Across the globe, classrooms use virtual reality for field trips, science experiments, immersive simulations, and much more. Virtual reality is a promising addition to the growing field of educational technology because of its immersive experiences. Students can now share information in new and engaging ways with people worldwide and have hands-on experiences that would have otherwise been difficult due to cost or physical distance. With VR technologies, students can interact with virtual objects and other individuals in real-time. Using VR and Global Collaborations allows us to facilitate learning in a new and meaningful way.

These virtual experiences have transcended physical space limitations to create educational opportunities that otherwise would not have been physically possible, such as space and time travel or manipulating enlarged models of microscopic objects. With the use of VR, teachers have included a variety of gamified approaches to learning in various subjects, which have increased classroom engagement.

To help bring VR to the classrooms, schools needed to find VR viewer tools that fit their budget. Helping to keep costs low, google created a cardboard viewer into which you a insert a smartphone. Users can build a viewer from simple, low-cost components using specifications published by Google or purchase a pre-manufactured one. To use the platform, users run Cardboard-compatible mobile apps on their phones, place them into the viewer’s back, and view content through the lenses.

In the classroom, many AR/VR applications can be used. One of the sites I found great for the school was Nearpod. Nearpod is a free application that helps to transform your students’ devices into powerful learning tools. From interactive controlled lessons to live student responses to customizable and ready-to-teach tasks. The app also gives teachers over 25 interactive activities that help to keep the engagement going throughout the studies. Some of these tools include:

• LIVE, interactive lessons
• quizzes
• open ended questions
• draw, type, and highlight on slides
• polls
• virtual field trips
• 3D objects
• and much more!

From exploring diverse historical perspectives to teaching language authentically, Nearpod brings the world into every classroom. Nearpod’s World Ready program supports schools and districts in preparing students for the global economy of today and tomorrow. With Nearpod, teachers can create their interactive lessons or use one of the premade lessons on their site. There are many engaging lessons, such as World Cultures and Globalization. Here, students can explore primary sources and dynamic multimedia to analyze diverse historical perspectives and make modern-day connections to the past.

If you would like to learn more about Nearpod, come check out their website at this link.

Thanks for checking out my blog post!

Bayta O.

This week we visited WE.org. WE is a movement that gives young people and teachers a platform and tools that help to make a difference in their communities and communities around the world.

During this week’s lesson, we explored the site and reflected on something that we might find helpful in our future classrooms. This week’s assignment caught my attention; this week’s assignment was the section on understanding and implementing social and emotional learning in the classroom. Social-emotional learning is critical to a student’s overall mental health and well-being.

In the learning module on the website, they break SEL’s down into four subsections:

Section 1: Introduction to SEL
Section 2: Self-Care and Understanding Emotions
Section 3: Be Kind to Yourself
Section 4: Building Healthy Relationships and Communication

The first section introduces the learners to social-emotional learning and why it is crucial for student development. As defined by Casel, “social=emotional learning is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal
and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions.”

Section two of the module discusses self-care and various approaches to help students understand their emotions. Once students can observe their feelings without judgment, they become more aware of the senses and express what they may be experiencing.

Section three of the module discusses the importance of self-love and finding ways to be kind to yourself. The module offers many activities which show different ways to promote self-love. According to the module, “Self-compassion is a source of inner strength that is linked to well-being, resilience, and productivity.” Once, someone told me that I must first learn to love myself for me to love others. I never really understood it until I got older, and it finally made sense.

Our final section discusses building healthy relationships and healthy communication. Communication is key to any healthy relationship. Also, necessary is the give and take. Both parties need to invest equally, or the relationship will falter.

Teaching students about SEL’s and implementing them into my classroom will help facilitate a safer learning environment. Students will better understand their feelings, making it easier to share and positively communicate those feelings. Students will be able to engage and communicate more effectively in the classroom, which will help students become better learners.

Thanks for checking out my blog this week!

Bayta O.

This semester we have learned about so many incredible tools that are helping to make classrooms more inclusive. Microsoft Teams is just one of the [platforms that are making learning more effective for students.

Microsoft Teams allows students, faculty, educators, and staff to meet, work together, create content, and share resources in Office 365 Education. Here is just a small preview of what Microsoft Teams can do.

As you can see there are so many things that can be done in Microsoft Teams….and this is just the beginning. In education, some of the main features include:

• Making it easier to collaborate with educators, students, and community members. As of now Microsoft Teams can collaborate with up to 300 students or community members at one time. That’s a lot of people!

• Engage learning by organizing classrooms and assignments, collaborating and sharing files, and allowing access to class materials all in one central location. Being able to have access to everything you need at the touch of a button helps students to learn more effectively.

• Elevate day-to-day work when you Access Insights for the school and classroom, use apps and integrations to reduce workloads, and build community, all on a safe and secure platform.

There are just so many reasons to love teams whether you are an educator or a student.

Microsoft even offers videos to help you navigate through Teams whether you are a beginner or just need a refresher.

Microsoft Teams offers a variety of applications that you can choose from. Find and explore which ones you would want to incorporate into your team page. With Microsoft Teams Applications for Education, educators are able to enrich their students’ learning experiences by integrating a variety of tools and resources inside their Class Team. Microsoft Teams Applications for Education offers a wide variety of applications ranging from assessment to video streaming.

If you aren’t excited yet about Microsoft Teams go check out the website. There are so many more amazing things that you can do with Teams than what I have even mentioned. Go and check it out for yourselves. It’s definitely worth looking into.

Thanks for Reading

Bayta Owens

Education for all has always been an integral part of the sustainable development agenda. On the UN’s website under the goal 4 link in the Sustainable Development Goals people are able to find all the information regarding our targets in education and how close we are to achieving those targets.

Back in 2002 The World Summit on Sustainable Development adopted the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI) which reaffirmed Millenium Development Goal 2  in achieving universal primary education by 2015 and the goal of the Dakar Framework for Action on Education for All to eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education by 2005 and at all levels of education by 2015. Also addressed by the JPOI was the need to integrate sustainable development into formal education at all levels, as well as through informal and non-formal education opportunities.

Covid-19 has devestatingly impacted our progress in achieving SDG #4. Because of school closures and lack of virtual educational resources for many low and middle class students. Academic achievement rates have drastically fallen. According to the UN website we have lost over 20 years of progress because of the pandemic.

Under goal 4 there were seven key targets and three sub targets that the UN had hoped to achieve by 2030. These key targets included:

• ensuring that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes
•  ensuring that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education
• ensuring equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university
• substantially increasing the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship
• eliminating gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations
•  ensuring that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy
• ensuring that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development
  • Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all
  • By 2020, substantially expand globally the number of scholarships available to developing countries, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States and African countries, for enrolment in higher education, including vocational training and information and communications technology, technical, engineering and scientific programmes, in developed countries and other developing countries
  • By 2030, substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially least developed countries and small island developing States

According to the website the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on schooling is considered a “generational catastrophe”. Before the pandemic, we were behind in achieving the education targets in the Sustainable Development Goals. The school closures caused by the pandemic have had devastating consequences by impacting children’s learning and well-being. We are now one year into the COVID-19 crisis, and “two thirds of students worldwide are still affected by full or partial school closures. The most vulnerable children and those unable to access remote learning are at increased risk of never returning to school and of being forced into child marriage or child labour.”

To learn more about sdg goal 4 and what we can do to help our nations get back on track and aquire this goal by 2030. Go to this link and check out the many resources available to become an ambassadore of change.

Thanks for reading

Bayta Owens #GEN2108