Barrie, Ontario — Georgian College has been making strides to equip its students with the skills needed for tomorrow’s auto industry, and a recent half-million dollar investment from OVIN’s Regional Future Workforce Program will surely provide a leg-up.
This $500,000 grant from the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN) will introduce immersive learning opportunities that allow students to use extended reality (XR) software to learn the basics of electric vehicle operations.
“We’re transitioning from the information age to the experiential age in education and Georgian has become one of the world leaders in the exploration and integration of immersive learning and artificial intelligence,” said Rob Theriault, technical lead of Georgian College’s immersive technology department
Theriault says he expects this combined augmented/virtual reality experience to be able to accommodate more than 1,000 students, including Grade 10 through 12 students from across the Simcoe County District School Board (SCDSB) and Bruce-Grey Catholic District School Board (BGCDSB).
“We are proud at Bruce-Grey Catholic District School Board to continue to work in partnership with Georgian College on this exciting and innovative learning opportunity for our students,” said BGCDSB Director of education Gary O’Donnell.
“Working in community and in partnership we are able to provide our students with connections and knowledge about emerging sectors of the economy.”
The XR learning experiences offered by Georgian College are supported by partners from UP360, a Toronto-based educational software developer founded by video game developers, and Ford Canada.
