The Research Center for Educational Technology (RCET) kicked-off Kent State’s programming for the Total Solar Eclipse on April 3, as alumni and community members gathered at the college’s Learning Innovations Lab for a make-and-take event, "Crafting Your Total Eclipse Experience.”
Guided by Professor Emeritus Jon Secaur, Ph.D.,'72, '94, participants created their very own eclipse viewers, ensuring they would be safely prepared to witness the upcoming spectacular celestial event. Attendees also embarked on an immersive journey through the solar system using augmented and virtual reality technologies such as Merge Cubes and Meta Quest 3.
Additionally, attendees had the opportunity to get creative and press their own commemorative eclipse-themed tote bags, buttons, and stickers.
RCET partnered with the college’s Instructional Resource Center (IRC) to host the April 3, pre-eclipse event, which took place in the IRC's Learning Innovations Lab, a state-of-the-art makerspace offering hands-on engagement with emerging technologies to EHHS students, faculty, and staff.
The event was offered in conjunction with a grant awarded to the EHHS Research Center for Educational Technology (RCET) and the School of Teaching, Learning, and Curriculum Studies to join the Dynamic Eclipse Broadcast (DEB) Initiative.
With funding from the National Science Foundation and NASA, the DEB initiative provided training and equipment to a network of 81 citizen scientist teams across North America who captured moment-by-moment images of the sun's inner corona providing valuable data for scientific study during the April 8, eclipse.