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Virtual Field Trips with Google Cardboard
Google Cardboard is an affordable virtual reality viewer. The sets are typically made out of cardboard or plastic, keeping them cost-effective and easier to use in classrooms. By sliding a smartphone that has the Google Cardboard app installed into the headset viewer, users can experience a 3D virtual reality at a low cost.
Using Google’s Arts and Culture Expeditions, students can use their Google Cardboard headsets to take virtual field trips to a variety of places. The tool allows you to choose from five different subjects; Science and Technology, Arts, Geography, Natural History, and History. For this post, I’ll be discussing a virtual field trip that is useful for history classes.
There are multiple topics under the history tab from ancient history to Black history. By clicking on the Egypt option, viewers can take a 360-degree tour of the Pyramids at Giza. Each slide gives a brief description of the history.
After touring the pyramids the expedition moves on to teaching about The Great Sphinx. These slides give a history of The Sphinx and some fun facts as well as a 360-degree view of the historic site. Following these slides, a brief overview of the Mastabas, the structures used as tombs for nobles located near The Great Sphinx, is given as well as a tour of them.
Many other important historical locations throughout Egypt are shown in this expedition including the boat pits located at the bottom of the Khufu’s Pyramid, the Causeway, and Cairo.
On the main page for the Egypt expedition, there are even more stories to be found including Myths and Heroes and The Curse of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. Below the stories collection is 8,910 items that students can view to explore Egypt even more in-depth.
These expeditions with Google Cardboard are a great way to give students a new view of history. The tool allows them to step into the location or the time period through virtual reality, giving them a better understanding of the subject. Using Google Cardboard to teach students about the culture and rich history of regions all around the world can be made easy with the use of virtual reality.
Thank you for reading!
Samantha Pollina
Parasite: Cultural Comparison
Four time academy award winning movie Parasite provides not only a critical look into South Korea’s economical and societal cultures, but also a comparison to the same issues prevalent in the United States. Parasite is available on Hulu. Below is a trailer for the movie. *Spoilers Ahead :)*
The movies plot begins with the Kim family in their semi-basement home. A friend, Min, offers a tutoring position to Ki-woo for Da-hye, a high school student belonging to a wealthy family. Throughout the movie multiple scenes depicting the poverty the Kim family faced are followed by scenes showing the wealth of the Park family.
One cultural aspect that can be seen throughout the movie is the Korean cultural ideals of respect. Min yells at a drunk man in front of the Kim family’s home using disrespectful language despite the drunk man being Min’s elder. This is also seen when the characters bow to say thank you or upon meeting someone. When Ki-woo is talking with the boss of the pizzeria they both speak to each other using formal language. He uses formal language to show respect to the boss, while she uses formal language towards Ki-woo because he is older than her. Later, Moon-Gwang called the mother, Chung-sook “unni” meaning sister. Chung-sook finds this disrespectful as her and Moon-Gwang do not know each other very well. In the United States there are no particular rules to respect. Though you should refer to superiors as Ma’am or Mrs. or Sir or Mr. Respectfullness plays a much more vital role in South Korean culture than in American culture.
Though my family does not allow shoes in our own house, this is based in Asian culture and many American families do not follow this. This is seen when Min walks into the Kim family household and leaves his shoes by the door as well as when Ki-woo visits the Park house. In the Park house you can even see they have specific slippers they wear around the house waiting at the front door for them to change into.
In the beginning of the movie they are concerned about no longer having WiFi signal. Chung-sook is especially worried about not having access to a messaging app. The subtitles translated this to WhatsApp so that it would be more familiar to non-South Korean audiences, however, the app she actually refers to is called Kakao Talk. Kakao talk is the South Korean equivalent to WhatsApp. In the United States, while many know about WhatsApp it is not as vital of a messaging source. However, for many people who have family that live outside of the U.S., WhatsApp is a very important messaging tool.
Even their drinks and food show the poverty disparity between both families. The Kim family is shown drinking FiLite beer while the Park family has various bottles of expensive liquor. As for food, they eat Ram-don which is a combination of Ramen and Udon, kimchi, rice and egg, pizza with hot sauce, and braised ribs. The Kim family tends to eat cheaper foods, like in the beginning of the movie when the father is eating plain sliced white bread. Whereas the Park family asks Chung-sook to make Ram-don with steak for them, which Chung-sook has never even heard of.
Later in the movie they discover a bunker under the house. They explain that many houses in South Korea have these underground bunkers in case of attack from North Korea. This reminded me of the bunkers some American’s had during the Cold War, in fear of nuclear attack from the Soviet Union.
There are also references to air pollution, specifically in the birthday planning scene where Mrs. Park is on the phone. She mentions the air pollution not being too bad and the sky being clear the day after a rain storm. South Koreas air quality tends to be poor due to pollutants being carried over by winds from China and other polluted areas. Mrs. Park mentions the rain being a blessing. Meanwhile, the Kim family saw this storm as a tragedy. With their semi-basement house, comaprable to underground apartments in New York City and other U.S. cities, this storm destroyed their home. Similar to the flooding in New York which destroyed many of these apartments during storms in recent years even causing multiple fatalities. After the flooding in the movie, Mrs. Park is seen picking an outfit for the party from her massive and filled walk-in closet. The next scene shows the Kim family in a storm shelter having to wait in line to pick clothes out of a pile.
Parasite displays a social and economic commentary on the current state and politics of South Korea. Many comparisons can be drawn between South Korean culture as portrayed through the movie Parasite and culture in the United States.
Thank you for reading!
Samantha Pollina
The cultural and culinary experience of Netflix’s “The Cook of Castamar”
![[Image description: The Palacio del Infante don Luis, the filming location for the fictional Castmar estate on Netflix's "The Cook of Castamar".] Via Wikimedia Commons.](https://blogs.stockton.edu/webtools/files/2021/10/Palacio_del_Infante_don_Luis_Boadilla_del_Monte_01a.jpg)
The Cook of Castamar came to Netflix on July 24, 2021, but it had originally aired on Spain’s Atresmedia player early this year in February (as La Cocinera de Castamar). The show is set in 1720 Madrid and follows Clara Bellmonte, played by Spanish actress Michelle Jenner, after she starts working as a cook in the kitchen of Castamar, the estate of recently widowed Duke Diego Castamar. Clara has agoraphobia, making it impossible for her to go outside. The story centers around Clara and Diego’s love story, a relationship that is forbidden by the social expectations that prohibit aristocracy from marrying the help while still being accepted in polite society.
Diego’s estate is filled with toxic, manipulative people who want to use his wife’s recent death for their own gain. While Diego represents the highest crust of aristocracy, he is truly a kind, loving man who did not see how those around him were hurting him and his potential relationship with Clara (until the end, of course).
The culture of 18th-century European aristocracy is not exclusive to Spain, but it is still a society that is different from the one we live in now. However, Spain’s culture during this time was distinctive at this time, because it was immediately after Spain’s Golden Age. The food is what makes the cultural differences stand out, particularly with Spanish cuisine (the kind of food you wouldn’t see when watching another drama about European aristocracies, like The Tudors or Pride and Prejudice). We see Clara making chorizo with another maid, or serving sopapillas for breakfast.
Despite how foreign it seems for society to judge the relationship between a maid and her boss, social stigmas still exist in the 21st century that prevents many from giving in to their feelings (like Clara and Diego for the near entirety of the show). For example, there still seems to be a stigma surrounding couples with large age gaps, no matter the gender. As outdated as it sounds, there are even cases where interracial couples still face stigma. This is perhaps one of the main reasons why Clara and Diego’s story is so compelling; everyone loves a forbidden love story, especially because we all know what it’s like to yearn for something we can’t have.
Another major similarity the show has to my own culture is the value placed on the kitchen. The kitchen is the heart of the home, and this is something Diego recognizes even though it is where the servants mainly build their relationships (he constantly finds himself below in the kitchen to see Clara). When Clara first arrives at Castamar, the housekeeper, Mercedes Berenguer, is hostile toward her and narrows in on any rumor about Clara and Diego’s relationship. What drives her character is the social cue of needing to ensure that all of society knows that she runs a good household and keeps the servants in check (social stature is a major part of this world, economically and socially, while in the 21st-century people can rise up from how they were born). By the end, however, Mercedes and Clara grow to become friends (as she becomes friends with everyone in the kitchen), and all of this happens through the bonds that form over sharing a meal at a table. This is universal, no matter the time period, location, or culture.
The characters also do the same things for fun that we do today. That includes dancing and drinking, cooking for fun, and enjoying a meal together. The types of dances and food that they eat are the only things that are different from my own culture here in the States, but the characters’ values and actions are distinctly relatable because they are simply human.
The cultural differences, on the other hand, also come with the setting and filming locations are also distinctly Spanish. The exterior shots of Castamar were shot at the Palacio del Infante don Luis, a major national cultural site outside of Madrid. In the scenes that are filmed outdoors, especially during tense scenes with horses and sword fighting (without giving away too many spoilers), the landscape is ruggedly European. Jagged hills and rocks, dense forests of the north of Spain, and dry, open plains that are brown with winter (and look like they’d be sweltering in the summer) simply look different from the kinds of plains and forests you see in America.
Another main difference from the show’s society versus that of today’s is the use of public execution as corporal punishment. Clara’s father being executed through hanging is something that you would not see in modern society. In fact, the last public execution in America was in 1936, and in Spain, it was as recently as 1972. The point of this, however, is that they don’t happen in the 21st century.
A final thing that stands out as a cultural difference is politics. At the time, Felipe V ruled Spain and is also a character in the show. Felipe V was notoriously insane and takes away Diego’s dukedom for marrying Clara in the end. This involves the politics surrounding relationships that were not society-approved in 18th century Spain.
Today, politics do not play that big of a role in frowned-upon relationships. It’s mostly social consequences, and the lingering effects that have on a love affair are something that The Cook of Castamar gets right.
Microsoft Translator breaks language barriers and accessibility problems
![[Image description: A collaborative learning setting.] Photo courtesy of Unsplash.](https://blogs.stockton.edu/webtools/files/2021/10/photo-1592303637753-ce1e6b8a0ffb.jpeg "Learning setting.")
As someone who is on their way to becoming fluent in a second language for the first time in their life, learning about the benefits of Microsoft Translator in this week’s chapter immediately stood out to me. And that is just for one person; the benefits of Translator reach schools, workplaces, and individual relationships alike (both abroad and on our screens).
For a school like Chinook Middle School in Clyde Hill, Washington, where students speak 32 different languages, Translator is a necessary tool. Principal Russel White, who liked to meet with parents four times a year, always had to use interpreters at language-designated tables. But that all changed when the tables grew in numbers and not every language was represented because of a lack of resources. Luckily, when he teamed up with the school’s IT department and started to use Microsoft Translator, he no longer had to rely on interpreters and constantly worry about not having all the resources to provide the right subtitles to every foreign tongue there.
The app’s website explains how it “provides free resources, tools, and how-to guides for live captioning and translation in the classroom.”
This takes global collaboration to a whole new level. Once the language barrier is broken, the possibilities for global communication, collaboration, and education are endless.
Translator bridges the language barrier with advanced technology that helps students see a transcript in their language on the screen at the front of the classroom, or on their devices. The app also allows what the lecturer is saying to be translated so they can listen to it audibly.
This is useful for foreign exchange students, or for teachers conducting virtual lessons to students on the other side of the globe, or simply for teachers and parents who speak another language to communicate effectively.
And the benefits don’t end there. The app is also useful for learners who need special accessibility tools, such as students who are hard of hearing or deaf. With the combination of translation and accessibility tools, Translator increases inclusivity and accessibility in the classroom. This is extremely important, as hearing difficulties are common throughout the world, and make accessibility tools in any learning environment crucial to the success of the student.
Education, and the way tools and empathy for the hearing-impaired come into play, is a major part of the mission of the National Association of the Deaf. This just shows how important a high-tech app like Translator is, in the way that it can help people with learning disabilities as well as foreign students coming to exchange cultures.
It’s one of the greatest bridges to cultural awareness, and one of the most fascinating tools I have come across this semester when learning about the different tools teachers with “teacherpreneurship” traits can utilize.
Global education will make the world a better place
Global education has never been more important. For millions of students, personal and professional goals are closely woven into how connected the world is. At Stockton University alone, the Office of Global Engagement is partnered with dozens of schools throughout the world. The fact that Stockton is one of the hundreds of universities throughout the country that are partnered with organizations like IES Abroad and EF exemplifies the widely recognized importance of connecting young academics with other countries.
Since the pandemic, UNESCO established the Global Education Coalition, which is “a platform for collaboration and exchange to protect the right to education during this unprecedented disruption and beyond”, and focuses on maintaining global collaboration when the world can’t travel. 175 UN member states are part of the coalition, further symbolizing the way the world recognizes the importance of global interconnectivity when it comes to education. During the pandemic, maintaining global collaboration through education was, as we all know, virtual. IES Abroad still ran their programs but through online internships, which allowed students to meet professors and other academics from their host schools abroad.
Interweaving academics and the world ensures that students are exposed to learning from a variety of viewpoints, backgrounds, and beliefs. This allows for empathy and open-mindedness, especially when a student is immersed in a country or school and is thus provided with the first-hand experience of what that culture is like. The COVID-19 pandemic made this come to a screeching halt, but it still didn’t stop people from studying abroad the moment international borders reopened in early 2021 thanks to COVID-tested flights and high vaccination rates in countries like Israel and Uruguay.
For people like Nia Donfris from Madrid’s San Louis University, the pandemic hurled a set of challenges in front of her dream of studying abroad, but she still didn’t let it stop her. This resilience is important to note. Donfris is in the nursing field, which forces her to forge close relationships with people, so learning another language and culture is important for empathy. This is important for so many other career fields, and when a different culture is understood through first-hand experience, company productivity, employee contentment, and community outreach can be achieved at the highest capacity.
Creating a better world with these things starts with education, and when education is connected on a global scale (whether through virtual events or physically studying abroad), the quality of education, graduates, and professionals is enhanced.
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