Explore VR and ITS in a New Track Coming This Fall to the McClure School

With a game design major moving into the J. Warren McClure School of Emerging Communication Technologies, opportunities for students to explore the diverse applications of VR technology alongside information & telecommunication systems have arrived in a new ITS track coming next Fall!

Dr. Charles “Chip” Linscott, assistant professor of instruction and the associate director of undergraduate studies in the McClure School, explained that the new track would essentially be an ITS degree with a concentration in Virtual Reality. Students who choose to follow the new track would have a significant portion of their required classes filled with VR-focused courses, allowing students who take this path to leave the McClure School with expertise in both areas.

“This program melds the vanguard IT side of McClure with the groundbreaking VR/GRID Lab side,” said Chip. “Since both parts of McClure emphasize how technologies can be used to creatively solve problems—in business, health care, education, entertainment, and so on—the new track makes perfect sense.”

Chip has been teaching VR classes at OHIO since 2017 and has worked with many McClure School students who have shown great interest and skill in VR, from both the ITS and games & animation programs, making this new track feel like “a natural fit” for the McClure School. This new track also dovetails nicely with the recently implemented esports certificate, and students pursuing the ECT track will take a number of classes that fulfill the requirements of both.

This new track is unique to the Ohio area as well as backed by experienced professors and exceptional facilities with the use of the ITS Labs and the GRID Lab. To Chip, the combination of the “business-savvy networking expertise of ITS with the bleeding-edge VR and game R&D of the GRID Lab” make this track special and bring together all aspects of the McClure School, making the track truly a complete ECT option for students.

Starting in the fall of 2021, incoming students and current students who have been studying both ITS and VR will be eligible for the new track. Reach out to Chip Linscott for further details and be on the lookout for more information on how to apply for this track!

The McClure School of Emerging Communication Technologies strives to offer the best academic programs in the IT (Information Technology)(opens in a new window), the game development and the Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality (opens in a new window)(VR/AR) industries. Our programs and certificates cover numerous aspects of the rapidly changing industries of information networking, information security, data privacy, game development(opens in a new window), digital animation and the academic side of esports(opens in a new window).