Unity Charitable Fund Grant Brings the Metaverse into the Curriculum of Underrepresented Communities to Provide the Next Generation of Learners with 21st Century Skills
LOS ANGELES, May 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Zoe Immersive, an award-winning metaverse software company with a mission to democratize content creation, and the West Allis-West Milwaukee School District have been awarded a $100K grant from the Unity Charitable Fund, a fund of Tides Foundation. This grant will allow the deployment of metaverse learning programs to support over 300 educators and students in the Title I School District. The Zoe Metaverse Program will empower students to easily create fully interactive and immersive experiences, which increase awareness around social and environmental issues. Learners will have the opportunity to develop key digital skills, such as user experience design, storytelling, coding logic, and how to leverage virtual reality to immerse others in their perspectives.
"At Unity, we believe the world is a better place with more creators in it. As someone who was raised near West Allis, Wisconsin, I was thrilled to see this grant awarded to Zoe Immersive, as their program embodies that belief, by ensuring education is accessible to all, regardless of zip code," said Jessica Lindl, Vice President of Social Impact at Unity. "It’s more important than ever to connect young people with the skills needed for future jobs, as these help chart a clear path from learning to earning opportunities."
Through this program, educators will be provided a four-week online training program delivered by Virtual Research, led by educators and innovators Kwaku Aning, Liz Nebo, and Kevin Merges (Innovation Academy). Student outcomes will be measured through Zoe analytics by educational partners, which will include assessment of immersiveness, UX design, game design skills and soft skills, such as collaboration, communication, and management abilities. The project impact will also be measured through follow-on assessment of the students’ progress, such as job applications or education applications for colleges, general change in motivation, and confidence of participants. The program is designed to enable educators to easily replicate the curriculum year after year, building awareness and ensuring more students gain similar skills rather than a "one-off" approach.
"We are ecstatic to be awarded this grant and to help students easily build the skills and confidence to work in the metaverse," said Emilie Joly, CEO of Zoe Immersive. "With a strong partner in West Allis-West Milwaukee School District, together we can help students achieve even greater success by including 3D/AR/VR learning into their curriculum."
During this program, Zoe will be working with West Allis-West Milwaukee School District, which contains 18 schools and 7,400 students. The district’s minority enrollment is 50%, and 65% of students are economically disadvantaged. "Our district embraces student growth with a framework of an innovative curriculum, deeper learning work and integration of emerging technologies," said Deidre Roemer, Director of Leadership and Learning at West Allis-West Milwaukee School District. "We are excited to empower our learners and teachers through this significant support from the Unity Charitable Fund and Zoe Immersive."
Unity is the world’s leading platform for creating and operating real-time 3D (RT3D) content. Unity for Humanity is a program within Unity Social Impact that celebrates and empowers creators who are using real-time 3D to inspire change. The program represents the company’s strong belief that the world is a better place with more creators in it and its commitment to empowering creators with the resources and guidance to bring these powerful experiences to life.
About Zoe Immersive
Zoe Immersive is an award-winning metaverse company based in Los Angeles and Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 2020, Zoe Immersive democratizes 3D/AR/VR content creation by empowering new generations of learners in the metaverse. With Zoe, novice to experts can create their own interactive worlds with a simple and visual interface, and easy-to-use, cross-platform, world creator. Zoe has partnerships with leading technology companies such as Meta, Unity, Qualcomm and HTC, among others. www.zoe.com.
About West Allis-West Milwaukee School District
At the West Allis-West Milwaukee School District, our schools provide engaging learning experiences in classrooms where students are welcomed, challenged, and supported. We provide students with purposeful, authentic learning experiences in an environment that is equitable for all. For us, when students are in schools where they are valued and know they belong, and they are empowered to learn things that interest them, they work harder. That is our theory of action and why we do this incredibly important work.
SOURCE Zoe Immersive
