Meet Tech Girl Winner Shiloh Amah - and her idea to use VR to address school's funding gaps

(NOTE: THIS IS NOT MY IDEA, I'm just giving Shiloh some extra exposure and reach)

A couple weeks ago I had the privilege to be introduced to Shiloh Amah who is an 17 years old from Manchester, UK with a big idea (thx Jyotsna Chandrani for the intro)

I had a call with her and was very impressed with her clarity of thoughts, focus and willingness build something that will make the learning environments in our schools more exciting, engaging, productive and inclusive

The core of the idea is to use VR (Virtual Reality) - like what Meta is doing - to create classroom environments that allow classes like physics, chemistry or biology to simulate environments that facility learning, without requiring expensive labs or materials.

With her permission and in her own words (I didn't change anything, just added a couple 'bolds'), please see below the submission she sent to the Tech Girl competition - which she was one of the winners - the some words about herself

I've already gave her some intros to contacts I have in AWS and Meta, but if you can help or want to be involved, please reach out directly to Shiloh Amah

MY IDEA: Many schools are underfunded.

With these financial constraints, many institutions are forced to withdraw funding from many departments. This severely infringes upon the passion required by students to be receptive to learning; this presents cascading socio-economic effects both on the individual scale and the societal scale.

The financially driven erasure of creative subjects, like the arts, or even more technical subjects like DT greatly limits the experiences available to the adolescent individual required to consolidate self-identity. Not only this, but the reductions in such subjects also reduce the skills necessary for them to distinguish themselves and flourish in a workplace - while also limiting the occupations available to them.

I don’t need to tell you of the economic ramifications of a reduced skillsets among the people who will be driving the economy in the future. This extends further to countries and societies that may not have the geographical nor financial privileges to attend formal education as we know it.

There are many schools worldwide that do not have the basic elements for which they can run and educate students.

Rather than erecting physical school buildings which prolong the enactment of education, each child could be issued their own headset.

Doing so could open so many more doors for underprivileged youth - arming them with the skills to climb out of their initial poverty. Virtual reality can aim to simulate an authentic work environment where equipment and funding is sparse; by this I mean that oftentimes departments such as DT rely heavily on industrial machinery to aid in lessons and execute projects.

This machinery requires not only great funds for initial purchases, but also maintenance fees – fees that surely weigh on the pockets of the institution.

Therefore, I propose harnessing immersive learning in the form of a virtual educational environment to fully tap into the dormant potential of students in unfavorable situations that impose obstacles on their overall education, be it financial or otherwise.

Immersive learning is experiential learning that takes place in a fully immersive environment. This can include virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and other simulated environments. Immersive learning allows learners to interact with their surroundings realistically, which can lead to a deeper understanding of the material. Its benefits include: improved learning through doing; bringing learning to life; and user-centered learning that can be personalized.

It not only compensates for lack of funding that can make it difficult for an institution to sustain practical subject like DT (because of all the equipment and maintenance required) but can act to further understandings in subject such as physics chemistry, biology, etc., via the exploration of their relevant structures and contextual environments sensorily.

The latter provides alternatives pathways for learning which can act to accommodate neurodiversity – not every neurochemistry is the same and this type of technology can help account for the rigidity expressed by the traditional educational system.

The technology needn’t be limited to a physical institution, but each child could potentially be issued their own headset connected to a local area network that allows collaboration and social interactions, under the supervision of their assigned teacher, making education more accessible.

Virtual Reality is the Future of Education. As the digital world advances, we too should evolve alongside it. No one should be left behind by analogue constraints.

ABOUT ME: My name is Shiloh Amah. I am 17 years old, in year 12 and studying Physics, Mathematics and Further Mathematics as my Alevel choices.

I am a habitually passionate and curious individual, who derives pleasure from learning and discovering the intricacies of how things work and why the world is the way it is.

Naturally, I was taken with math, physics, engineering and technology; these are fields in which we break down nature to reveal awe-inspiring secrets or put elements of nature together in new wonderful ways. Although it seems so, this is not the work of magic, each discovery or new technology/invention is the amalgam of years of perpetual hard work by people determined to learn or make something new.

This prospect of hard work may intimidate some, but it only acts to invigorate me, for the fruits of such labor make it worth it – the thought of transforming the world with my ideas while contributing to the greater good is exciting