VR, AR, and MUVEVirtual Reality was something that was only in science fiction films, but now it is a reality for anyone with a cellphone and Viewfinder. I reviewed several of the VR and AR resources available today. In reviewing EON Reality's Tutankhamun, Google Expeditions AR, Google Tour Builder, EcoMUVE, EcoMOBILE and iCivics there are so many opportunities for students to learn in visually stimulating and interactive environments. VR King Tutankhamun is a good program for students to experience an environment. They could also use the experience to critically think and communicate about the items they see and why they are placed in the tomb. Instead of students reading about King Tut and having to imagine what it would be like to experience exploring the tomb or to only look at static images. Students who struggle with reading can experience King Tut. I wish that AR example from Google Expeditions AR was available when I was a child. I would always love looking at 3-D models when they were available in science and I would use my imagination when they were not available. Examining models would provide a great opportunity for students to collaborate and communicate regarding their analysis of the AR item. I am not sure if it is possible, but students could collaborate and create their own AR model as a presentation and for other students to view and examine. There are students who are visual learners who will thrive in a class with a teacher that uses AR Google Expeditions to help teach lessons. Google Tour Builder is a dream for a Social Studies. Click on the image for my Google Tour on Mansa Musa. Some students don’t really like Social Studies for some unknown reason. Teachers who are experts in their fields can use Google Tour Builder to help bring history to life for students with interactive maps, images, videos, etc. Students can also collaborate and create a Google Tour to explain or evaluate an event or series of events in history. Students who struggle with writing or other processing issues can use Google Tour builder to tell the story via pictures and videos. EcoMUVE graphics are a little dated but the learning that can occur with the Pond and Forrest Ecosystem immersive virtual environments incorporates great skills building activities and for research, analysis, comparing and summarizing for the inquiry-based project. It touches all levels of Blooms Taxonomy. It also includes all the 4 Cs by allowing students to collaborate and use critical thinking skills for on problem solving. Students can also communicate their ideas and creating concept maps as a part of the activity. Students with different skill levels can work in heterogeneous teams to problem solve and explain the changes in the ecosystems. EcoMOBILE extends the learning for students in an authentic setting using authentic devices. Students working in groups are able to collaborate and communicate while gathering data and solving problems in the environment. Putting students in heterogenous groups allows students to take on roles that support their learning style. A student can provide their observations, be the data collector, or use the digital equipment in the group which will enhance their learning even if they have difficulty in traditional classroom settings. The iCivics MUVE allows students to participate in numerous civics centered MUVEs. The topics of these MUVE’s range from general subjects such as Branches of Government and Counties Work to hot topic subjects such as Immigration Nation and News Feed Defenders. The MUVEs are free and students are not required to login to play the games. Students will even receive feedback at the end of the game directly connected to the student’s choices even if the student does not login. Students can play the games individually, but they could also play in partnerships or small groups and discuss topics prior to making their selections. This would address the collaboration and communication aspect of the 4Cs. The MUVEs provide opportunities for students to have a choice in how they play the game and how the games proceed. All of the games allow students to mute the musical accompaniment with the games, which helps students who struggle when distractions are embedded in an activity. Some of the games allow students to take them in Spanish, and some have voice overs for the text which is helpful for EL students and students who struggle with reading comprehension. However, these options are not available for all of the iCivics MUVEs. Some of the games allow students to determining how they will complete the games and another one allows students to determine the difficulty level of the game by selecting Elementary, Middle School or High School options. One of the games, “Activate” even allows student to set up the framework to grow their own movement. The games range in completion times from a suggested 0 to over 30 minutes. However, all of the games require more than 5 minutes if they are played with fidelity. Teachers would need to make sure that students have time to complete the games or preselect which game students will complete on a specific day. Digital DivideThere is a digital divide in our school for Low SES students that have multiple kids enrolled at our virtual school. I have noticed that some households with multiple students only have one computer/laptop. Younger kids often are further behind in courses because device access priority is given to the older sibling who is in high school. Household with less limitations on budgets allow for each student to have their own laptop if not multiple devices. The same type of problem with access for Low SES students occurs if the primary student device needs replacement or repair. Students end up falling further behind because it takes the household a longer time to replace or repair the device. We encourage open communication with our families when incidents such as this occur and as a team of teachers we collaborate on removing late work penalties and increase communication with families. We also encourage our families to communicate with our help desk support staff. They often help guide families to solutions to problems.
In the past, there were also students whose families who could not afford to purchase the MS Office Suite of products for students to write papers or create presentations. As a response to those difficulties our district provided student access of LibreOffice which is a Microsoft compatible free productivity suite. Our district has recently adopted the use of the Google Suite of products, so our students can also use free Google-based software to produce presentations for course assignments. Recently a student submitted a project to me using TextPad. Because she lost numerous points based on the rubric requirements by using TextPad and not submitting images with her project, I suggested that she use one of the programs from the Google or LibreOffice suite. Hopefully, as more products are provided free for students to use and as more teachers become familiar with them, student access and productivity will increase as well. The “Homework Gap” video really resonated with me and I immediately sent the 1 Million Project link to colleagues who teach at Title I brick and mortar schools. One of them recently indicated that students use the wi-fi at school but do not have internet access a home so they catch up on all their social media at school instead of using the devices for school appropriate purposes.
1 Comment
11/5/2018 11:56:55 pm
Hi Erika!
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
E. DrakeVirtual School Educator, ITEC Ed.S. Candidate Archives
May 2019
Categories |