The Association of Independent Kentucky
Colleges and Universities (AIKCU) recently gave the Innovational Educational
Technology Award to Kentucky College of Optometry (KYCO) and the University of
Pikesville information technology department with the for KYCO’s Interactive
3-D Virtual Science Initiative.
“Students don
specially designed 3-D polarized glasses in class and see the words and
illustrations in 3-D,” Assistant Clinical Professor Donnie Akers said.
“This is especially important when teaching subjects like gross, ocular and
neuro anatomy as the material involves three-dimensional structures and their
relationships to surrounding structures. This is not just 3-D but interactive
3-D, so if a student has a specific question the professor can interact and
manipulate the images to better answer the questions.”
Akers is working with national virtual reality
education leader ViziTech on the technology, which is comparable to virtual reality
technologies being used at Harvard University, Cornell University and the
University of Chicago. Students using the technology are able to perform and
practice dissections at their own pace, saving their work for viewing at home or
repeating it until comfortable with the material.
“Dr. Akers’ incredible
futuristic design of gross anatomy dissection, anatomy lecture presentation and
classroom presentations of ocular anatomy will present life-like 3-D human
spatial realities for the students to work on,” Vice President for
Optometric Education Andrew Buzzelli, the founding dean of
KYCO, said. “Dr. Akers’ creation of the cutting-edge virtual curriculum puts us
in the league of the leading medical colleges in the United States.”
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