episode 159

NYC’s Migrant Crisis, Virtual Reality School, Military’s Gen Z Problem

The hosts kick off today’s show with a round-up of the latest immigration updates, from August’s record-high number of border crossings and a new ruling on Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s floating border barrier in Rio Grande to New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ latest proclamation that the migrant crisis will destroy his city. Should students be able to attend virtual reality schools? Ravi and Rikki take stock of the merits, pitfalls, and politics of this new schooling option in Florida. America’s military faces a recruitment crisis: multiple branches will fall short of their enlistment goals this year, and only 9% of 16- to 21-year-olds say they would consider service. The hosts debate the possible reasons behind this trend and what can be done about it.

SHOW NOTES

Virtual Reality School [15:38]

Virtual-Reality School Is the Next Frontier of the School-Choice Movement (The New Yorker, 9/1/23)
Transform your students’ learning with immersive technologies (Meta, 2023)
Virtual Reality in Education: Benefits, Uses and Examples (Built In, 5/22/23)
Is virtual reality ready for school? (Brookings, 9/1/16)
Begun in NYC Public Schools, Techrow Makes Virtual Reality Work for Students of All Income Levels, No Matter Where They’re Learning (The 74 Million, 4/6/21)
K–12 Schools Use Mixed and Virtual Reality to Immerse Students in Future Careers (Ed Tech Magazine, 5/22/23)
Forget Zoom school. For some students, class is in session in VR (CNN, 1/27/22)
Virtual Reality in Education: How Schools Are Using VR (Adorama, 12/7/22)
Virtual Reality in Schools: Game Changer or Big Headache? (Ed Week, 7/19/22)
What 3 After-School Programs Are Doing to Prepare Kids for the Future of Work (Ed Week, 7/17/23)
This company thinks the future of education is virtual reality schools that offer students a more ‘decentralized’ experience (Business Insider, 9/2/23)
TC Launches Immersive VR Learning Experience for NY Public Schools and Beyond (Columbia Teachers College, 12/1/22)
The Future Of Learning Reshaped By VR, AR, And Blockchain (Forbes, 6/29/23)
How Japan and South Korea rely on the Metaverse for education (Mixed News, 5/9/23)

Military’s Gen Z Problem [29:00]

The Military Recruiting Crisis and Gen Z (Wall Street Journal, 8/15/23)
The Army Is Recruiting—Gen Z Just Isn’t Biting (The Nation, 4/20/23)
Marine officer’s proposes fix for Gen Z recruiting crisis in new book (Task and Purpose, 8/29/23)
A Gen Z Marine Explores Solutions to the Military’s Recruiting Crisis in ‘We Don’t Want You, Uncle Sam’ (Military, 8/22/23)
From simp to soldier: How the military is using e-girls to recruit Gen Z into service (MR Online, 6/8/23)
Military Generation Z recruiting woes worsened by TikTok ban and Big Tech competition (Washington Examiner, 6/22/23)
Is the military too ‘woke’ to recruit? (Military Times, 10/13/22)
Army Targets Gen Z In New Ad Campaign (Defense One, 3/9/23)
The US Army is struggling to recruit as most of Gen Z is ineligible to serve due to factors like obesity, drug use, and tattoos (Business Insider, 10/5/22)
The military loved Discord for Gen Z recruiting. Then the leaks began. (Washington Post, 4/15/23)
Bad Idea: Relying on the Same Old Solutions to Meet the Military Recruitment Challenge (Defense 360, 3/10/23)
Why GenZ won’t join the Military (Uptin, 8/14/23)
Solving the Generation Z military recruitment crisis (Washington Times, 8/29/23)
Army launches second phase of ad campaign amid recruiting slump (Defense One, 8/21/23)