Monthly Archives: April 2020

Using Virtual Reality in the Classroom

With the growth of Virtual Reality devices, I have always been curious on how to utilize them in a classroom environment. I recently did some research about a virtual reality device, Google Cardboard, and its classroom program, Google Exhibition. In this blog post, I will reflect on Google Exhibition and how to utilize this in the classroom for a global learning experience.

Here is a video that I found fascinating. This is about using Google Exhibtion to take students on Virtual Reality field trips without leaving the classroom.

Google Cardboard is one of the many Virtual Reality(VR) platforms offered. Google Exhibitions is a program used to provide VR experiences to classrooms through the Google Cardboard viewer. Classroom kits can be bought which include 30 synchronized Cardboard viewers and smartphones, along with a tablet for the teacher to act as a tour guide.

How to use Google Exhibition in the Classroom

Google Exhibition has the primary focus on taking students on VR field trips. Teachers can simply choose a location to view, and students can view the location through their Google Cardboard viewer. This is a perfect way for students to view what they are learning about. For example, if the class is learning about Rome in Social Studies, they can view the scenery with their Google Cardboard viewer. Google Exhibitions lets students see parts of the world they may have never gotten the chance to see otherwise.

Google Exhibitions allows for global collaboration by allowing students to explore globally.

In the video below, a teacher walks through Google Expeditions by exploring Mount Everest. This is a great way to see what this program is capable of and how to use it.

Overall, I think Google Cardboard and Google Expeditions are great resources and should be utilized in every classroom starting in Pre-School. I can’t wait to use Virtual Reality in my future classroom.

Here are my sources for this post:

https://edu.google.com/products/vr-ar/expeditions/?modal_active=none

https://arvr.google.com/cardboard/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Cardboard

Thank you for reading! Feel free to follow my educational twitter @cooper_jenna1 and check out my other blog posts!

Storybird

I decided to create a story on the website, Storybird and here is my experience!

Storybird allows you to create an account for free for 6 days. After the 6 days are up you must pay to upgrade the account in order to continue. I like this because you can see if you like Storybird and would like to continue using it before paying!

Storybird is quite easy to use as the website guides you into making your first story! The website allows you to use artwork that other users publish or create your own! The artwork was super cute and could definitely be used for a story in a class of younger kids! The artwork given was limited but can definitely be utilized for a short story.

Adding text to the story was easy. The site allows you to choose between a few different fonts as well.

I decided to create my story about being an only child. I tried to cater my story towards the Pre-k- 3rd-grade level.

I could not embed my story to Storybird since I only had the free version of the account. However, here are pictures of the story I made about the benefits of being an only child:

Overall, I think Storybird is a great online tool but in order to use all features, a paid account must be created. In the future, I may create stories for my classroom using this site or choose to explore another site!

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Out of Eden Walk

Recently I discovered the ‘Out of Eden’ walk from National Geographic. This walk virtually documents Paul Salopek’s 21,000-mile journey in which he walks the pathways of the first humans who migrated out of Africa. Every hundred miles Salopek records the landscape and a person that he meets. The documented journey has many different chapters with stories inside of each. In this blog post, I will highlight 3 interesting points from the walk I found and talk about how to utilize this virtual walk in the classroom.

Herto Bouri

The first milestone that Paul Salopek documents is Herto Bouri, Ethiopia.

Herto Biori, Ethiopia on a map.

Salopek interviews a person at every milestone. For this milestone, he talked to Idoli Mohamed. Mohamed is 40 years old and a pastoralist. He says he wants his sons to go to school and live a better life than he does.

Idoli Mohamed

In the panorama section of the page, you are able to move your mouse to see what Salopek saw. You can also turn on audio and hear what he heard. This really allows you to deeper explore the journey.

A picture from the panorama view

From Cairo to Mecca

The next point from Paul Salopek’s journey that I would like to highlight comes from Chapter 2: Holy Lands, milestone 15.

During this milestone, Salopek did not encounter anyone to interview so this just documents his surroundings.

I found this milestone interesting because it looked very peaceful. It was miles of desert and sand. Salopek was able to enjoy nature on this part of the walk. He classified this part as ‘the empty’ because there was no one around.

A picture from the panorama view.

Salopek’s bag and shoes during this portion of the journey.

Azuram, Manipur, India

Azuram, Manipur, India on a map

For the third point of the journey to highlight, I choose a more recent milestone. This took place on February 13, 2020, in Azuram, Manipur, India. This milestone is from Chapter 5 of his journey, which is still in progress. Pictures from this chapter really stuck out to me with their beauty.

Salopek quotes in an article about this portion of his journey, “Late last summer, I walked for nearly three months through the hills of northeastern India. They shimmered under the sun like the green velvet lining of a jewelry box. They held treasures of vanishing sound”. This really shows the beauty of what he was able to experience. Salopek’s pictures and words allow us to experience that same beauty as well.

Salopek also shares a beautiful walkthrough video.

Overall, this part of his journey was my favorite to explore because of the beautiful pictures and the vivid walkthrough of the journey he gave.

In the Classroom

The ‘Out of Eden’ walk can be used in the classroom as a virtual field trip. This allows students to go on the trip without leaving their classrooms. For younger students, the teacher can guide them through it together and explain everything but for older students, I think its best if they explore on their own. All students can reflect and tie into social studies lessons. Overall, I think it is great for people of all ages to take this amazing virtual journey with Paul Salopek.

Keep up with Paul Salopek and his latest milestones here.

Thank you for reading my blog post! Feel free to follow my educational twitter @cooper_jenna1.