Wakelet Tools
In the textbook, Sail the 7 C’s, I was able to access a Wakelet that provided me with a variety of tools that can be utilized in classrooms to stimulate learning. I comprised a list of my favorites.
Microsoft Forms
Microsoft forms allows educators to survey and assess students virtually, allowing for more accessibility. If a student is not present in the classroom, they can still participate via these forms. This tool allows teachers to create quizzes, polls, and surveys while also allowing anonymity. This tool would also be great for allowing students to quiz their peers on what they know as a study material.
Sway Life Stories
Sway Life Stories is an app that allows users to creatively use pieces of art in presentations. Videos, pictures, and text can be inserted into a presentation that can be gone through at your own pace. Sway Life Stories also allows several people to access the same presentation at once, further allowing learning at your own pace.
Flipgrid
Flipgrid is a tool that I am intimately familiar with, as I have used it for courses before. Educators can assign a question that a student answers in video format. The student can then proceed to watch their peers’ content and comment in text or video form. Flipgrid allows students to convey their knowledge in an informal context while simultaneously allowing students more comfort and pushing them out of their comfort zones.
Global Kids: Bridging the Gap Between Cultures and Communities
The company Barefoot Books has been providing educational tools for teachers since 1992. One of those tools is the Global Kids set, providing recipes, games, crafts, and other useful activities revolving around different cultures to diversify students’ worldviews.
This tool can be useful to engage students in learning on a more personal level. Students will be able to relate and participate in other traditions and compare those to the ones they participate in. Overall, this can create deeper empathy within students. I would use this with my class frequently, for reading activities and crafts. There could even be a dedicated day used for creating some of the recipes! Barefoot Books strives to create connections worldwide between students and says even more on the matter in their About Me .
Sources:
The Uncensored Library: A Global Collaboration for Knowledge
Many people agree that knowledge is power, so what can be done when knowledge is easily accessed. With new-age technology, many people have access to the world at their fingertips. Unfortunately, this means that censorship is also a prevalent issue. When oppressive governments restrict the press and social media, where can people go?
Reporters Without Borders: An Organization for Change
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is an organization dedicated to fighting censorship and the limiting of knowledge. These advocates and reporters create petitions and push for global change. Their biggest project is The Uncensored Library, a minecraft server. While social media and news outlets are the first to be restricted by oppressive governments, a children’s sandbox video game is not even high up on the list, so RSF have taken advantage of that. They use a Minecraft feature, books and quills, to transfer restricted works into Minecraft, so that anyone can access them.
Collaboration for the Better
The Uncensored Library is a beautiful example of global collaboration. People from all over the world come together and work together to distribute information to populations that can not access it. While petitions and governments can be pressured to lift censorship laws, it does not happen overnight. The Uncensored Library ensures people can still stay informed while change is being pushed for.
Sources:
RSF (2020) The Uncensored Library
Using AR and AI to facilitate virtual field trips
With the growing access to augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI), students can now go on interactive field trips with an ease never experienced before. Highly sought-out destinations can now be accessed in the comforts of our schools and homes. This technology allows for more global understanding and collaboration. Its uses include:
Arizona State University’s Virtual Field Trips
ASU’s Virtual Field Trip Program allows students to be shown a variety of locations and share their history.
- Field trips can happen more often in schools, cutting down on costs and the preparation needed.
- Students can explore at their own pace and interests without the risk of getting lost.
- Students can gain a deeper understanding of geological features and the cultures surrounding them.
- Students with a tendency towards poor health can participate with their peers without exclusion.
Geological and Cultural Awareness
Using AI and AR allows students to compare and contrast unfamiliar surroundings with those they are used to.
- Students can figure out whether specific locations experience similar weather and weather occurrences as them.
- Students can determine whether the typical flora and fauna matches environment where they live.
- Students can compare popular food locations and whether they are similar or different.
- Students can examine any potential differences between popular transportation types.
Travelling Through Time
Augmented reality and artificial intelligence allows students to travel to the past, as well as the present. Users can travel to historical sites to get a glimpse into what life on Earth used to be.
- Students can travel to fossil sites to examine old organisms that used to roam the Earth.
- Teachers can put into perspective the connection between students and old relics in a more-grounded way.
- Students can solve their own questions through hands-on experiences.
Because technology is ever improving and becoming accessible, I’m sure AI and AR can be implemented into classrooms in so many more ways.
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