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I love sci-fi and superhero comics and movies. AI has been a topic in these genres for a long time.  From the Terminator movies, Brainiac in Superman, Data in Star Trek, and so many more there are good and bad AI. But, AI is here and most of the time we have no idea we are being influenced or using AI in our daily life's. I use Twitter and if I like just one post about something, I will start to see all kinds of post about similar things. I really do not like that AI feature. I do not want to get boxed in and only see the same things over and over. In the classroom I do think AI could be very beneficial if we are able to get the correct data points from each student. Questions can be tailored just for that student, help with any subject area where there is a deficiency and so much more.

But as with any good thing you can have too much of it. We could become less engaged in different things as we learn or interact on social media. Only adding people that are just like you or seeing the same view over and over and not getting the other side. Also, in school students could become too reliant on AI thinking for them or doing the hard thinking or even work for them.  There is also Terminator Judgement Day August 29, 1997 where Skynet will kill the human race, but I am hoping that will not happen in our lifetime.

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Topic 2: Hybrid & Digital Learning Spaces

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Topic 2: Hybrid & Digital Learning Spaces

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I hope that I expressed my thoughts in respectful way. Please comment and give your thoughts.

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This spring, at St. Anne's-Belfield School in Charlottesville, Virginia, the fifth-grade Spanish class programmed computers to produce bilingual, animated photo albums. The seventh-grade science class rejiggered the code behind climate models. The first-graders programmed robots to run just for starters.

"We'd like everybody to be more comfortable with computer science, because it's running our lives now, and because it enhances what's possible in the classroom," said Kim Wilkens, a technology teacher at St. Anne's and co-coordinator of the school's computer science initiative.

They're not alone. Although technology has flooded America's schools, interest in computer science courses has not kept pace, especially among girls and underrepresented minorities. While states discuss whether and how to make computer science a required course, many educators want to inject coding into all sorts of courses, from science to art to English. They're not just out to prepare the next generation of technology workers. Their goal is far more expansive. They want to turn coding into a new kind of literacy-a fundamental applied skill, a mode of inquiry and expression-that everybody should know.

One of the biggest challenges for computer science advocates is that many kids simply don't see why coding matters, in a world of preloaded software and with the vast resources of the Internet. While enrollment in Advanced Placement computer science, a Java coding course, has been growing rapidly, the numbers pale in comparison with most other science, technology, engineering, and math AP courses. Several years ago, plunging enrollment in computer science at the college level led the College Board to start work on a new, project-based AP " computer science principles " course, in which students will use coding to address real-world problems.* That course will officially debut in the fall of 2016.

But are stand-alone computer science courses enough? Many educators believe we should connect students with computer science in the same way that it touches our lives-everywhere.

Of course, that's easier said than done. Overburdened teachers can't add coding to their repertoires without a lot of help, at least initially, both inside the classroom from dedicated technology specialists such as Wilkens and outside the classroom. In the past few years, global networks of teachers from every discipline have sprung up to help each other plug programming into their classes.

Karen Brennan is a Harvard University education professor and founder of ScratchEd, an online community of teachers using Scratch, a novice-friendly computer code developed at MIT. Rather than written commands, Scratch uses digital blocks that stack together like Legos to form animation and simulation programs. Kids use the code to experiment and build projects, including characters, multimedia stories, and games. They share their creations and collaborate online.

Since ScratchEd started in 2009, it has grown to more than 15,000 worldwide members (including Kim Wilkens), who swap stories, share resources, and post questions about how to integrate code into lesson plans and student projects. Last fall, Brennan helped create a free Creative Computing curriculum guide, available online. She describes Scratch as simply another way to express learning and creativity.

"Instead of writing an essay or doing a PowerPoint presentation, for a class, you can use Scratch to create your own interactive media," she said. Along the way, she added, students learn computational thinking-ideas such as sequencing, conditionals (if this, then that), debugging, remixing, and iterative fixing and testing of programs.

Last year, for instance, a sixth-grade science class at the Putnam Avenue Upper School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, used Scratch to program Claymation plate tectonics-re-creating the 2011 tsunami that devastated Japan, the rise of the Himalayas, and the 1904 San Francisco earthquake, among other projects.

"It's about engaging students whatever way we can," said Kyle Browne. She's an artist who worked on the plate tectonics lesson with the students' science teacher, and Ingrid Gustafson, an instructional technology specialist for the Cambridge Public Schools. "Maybe they get interested in technology by working with computers in a way they never imagined they could. Or maybe they realize, oh, science can be creative!"

Browne regularly works with science and math teachers through a grant-funded partnership she directs called Cambridge Creativity Commons. Increasingly, she has been mixing in coding, including an interactive ecosystem project that began this year. Every sixth-grade science class in the city will learn about food webs in forest ecosystems. With help from Browne and Gustafson, they'll use Scratch to code those relationships and animate them with uploaded photos of their own flora and fauna paintings. Click on the deer and they multiply, denuding the landscape of vegetation. Click on the wolves to try to restore some balance, and so forth.

In the nearby towns of Medford and Everett, Massachusetts, middle school students in engineering and art classes are programming mobile apps, using another block-based coding language called App Inventor, created by MIT professor Hal Abelson. Like Scratch, App Inventor supports a global community of DIY coders, more than 3 million of them, and about 20 percent are in schools.

The teachers in Medford and Everett were trained in App Inventor as part of a National Science Foundation-funded project overseen by Fred Martin, a computer scientist at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.

"There's a slice of people who get excited about algorithms and math," Martin said. "But a lot more people get excited about computer science when they realize that it can have a beneficial impact on the world."

The only rule for the students is that they build an app that will help their school community. "They're building simple games, translators, and flashcards for study skills," said Michael Scarola, an engineering teacher at McGlynn Middle School in Medford. "One girl is trying to make a translator that will go from English to Haitian Creole. Somebody wants to make an app to help the school coaches. Another group is trying to do something on anti-racism."

According to Brennan, the No. 1 fear teachers have when they start using Scratch is that they won't know enough to help their students when they get stuck. Last fall, before an audience of teachers at a Harvard education conference, she gave a talk on that very topic called " Getting Unstuck."

"Students don't need you in the way you think they need you. They don't need you to solve every problem," she told her audience, advising them to "embrace the vulnerability of not knowing" and the chance to model collaborative problem solving with their students.

In fact, at the Kennedy-Longfellow elementary school in Cambridge, students who mastered Scratch in an afterschool program became "Tech Leaders" in their regular classrooms, helping fellow students learn to code. As part of a partnership with nearby Lesley University, many Kennedy-Longfellow teachers now infuse computer science into their daily classroom routines. The school has an array of age-appropriate robotics kits and Raspberry Pi bare-bones computers built for programming, which kids can check out from the library and take home. They transformed their aging computer lab into a coding and robotics-maker space, which they opened in December to coincide with the global " Hour of Code " campaign organized by the nonprofit group Code.org.

"These kids are our new grassroots," said Lesley University assistant professor Sue Cusack, who co-directs the project. "They're the ones who are going to be staging the revolution for us."

This story was produced by the Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Read more about Blended Learning.

*Correction, April 15, 2015: This article originally misstated that falling enrollment in AP computer science led the College Board to create a new AP computer science course. AP computer science enrollment is growing, albeit at a slower pace than other science, technology, engineering, and math AP classes; the College Board decided to create its new AP class because of falling computer science enrollment at the college level.

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Maybe Coding Should Be Part of Every Class in School

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This spring, at St. Anne's-Belfield School in Charlottesville, Virginia, the fifth-grade Spanish class programmed computers to produce bilingual, animated photo albums. The seventh-grade science class rejiggered the code behind climate models. The first-graders programmed robots to run just for starters.

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Well I recorded 3 different videos and not a single one would upload, so I guess I will have to type this out.

I teach an Honors Earth Science class and I think that Scratch would be something that we could use in that class for coding. We do a section on moon phases, the rock cycle, the water cycle, the solar system, the atmosphere, and meteorology. I believe coding could be an awesome way for the students to interact and to do some peer learning.

With Scratch you can upload pictures or videos and do some coding around that. We could use it to click on the moon and as you click on the moon and the moon will change phases and they can use some vocabulary terms and explain what is going on. I really feel this could be very beneficial for them as even a review before a test. The students could be peer lead, they could become the experts on this program. That way the students that have a better grasp of the program can help the students that do not. Now we are building leader ship qualities in our students. We have peer leaders, helpers, and hopefully we are building compassion within the classroom as well.  There is an article that is attached that talks about the program Scratch and something I think that could be very beneficial as well called App Inventor.

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Benefits of Augmented Reality in Education

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Augmented Reality in all types of classrooms

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Augmented Reality in all types of classrooms

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1. What is augmented reality?

2. Benefits of augmented reality in education

3. Augmented reality in education examples

4. Augmented reality in higher education

5. Augmented reality apps for education

The Pew Research Center reports that mobile technology use has more than doubled in the past decade from 35% in 2011 to 81% in 2019, with smartphone use especially prevalent among young Americans - about 96% of people ages 18 to 29 own a smartphone. These trends are creating opportunities for using augmented reality in education.

Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that overlays digital information such as sounds, videos, and graphics on top of the real-world environment. AR is often confused with virtual reality (VR), a technology that creates entirely artificial environments. Together, these technologies are collectively known as extended reality (XR), and they are driving change across industries: IDC reports that the AR/VR market is expected to grow from $16.8 billion in 2019 to $160 billion by 2023.

Industries such as engineering, manufacturing, and space exploration commonly use AR in business applications such as research and development. With the emergence of new technologies and widespread adoption of smartphones, educators are increasingly expected to use AR in the classroom.

What is augmented reality?

Augmented reality superimposes sounds, videos, and graphics onto an existing environment. It uses four main components to superimpose images on current environments: cameras and sensors, processing, projection, and reflection.

Each of these components provides an individual function. For example, cameras and sensors can detect an image's depth or calculate the distance between two objects before superimposing digital content atop the user's view. Projection and reflection add virtual information over what a user sees; for example, a method known as projection mapping enables AR apps to digitally overlay video onto any physical surface.

As for processing and transmitting data, limited bandwidth and latency of wireless networks have typically posed challenges to wide-ranging adoption of AR. But thanks to faster wireless connectivity through 5G cellular networks and next generation devices' improved processing power, opportunities to explore AR's full potential are expanding.

With these core AR components, educational institutions can incorporate interactive classrooms into their curricula. Why use augmented reality in education? Using AR in the classroom can improve learning by helping educators create interactive classrooms that increase student engagement.

Incorporating AR components into daily work practices can also help businesses solve problems and improve inefficiencies.

Examples of AR use in business

AR has many uses across business functions.

Business presentations: Presenters can face challenges connecting with audiences and delivering messages. Augmented reality engages audiences by making them part of the presentation. For example, instead of asking customers to visualize a light fixture in a certain location, they can use AR to show how it would "really" look.

Prototyping: During the product development stage, designers typically sketch prototypes digitally or on paper and use CAD modeling to produce a facsimile of the end product. Printing 3D prototypes can be expensive, making alterations costly. AR overlays virtual objects onto existing objects, allowing designers to change prototypes without printing a new one with every change.

Research and development (R&D): Companies across industries known for their innovation spend billions of dollars each year on R&D. AR technology means faster and better visualization, improved collaboration, and accelerated time to market, reducing costs.

Training and learning: Presentation is vital to sharing knowledge, and AR can be a handy tool for immersing audiences in their learning. AR applications can have learners move around a room to interact with the content, creating more active educational experiences. This can help them retain knowledge and grasp difficult concepts.

Examples of AR use across industries

AR has many uses across many industries. Here are a few examples:

Engineering: Common applications for AR in engineering include production, training, and support. In the pump industry, AR helps technicians simulate complicated pump installations in water and wastewater operations rather than relying on a repair manual.

Medicine and healthcare: From patient education and physician training to surgical visualization and disease prevention simulations, AR's benefits for healthcare are clear. For example, one healthcare AR application maps a patient's body, including the precise locations of veins, enabling healthcare professionals to more accurately draw blood or start an IV ahead of a surgical procedure or during a medical exam.

Retail: AR can enhance interactions between customers and products. A customer browsing through the aisles of a store can point their smartphone toward a product to prompt an AR app to provide relevant information. Retailers like Ikea offer AR-powered apps that enable customers to visualize furniture in their own homes before buying.

Manufacturing: About 2.4 million positions may be unfilled between 2018 and 2028 due to a growing manufacturing skills gap, according to Deloitte. AR can play a pivotal role in closing that gap and addressing complex processes in manufacturing. For example, manufacturing equipment, which often involves dozens of processes for hundreds of individual components, requires regular maintenance. AR can train a workforce to maintain equipment and perform remote equipment diagnostics, increasing manufacturing workforce productivity.

Entertainment: While Pok e mon Go was not the first AR video game, it has been one of the most popular since its 2016 launch, with more than 1 billion downloads as of February 2019. As 5G technology use increases, AR advances will continue to change how people entertain themselves. According to a Deloitte study, millennials and Generation Zers (those around 14 to 36 years old) plan to use 5G to stream more video, play more online games with social features, and immerse themselves in more AR digital worlds.

Space exploration: A Lockheed Martin platform that combines machine learning and augmented reality may soon help humans reach Mars. If a mechanical problem arises on Mars, on-site astronauts might not receive repair instructions from Mission Control on Earth for over 40 minutes. This platform includes an AR visor that displays an overlay of data, such as thermal, gas mixtures, and other vital information, atop a physical space, which can help astronauts find their own timely fixes.

Military and defense: Nothing can replace the intense and grueling physical aspects of training soldiers for combat. But augmented reality is enabling the military to add a layer of training that can help produce better soldiers. These apps improve situational awareness and train users to process information quickly and safely. For example, tactical a ugmented r eality (TAR) provides tactical mapping during a military operation to help soldiers find friends and identify foes.

Resources

The following resources provide data and other information about what augmented reality is and how it's used across industries.

Benefits of augmented reality in education

AR is increasingly being adopted in educational settings, often to help students with complicated subjects. For example, students struggling with geometry can use AR to see and manipulate 3D geometric forms. Another application of augmented reality in education includes teaching global perspectives through virtual field trips, enabling students to interactively engage with other cultures.

While AR and similar technologies such as VR are becoming more popular in education, less than 10% of schools currently use augmented reality in the classroom, according to Project Tomorrow. Some reasons cited for the slow adoption of AR in education include:

Bulkiness of AR equipment

Quality of AR educational content

Concerns over its academic value

Lack of proper funding

AR creates opportunities for teachers to help students grasp abstract concepts. By using the interaction and experimentation that AR technologies offer, teachers can enhance classroom experiences, teach new skills, inspire student minds, and get students excited about exploring new academic interests.

Benefits of AR

AR can have a significant impact on learning environments:

Student engagement and interest: Student interest skyrockets with the opportunity to engage in creating educational content. AR technologies can allow them to add to curriculum content, create virtual worlds, and explore new interests.

Learning environment: Classes that incorporate AR can help students become more involved. An interactive learning environment provides opportunities to implement hands-on learning approaches that can increase engagement, enhance the learning experience, and get students to learn and practice new skills.

Content understanding: Lack of quality content focused on education, rather than entertainment, is a noted concern among teachers hesitant to use augmented reality in education. However, existing AR technology enables teachers to create immersive educational experiences on their own to help ensure their students understand curriculum content.

Collaboration: As AR content is digital, it is easily shared. For example, a group of teachers can work with their students to continually refine the content. A collaborative learning environment provides students with increased motivation to learn because they are actively engaged in the educational content creation process.

Memory: AR is an excellent tool for bringing lessons to life and helping students remember essential details. For example, instead of just presenting photographs on a projector showcasing life in Colonial America, a teacher can use AR technology to create memorable interactive stories.

Sensory development: AR technology can help teachers create lesson plans with multisensory experiences. Students benefit from immersive virtual content that incorporates an experiential learning style in which students carry out physical activities instead of watching a demonstration. This approach can help with sensory development.

Cost-effectiveness: The cost of AR equipment is often cited as a barrier to adoption. However, as smartphone use continues to rise among young Americans, and since smartphones are already equipped with the hardware needed to run AR apps, augmented reality in education is increasingly more cost-effective to implement. Additionally, AR can lower educational costs by replacing expensive textbooks.

Resources

Learn more about the benefits of augmented reality in education:

Augmented reality in education examples

Below are several examples of augmented reality in education and tools for teachers:

Math

AR tools can help teachers create engaging and educational math content that sparks students' curiosity, helping them achieve academic success. Smartphone AR app Photomath allows students to scan a math problem from a physical worksheet, then virtually walks them through calculation steps using animation. AR apps can also help students understand mathematical concepts through visualization and interactive 3D models. For example, the Merge Cube enables students to hold, view, and rotate a virtual cube, offering an interactive way to learn about geometry.

Chemistry and biology

With AR apps, teachers can help make learning about science more engaging through interactive lessons. By combining AR elements, videos, and animation, teachers can aid students in their scientific inquiries. For example, Chem101 AR helps students to understand complex compounds such as acids and oxides. Through special cards, students can virtually modify molecular structures and create new substances.

History

Teachers can take advantage of AR tools to help students experience history interactively. Tools such as 360Cities and Timelooper enable virtual visits to sites worldwide to teach about cultural and historical perspectives. At museums and historical sites, students and teachers can use their smartphones to access AR apps that provide additional information and context about historical pieces on display.

Coding

A key benefit of AR technology is that it allows students to get involved in the process of developing lesson plans in collaboration with teachers. Teachers can also use platforms to develop coding lesson plans with AR technology. For example, Tynker provides teachers with tools to teach coding for video games. It also allows students to build AR classroom projects.

Augmented reality in higher education

In higher education, augmented reality is used for a wide range of applications. Faculty use AR platforms to incorporate gamification into curricula and create educational material. Through AR technology, teachers can materialize abstract concepts to help students visualize and understand challenging subjects. Consider these examples of how universities use augmented reality in higher education.

Theater

With theaters embracing technologies such as the ARShow platform, which allows producers to add AR elements into live performances, university drama departments are incorporating augmented reality into their curricula. For example, one college developed an AR app to visualize stage design and allow virtual walk-throughs before set construction.

Science, technology, engineering, and math

AR in higher education is gaining traction in science, technology, engineering, and math departments across the U.S. For example, a hands-on, collaborative lab enables students to use AR technology to operate a chemical plant and experiment with different chemical reactions.

Medicine

AR is transforming medical training. It can provide medical students with opportunities to watch live surgeries taking place in real time. AR applications can also help medical students learn about the human anatomy through simulations and models. One innovative app allows surgeons to take a walk-through of a patient's organs before performing a procedure.

History

Students and faculty enhanced the experience of a digitized history project highlighting the events of a World War II Japanese-American internment camp. They used drone image capture technology and AR to create a 3D reconstruction of events during this significant moment in U.S. history.

Augmented reality apps for education

Schools and colleges, both on-campus and remote, use augmented reality to supplement current curricula and add interactivity. Below is a list of augmented reality apps for education:

Human Anatomy Atlas 2021 - 3D models and simulations of male and female anatomy help students and healthcare professionals understand how the human body works. Users can perform virtual dissections, view animations, explore muscle action, and more.

Holo-Human - This AR app provides users with a collaborative environment to explore human anatomy models, including internal and 360-degree views. Teachers can also create lesson plans.

VR Frog Dissection: Ribbit-ing Discoveries - In biology classes everywhere, students dissect frogs to learn about bodies. Through a fully immersive experience, this app substitutes this practice to allow teachers and students to study the anatomy of a frog through virtual dissection.

GeoGebra Augmented Reality - From geometry and algebra to statistics and calculus, this interactive tool supports science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education through AR features that allow students to explore shapes and 3D functions, use critical thinking skills, and more.

Expeditions - With hundreds of AR tours, this versatile app enables teachers and students to create and explore interactive, virtual environments.

Exoplanet - This app, developed by a professional astronomer, provides an interactive catalog of known planets orbiting stars in the Milky Way.

Star Walk - Users of this AR app can see and identify constellations and stars in real time and learn about interesting astronomy facts and daily statistics.

Touch Surgery - Doctors and surgeons can use this app to prepare for surgical cases and learn about different procedures.

4D Interactive Anatomy - Students can test their knowledge and faculty can create custom quizzes using this 4D interactive anatomy app.

Visible Body - For those with limited access to a lab, this app with AR dissection features allows students to see 3D models of the human anatomy in the real world.

Plantale - Study a plant's life journey and plant anatomy with this interactive AR app.

Boulevard AR - This AR app brings artwork from the National Portrait Gallery to life to provide a museum-style experience from anywhere.

3DBear - This app combines AR, VR, 360-degree photos, scanning, and 3D printing to enhance remote and in-person learning.

zSpace - This AR platform allows faculty to create immersive academic experiences and create content for a wide range of courses.

Transform education with augmented reality

According to XR Association's "2019 Augmented and Virtual Reality Survey Report," the education market is a top-three promising area of development for AR and VR technology. With the power of augmented reality, the classrooms of the future may not look much like the classrooms of the past.
Infographic Sources
Appinventiv, "Augmented Reality: The Rising Phoenix of the Education Industry"
Campus Technology, "9 Amazing Uses for VR and AR in College Classrooms"
IntechOpen, "Virtual and Augmented Reality in Medical Education"
Medium, "The Many Advantages of AR Adoption in Education"
Talk Business, "The Benefits of Augmented Reality in Education and Learning"

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Augmented Reality in Education: Interactive Classrooms | Maryville Online

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Augmented reality in education can transform learning and teaching. Explore what augmented reality is and the benefits of augmented reality in education.

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The process of learning has evolved into a basic need for humans. It is through the process of teaching and learning of basic skills that humanity has evolved to what it is today. Learning first began through hearing. With the evolution of language, people began to read, write and learn.

Then, skipping forward, a proper system of education was created in form of classes and schools. Novel disciplines invited for novel content and hence, novel teaching methods. Teachers began lecturing by incorporating more visuals like diagrams and videos and finally, all of this was transferred into an online platform to be able, to be a medium that reached every medium.

From this, it is evident that humans will always try to evolve the system of education, based on the latest technology. This is because learning will always be carried out even decades from now.

With Virtual Reality (VR) being the latest technology, its amalgamation with the process of learning is inevitable. But what are the benefits of VR in education? Does VR in science education allow for improved education for the next generation?

1. You do not Just Hear and See...You DO!

The beauty of VR for higher education and VR in science education is that, there is no longer a dependency on books and reading for hours on end. Let us be honest, even watching know-how videos have taken their toll. But more than that, using VR for education means being able to DO something.

If you are interested in what Mars looks like, you do not need to look through Google Images or Youtube videos of satellite images. You do not even need to wait to become an astronaut or buy a telescope and schedule the exact time when you can see it most clearly.

You simply need to strap a pair of VR headsets and you will find yourself on Mars! You will be able to walk on the planet from your room!

2. Immersive Learning at Virtual Science Labs

Immersive learning is only available with VR technology. Hence, VR based applications like Labster and PraxiLabs have managed to create a simulated version of laboratories. In these VR labs, students can work and learn, how to work with actual laboratory resources by doing it themselves virtually.

These VR labs give access to Physics, Chemistry and Biology laboratories and have begun to be used in many higher education facilities. We see through this that the primary benefits of VR in higher education, especially through these laboratories is its easy usability, remote accessing and also provision of a safe environment without compromise on learning.

3. Science Education can get...Boring!

Studying science relentlessly means being able to keep up with millions of theories and concepts and knowing the history of how these theories and concepts came to be. This kind of content can lead students to become easily bored and disinterest.

Students wanting to pursue STEM education as their higher education, may start to question their decisions. The founder and CEO of Labster, Michael Bodekaer, recognised this and discussed this in a TED talk.

He portrays how VR in higher education is not only a method to enhance education, but an innovative teaching apparatus that students need in order to be amazed by scientific theories and concepts instead of bored by them!

4. Making Complex Concepts Easier to Understand

As aforementioned, science holds myriads of theories and concepts within it. But most of these theories and concepts are very abstract in nature, making it difficult for a student to understand it by simply reading a text, listening to a lecture or even seeing a 2D diagram.

The theories and concepts, with the help of VR technology come alive, and students can interact with them, instead of simply having to commit them to memory. 3D Organon is a VR based application that primarily helps medical students.

The award-winning application allows students to work with the human body by wearing a set of VR headsets.

5. Enhanced Soft Skills

Contrary to popular belief, VR is not a platform that makes people less social. Uses of VR can be manipulated to make it a platform for shy people to open up and work cooperatively in groups with other people under an avatar.

VirtualSpeech is a VR based application that even allows students to enhance soft skills like communication and improve on being able to give interviews, which is an integral part of professionalism for students pursuing science.

Hence, questioning whether or not VR will be involved in science education is a redundant one, because the answer is inevitably, yes.

The real question is, will it transform science education, and will it do it for the better and the advancement of science? We think that positive is the only direction that VR can introduce with its merger with science education!

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5 Ways Virtual Reality Will Transform Science Education

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The process of learning has evolved into a basic need for humans. It is through the process of teaching and learning of basic skills that humanity has evolved to what it is today. Learning first began through hearing. With the evolution of language, people began to read, write and learn.

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A great video showing the ARSAT app brings things to life out of a science textbook.

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Augmented Reality App for Science education.

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Augmented Reality App for Science education.

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This list of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) environments and software includes resources relevant to Earth science education topics. This is not a comprehensive list; just some items that I’ve seen in seminars or conference talks or assorted other venues. I don’t know the status of the projects or the software they produced, such as whether the project is still active or whether the software is available to others. My goal with this page is to round up links to items that I, and perhaps others, might find inspirational in our own work. I am using a broad definition of Earth science, including topics such as the atmosphere and oceans and cryosphere and so on, not just geology.

Virtual Landscapes – Geology – U. of Leeds

The Virtual Landscapes project has created several VR environments for geological mapping exercises and interpretation of maps and geological structures. Developed by Dr. Jacqueline Houghton and colleagues at the School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds. Developed in Unity, some run in a web browser, others on a personal computer (all run on Windows, some on Macs). Virtual environments include: Lighthouse Bay, 3D Geological Maps, 3D Topographic Map, Three River Hills, and Rhoscolyn virtual landscape. SERC’s Teach the Earth web site hosts an activity, “Virtual Landscapes Geological Mapping“, based on these environments.

VR Glacier – U. of Hertfordshire

Video clips (on YouTube) demonstrate a virtual reality field camp site on a glacier. Developed in Unity at the University of Hertfordshire by Andrew Marunchak, with Phil Porter (senior lecturer in Physical Geography). The videos are old, from 2011.

In-depth Tour Video – 11 minutes

Brief video clip – 55 seconds

Brief video clip – 36 seconds

VR Forest Pine Beetle – Brent Chamberlain

Brent Chamberlain is an Assistant Professor in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning at Utah State University. The “Visualizing Natural Disturbances and Management Responses” VR environment helps planners and the public envision the results various forest management practices might have years hence after the Mountain Pine Beetle killed large swaths of forest in British Columbia. Brent seems to have been involved in several other VR and visualization projects; this is the one I recall most and that seemed most relevant to Earth science, from demonstrations Brent gave during a seminar at NCAR in July 2018. Brent formerly directed the ALIVE! Laboratory at Kansas State University (apparently now renamed the VIVID Laboratory).

VRGeoscience

Virtual Reality Geological Studio (VRGS) is a 3D data visualization and interpretation software tool for field based geology and geophysics, as well as for geoscientists working with 3D digital outcrop models.

Virtual Ice – VR Tours, Byrd Center, Ohio State U.

Virtual Ice is a collection of Virtual Reality Tours of glaciers, ice caps, and other field sites of significance for cryosphere studies of snow and ice. Includes tours of Greenland, the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica, glaciers in Alaska and Peru, the Arctic Ocean, and more.

Whaleback Anticline – Virtual Geology Field Trip

The Whaleback Anticline is a world-class geology field site in central Pennsylvania for the study of fold geometry, kinematics, and mechanics. This virtual field experience includes a Structure-from-Motion-captured model of the Bear Valley Strip Mine (Shamokin, Pennsylvania) that includes the Whaleback and several adjacent folds.

More: items I will look into as time permits…

VR Glacier & Glaciated Landscapes

eRock – an open source repository of virtual rock outcrops

MineralID: A Practical Online Study Guide

OpenTopography > Resources for Educators

Virtual 3D Geoscience (V3Geo) – for sharing virtual 3D models within the geoscience community

Virtual Outcrop Geology (VOG) Group

LIME – 3D viewer for models acquired using lidar, photogrammetry and related spatial measurement techniques

Google now lets you explore U.S. National Parks via 360-degree virtual tours

Earth@Home > Paleontological Research Institution > Virtual Fieldwork

Galactic Center VR

Virtual Rock Box – Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center – Ohio State University

Astronomy & Space Science VR/AR Examples

Since astronomy and space science are generally taught in Earth science courses at the K-12 level, I am including VR/AR resources related to space on this page.

NASA Exoplanet Excursions

NASA’s Exoplanet Excursions provides immersive VR guided tours of the TRAPPIST-1 star system (which includes 7 Earth-size exoplanets) and the Spitzer Space Telescope. The project provides versions that can be viewed with Oculus and HTC Vive VR headsets as well as YouTube 360 video versions that can be viewed on a computer screen.

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VR & AR Examples for Earth Science Education | Randy Russell

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This list of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) environments and software includes resources relevant to Earth science education topics. This is not a comprehensive list; just some items that I’ve seen in seminars or conference talks or assorted other venues. I don’t know the status of…

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I could see ARSAT app being something that I would use in my Earth Science so much! From volcanos, layers of the Earth, space, and so much more. Augmented reality is so cool and can be used in so many different ways. As you can see in the articles and videos AR can be something that students can use in almost any class.

I feel that virtual reality can be used for all students to visit places they could never see in real life. We can take VR field trips and not have to waste money on buses, gas, hotel rooms, and still get a great experience!

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I love using Poll Everywhere with my students because it gives my students a way to interact during instruction using their various forms of electronic devices. Poll Everywhere always me to get real time reactions, answers, and information from my students.

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Host interactive online meetings | Poll Everywhere

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My students love doing Kahoot games in class. We use Kahoot for review questions for a major test coming up. My students favorite part is creating their own user names and the user names appearing on the screen. The students love competing with each other to answer the questions correctly and quickly to get the maximum points. Another way for students to interact and use devices in class.

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Join a game of kahoot here. Kahoot! is a free game-based learning platform that makes it fun to learn – any subject, in any language, on any device, for all ages!

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This program is a favorite of my students because they are able to create slide shows with real pictures (scanned in) and then create effects and add music to the slide show. They can also use their own voice to create narration of the slide show. A great way for students to present something to the class without having to present in person if they are shy. It's a downloaded program for Microsoft Windows.

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Free

Microsoft Photo Story 3 for Windows is an application to create sideshows

Microsoft Photo Story 3 for Windows is a superb application that allows you to create quality sideshows with your pictures using your favorite music and even your own voice to create a narration. Microsoft Photo Story can create with a few clicks the most expressive and emotive sideshow to share with your family and friends, being the best way to keep your memories. It is so easy to use, that even people without experience can create a sideshow. The user-friendly interface will guide you at every step of the process. All you have to do is to pick your favorite photographs, a good song and to give the final result an original touch, add your voice to tell the story of the pictures.
One of the most impressive things about this application, is that the final result, that is the video, is very small for such a good quality. The application allows you to choose among dozens of transition effects, like page curls, flips, and more. You can also give your pictures a new and original look by applying one of the stunning visual effects available, such as watercolor, lack and white, or sepia. The resulting video can be saved in different video formats, such as DVD, VCD or wma, allowing you to choose among different resolutions. Microsoft Photo Story 3 is an excellent application, definitely, a must-have for all PC users.

Screenshots

Review summary

Pros

easy to use

great quality results

small video size

Info updated on: May 23, 2022

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Photo Story for Windows. Get the software safely and easily.

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Microsoft Photo Story 3 for Windows is a superb application that allows you to create quality sideshows with your pictures using your favorite music...

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Canva seems to be a tool that would be amazing in my Science classes. Alyssa Smith had this posted on her Padlet and the more I read and explored the more I liked Canva.

With Canva my students can collaborate on the same project from different devices in class or from home. In my science class we worked on several projects including a weeks long weather forecast. They could use this tool to create a weather map graphics and even the commercials they have to install in the project. Canva seems to have endless ways to let the students collaborate and explore and design different graphics, posters, presentations, and so much more. I really believe any class could benefit from adding this in their curriculum.

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7 Ways to Get Faculty to Adopt Technology

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Faculty engagement in teaching and learning is more important now than ever.

Technology is changing things and the rate of change is only increasing. Today, there are more tools available to instructors that they can use to transform teaching for the better, and there's increasing pressure on them to incorporate those tools into the learning process.

Technology is entrenched in students' lives-they like it and want more of it. And when it comes to using new tech tools and resources in learning, their expectations are high.

According to a 2015 Educause ECAR survey:

Approximately 60% of students said they wished faculty used a learning management system more.

The same number wished faculty used laptops more in class.

Over 50% of students said they wanted instructors to use more online collaboration tools.

Just under 50% wanted to see faculty use more e-books or e-textbooks.

The Educause study demonstrates a disconnect between students' technological expectations and what faculty are actually putting into practice in classrooms, lecture halls and, increasingly, online and blended learning environments.

If faculties don't stay abreast of the latest tech-enabled tools, and if institutions don't empower them to do so, they run the risk of losing students to institutions that do.

A fully engaged faculty uses all the tools available to it in the best way possible to optimize the teaching experience.

Here are some key strategies that institutions can use to keep faculty fully engaged:

Build awareness.

A lot of people might not be comfortable with technology so they shy away from it. They feel like they don't have time to teach themselves and don't have time to explore on their own. Informing, educating and training faculty around new technologies is important.

Conduct faculty surveys and SWOT analyses.

Use surveys to ask faculty for feedback on where they feel they are when it comes to using tech in the teaching experience. A SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) can help them to identify where they feel like they have strengths or where they feel like they have gaps and weaknesses so a plan can be tailored to optimize their experience.

Create a teaching and learning center.

Having instructor-focused resources is important. Those resources could include teaching and learning resources like instructional design support or just basic technical support. Having somebody to speak to campus or institutional policies is also important. For K-12, those resources could include district-level support staff.

Standardize the teaching experience.

Providing standardized course templates that teachers can build from can be helpful. It's not about eliminating freedom from teaching, it's about providing a starting point that lifts the burden around instructional design. This could also involve having an instructional designer or courseware developer sit with the teacher to help them build out a course based on the teacher's knowledge.

Have generally accessible software.

Just like there are many different types of learner, there are many different types of instructor. Learning platforms and content should be easily accessible to all instructors.

Here's how Brightspace's new Daylight experience presents information in the best way possible and lets instructors access their courses from any device:

Create shared resources.

Discussion forums or e-portfolio artifacts are examples of how instructors can share things with one another and ask questions of peers to develop the faculty community. Community and collaboration help instructors stay engaged with each other.

Provide professional development opportunities.

Helping faculty stay current with tech-related skills and tools is a continual need. If you're using a learning environment, for example, educating or raising awareness with faculty around updates and new features and functionality as they're released is very important.

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7 Ways to Get Faculty to Adopt Technology

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Faculty engagement in teaching and learning is more important now than ever. Technology is changing things and the rate of change is only increasing. Today, there are more tools available to instructors that they can use to transform teaching for the better, and there's increasing pressure on them to incorporate those tools into the learning process.

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How to encourage teachers to use technology - Classcraft Blog

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The Greek philosopher Plato refused to write because he believed that writing eroded memory. His followers also believed writing was untrustworthy and an act of deviance. Eventually, they came around, but suffice it to say that resistance to innovation is certainly nothing new. As educators, we can all appreciate the reality that resistance is a part of human nature. We can also be grateful for the lessons we can borrow from history to help teachers overcome modern-day classroom technophobia.

The lead pencil, for instance, was being used for a long time before it ever made its way into the hands of students. At seventy-five cents per dozen, pencils were much too expensive to use in schools. Joseph Dixon, the founder of the Dixon Ticonderoga Company, attempted to change that when he invented a new technology. His wood-planing machine mass produced 132 pencils every minute, lowering their cost to a penny each. By the 1870s, an average of 20 million pencils were sold annually, but they were still not embraced by teachers.

Even with the introduction of the eraser pencil-head around 1903 - something that's now in virtually every student's hands - most educators still resisted. Teachers feared that erasers would lead to careless writing. But of course, they're now widely in use, and we know that's not the case.

It also wasn't until 1939, ten years after the University of Iowa created the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, that pencils became commonly accepted in the classroom. And of course, the fusion of the pencil and the electronic test-scoring machine allowed tests to be graded automatically and changed the minds of teachers everywhere.

Knowing that we can anticipate change and that resistance to change is normal does not necessarily make it any easier. Teachers who resist teaching with technology are no exception.

Here's the question we must answer: How can we convince teachers who are hesitant to use technology in their practice to take a leap into the wonders of the 21st-century classroom?

Marion Ginapolis, Superintendent of the Lake Orion School District in Lake Orion, Michigan, offers an expert opinion on the matter: "It is not about the technology; it's about sharing knowledge and information, communicating efficiently, building learning communities and creating a culture of professionalism in schools. These are the key responsibilities of all educational leaders."

Here are four practical ways to help reluctant teachers use technology in the classroom.

4 ways to encourage teachers to use technology

1. Train me

Money spent on technology without proper training is money wasted. It's like having a new car without any gas to run it - it sure looks impressive sitting in the driveway, but it's not going anywhere without fuel.

You need to support staff with technology training, especially those who do not use it regularly in their personal or professional lives. Technology-centered professional development is critical to long-term success in this endeavor. The digital transformation of schools is already challenged by the ever-accelerating pace of new educational technologies and the ability to keep up with their implementation. Many teachers still struggle given the amount of professional development they must undergo for non-technical areas. But with the right support, they'll be able to better adjust to using technology in the classroom.

Ideally, every school district should be equipped with instructional technologists, instructional designers, technical support faculty, web development assistants, and video production staff. As unrealistic as this may seem, it's a worthwhile investment. Professional development resources will manifest themselves differently depending on your school's situation, but it's important to have highly qualified staff available to help teachers with training and consulting.

2. Show me the data

Some teachers are quick to dismiss technology use as a fad; cynics need opportunities to see how technology benefits students. It's hard to argue with credible data that demonstrates how technology has improved learning - when teachers see that their colleagues are getting results in the form of higher test scores, increased enrollment, and student satisfaction, they're less likely to resist adopting technology. Success stories convince teachers that technology is worth using in the classroom to help their students learn.

Additionally, decision-makers need to recognize that teachers are on the front lines and know what's best for their students - so they need ample opportunities to observe technology in the classroom instead of embracing it blindly.

3. Incentivize

In a perfect world, the motivation for implementing technology in the classroom would be entirely intrinsic. Sometimes, however, change needs a nudge. Nobody knows this better than teachers, which is why extrinsic rewards for students are occasionally used. Just as a teacher might ask themselves what they can offer their students to get them to change their behavior, school leaders can ask what they can offer to skeptic teachers to get them to dip their toes in the waters of new technology. The dangling carrot will be different for everyone, depending on their circumstances. Is it a financial incentive such as a stipend or a bump in their department budget? Could it be an extended release time or relief from an assigned duty that they dread? Or perhaps it's a green light to attend that tech workshop they've been looking forward to over the past two years.

Administrators who know their faculty well will know precisely how to motivate them. Arguably the wisest decision is to offer an incentive that somehow directly relates to teaching. For example, you can reward teachers who are able to demonstrate that they're using technology best practices as you begin rolling out these programs. This type of incentivizing may not be that difficult if a culture of rewarding excellent teaching is already in place.

4. Pay attention to consensus

Picture a newly hired teacher who comes from a well-respected, tech-savvy school district in another state. She joins the team of five fifth-grade teachers, excited to put her background in technology to good use for the benefit of her new students. She soon realizes that only one of her new team members has a similar background of using iPads in the classroom. The other teachers on her team are adamantly against student use of iPads and reluctant to use most other educational technology. The other experienced teacher resigned herself long ago to the ways of the majority and knows that even one more ally is not enough to tip the scales of the "we've always done it this way" majority. There is no consensus - not even close.

There are two options: to continue trying to convince the majority of the team that iPads are extremely valuable for student learning, or to accept that the majority is opposed to such an initiative. No teacher should ever be left alone to accept such a fate, nor should students be denied the learning opportunity.

The culture of the department and the school must continuously be on the radar of school leaders. In this case, they must recognize that the lack of consensus is harmful and intervene. Can the two teachers use iPads on a contingent basis and be allowed to demonstrate their success? Can the other teachers be given specialized training? Is a shift in teaching assignment necessary? The options are many, but the first step to success is having school leadership that is aware and recognizes the difference between healthy and unhealthy consensus.

There are many ways to convince reluctant teachers

A teacher's skepticism is reasonable and can be expected when teaching tools and strategies change. Often, it's resistance that exposes the potential weaknesses of a plan, ultimately contributing to a desirable outcome. As we saw here, there are innumerable ways to encourage teachers to use technology in the classroom successfully.

But of course, these things take time - not all teachers will be so quick to embrace technology, and some may never change their minds. The bottom line is that all changes must be made with the best interest in mind. With proper training, relevant data, teacher incentives, and awareness, you can give your teachers the gentle nudge they need to explore technology use in the classroom.

Proven impact on learning and motivation

Learn how Classcraft's approach demonstrates a statistically significant effect on improving student outcomes.

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How to encourage teachers to use technology - Classcraft Blog

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The Greek philosopher Plato refused to write because he believed that writing eroded memory. His followers also believed writing was untrustworthy and an act of deviance. Eventually, they came around, but suffice it to say that resistance to innovation is certainly nothing new.

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How To Overcome Teacher Technology Adoption Challenges - Dyknow

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Educators are all at different levels when it comes to technological competency. For those who have had previous experience using technology, the transition into a fully remote classroom may have been easier for those teachers with previous exposure. Teachers who are just entering the technology world may find themselves having to overcome many challenges throughout this process. Tech coaches play a crucial role in this transition to make sure that educators and students have all the resources and support they need to continue an effective education while using new technology.

Sean Coffron suggests evaluating teachers' level of technological knowledge by using the clinical approach. The clinical approach is divided into two categories, someone's interest in technology and someone's proficiency in technology. Sean states that educators will fall on either side or somewhere in the middle. After evaluating teachers by using each of these metrics, Sean suggests using the SAMR Model to understand if they are using technology to substitute, analog, adjust, adapt, augment instruction, and modify scaffolding within their classrooms.

Evaluating teachers can help tech coaches and administrators to understand where extra support is needed during the technology adoption period. Sean saw a huge increase in eagerness to participate in adopting more technology into classrooms with the help of tech coaches. Teachers began to realize that technology was not as daunting as they once thought. Overcoming these challenges is a group effort that involves practice, knowledge, and support throughout the school. Teachers are unable to fully utilize technology unless they have the resources to understand it.

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How To Overcome Teacher Technology Adoption Challenges - Dyknow

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Educators are all at different levels when it comes to technological competency. For those who have had previous experience using technology, the transition into a fully remote classroom may have been easier for those teachers with previous exposure. Teachers who are just entering the technology world may find themselves having to overcome many challenges throughout this process.

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Here's Why Teachers Adopt New Tech - and Why They Don't - EdSurge News

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I can't count the number of technological tools that were marketed directly to me during my 14-year teaching career. I could probably count the number of tools I tried out and tested-that number would be in the double-digits. And the number of education-specific apps, services, and software I actually used consistently? Those I could easily count on one hand.

You see, as a high school English teacher working more than 50-hour weeks, I just didn't have the time to invest in new technology. Any "spare" time I had (the time my friends used to advance their careers, take Yoga, connect on Facebook) I spent lesson planning, rereading literature and grading papers. The only time I had to explore technology was during professional development and over the summer. Translation: never. The district-mandated PD tech instruction I experienced was inconsistent, infrequent and seemed to focus heavily on early-education apps like ClassDojo. And the summer? Who are we kidding-the part of my summer not spent in a self-induced comatose state, I was lesson planning for the following year.

It's unfortunate: There's a ton of great technology available to support teachers and enhance the learning experience and-if investment trends in edtech are any indication-we'll see even more innovation in the upcoming years.

The problem isn't product scarcity. It's in product design and marketing. Because no matter the business model, whether the technology is marketed and purchased at the district level, or whether it's a free app marketed direct to the teacher-consumer, the product will have a short life if the end-user doesn't use it.

To increase conversion and build a loyal customer base with teachers, R&D and marketing efforts need to focus on the ROI.

The Return

When teachers conduct an initial assessment of any technology, they assume there will be some investment involved-usually related to the amount of time it will take to learn the technology and incorporate it into practice. So there's little motivation to even consider the potential investment if there's no guarantee of a return. If the technology does not offer a clear benefit, I'm not going to look into it any further. When assessing return, teachers look for the following:

Will It Help Meet Learning Objectives?

A teacher's primary goal is to get students to meet standards-based learning objectives. If the technology supports this, it meets the primary requirement. Can the tech support or provide a learning activity that can be classified within Bloom's taxonomy? Does it meet subject- and grade-level Common Core standards?

Tom Traeger is a California science teacher and former colleague of mine. I reached out to some to learn when and why teachers use technology. Tom told me he has always incorporated a higher than average level of technology into his instruction. He uses programs like Google Suites (a teacher favorite across the board), his Mobi interactive whiteboard and Vernier probes and software primarily because they all help him meet Next Generation Science Standards.

Will It Increase Engagement?

A teacher may have created a mind-blowing standards-based lesson with measurable, data-driven outcomes, opportunities to differentiate instruction and all that good stuff. But it doesn't mean anything if the students aren't engaged. And engagement is more than half the battle in the war to educate this Snapchat generation. If the technology is going to assist me in reaching my reluctant learners or enhance a lesson that, quite frankly, even bores the heck out of me (sentence diagramming, anyone?), I'm game. This is probably why response and formative assessment apps like Pear Deck, Kahoot and Exit Ticket are so popular.

Emily Wilson, an independent study teacher at Olive Grove Charter School and another tech-savvy educator, remarked that her district's textbook adoption of MyPerspectives became a hit with her students when they learned they could use the smartphone app BouncePages to listen to an audio version of the text as they read. Even though the integration of the technology was "a little cumbersome" at first, her students' level of engagement made the investment worthwhile.

Will It Facilitate Instruction?

Providing an engaging experience facilitates instruction probably more so than anything else, but there are other ways technology can make a teacher's job a bit easier. And busy teachers could use a little help. Most teachers I know have adopted the Google Suite into their practice. The convenience of having access to administrative tools like spreadsheets, slides and calendars within one platform makes it easy to document correspondence, provide feedback on written work and quickly create engaging presentations-all of which are stored in a single location.

Take me for example. I used Google Sites and Google Classroom as a lessons database and communication outlet for parents and students, greatly reducing the time spent micromanaging and communicating about missing assignments.

The Investment

If the technology meets any of the requirements above (and more than one is even better), a teacher will then calculate whether the return is worth the investment. In the edtech world, meeting this requirement is far more difficult than meeting the requirements of the return.

If the tech company has received funding or has a shrewd and experienced enough team to market to the end-user, the technology is probably pretty slick. But is it slick enough to get teachers to actually use it? Here's what teachers will ask:

Will I Have to Pay for It?

The cost of a technology is usually not a concern for teachers; ed tech companies understand their audience well enough to know most teachers aren't given discretionary funds to purchase their own supplies. Therefore, most technology is free (with limited usage, advertising or in-app purchases), or it's paid for at the district level.

In the rare instance in which a teacher is being asked to purchase tech, it better be cheap. Teachers are notoriously underpaid and already spend an average of $479 a year of their own money to support their instruction. If an edtech company creates a business plan in which teachers are the main buyer, the tech better have some pretty phenomenal returns.

How Much Time Does It Take to Learn?

As I illustrated in the introduction, teachers lack time nearly as much as they lack adequate pay.

A recent survey conducted by the Nevada State Education Association revealed that half of the teachers polled are considering leaving the profession in part because they're overworked. Three-quarters of the teachers polled responded that they don't have enough time to prepare for their jobs during the workday and 21 percent of them spend more than 15 hours outside of their workday to prep.

With so many unpaid hours spent lesson planning, grading and catching up on administrative tasks, there's little time or energy left to explore new technology, no matter how mind-blowing or innovative it may be.

Miranda Page-Jones, an English teacher at Willamette High School in Eugene, Ore., would welcome the opportunity to explore new technology if it could enhance her teaching. But she's currently sticking to her trusty document camera and projector because, as one of her school's IB lead teachers, learning new technology is a low priority when she has hundreds of papers to grade at any given time.

Can I Integrate It Into My Instruction With Ease?

If a teacher has the ability to test and learn new technology, the final consideration is, as teacher Emily Wilson alluded to earlier, the ease of implementation and integration into instruction. This investment is multi-faceted and can vary greatly by district, school and classroom. Part of what goes into this is the following:

How difficult will it be to set-up the technology in the classroom and how much time will be needed? Can students use their phones, or will I need to reserve a laptop cart that I lug to my classroom (and then manage the distribution of the laptops to the students?). If it's a Bring Your Own Device situation, will I easily be able to accommodate students who don't have devices?

What level of training will students need to use the technology? How much class time will I need to devote to teaching my students how to use it?

If it's a technology that I will use to enhance instruction through the creation of visuals or games, how much time will it take to create the presentation? Can a similar presentation be created in less time and with more ease with something already in my toolbox?

Does my district, school or classroom have the capability to host the technology? Is there a danger that my school's network limitations will cause my technology-focused lesson to fail-leaving me struggling to find a solution in a room full of teenagers?

This last consideration-whether the school network can support the technology-seems like a ridiculous concern as we head into 2020. Unfortunately, it's a very real issue and one that disproportionately impacts rural and lower-income districts still struggling to meet the FCC's short-term connectivity goal (100 Megabits per second per 1,000 students).

The main takeaway is this: To reach teachers, educational technology companies truly need to understand their audience's pain points and must be aware that even the most innovative technology can't compete with 55-hour work weeks or survive shoddy infrastructure. To thrive in the competitive market of K-12 tech, it's all about the ROI.

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Here's Why Teachers Adopt New Tech - and Why They Don't - EdSurge News

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I can't count the number of technological tools that were marketed directly to me during my 14-year teaching career. I could probably count the number of tools I tried out and tested-that number would be in the double-digits. And the number of education-specific apps, services, and software I actually used consistently?

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How to Get Teachers to Adopt Modern Technology | Linewize

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*Updated May 12, 2021

Modern technology has the potential to transform classrooms . We saw first hand how rapidly the classroom environment can change and how crucial having the ability to pivot quickly became for learning continuity. The possibilities of an increasingly digital and connected world are nearly endless: Technology can save schools time and money, allow for more individualized learning, and increase engagement at all levels-just to name a few.

However, like any tool, technology is only useful if it's actually being used. That means that to get the benefits, you have to get the ones who will be using it on board.

School districts across the country know that teachers can be hard sells when it comes to adopting new technologies. They're often already working at capacity, or over, and throwing another thing on their plate without making some room first is a surefire recipe for frustration. Especially after the year they have had! Putting a new classroom tool in place without a plan can actually cause disruption in the classroom.

Fortunately, with a little research, planning, and communication, it's possible to get teachers on board. It's all about seeing it from their point of view, and meeting them where they are.

Here are 8 specific strategies to warm the teachers in your district up to modern technology.

Assess their wants and needs

There's no point in getting teachers technology they don't need. Wondering how to figure out what that might be? Ask.

Discussing tech decisions with teachers helps ensure that your edtech spend is being leveraged to its fullest potential. It can also make teachers more open to adopting the tech, because they've been involved in choosing it.

When surveying teachers, try to include questions such as what tools they're already using, what their major sources of frustration are, and whether there are any technologies they wish they had. A survey is also a great place to integrate a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis, which can give you a well-rounded picture of where your teachers are in terms of their tech skills.

Start small

Teachers may be more open to adopting modern technologies if you start small. There's no point in completely remaking classrooms and giving every student a tablet if the teachers and students aren't ready for it.

Rather than rushing into trying every new technology, try one or two at a time and allow teachers to get comfortable with them before adding more.

Opt for user-friendly tech

Just like their students, teachers have different learning styles. Pair that with busy schedules and a wide range of technological know-how depending on factors that can include age, education, and interests (just to name a few), and you'll find that the best technologies for teachers are the ones that are user-friendly.

Being user-friendly includes being relatively quick and easy to learn, not having bugs, and having "drag and drop" as well as other intuitive features.

Clearly communicate benefits (and myths)

Teachers tend to make their decisions based on evidence. If you introduce new technologies without a clear reason why you're doing it, it's unlikely you'll get a large adoption.

One of the primary goals of any teacher is to meet the core national standards-based learning objectives . If you can show them how modern technologies will help them accomplish this and other goals, teachers will be more likely to adopt the new technology.

Other benefits that modern classroom tech can offer are time savings-which is huge to teachers-and increased student engagement-which benefits everyone.

Cover myths, too. Many teachers fear that allowing more technology into their classrooms will just increase the number of distractions. However, the classroom is the perfect place to teach students how to use technology responsibly. Consider investing in tools like screen monitoring software to help teachers keep their students on task.

Offer training

Almost everyone rides with training wheels before they learn how to ride a bike; throwing someone into a situation where they have to use a new tool or skill without proper training is liable to fail.

Sometimes the creators of a new tech will offer or be able to suggest a training program to use, otherwise there's a wealth of professional development websites for teachers that you can direct them to, and use yourself.

Make sure to create time before, during, and after the introduction of any new technology to allow teachers to be prepared, use it properly, and stay up to date on its functions.

Create a community

Consider creating things like discussion forums and community boards for teachers to share resources that have helped them. Creating a space for troubleshooting and questions can help smooth the learning curve and lead to higher usage.

Another adoption-helping tactic is to hire or assign a tech-savvy teacher to help other teachers learn the ropes. Like most people, teachers respond well to their peers, and are often well-suited to helping each other out. Research suggests every school needs at least one technology coach if they want to succeed.

Don't make them pay

The past decade has been a tough one when it comes to school funding. Some districts haven't fully recovered from the cuts that happened around 2008. It has resulted in teachers getting stuck with the bill if they want their students to succeed. Some teachers are spending hundreds of dollars a year out of their own pockets.

Any new technology that requires them to spend more of their own money isn't going to improve the situation, and could contribute to even more frustration and resentment.

If your district is struggling with funding, explore the hundreds of free or low-cost tech tools teachers can use in their classrooms.

Plan classrooms accordingly

It's not very helpful giving students laptops if there aren't enough outlets to charge them all, or if the sun is streaming in and washing out their screens.

When you're introducing more modern tech into your school, you'll have to think about everything from the layout to building materials. Some important things to consider are WiFi connectivity throughout the school, USB charging stations, safe storage for expensive devices and tech, glare-reducing windows, and more open-concept classrooms that facilitate more modern styles of learning.

Creating the space for modern technology to exist within the classrooms is just one of the practical ways to encourage teachers to adopt it. At the end of the day, teachers want their students to succeed, and if you're able to show them how modern technologies can help them do that, they're more likely to welcome-and actually use-them.

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How to Get Teachers to Adopt Modern Technology | Linewize

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Updated May 12, 2021 Modern technology has the potential to transform classrooms . We saw first hand how rapidly the classroom environment can change and how crucial having the ability to pivot quickly became for learning continuity.

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I have to say that I am a teacher that likes to use technology when I feel it helps me, the students, makes things easier not harder, and is going to be something that we can use often in the classroom. I am also a teacher that hates when I am just told to do something with no input from teachers just orders sent down the the BOE! I think most teachers would be willing to try things like more technology in the classroom if they felt it was their decision, ease of use, and something that didn’t feel like pulling teeth to get the students to do. At my school we are going to start a weekly 30 minute shared planning with our subject area. I feel this could be a great time to showcase a technology that we could all use and help us get more comfortable with it. We don’t want to feel stupid or that the students know more than us, so if we can get comfortable with the technology and master it, I am sure most teachers would do it. Also, if we could get a PD that showed us beneficial technology that would help the students and make something easier for us, instead of just checking the box, most teachers would use it. The more teachers can gain comfort, use it often, ease of use, know it helps the students, and helps make our jobs easier not more work, than I know teachers would jump on board!

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Thinking back over the last three weeks I think that I really want to incorporate more useful technology in my science classes. I will be teaching high school science classes next year and my classes of Environmental Science I feel lend itself to bring in more technology. I have always been interested in coding and all the things that one can do with coding. After diving into Scratch for the last 15 day or so, I really like the site and I feel that my students will be able to easily learn and use Scratch for work in my class. Environmental Science is a class that you can do a lot of projects instead of test and being able to use coding in the class. I will be looking into other coding sites that we can do even more things and dive into coding deeper. If we can give students different levels of coding in the class, student can move up in coding as they learn in the class. I want to learn more about coding, I want my sons to learn about coding, and I want my students to learn about coding while in my class that can be related science.