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NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP WITH CRASHCOURSE
NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP WITH CRASHCOURSE
Typically when you hear the term crash course, you prepare yourself for an overwhelming amount of information about a topic including pertinent facts and skills for you to be successful during implementation. When it comes to TeachAids’ new concussion education program, CrashCourse, you’re absolutely right except, instead of listening and reading an overwhelming amount of information, you are engaged and doing the things outlined along with people who are relatable! “How, you may ask?” Virtual Reality.
Although not a new concept, TeachAids is using virtual reality (VR) to educate youth about the signs, symptoms, and long term effects of a concussion. TeachAids, a nonprofit organization founded in 2009 at Stanford University, was initially known for its development of global HIV prevention education and technology products. With the motto, Health Education Reimagined for Today’s Generation, TeachAids expanded its health education efforts to the world of student-athletes suffering from concussion symptoms and long term side effects in 2017.
In December of 2018, Governor Asa Hutchinson, in partnership with TeachAids, announced that Arkansas will be the first state in the country to implement the concussion education program, CrashCourse, in every high school across the state. EAST was chosen as a viable partner to help successfully implement the program by Anthony Owen, Chief State STEM Officer and State Director of Computer Science Education.
After almost two years of planning and research product testing, TeachAids released CrashCourse educational content to be used with VR in August of 2019. According to Piya Socar, CEO of TeachAids, “With Governor Hutchinson at the forefront of bringing computer science/technology and education to the schools in Arkansas and our partnership with your state, we thought it would be special to release CrashCourse VR exclusively to the state of Arkansas.” A few weeks prior to the national launch date, TeachAids provided advanced activation codes of the CrashCourse VR content to educators in the EAST network to distribute to each middle and high school program.
CrashCourse has set out to provide students, parents, and coaches with the latest medical knowledge on the prevention and treatment of concussions. The program empowers students to get involved with making the decision to keep playing after an injury or seek help. Even if the student has not experienced a concussion, the program teaches them to recognize the symptoms and signs in teammates.
