Category: Teacher resources

Using VR in Schools

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Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are buzzwords that every educator wants to know more about. They are two distinct functions. Kathy Schrock, columnist for Discovery Education explains:

Augmented reality layers computer-generated enhancements on top of an existing reality to make it more meaningful through the ability to interact with it.

Virtual reality is a computer-generated simulation of real life… It immerses users by making them feel they are experiencing the simulated reality firsthand.

The differences are actually pretty simple. Virtual means experiencing a world that doesn’t exist. Augmented means adding something virtual to the physical world.

900 VR Expeditions — requires the Expeditions app
Class VR
CoSpaces
InMind VR–a sicientific VR game
Jurassic VR–Aptosaurus VR experience to experience a dinosaur up close
NearPod VR
Tour Creator–make a VR tour in Google
Timelooper. This one will take you back to important moments in history from all around the world.
Titans of Space app will take your students to the moon.
Trench Experience VR will take you into the trenches in WWI.
UnimersiveVR–learn with VR
VR tours of museums

Ways to use VR

VR field trips
for students with Special Needs — The Jackson School in Victoria, Australia has been using the Oculus Rift to help students with special needs and the Silesian University of Technology in Silesia Poland is doing therapeutic exercises with autistic students using virtual reality technology.
experience careers first hand
time travel to historic events
explore the human body
feed curiosity

Watch this student exploring xxx with VR:

More on VR

Virtual Reality in the Classroom: It’s Easy to Get Started

The Impact of VR on Student Education

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

Tips for incentivizing your teachers team while working remotely

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This is a how-to article from an Ask a Tech Teacher contributor describing clever ways to make remote teaching work. A recommended read if your remote program isn’t working as you’d hoped:

Tips for incentivizing your teachers team while working remotely

The challenges involved in working remotely are many and varied, yet arguably the most significant obstacle managers face when trying to steward teams from afar is keeping them engaged and motivated.

This is all the more significant in an educational context, because teams of teachers are in turn responsible for looking after large groups of students who need to be ushered through the twists and turns of remote learning with aplomb.

Providing the right incentives in the right way is a solution that can help overcome remote working burn-out and general disgruntlement brought about by the current climate. The following tips should help you to come up with an effective strategy to ultimately bolster job satisfaction and improve performance.

Image Source: Pixabay

Implement an incentive program

To start off with, it is worth formalizing your approach to incentivizing teachers in a remote working scenario through a program which has been developed specifically for this purpose.

While this will require a little work upfront to set the wheels in motion, once everything is in place it will become perpetually beneficial and continue to pay dividends as time passes.

You can get some program ideas from here to give you a little initial guidance. It covers everything from programs focused on rewarding the most loyal team members for their long service, to programs that encourage teamwork and collaboration between individuals and groups alike.

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What You Might Have Missed in March

Here are the most-read posts for the month of March

Here’s a Preview of April

Here’s a preview of what’s coming up on Ask a Tech Teacher in April:

Easter resources–websites and apps
Invention Convention? Get started!
Tech Tips
Websites to teach financial literacy
Subscriber Special
Math resources online
Earth Day activities
Virtual Reality in Schools
Free posters!
Secure your personal privacy
Websites to teach word study
Whiteboard apps you’ll love

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5 (free) Research Posters to Mainstream Tech Ed

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Every month, we’ll share five themed posters that you can share on your website (with attribution), post on your walls, or simply be inspired.

This month: Research

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What You Might Have Missed in February

Here are the most-read posts for the month of February

Here’s a Preview of March

Here’s a preview of what’s coming up on Ask a Tech Teacher in March:

More free posters
Creating shortkeys and favorites
5 Ways Ed Tech can enhance Social Studies
Pi Day
Remote learning classes
March Subscriber Special
Great Discounts to celebrate the (re)launch of our Structured Learning website

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5 (free) Tech Problem Solving Posters

Every month, we’ll share five themed posters that you can share on your website (with attribution), post on your walls, or simply be inspired.

This month: Problem-solving

–for the entire collection of 65 posters, click here. If this link doesn’t work (we’re redoing the website), visit Ask a Tech Teacher’s Free Posters page or search ‘Posters’ on StructuredLearning.net.