At the third annual Ready, STEM, Go! event, Matthew Chaussee, CEO and Co-Founder of CareerViewXR, delivered a compelling session about how immersive media is reshaping career awareness and exploration for students. His message resonated with a simple but powerful truth: students can’t be what they can't see. By breaking down barriers to career exposure, immersive media is helping students see what’s possible for their future, sometimes for the very first time.
Watch the full recorded session below or on Vimeo. Originally recorded during Ready, STEM Go! webinar on May 8th, 2025.
Immersive media is a broad category that includes virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and 360° media.
Virtual Reality (VR): This is the most common type of immersive media, and probably the one that comes to mind first for most people. Virtual reality immerses users in a virtual environment with a VR headset. These environments may be interactive or observational.
Augmented Reality (AR): Augmented reality overlays digital objects and other elements over the real-world environment. This can be accomplished with various camera-enabled devices like smartphones or VR headsets.
Mixed Reality (MR): Mixed reality blends elements of both AR and VR, creating environments where physical and digital objects coexist and interact in real time. Like augmented reality, this can be achieved with camera-enabled devices like smartphones or VR headsets.
360° Media: This is a term that refers to videos and photos that are captured with an omni-directional, 360° camera. This media may be viewed through various devices, including web browsers, smartphones, and VR headsets. This term can also refer to interactive tours comprised of 360° videos and photos.
The CareerViewXR platform is comprised of 360° observational media in the form of web-based interactive tours and companion VR videos that can be viewed on various devices. The immersive field trips offer real-world footage that students can explore with or without VR headsets. This makes immersive career content more accessible and scalable across devices and locations.
Chaussee clarified a common misconception: you don’t need a fleet of VR headsets to use immersive tools effectively. Platforms like CareerViewXR are designed to run on laptops, tablets, mobile devices, and interactive rooms, lowering the barrier to entry for schools with limited tech budgets.
Immersive career exploration doesn’t just engage students, it overcomes real logistical challenges faced in and outside of the classroom. Some of these barriers include:
Time Constraints: Schools often lack the hours and flexibility for multiple in-person job shadows or field trips
Geographic Limitations: Not every student can easily visit a wind turbine, sugar beet factory, or commercial fishing boat.
Financial Barriers: Field trips are a big expense for schools. Immersive field trips offer a cost-effective alternative.
Safety and Liability: Many workplaces aren’t suited for student visitors due to safety concerns.
Privacy Regulations: Some industries like healthcare restrict student access for confidentiality reasons.
Immersive media sidesteps these challenges by bringing the job site right into the classroom.
Throughout his talk, Chaussee illustrated how immersive experiences spark genuine curiosity. One anecdote featured his daughter Vivian, at the time aged 4, using a cardboard VR viewer and smartphone, virtually explored an airplane hangar. Her excited reaction, “Can I go there, please?”, demonstrated the emotional and cognitive impact of immersive content.
Other stories echoed this response. One fourth grader tried a virtual bricklaying experience and immediately expressed interest in becoming a bricklayer, despite Chaussee’s own preconceived notion that it would not interest her. Another student, a high schooler immersed in a wind turbine tour, was stunned to find himself hundreds of feet up in the air without ever leaving the classroom.
These experiences aren't just fun; they're formative. They help students visualize career pathways that are otherwise invisible or abstract to them. Whether it's through awe, excitement, or a simple sense of curiosity, these moments of engagement open the door to meaningful career exploration.
CareerViewXR has been implemented in diverse educational settings, particularly in North Dakota, where a statewide deployment ensures every middle and high school has access to the CareerViewXR platform and at least one VR headset, with a goal of expanding access to elementary schools in the near future. Some schools use immersive media in media centers, afterschool programs, outreach events, while others integrate it into classroom curriculum.
Chaussee shared some additional unique ways to implement and enhance immersive media:
Mobile Career Exploration Units: Like a modern bookmobile, these mobile vans, buses, or similar are equipped with VR headsets and other technology to serve rural or urban communities.
Immersive Rooms: Entire rooms with floor-to-ceiling projections allow large groups to engage in shared immersive experiences; no headsets required! Individual immersive panels or screens are also available on the market.
Industry Involvement: Local professionals visit schools to answer student questions after they’ve experienced relevant immersive content.
The good news? You don’t have to dive in alone. CareerViewXR offers several ways to start, including some no-cost options:
Six Free Immersive Field Trips: Web-based tours available for use through the CareerViewXR platform, with corresponding VR videos available on YouTube and the YouTube VR app.
Professional Development Course: Immersive Career Exploration is a free course for educators and other professionals. With optional graduate credit available for $50, you can earn while you learn how to integrate immersive media.
Schedule a Demo: Free, 1-1 demos are available. Reach out to select a time that works with your schedule.
As Chaussee noted, students consistently report wanting more opportunities to observe careers, and immersive media delivers those opportunities at scale. By integrating 360° experiences into classrooms, afterschool programs, and outreach initiatives, educators can provide students with the awareness they need to make informed decisions about their futures. And sometimes, all it takes is a headset or screen, and a spark of curiosity to open a student's eyes to what's possible.
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About Ready, STEM, Go!
Ready, STEM, Go! Is an annual, no-cost virtual conference that provides opportunities for out-of-school time (OST) professionals to network with peers from across the country, engage with speakers committed to supporting others in designing enriching STEM activities beyond the classroom, and ignite excitement to help youth explore STEM and all the ways it can inspire and set their lives up for success! A national alliance of afterschool networks supported by the STEM Next Opportunity Fund partner to host this two-day virtual conference, shining a spotlight on resources, strategies and inspiration to boost OST STEM programming. Groups included in hosting and supporting this event are Montana Afterschool Alliance, ACT Now (Illinois), Ohio Afterschool Network, North Dakota Afterschool Network, Vermont Afterschool, and Beyond School Bells (Nebraska). For more information about upcoming Ready, STEM, Go! conferences, connect with the host organizations.
About CareerViewXR
CareerViewXR is an immersive career exploration platform that brings field trips to the classroom through 360-degree web-based tours and companion virtual reality videos. Students and adult job seekers alike can explore engaging tours highlighting in-demand industries like skilled trades, healthcare, energy, and more. Best of all – VR headsets are completely optional; the content is accessible on devices you already own – including laptops, cell phones, and tablets. Explore more at careerviewxr.com.
Following the filming of two prior virtual field trips highlighting Kentucky industries, CareerViewXR is continuing the project with a new experience at Conley Bottom Resort.
After receiving applications from over 13 different states, career literacy platform CareerViewXR is officially announcing the recipients of their 2025 Production Grant program.
Thanks in part to funding by the University of North Dakota’s Center for Innovation, CareerViewXR will develop 11 virtual-reality experiences to introduce students to autonomous-systems careers. Press release by UND's Center for Innovation.