Reviewed by: Callie Puryear
This woman-owned company is bringing VR to Birmingham schools—learn more
Reading time: 5 minutes
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Kai XR is woman-owned educational platform that transforms classrooms into immersive learning environments, and now, it’s happening in The Magic City.
We spoke to leaders from Tech Birmingham and Ed Farm, as well as founder of Kai XR to hear all about how students in Birmingham schools are reaching for the stars (literally).
Kai Frazier’s introduction to Birmingham
Kai Frazier came to Birmingham for the first time after she was invited by Apple’s Korri Jackson to serve as a keynote speaker at Ed Farm’s Future of Learning Summit in 2022.
Speaking to an engaged audience of Birmingham teachers, Kai realized how the appreciation for technology was growing in local schools.
“I wanted to see if we could make an opportunity to use Kai XR within Birmingham City Schools and improve the product to make it special for our customers.”
Kai Frazier, Founder & CEO, Kai XR
Kai received insights from local educators and was able to improve the educational platform and ultimately decided to come back to The Magic City full time to support Kai XR’s first school district, Birmingham City Schools (BCS).
Kai XR is bringing the future of education to Birmingham schools
With 20 years of experience in education, Kai Frazier was inspired to make learning experiences more accessible after working in a school district in Northern Virginia that could not afford to take students on field trips.
“We were a Title I school and very under-resourced. Many of my students never left their neighborhoods and had a hard time understanding world history because they’ve never seen oceans, mountains or any of the geographical features that shaped civilizations.
For a majority of my students, and myself included, field trips are usually the only time you get to leave your neighborhood and explore the world. Living near Washington D.C., we were surrounded by free federal museums, but because my school could not afford the buses, we rarely got to take advantage of those opportunities. I learned the hard way that proximity does not equal access.”
Kai Frazier, Founder & CEO, Kai XR
Seeing similar issues in a lot of schools, Kai’s idea for an all-in-one learning program was born.
With Kai XR, students can:
- Take virtual field trips
- Design with the virtual makerspace
- Jumpstart skills with the VR STEAM programming
- Create portfolios/projects
Find out how Kai XR is bridging the gap between technology and access for students.
Local leaders impacted this woman-owned business’ move to Birmingham
Kai’s journey wasn’t a solo act, though. Tech Birmingham’s Deon Gordon and Ed Farm’s Brittany Hollis each played roles in bringing Kai XR to BSC.
So, why Birmingham? How will the schools here benefit from Kai XR’s resources?
“If you’re talking about cities and places of consequence, that is Birmingham. If you’re talking about the potential of an area to reimagine and reposition itself and it’s importance on the national and the global stage, Birmingham sits at that crossroads.
If you think about it, Birmingham really has all the ingredients that a founder and a new resident can use.”
Deon Gordon, President & CEO, Tech Birmingham
Initiatives like Birmingham Bound, Ed Farm, Tech Birmingham and many more are bringing the best, brightest and most creative talent to our city.
“Ed Farm serves as a connector for high quality solutions, like Kai XR, to engage learners by providing support, resources, networking opportunities and cultural experiences, and to assist in helping companies make an impact to address barriers due to lack of technology and infrastructure.”
Brittany Hollis, Senior Manager of Community Engagement, Ed Farm
Brittany and Deon agree that the work Kai is doing is not only making an impact locally, but nationally.
“I think in the long run, we can create a model that other cities can replicate, because if Birmingham is asking these questions about the future of education and the workforce, then a lot of other cities are as well.”
Deon Gordon, President & CEO, Tech Birmingham
There’s more where that came from—a variety of Birmingham businesses are getting a front row seat at Kai XR’s success. Birmingham Bound has beautifully helped Kai in her transition to the Magic City, as they do with a lot of the talented tech companies we have.
The local + national growth of Kai XR
An elementary school bathroom in Roebuck Springs has not been updated since the 1960s, and the students are diving head first into Kai XR’s resources by building a new bathroom in the metaverse.
The goal is to invite school board leaders to view what the students have reimagined, with the hope of having their 1960’s bathroom redone.
It’s these hands-on experiences that allow students to grow in critical skills, and this is just the beginning of the young lives Kai XR will reach.
“I am looking forward to KaiXR being in the hands of every educator and student in Birmingham to harness their curiosity of learning, to imagine the unimaginable, to spark exposure and enhance their digital skills through STEAM.”
Brittany Hollis, Senior Manager of Community Engagement, Ed Farm
The Magic City is no stranger to innovative leaders in the tech world and beyond—Kai Frazier is no exception.
“I always had to move for different reasons with the company and Birmingham was the first time I experienced a beautiful, welcoming community.”
Kai Frazier, Founder & CEO, Kai XR
Keep up with KaiXR at their Website, Facebook + Instagram. Are you an educator interested in bringing this program to your classroom? Let Kai XR guide you.
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