Chinle Unified School District Bridges Equity Gap with zSpace AR/VR Technology
SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- zSpace (NASDAQ:ZSPC) ("zSpace" or the "Company"), a leader in immersive learning, today announced that Chinle Unified School District, located in the heart of the Navajo Nation, is transforming student learning by integrating zSpace into classrooms. Through this partnership, students now have access to hands-on STEM experiences and career exploration opportunities that were previously out of reach.
Spanning over 4,200 square miles in Arizona's high desert, Chinle Unified faces significant educational challenges—ranging from geographic isolation and historical trauma to limited internet access. With more than half of its students enduring long bus rides and living in homes without reliable broadband or utilities, Superintendent Quincy Natay and his team have sought innovative ways to level the playing field.
"zSpace is an amazing technology. It creates opportunities for students to learn about what is out there," said Natay. "It allows our students to see beyond their current circumstances and imagine futures as scientists, pilots, mechanics, and more."
Using the zSpace AR/VR laptops, students use a specialized interactive stylus to manipulate 3D models—dissecting virtual frogs, exploring geology, or simulating complex machinery. The platform supports multimodal learning and boosts comprehension by helping students connect real-world experiences to academic vocabulary, which is particularly powerful for the development of academic vocabulary and reading comprehension.
"Our students don't come with very little knowledge. They come with a lot of knowledge of the natural world, and zSpace helps address that challenge in providing multimodal skills and applying those multimodal skills. Using the academic vocabulary to say, ‘Okay, it's no longer raining, it's now precipitation,'" said a Chinle educator.
Student feedback has echoed the enthusiasm. "My favorite thing about zSpace is that it's pretty cool that you can take stuff out of an image with just the pen, and you can dissect," said one middle schooler. Another shared, "I would like to be a welder or a mechanic when I grow up, and I think that zSpace taught me a lot with angles, things I need to learn about the future."
By integrating zSpace into classrooms, Chinle Unified is preparing its 200 annual graduates not only to compete—but to thrive—on par with peers in urban districts.
"This type of learning provides equitable learning and quality education for our kids," added a Chinle Science Teacher. "That's something that you would see in a city school rather than a rural community, and I'm proud of that because our students understand how the world works at that point."
Chinle students explore on zSpace AR/VR laptops.
To learn more, read the Case Study, Empowering Navajo Nation Students with Immersive, Equitable Learning Opportunities Using zSpace or watch the videos, Reimagining Rural Education | zSpace in Navajo Nation Schools and Bringing Chemistry to Life With AR/VR in the Classroom (Chinle USD).
About zSpace
zSpace, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZSPC) delivers innovative augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) experiences that drive achievement in STEM, CTE, and career readiness programs. Trusted by over 3,500 school districts, technical centers, community colleges, and universities, zSpace allows students and teachers to experience learning in the classroom that may otherwise be dangerous, impossible, counterproductive, or expensive using traditional techniques. Headquartered in San Jose, California, zSpace holds over 70 patents and our hands-on "learning by doing" solutions have been shown to enhance the learning process and drive higher student test scores, as evidenced by a study on the utility of 3D virtual reality technologies for student knowledge gains published in the Journal of Computer Assisted Learning in 2021.
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