Erika Donalds: New School Model Combines Virtual Reality With Classical Education

Classical education is a trusted model of learning. Virtual reality is a new technology still being fully developed. Despite the view of some that the two could be in conflict with each other, Erika Donalds disagrees.

“Classical education ... is content-based, and [virtual reality] is the perfect way to deliver that content,” says Donalds, the president and CEO of the Optima Foundation.

Donalds established the Optima Foundation, which has grown to be a network of charter schools, to give parents better education options for their children. After the pandemic, Donalds realized that some parents and students preferred an at-home model, but online education fell short of providing students with a strong education.

Virtual reality allows teachers and students to meet live in a virtual space from home, she says.

Through virtual reality, children “actually go to Mars, they go to the lunar landing, and they're there when it happens in virtual reality," Donalds says.

Donalds joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss the ways in which virtual reality can add to and expand classical education.

Also on today’s show, we cover these stories:

• The U.S. leads the world in known monkeypox cases.
• Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, says that “highly credible whistleblowers” have accused the FBI and the Department of Justice of intentionally covering up negative information on Hunter Biden.
• Conservative groups urge senators to vote "no" on a bill intended to codify same-sex marriage in federal law.

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