Madalyn Steiner

Imagine going to school and being able to spend each semester in a new location with new scenery, new history, new environmental factors, and a new culture to learn out. It sounds like an unrealistic thought, but THINK Global School (TGS) has brought this idea to life for their students. This school allows all 60 students from grades 9-12 accompanied by 12 teachers to experience global learning firsthand where you live in four countries per year.

Every semester the students and teachers relocate to a new global destination where lesson plans are custom built around their location. With the help of host country schools, TGS students are able to collaborate and learn through interaction with learners around the world at the same age. TGS is also a heavily technology-reliant school. In 2010, they implemented a 3:1 mobile program where each learner, students AND teachers, all receive an iPad, iPhone, and MacBook. These factors come together to make the school global in both concept and practice, but surprisingly the school isn’t noted as more “advanced” than any other school. Many believe the playing field for global learning is flat, no matter which method of global learning you use.

From a personal standpoint, I know I would’ve loved attending a school like this in my high school years. Not only do I have a strong passion for traveling, but I’m definitely more of a hands-on learner. For instance, if I were to be learning about animals in a class by looking at pictures on a projector, I know I wouldn’t retain that information. It wouldn’t grasp my attention as much as if I was at a zoo standing in front of a zebra sanctuary learning about the species. I’m way more eager and excited to learn when I’m in an environment that supports what I’m learning. Not to say the methods of global learning I’ve experienced haven’t been effective, TGS just takes the whole experience to another level.

If you want to learn more about TGS click here for their website.

Using virtual reality technology inside of the classroom allows learning to expand outside of the four walls of the classroom while promoting curiosity, wonder, and engagement to students. Virtual reality headsets retail from anywhere between $10 to the high hundreds, made out of anything from cardboard to durable high tech intricate designs, depending on what kind of experience you’re seeking. If you’re looking for the cheapest alternative, you can make your own from household materials that’ll be compatible with your smartphone by following this video.

A great free application for smartphone virtual reality to use in the classroom is Google Expeditions. This application allows students to take a trip out of the classroom without leaving the classroom. All you have to do is choose where you want to go on the globe, and the app takes you. From there you’re able to explore on your own through a serious of 360-degree scenes. Additionally, you’re able to bring 3D images to life wherever you are. This could be a really awesome feature for science classes, bringing larger science experiments to life through the use of virtual reality. The exploration feature could be a great addition to history classrooms, revisiting historical sights that may be too far for a field trip. This video provides a tutorial for how to use Google Expeditions as a teacher.

For my freshman seminar at the beginning of my college experience, I took an instructional technology course and we had an entire unit based on virtual reality and augmented reality. Our professor introduced the unit to us by bringing in headsets for us to play with and allowing us to explore games, videos, and other apps on our own. We were then encouraged to download the Ikea shopping app that offers a feature where you can use virtual reality to place furniture in rooms of your own house to see how it looks before purchasing it. Our professor used the Ikea app to demonstrate that virtual reality can be useful in many scenarios.

Digital storytelling allows people to share stories online using photos, videos, text, and so many more elements. If you think this term is foreign to you, it’s probably not if you’re active in the realm of social media. I utilize digital storytelling all the time through Instagram stories and Snapchat stories, as well as other apps I use on a daily basis.

When I use storytelling on my Instagram, I typically use the highlight feature to post pictures and videos of my favorite memories, separated into different categories, like friends, family, travel, etc. The Instagram story feature allows you to add text captions and graphics over your images manually before you post them, but I came across an app that makes your stories exponentially more visually appealing.

Steller

You can download Steller in the App Store. Once you create a FREE, you heard me, FREE account you can begin your journey to visual storytelling. When you first open the app, you’re inundated with a plethora of inspiration templates and designs you can scroll through at your leisure for ideas. Once you’re ready to create you can click on the little + symbol at the bottom center of your screen and start assembling your story. I found the most effective way to do this was to import one photo at a time and chronologically go through one at a time to adjust them to your liking. For example, choose the photo you want to be displayed as the first and import it. Design according to your story contents and add a title that describes what your story will be representing.

I used Steller to make a collaboration of photos I’ve taken on a few of my favorite vacations. With that being said, I chose an aerial view of clouds I took from an airplane window to introduce my topic. The app actually had a template that I could import my photo into and make it look like the viewer is seeing through an airplane window, just like I was when I took the photo. Pretty dang cool. I then added my title, “Reminiscing on my happiest travels”, and from here on out, I provided a sequence of photos and location pins from where they were taken. What I like about this app is that it’s so easy to use. It provides a tutorial, of course, for beginners but it was enough of a breeze for me that was able to skip through it. The app can also be used for a number of platforms accompanied by any story you may need to tell, no matter who you are. I could see this app being used in social media marketing, business advertisements, honestly anywhere.

My Steller Story

National Geographic has devoted a chunk of their website to digital storytelling, and it’s pretty dang cool. In 2013 a man named Paul Salopek walked the same paths of the first people whom migrated out of Africa in the Stone Age and shifted the world to be ours. Luckily for us, he documented this journey through photo, video and audio and we get to walk along with him.

The site begins the adventure in Ethiopia in chapter 1, described as one of the world’s oldest human fossil sites. This is where Salopek begins his trek out of Africa. The site displays a timeline for the viewer to follow, which is mostly made up of photographs and captions. The shots pictures are raw and unfiltered, displaying the landscape, culture, and elements. One photo that specifically grabbed my attention from this collection is one that I’ll paste below for you to see. It’s titled “Bones atop Bones: Walking through a Colossal Graveyard”, and it shows how nonchalant and comfortable the people of Ethiopia are walking amongst their dead.

In chapter 2, the trip evolves as the reporter begins to cross borders. This section of the website provides a “walking tour”, but you won’t be as worn out as those who have actually already travelled 63 miles by foot. You’re able to select photos and move step by step this section, making the experience that much more detailed. What I actually found most interesting during this part, is the contrast between old time and new time. A photo is displayed with a busy street full of cars, morning rush hour at 7am. This puts the whole experience into perspective. The reporter is standing so close to vehicles, but still chooses to walk on foot to replicate the experience. You can find the photo here.

If clicking photo to photo isn’t enough for you to get the closest experience, you can navigate to Milestone 11: Overpass in chapter 2. At this point, it’s day 136 and mile 1000. Salopek describes this time in the dessert as an obstacle course with farms, factories and desalination plants. At this point, he had stopped and paused to record the landscape and those he had met in his path. This feature is similar to what I’ve experienced on Google Earth, where the camera is stationary in one spot and you can click around. This is a unique way to explore the elements and scenery. You can find that panorama here.

Explore the story for yourself!

The term hyperdoc refers to a virtual document that’s embedded with hyperlinks. If you’re unfamiliar with this term now might be a good time to study up, as it’s most handy in online and at-home learning. Teachers can utilize hyperdocs to instruct an entire lesson to their students within one virtual worksheet. All you need to do is create a word document following a worksheet format and provide links for students to explore pertaining to subject matter. You can add links that send the students to games, videos or articles.

Hyperdocs have been around for years, I even remember using them in middle school when Google Docs was just taking off. From a student’s standpoint, I always looked forward to online assignments like hyperdocs. Time allotted for these assignments allowed me to work in solitude and at my own pace.

A lot of teachers say that a massive benefit of hyperdocs is the spare time it gives them in the classroom. When students are working on their virtual worksheets, teachers can walk around and individually meet with students face to face and get an understanding of their progress. Additionally, hyperdocs provides a source of multimedia into lessons which is known to keep students’ attention more efficiently. Kids love working online, especially when it comes to interactive assignments- It makes school work feel like less of a chore and more fun!

Awesome blog that shares hyperdocs tips!