool for creating and sharing original story worlds in ways that push the boundaries of creativity and technology.

XR Interests
  1.  Storytelling for Varied Experiences and Mediums
  2.  Worldbuilding (3D modeling and animation)
  3.  UX/UI Design for Classroom Application

Favorite XR Project or Milestone:

  • My upper school “Designing the Story World” students have been using Blender to create 3D models and scenes as part of their worldbuilding craft. I plan to incorporate XR as a tool for both sculpting 3D models and scenes, as well as for experiencing and interacting with our original worldbuilding creations and storytelling environments. We are currently in the infant stages of this endeavor.
  • My long-term objective would be to inspire other educators of other subject matters to explore XR in their classrooms. 
Goals
  1. To share and gather knowledge about how XR is currently being applied in various educational environments and student contexts while also exploring potential future developments and trends in XR for education.  
  2. To create a space for experimenting with and “test-driving” XR applications in the classroom, allowing for feedback and insights from like-minded peers on what works and what could be improved.  
  3. To share resources, events, and opportunities that help expand our community of XR users with a focus on enhancing education.
Meetings Topics
  1.  Share Out: What is the coolest pedagogical application of XR that you’ve seen? Bring your cool example to the meeting. 
  2.  How do you think XR can improve engagement and efficiency in teaching and learning? What is your personal dream for applying XR in the classroom or in education? What have you already done to apply XR to your education practice?
  3.  What do we need in order to create a highly personalized, immersive, and collaborative learning experience with XR? How does technology access and accessibility factor into this?
Links

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kasiemba (please include a message if you add me)