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Virtual Reality and Education have a long and checkered history.
On-line worlds give students opportunities to experience things that would be too expensive, too dangerous, or too time consuming in the "real" world. It allows us to distill an experience into it's essence while allowing learners to be active agents rather than passive recipients.
That said I would argue that the word "virtual" has little or no meaning for today's students. It is an artifact from a time when the internet was not a pervasive presence. In todays on-line social spaces teens are making friends, sharing experiences, flirting, competing, earning status, and defining their identities. There is very little that is "virtual" about any of this for them - it is just one more aspect of reality.
As anyone who has spent more than an hour or two developing an on-line avatar can attest you begin to invest your identity in that character - it starts to have a "real" world impact on your self-perception. As a testament to this one on-line world for teens knows that if they can get students to visit at least 10 times they will be on the site for 2-3 hours a week for at least 18 months. Once the on-line identity has progressed past a certain point it begins to address real needs for recognition, status, play, and identity.
For publishers this means thinking of ways to tap these virtual worlds to support the core goal of teaching in the classroom. How much could you improve outcomes if you could find a way to have students voluntarily engaging for an additional 2-3 hours a week for a year and a half? Those improved outcomes are very real, not virtual.
Seeing virtual and real world experiences as separate is an outdated paradigm that may be limiting what you can do with your products to improve learning.
Saft batteries are a key contributor to the satellite’s 15-year life and deliver power during two eclipse seasons per year.Orbital Sciences Corp. selected Saft’s high-performance Li-ion batteries for the satellite built for Telenor Satellite Broadcasting. To date, a total of 22 spacecraft have been launched worldwide with Saft Li-ion batteries onboard.
The rechargeable Li-ion batteries deliver satellite power during two eclipse seasons per year when the spacecraft is blocked from the sun, allowing Orbital to significantly decrease the satellite’s weight. This approximately 30 to 50 percent weight savings on the battery (yielded from Saft’s Li-ion battery high specific energy of 120 Wh/kg) allows Orbital to produce a more powerful satellite by dedicating more of its crucial mass to the payload, or revenue-generating part of the spacecraft.
Saft provided two rechargeable Li-ion batteries with VES140 cells each delivering 40 Ah. These cells, manufactured in Saft’s Bordeaux facility, are assembled into a 4P9S configuration in Saft’s Poitiers facility. Other programs with Orbital include DART, US Government Mission, PanAmSat, Intelsat 11, Optus D1, Optus D2 and Horizons 2. |
