Prisms is a uniquely powerful tool that uses augmented and virtual reality to create immersive science and math learning experiences.

The company behind this appears excited to say that this represents a "new paradigm for education." A bold claim, but one that appears to be backed up by some very well thought out, designed, and built VR experiences.

The end result is a way to teach STEM subjects through physical experiences, rather than simply having to conceive what numbers and concepts might represent.

The platform was founded by Anurupa Ganguly, an MIT engineer turned educator. After working with districts for over a decade she decided we needed a new way to teach, and Prisms was born.

This guide aims to help you assess if Prisms could be a useful tool for your class.

What is Prisms?

Prisms is a digital learning platform that uses VR and AR to help teach math and science concepts in a more physical way.

The idea is to allow students to kinesthetically manipulate numbers around them in space to see how that can change and affect them -- before applying that to pen-and-paper work.

If a student can learn a STEM concept physically -- their way -- so that they can better grasp it at the outset, the idea is that they can then use that in future, and build on that more easily as they progress.

Using VR experiences, students can manipulate mathematical concepts while keeping focused on a real-world task, combining the two naturally so they can learn how it works through actual use.

How does Prisms work?

Prisms uses VR so you will need to have students wearing a headset and using the motion controls to interact with the augmented reality experience.

Currently, Prisms offers a service that not only delivers the software but also the hardware, which includes providing Pico and Meta Quest VR kits to schools. It is also working on Apple Vision Pro integration at time of publishing.

Educators are given guidance and training on both the use of the VR kits as well as working with the software. This includes ways to transition from the virtual learning environment to paper and pen work.

In one example, students are asked to put trash in a waste can before being taken to a virtual dump site to see that waste building. They are then in a virtual x-y space where they can manipulate the amount of trash coming in versus the capacity to deal with that, in order to see how too much can be a problem. At the same time they're learning how to formalize concepts of residuals in math.

What are the best Prisms features?

Prisms focuses on specific areas so teachers are able to work on a specific scale with students, based on the curriculum and their individual needs. While that covers wider areas such as Algebra 1, Geometry, Advanced Algebra, and both High School Chemistry and Biology, there's more.

Within grades 7 and 8 there are specific math concepts, including fractions, surface area, probability, ratios, volume, angles, functions, inequalities, and plenty more.

Prisms modules are created to fit into a teacher's calendar with pacing to suit. The idea being to teach bottle-neck topics, not just to review these.

A full day of professional development is available for teachers to understand how the Prisms idea works, to play with the hardware, learn the lesson cycle, get supporting curriculum materials, discover the Teacher Dashboard, and more.

Support is then ongoing with round-the-clock access to coaches and tech support for teachers.

All modules are available in six languages as well as English: Spanish, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Mandarin, and Russian.

How much does Prisms cost?

Prisms offers hardware, software, and support all as part of a package for classrooms and schools.

The basic setup gets you 35 VR headsets and chargers, at $20,000 per classroom. The software is then charged on use at $12-$14 per student, depending on scale.

Prisms best tips and tricks

Use the support
Go to the training and use continuing support to get the most out of all this platform has to offer both students and teachers.

Lead with this
Use these VR experiences as a way to teach new STEM concepts in which students can physically play and discover themselves.

Monitor with the Dashboard
Use the Teacher Dashboard to see exactly what students are seeing in order to help them along when needed and monitor understanding.

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Yorescape is a virtual exploration software that lets classes travel the world, and go back through time, digitally.

Unlike other platforms that use Google Maps and Google Earth as a way to create explorations, this is a proprietary software. It was developed not only to take students around the world, but to visit ancient historical sites as they would have looked then.

Developed by Flyover Zones, a company that specializes in virtual tours, it has put its skills to use for travelling through time as well as space.

This guide lays out all you need to know about using Yorescape in your class.

What is Yorescape?

Yorescape is the app frontage that is home to the many Flyover Zone virtual tours. This not only offers those physical locations but also what the company calls time warps.

It is these time warps that can offer a virtual historical trip for students, allowing them to visit a site as it once would have looked.

Students and teachers are able to visit a site and explore it using virtual joysticks to move about, as if really there. This freedom to roam around gives it a feel of really travelling through time back to when this site existed.

From ancient Rome or Greece to Egypt and South America, there are lots of locations and famous sites to visit. At time of publishing there are 15 virtual tours of iconic sites.

How does Yorescape work?

Yorescape is very easy to use via the web or the dedicated apps for iOS and Android. These can be accessed across most devices with an internet connection.

The app can be installed and immediately provides access to the many virtual tours and locations. Students can pick a spot to visit, perhaps to see ruins in Egypt, Greece, Italy, or Mexico.

They are then also able to go through time, bringing those ruins back to life, with a virtual exploration of how it once was, possible.

Students can explore freely or be led by a digital tour guide who talks them through the tour.

What are the best Yorescape features?

Yorescape offers lots of virtual tours, built bespoke and specifically targeted at education.

Some options include visiting the Giza Plateau in Egypt, the Acropolis and the Agora in ancient Athens, or the entire city of ancient Rome, all seen from the air.

This is an ongoing project and the website features future tours that are in the works. At the time of publishing, one of the treats to look forward includes a rebuild of ancient Athens with multiple virtual tours in the city site. The main adviser on this is Professor Jenifer Neils, the Director of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.

The voiceover tours are really impressive as these are by leading historians and archaeologists, so you can hear the passion in their voices -- which can be wonderfully infectious for the students.

Usefully, there is a tour time guide given so teachers can assess how long they can give in any time window. These range from as little as a few minutes to several hours -- with plenty of free roaming options to suit.

Helpfully, there are lots of resources for teachers to support this, including lesson plans, vocabulary lists, discussion questions, and more, all in easily accessible Google Docs format.

How much does Yorescape cost?

Yorescape does offer a free taster tour but the vast majority of this requires a subscription to access.

The free tour lets you visit the Temple at Baalbek, then you'll need to pay for anything more.

Teachers can pay an individual subscription at $49.99 for full access.

Schools are able to pay for an institution wide subscription with tiered pricing based on your school size.

Yorescape best tips and tricks

Start simple
Use the free tour to see how the class takes to this platform before deciding if it's worth paying for.

Go free
Be sure to allow students time to explore freely, as this can be a great way to generate questions and discussion points in class.

Tour together
Take the virtual guided tours as a class, pausing to discuss as you explore.

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AI-powered devices are becoming more prominent in recent years, with smartphones, tablets, and watches making the rounds with personal and professional use. Education is no different as school districts are figuring out how to approach the subject of AI use in the classroom. One of the pieces of tech that hasn’t been discussed as readily are smart glasses.

While not as widely used, smart glasses are quickly gaining popularity for common application. Ray-Ban has partnered with Meta to create Ray-Ban Meta Advanced Smart Glasses.

Here’s what you need to know about Meta Glasses.

Key Takeaways

• Meta Glasses have the ability to provide answers, translate languages, play music, and capture and stream images
• Without power, Meta Glasses can function as regular glasses (prescription lenses can even be added)
• It is easy to identify Meta Glasses by the distinguishing features that set these apart from traditional glasses

What Do Meta Glasses Do?

Meta Glasses utilize Meta’s AI to interact with the outside world through a front-facing camera. For example, you can scan signs in different languages and have Meta AI translate for you. You can use Meta AI to give you historical background on surrounding landmarks in your area. It can respond to you in real time depending on the request you give it, similar to on-phone assistants such as Siri or Alexa. You can also receive spoken instruction, as well as listen to music through concealed speakers on either side of the frames.

Meta Glasses have the ability to take pictures with the front-facing camera at the push of a button. When connected to the internet, you also have the ability to stream live video of what you’re looking at. If you decide to activate your Meta Glasses to stream video, an indicator light will show others that they may be captured in the stream. This acts as an extra layer of protection in case you don’t want to be identified on someone else's stream.

Are Meta Glasses Actually Glasses?

A pair of Meta Glasses can act as a regular pair of glasses, even for those who need prescription lenses. In order to operate the Meta Glasses you need to have a smartphone with an updated operating system, a WiFi connection, and wireless internet access. If these things are available, your Meta Glasses can still act as normal glasses.

Your Meta Glasses also need power to work, which can be provided through a protective charging case. A charge within the glasses can last up to four hours, with the ability to charge longer through the case.

Another discerning factor is the use of the accompanying Meta View app, which allows you to change certain settings and features associated with the Meta Glasses. Without access to this app, Meta Glasses would simply function like regular glasses.

Meta Glasses in an Educational Environment

How would a pair of Meta Glasses interact with a classroom environment? While a student might need to use the glasses in the same way they would use traditional frames, the extra functionality of Meta Glasses might be harder to use in a classroom setting. In addition to the obvious issues around privacy, using the Meta Glasses may require verbal interaction, which would distract a student from what is going on during a lesson while also creating a distraction. It would also be quite obvious for an educator to notice a student using any smart-enabled features.

As an educator, you can tell Meta Glasses from regular glasses by observing a few telltale signs. Meta Glasses have frames that are a bit thicker than regular glasses due to the technology being housed. Also, due to the camera on the front of the frame, a teacher would easily be able to see the lens or the light indicator to show that the user is streaming.

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• Best Apps and Sites for Augmented Reality

CoSpaces Edu is an AR and VR creation tool designed specifically for teaching and learning.

More than 1,000 schools now use this tool, so it's been well developed and has grown to make it more accessible than ever. The idea is to offer a learning space that also helps students to be ready for the technological developments of the future, specifically in communicating and working within AR and VR spaces.

Thanks to COPPA and FERPA compliance, this is a safe space that's built for easy integration into schools nationally. With more than half a million educators using it, this is fast becoming a staple part of teaching in tech-savvy schools. And this guide aims to show all you need to know so you can decide if CoSpaces Edu is something that could benefit your school.

What is CoSpaces Edu?

CoSpaces Edu is an AR and VR tool that allows students and teachers to build their own immersive creations in virtual space.

The system is designed to help teach using both animation and coding skills to bring the augmented and virtual to life. The company behind this tool, Delightex, says: "We envision a future in which learning isn't motivated by test scores, but by rewarding experiences letting kids try new things and discover what they're capable of while helping them understand the world around them."

Thanks to a web application as well as mobile and tablet apps, this is widely accessible across devices, and so makes for a great collaboration teaching tool. Since this can work using affordable Google Cardboard-style VR, it's an accessible option, too.

Get creative, collaborate, and build before then using the end result as an experience for other students to enjoy and from which to learn.

How does CoSpaces Edu work?

CoSpaces Edu can be downloaded and used on smartphones and tablets or via the web app on most other browser-enabled devices. Of course, a camera with speakers and microphone are ideal for augmented reality experiences. And for virtual reality, a headset, or smartphone adaptor, will be needed for a more immersive experience.

For the design part, it's easy to work on a desktop or laptop, making it a straight-forward and recognizable experience for students. Since this is a single tool designed for all, it can be used from as young as grade three right up to 12 -- offering consistency that students grow to know and understand.

The setup is easy to learn as students can drag and drop objects, and then assign animations or actions to make these interactive in the virtual environment. This is a block-based coding interface that's similar to Scratch and so can be easily recognized or used as a transferable skill.

What are the best CoSpaces Edu features?

CoSpaces Edu uses its CoBlocks coding interface that is easy to learn but helps to teach the basics of how coding works, in an AR and VR space. Students can create simply using a desktop and then experience creations on a mobile device, for the easiest combination of input and output.

Thanks to a wide selection of pre-built lesson plans, there is plenty for teachers to use right away. It's possible to customize these options making for a personalized teaching experience that doesn't take long to have up and running.

Since there are various tasks involved in building, this is a natural way to teach group-based collaboration. And with plenty of examples to work from, it can be easy for students to pick up and delegate in their groups.

Thanks to a broad range of lesson plans and onboarding materials, this is relatively easy to learn even for teachers that may be new to this area. And with the broad creative potential, this can be used across subjects as a way to create projects while also working on computer skills.

How much does CoSpaces Edu cost?

CoSpaces Edu offers both a free version and a paid for premium plan with more features available.

The Free option gets you access for up to 29 students, two CoSpaces to create, one class, one assignment, 10 external files, and coding with basic CoBlocks.

Go Pro, at $50/year, and you get all CoSpaces Edu features and 3D objects, the ability to invite students and teachers, add co-teachers, publish to the Gallery, Remix the Gallery options, code with script languages, and use the built-in physics engine.

CoSpaces Edu best tips and tricks

Assign groups
Break down projects so students in groups have assigned tasks, such as object placement, camera controls, animations, object behaviors, and so on.

Submit assignments
Once the basics are learned, have students submit assignments that they create in CoSpaces, for others to experience and also learn from.

Remix the Gallery
Don't be afraid to use pre-built content in the Gallery and Remix it for your needs as a way to save time and still offer great interactive learning experiences.

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Introducing students to multiple curriculums can be a daunting task, especially from the perspective of one teacher. While new technology can help, the amount of it being integrated in the classroom can be a bit overwhelming.

Makerspaces have taken this into consideration and, even with the proliferation of AI, have put greater emphasis on interdisciplinary project-based learning, says Tim Needles educator and author of STEAM Power: Infusing Art Into Your STEM Curriculum.

“We’re at a time now where everyone’s talking about AI. It’s been the dominant conversation for sure,” says Needles. “But the other piece of AI is that because it can manage some of what we typically do in our classrooms, it puts a greater importance on some of the project-based learning type of work. It puts a greater emphasis on creativity.”

Using Enhanced Reality to Emphasize Creative Learning 

The use of immersive technology – augmented and virtual reality – continues to grow in schools. Needles is no stranger to using enhanced reality formats to bring out the wonder and excitement associated with hands-on learning.

“We’re doing a lot of work with AR and VR,” he says. “Merge cubes are nice because it’s tactile. It’s a nice blend of the physical world and the digital world where students can actually manipulate things with their hands and get a better sense of them. Then we can move into things like poster creation with augmented reality so that you could decorate your classroom with some of the learning that you do with students.”

Augmented reality has a unique way of giving students a way to interact with their surroundings. But how does virtual reality work into the classroom in a similar fashion?

“One of the things that has been really effective in working with students from all different backgrounds is having a connective tool like a VR headset,” Needles says. “We’re currently using Oculus and we do a lot of work with NASA because of virtual experiences like taking a virtual trip to the International Space Station. Or students can explore the Anne Frank house if they wanted to.”

The Positive Impact These Forms of Education Can Have on Students 

While AR and VR are great tools on their own, Needles says cross-curricular use is key.

“One of the most effective ways to use some of these tools is not by themselves, but to actually tie them into other kinds of curriculum as well,” he says. “Being a STEAM person, I like interdisciplinary stuff. So I work with teachers in different departments, and then also adding global learning with a couple global programs to cater to students in multiple countries.”

Bringing connectivity to students across the world can help people from different backgrounds find common ground in education. But are the students engaged?

“I think the engagement is one of the key reasons it’s so successful,” Needles says. “Students are so much more interested. It’s great to see a full class of students fully engaged because that’s always the aim.”

The Importance of Digital Literacy 

Introducing new tools into the classroom is a wonderful way to get students more engaged in the educational process, but how do educators deal with the ever increasing task of teaching students how to interact with the tech and tools they use?

“This is something I’ve been discussing with a lot of colleagues now,” Needles says. “We’re testing a new program that specifically teaches literacy through a company called Digital Responsibility. It’s a micro course that students take as they enter high school. You could be strengthening student understanding of digital literacy by talking about it in individual classes, but the courses are a good way to create a blanket beginning point. With AI being as powerful and as important as it is, dealing with digital literacy, media literacy, and ethics is important.”

Students have many digital outlets when it comes to education and entertainment, but some educators make it a priority to encourage students to use their tools and programs in a responsible and ethical way.

Some of the Tools Needles Uses:

• Google
• Classlink
• Go Guardian
• Adobe
• Formative
• Quizizz
• EdPuzzle
• Discovery

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Why should teachers integrate augmented reality (AR) apps and sites into their curricula? With manipulable 3D visuals, augmented reality apps and sites inject a wow factor into any subject, increasing kids’ engagement and enthusiasm for learning. In addition, recent research suggests that AR can foster greater empathy in users. Many of these immersive technology apps and sites are free or inexpensive.

To learn more about how to use augmented reality tools in your classroom, check out What Is Augmented Reality? and Tools and Apps to Bring Augmented Reality into Your Classroom before diving into the top augmented reality tools below.

Best Apps and Sites for Augmented Reality

iOS and Android AR Apps

My Very Hungry Caterpillar
Based on Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar book, the My Very Hungry Caterpillar app is ideal for encouraging a love of nature and nurture in kids up to age five. Users feed and care for the virtual caterpillar, allowing him to eventually transform into a butterfly. Along the way, they grow flowers, paint pictures, and hunt for buried treasure. This one’s a gem. iOS Android

RakugakiAR
An award-winning app that animates scanned drawings and doodles, such that the characters spring to life. Users can then engage with their creations through virtual activities such as playing and feeding. For only $0.99, create your own virtual reality. Check out this brief video to see how it works. iOS Android

solAR - Solar System in AR
A stunning AR app that allows users to bring elements of the solar system into close view for investigation and learning. The app uses your device’s camera to superimpose digital planets and moons on Earth-based scenarios, adjust the scale, and explore all the features. Free with in-app purchases. iOS Android

Assemblr EDU
This 3D and AR imaging platform allows students to explore, produce, edit, and annotate 3D and augmented reality creations, which can then be shared with teachers and classmates. Pre-made content and drag-n-drop controls makes it easy for users to get hooked right away. Free basic plan plus three paid levels provides a price point for every budget iOS Android

3DBear AR
This super-creative AR design app offers lesson plans, challenges, 3D models, social media sharing, and 3D printing capability. The 3DBear website provides video tutorials, curriculum, and distance learning resources for educators. Great for PBL, design and computational thinking. Free and paid plans, with a 30-day free trial. iOS Android

Quiver - 3D Coloring App
Quiver turns a special coloring book into a 3D augmented reality experience. Users print AR-enabled blank coloring sheets through the app or the website, then color each with crayons, colored pencils, or oil pastels. Activate the quiver app to bring the pages to life. Free app, free and paid coloring packs. iOS Android

SkyView Explore the Universe
One of the most popular AR astronomy apps, SkyView Explore the Universe makes it easy to identify galaxies, stars, constellations, planets, and satellites in the night sky, while the AR mode allows users to spot objects day or night. Great for out-of-the-way places, as no WiFi, data signal, or GPS is required. Try the Time Travel setting to see the sky of ancient and future ages. $1.99. iOS Android From the same developer, the similar SkyView Lite is free.

iOS AR Apps

Augment
A simple app for viewing 3D AR models. Users upload their own 3D models and can manipulate each one in various ways with the app. Augment works well for design-related subjects and presentations; resources are available for students and teachers to get started. Free.

Froggipedia
An impressive AR anatomy app that covers every phase of frog life, from a single-celled egg to a full-grown frog. Dissect and examine the AR frog’s lifelike internal organs using a finger or Apple pencil with this 2018 iPad App of the Year. $3.99

Sky Guide
Winner of the Apple Design Award 2014, Sky Guide allows users to instantly locate stars, planets, satellites, and other celestial objects in the present, past, or future. Augmented Reality mode makes it easier to visualize and identify constellations. Works with or without WiFi, cellular service, or GPS. $2.99

Wonderscope
This highly engaging interactive story app puts kids at the center of the unfolding action, allowing them to move around, become part of the story, and explore details by tapping on objects. Free for the first story; additional stories are $4.99 each

East of the Rockies
A beautiful story app from the National Film Board of Canada. Written by acclaimed author Joy Kogawa, this interactive tale follows the journey of a Japanese-Canadian family interned during WWII. Free teachers guide in English and French. $3.99

Websites for AR

McGraw Hill AR Online
Explore topics ranging from V8 engines to exponential growth to the features of glaciers in this fine collection of 3D interactive augmented reality animations. Each interactive begins with an overview of the subject, then provides an opportunity for users to manipulate objects and activate functions. Take the quiz following each exercise to demonstrate comprehension. Free, no account required.

CoSpaces Edu
A complete 3D, coding, and AR/VR platform for education, CoSpaces Edu provides online tools for teachers and students to create and explore their own augmented worlds. Features include lesson plans and an extensive gallery of CoSpaces created by teachers, students, and the CoSpacesEdu team. AR requires iOS or Android device and free app. Free basic plan for up to 29 students.

Lifeliqe
A standards-aligned K-12 science curriculum with lesson plans and eye-popping, sophisticated interactive 3D models. Integrates with Google Drive, Google Classroom, and Microsoft Teams for easy sharing and saving. Prices start at $8 per student annually. 14-day free trial with premium content.

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Assemblr EDU is a tool that's designed to help make education more engaging for students while taking up less preparation time for educators.

While that might sound like two things that oppose one another, the way this tool has been designed allows it to be super simple to use. Yet it can offer complex and immersive 3D and AR designs to aid in teaching.

Assemblr EDU offers 3D models on a screen that you can manipulate using your mouse or touch controls. So from looking at the inside of a human body to exploring the edge of a volcano, there are lots of ways to use this imaging tool.

Read on to find out if and how this can serve you well in your class.

What is Assemblr EDU?

Assemblr EDU is a 3D and AR imaging tool that not only allows educators and students to create and edit graphics but also to use pre-made content with ease.

This is full of pre-made lesson-friendly content for teachers, allowing for the sharing of 3D images in class. Or to overlay digital images, while using a camera device, onto the real world. So a class could see and manipulate a virtual human heart, as if it were on the table, only with far less mess and cost.

This tool also allows for students to create and edit images. For example, building a 3D scene that can then be overlaid on the real-world using a camera. This not only allows for great creativity but also the chance to play with and learn from whatever they're creating, be it animals, plants, words, or more.

How does Assemblr EDU work?

Assemblr EDU can be used by teachers as a way to create lesson resources that students can interact with in 3D or AR. Or teachers can do this on a big screen, as a way to lead the class as a group.

This works as an app, so it can be used across smartphones and tablets as a 3D and augmented reality interactive experience. So students can use a shared class device, or their own smartphones, as a way to create and manipulate an object as if it was physically there.

The editor works for students to create images. So rather than moving and reading about a creation shared by the teachers -- perhaps of an animal -- they can instead create their own scene. This works using drag-and-drop controls with a selection of pre-populated materials, making it very straightforward and fun to use.

Creation can be shared publicly, for everyone to access, or shared privately to use in the class, or as a way to submit work directly to a teacher.

What are the best Assemblr EDU features?

Assemblr EDU has lots and lots of pre-made content, which makes it super simple to use and fast to go from nothing to sharing with the class. For example, you can select the Bone Structures option and have students choose from various types of bone that can be zoomed into, moved, and annotated to explore on many levels.

This makes for a really helpful way to visually teach, which is ideal for more abstract ideas or anything totally new to the class. Since visual processing is 60,000 times faster than text, according to the company, it should mean easier uptake for the class. This can also be a helpful way to reach students who might otherwise struggle with traditional text-based teaching techniques.

The app is very intuitive so most teachers and even younger students can use it right away without training. No coding knowledge is needed, or even image manipulation training, as this platform makes it all super straightforward with drag-and-drop controls.

Thanks to public sharing of creations, there is a huge wealth or pre-made constructs to work with available right away. Students can also create and have their work shared in a wider sphere than the class or school alone.

How much does Assemblr EDU cost?

Assemblr EDU offers four pricing options, including a free tier.

The Free options gets you 400 free 3D objects, limited access to Topics, limited access to Edu Kits, 30MB of storage, and unlimited QR Maker.

Go for the Single tier, at $2.99/month, and you get 6,000 Free and Pro 3D objects, unlimited Topics, unlimited Edu Kits, 300MB storage, 5 custom AR Marker, and unlimited QR Marker.

The Group option, at $4.99/month, gets you the above but across three accounts.

The School tier, at $1/month/user, gets you the above for 60 users plus 60 Custom AR Marker.

Assemblr EDU best tips and tricks

Introduce
Start a new topic with a visual introduction that allows students to grasp the idea before diving into more complexity during the lesson and beyond.

Create
Set a task for students to create an AR model of an object you're learning about and then have them play with one another's creations in class.

Teach
Have students present a topic or model they have found or created, explaining it to the class while modelling it in 3D or AR.

• New Teacher Starter Kit
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Catchy Words is a clever word game that is designed with augmented reality at its core. This takes the fun of word games and brings it into real life using a device's camera and display.

All that should mean this is a game that can make word games more engaging for students of varying ages and abilities. It brings the letters into the room, as if they were floating, to give students a more hands-on and physically active feel to the game while at the same time helping them work on spellings and grammar.

As a relatively cheap app that's easy to access on most devices, this offers a way to bring word-based learning to more classrooms and homes. Here's all you need to know about using Catchy Words in your class.

What is Catchy Words?

Catchy Words is an augmented reality word game that works on smartphones and tablets to bring floating letters into the room as if real.

The idea is a simple one, take a basic word game that can be beneficial to students -- but usually not engaging for all -- and add augmented reality to make it more exciting. The result is a graphically fun way to learn that works for a wide range of ages and abilities. 

Available in app form, this is easy to download and install. In fact, it is so intuitively designed, that even younger students should be able to pick this up and start using it right away with little to no guidance required.

How does Catchy Words work?

Catchy Words is an AR game that can be downloaded from the Apple App Store to play on iOS devices. So, yes, you will need an iPhone or iPad to get this up and running. But it's free to download and use.

Once downloaded you can open, allow access to the camera, and the game begins right away. Initially, it's a simple process of learning how to pop a bubble to get to a letter. This involves moving your device forward so it feels as if you're really physically popping it. The guidance is shown on screen with words an arrows.

As such, getting stated, is super intuitive and doesn't really require any guidance for students old enough to read. With those arrows, even younger students will probably be able to grasp the basics here too.

You can then select New Game and a basic three letter word will be used to help get you going. It's all very simple, fun and pretty addictive (in a good way).

What are the best Catchy Words features?

Catchy Words gets you physically involved so students will need to move about to interact with the letters. This is not only more engaging as a game but also provides a healthy way to interact with a screen as it requires movements -- leaving students feeling awake and mentally alert.

Helpful lines are fired out from the letters to guide you toward where they go, if stuck. This is activated if you press the icon of a face with a question mark.

You also have a word builder in the bottom right that fills in with letters, also showing spaces, so you can work out what the word is you're working toward putting together.

The option to input your own words is available, using the top right burger menu and typing what you want. This is a useful feature in class during which you may wish to test students on specific words. Or can be a fun way to work in an answer to another question perhaps.

How much does Catchy Words cost?

Catchy Words is totally free to download and use. It has no ads and you don't need to give any details as there is no sign up required to use this game. 

Catchy Words best tips and tricks

Start free
Begin by giving students the freedom to explore the game themselves to ensure they enjoy the experience and want to come back for more.

Personalize
Use your own words that you input and see how well students do, increasing complexity on an individual basis. Use pre-built word lists to save time.

Quiz it
Hold a quiz and rather than simply give the answers, have students discover them using the app afterwards to add another layer to the learning.

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Augmented reality (AR) is gaining traction in many fields and, in general, the cost of such tools is dropping. Teachers can harness some of these AR tools to improve how students learn and are engaged in bringing digital content into the physical classroom environment. 

AR allows virtual 3D models, animations, and contextual information to be overlaid on the real world through mobile devices or AR headsets. The Franklin Institute provides a good overview of what constitutes AR, as does UK’s Talk Business and Tech & Learning. This immersive technology provides unique opportunities for interactive, experiential learning across numerous subjects. 

For example, in a science class, students could use an AR app to visualize the 3D structure of a molecule they are studying and interact with it by rotating, resizing, or even building it atom-by-atom. For history lessons, AR can transport students to ancient archaeological sites projected on their desks, where they can explore 3D reconstructions of ruins and artifacts. Google’s Expeditions tool can allow students to take a virtual walkthrough South Africa and learn about its geography or visit the Seven New Wonders of the World. 

As this technology becomes more accessible, AR has the potential to revolutionize classroom learning through immersive, engaging educational experiences. A simple AR app for elementary students is Catchy Words, which allows students to physically grab virtual letters and then arrange the letters to spell words. 

Augmented Reality for Social Studies and Science 

Several AR apps are focused on history and culture and are widely available. 

The Xplore-AR app from TimeLooper allows for AR and virtual tours of a variety of historical sites, natural resources, and wildlife. The California Condor virtual exhibit alone is worth downloading the app. 

The American Battle Monuments Commission has 360-degree tours of a number of its locations. The American Military Cemetery in Luxembourg and the East Coast Memorial on the tip of Manhattan are examples of the sites available for virtual tours. Georgia Public Broadcasting has created a GPB Education AR/VR app, which provides several resources for science, social studies, and geography, all with an obvious focus on Georgia. For those without VR tools, the app offers a 360-degree tour option as well. Some of the subjects include quizzes as well. 

AR for Physical Education and Coaching 

A few AR tools can be useful for coaches and PE teachers.

OnForm is a track, field, and speed coaching tool that overlays biometric data onto a video of an athlete to help analyze if their body angles are correct during competition. As visuals can be helpful in coaching, the visual aspect of the app can be helpful in guiding improvement. 

Dance Reality is an iOS app with the potential to support PE teachers by using AR technology to put footprints on the floor to help the user learn the steps to a dance. 

Fit for Battle is an AR app that turns a walk or run into a role-playing game. It can be used outdoors, indoors, or even on a treadmill. 

Developing AR Lessons 

For teachers wanting to develop their own augmented lessons, AssemblrEDU is a potential development tool. It allows them to build and share lessons with their students or more widely and includes a range of lesson plan resources. 

Another development tool is CoSpaces Edu, which allows for student and teacher development of 3D creations that can be animated with code and explored in VR or AR. 

Thyng 5.0 is an AR tool that allows for photos, video, or 3D objects to be uploaded and then added into an augmented world. In this way, the real world becomes an amazing canvas for creating and sharing 3D AR experiences. 

As AR technology becomes more accessible and integrated into educational practices, it is poised to revolutionize the way we teach and learn, making the classroom an even more engaging, inclusive, and effective environment for students around the world. 

• What Is Augmented Reality?
• Best VR Headsets for Schools

zSpace -- appearing at the best of BETT 2024 this year -- does what augmented reality should, only without the discomfort of a big and heavy headset. That makes AR accessible to more students and also means a more comfortable experience for longer-term use.

This system comprises the laptop, which features eye-detection cameras, a side-based camera setup, and a wired stylus pen device. All that combines to create an 3D augmented reality experience on the screen that feels as if the objects are floating in the air in front of you. 

So why does that help? It means students can interact in a tactile way with 3D objects. For example, you can have a human heart floating in front of you and use the pen to remove walls and look inside, move the heart about as if it were in your hand, and zoom in and out to examine it more closely. Take that to robotics and engineering and you can dismantle or built robotics with each part taken into consideration.

As zSpace's representative told Tech & Learning: "This is a comfortable way to experience augmented reality in the classroom. That's both for the user, with digital tools, but also for the educator who no longer has to use physical examples -- like an animal's heart -- to show students how these objects break down."

This is a very intuitive AR system to use so it can be enjoyed by a wide range of student ages and abilities. 

• Best Of BETT 2023: Robots, AI, Smart Lockers And More Revealed

As school budgets continue to shrink and classroom time is at a premium, virtual field trips have become a great opportunity for educators to help students experience places around the globe without getting on a bus, or even leaving their classroom.

Being able to see and experience a significant cultural institution, historic site, or natural landscape with the help of immersive technology, such as virtual or augmented reality, can help make lessons more engaging and exciting.

Here are the best virtual field trips for education, organized by art museums, history museums, civics-related sites, aquariums and nature sites, STEM-related experiences, and more!

Virtual Art Museum Tours

- British Museum, London Explore more than 4,000 years of art and historical objects from around the world.

- National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C Features more than 40,000 American works of art, including paintings, works on paper, and etchings.

- Musee d’Orsay, Paris Displays art created between 1848 and 1914, including works by van Gogh, Renoir, Manet, Monet, and Degas

- National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea The representative museum of modern Korean visual art, plus architecture, design and crafts.

- Pergamon, Berlin, Germany Features sculpture, artifacts, and other items from ancient Greece.

- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands Home to the largest collection of artworks by Vincent van Gogh in the world, including more than 200 paintings, 500 drawings, and 750 of the artist's letters.

- Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy A dynastic collection of ancient sculpture, artwork, and artifacts, established by the renowned Medici family.

- MASP, Sao Paolo, Brazil Brazil's first modern museum, displaying 8,000 works, including paintings, sculptures, objects, photographs, and costumes from a range of periods, encompassing Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston A comprehensive collection that ranges from prehistoric times to modern day, featuring world-renowned paintings by Rembrandt, Monet, Gauguin, and Cassatt, plus mummies, sculpture, ceramics, and masterpieces of African and Oceanic art.

- The Frick Collection, New York Distinguished Old Master paintings and outstanding examples of European sculpture and decorative arts.

- J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles Works of art dating from the eighth through the twenty-first century, including European paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, decorative arts, and European, Asian, and American photographs.

- The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois Thousands of artworks—from world-renowned icons (Picasso, Monet, Matisse, Hopper) to lesser-known gems from every corner of the globe—as well as books, writings, reference materials, and other resources.

- The Metropolitan Museum of Art A colossal collection of art, cultural objects, and historical artifacts from over 5,000 years of human history.

- The Louvre Museum Packed with iconic works of art, from da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli, and other renowned artists.

- New Britain Museum of Art eMuseum Virtual visitors can explore a wide variety of the institution's collection, include works of American Impressionism, landscapes from the Hudson River School, Post-WW2 and Contemporary art, as well as the "Math-terpieces" and "What Is America?" school tours.

Virtual History Museum Tours

- Smithsonian Museum of Natural History One of the largest repositories of natural history on the planet, featuring more than 145 million artifacts and specimens.

- National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum Home to an internationally renowned collection of Western art and artifacts, including paintings, sculpture, photographs, and historical objects.

- The Prague Castle, Czechoslovakia Prague Castle is the largest coherent castle complex in the world, consisting of palaces and ecclesiastical buildings of various architectural styles, from the remains of Romanesque-style buildings from the 10th century through Gothic modifications of the 14th century.

- The Colosseum, Rome One of the most iconic structures in world history.

- Machu Picchu, Peru Explore the 15th-century mountaintop citadel built by the Inca.

- The Great Wall of China One of the wonders of the world, stretching more than 3,000 miles across multiple provinces of China

- The National WWII Museum’s Manhattan Project virtual field trip A cross-country virtual expedition to discover the science, sites, and stories involved with the creation of the atomic bomb.

- Discovering Ancient Egypt In addition to stories of the great kings and queens, learn about the ancient Egyptian gods and mummification, pyramids, and temples through interactive maps, photos, drawings, and paintings.

- Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Doomsday Clock Virtual Tour Through personal stories, interactive media, and pop culture artifacts, explore seven decades of history, from the dawn of the nuclear age to the significant policy questions of today.

- U.S. Capitol Virtual Tour Video tours of historic rooms and spaces, some of which are not open to the public, research resources, and teaching materials.

Civics Virtual Field Trips

- National Mall Gateway - This digital platform connects students and teachers to the National Mall and U.S. history, allowing them to go from the classroom to the Reflecting Pool. It also features standards-aligned resources, interactive maps, and 360° tours so students can explore historic landmarks.

- Virtual Field Trip to the Census Bureau A behind-the-scenes introduction to the U.S. Census Bureau, featuring exclusive interviews with subject matter experts.

- National Constitution Center Virtual Tour A virtual interactive multimedia tour of the National Constitution Center on Independence Mall in Philadelphia.

- Virtual field trip to Ellis Island Hear first-hand stories told by those who came through Ellis Island, see historical photographs and films, and read fascinating facts.

Aquariums & Nature Parks Virtual Field Trips 

- National Aquarium Home to 20,000 animals covering 800 species, from the depths of the ocean to the canopy of the rain forest.

- Georgia Aquarium Live webcam feeds for aquatic creatures, such as beluga whales, penguins, alligators, sea otters, and even underwater puffins.

- San Diego Zoo Live looks at koala, baboons, apes, tigers, platypuses, penguins, and more.

- Yellowstone National Park (live cams) Nine webcams—one live-streaming and eight static—provide views of around the North Entrance and Mammoth Hot Springs, Mount Washburn, the West Entrance, and the Upper Geyser Basin.

- Mystic Aquarium One of three U.S. facilities holding Steller sea lions, and it has the only beluga whales in New England.

- Monterey Bay Aquarium (live cams) Ten live cams, including sharks, sea otters, jellyfish, and penguins.

STEM Virtual Field Trips

- NASA At Home Virtual tours and apps from NASA, including tours of the Goddard Space Flight Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, International Space Station, and Hubble Space Telescope Mission Operations Center, plus excursions to Mars and the Moon.

- California Science Center Build your own virtual field trip for grades K-5 with NGSS-aligned content, in both English and Spanish.

- Slime in Space Take students 250 miles above Earth to the International Space Station to learn along with astronauts how slime reacts to microgravity compared to how water reacts.

- Clark Planetarium Virtual Skywatch Free for schools, virtual versions of the live “Skywatch” planetarium dome presentations that directly correlate to 6th grade and 4th grade SEEd astronomy standards.

- Alaska Volcano Observatory Alaska's active volcanoes offer superb opportunities for basic scientific investigations of volcanic processes.

- The Nature Conservancy’s Nature Lab virtual field trips Designed for grades 5-8 but customizable for all ages, each virtual field trip contains a video, teacher guide, and student activities.

- Great Lakes Now Virtual Field Trip Learn more about the importance of coastal wetlands, the danger of algal blooms, and a deep dive into lake sturgeon. Designed for 6-8th grade.

- Access Mars Explore the real surface of Mars, as recorded by NASA's Curiosity rover.

- Easter Island The story of a team of archaeologists and a 75-person crew who sought to unravel how the hundreds of giant stone statues that dominate the island's coast were moved and erected.

- FarmFresh360 Learn about Canadian food and farming in 360º.

Miscellaneous Virtual Field Trips

- Nature Eye - NatureEye specializes in live, interactive virtual field trips during which students and teachers can remotely "fly" a drone in real time at a location on the other side of the world. Curriculum-aligned experiences include African wildlife reserves, Icelandic volcanos, and Peruvian cloud forests, with a live guide to provide context and answer questions. Virtual field trips start at $150.

- CyArk - This nonprofit organization uses advanced technologies, including drones and photogrammetry, to digitally preserve cultural heritage sites. They create immersive 3D models, virtual tours, and self-guided field trips of historical landmarks and archaeological sites, including Mount Rushmore, Mongolia, Greenland, Bangkok, Sudan, and many more.

- American Writers Museum new live Virtual Field Trips feature a guided exploration of AWM’s permanent exhibits or two online exhibits; staff-led interactive gameplay and pop quizzes about major literary works; and Writer Wednesdays, offering students a weekly opportunity to connect with a published author about the craft of writing.

- Khan Academy Imagineering in a Box Go behind the scenes with Disney Imagineers and complete project-based exercises to design a theme park.

- Google Arts & Culture Explore galleries, museums, and more.

Before teaching a VR lesson or an AR lesson, there are some questions teachers should ask themselves, says Jaime Donally, an immersive learning expert. 

Donally is a former math teacher and instructional technologist who has written two books about teaching with extended reality (XR), which encompasses virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). She advises teachers to ask these questions as they prepare to teach a VR lesson and get ready for the metaverse. 

1. What is The Goal of The VR Lesson? 

As with any kind of lesson, it's a good idea to start with the end goal in mind when teaching a VR lesson by asking questions such as, "What is the learning objective? And how can VR help meet that objective?" 

Too often, an educator will see a cool VR lesson at a conference and try to shoehorn it into an existing lesson. “I think that's really going to be the approach that's going to have a lot more problems,” says Donally. 

Instead, she advises teachers to search for VR and AR resources and lessons that can fill gaps. “Look for the resources that are going to target those areas where maybe us as teachers have a hard time grasping or demonstrating," she says. "What can augmented or virtual reality support that I couldn't do without that kind of technology?”  

For example, consider using VR to enhance an existing lesson, such as a history lesson to see what a significant site used to look like in the past.

2. What Type of Technology Do Your Students Have Access To?  

You don’t need an expensive VR headset to start incorporating immersive technology into your teaching but you do need to be mindful of the strengths and weaknesses of the tech that your students have access to. 

“Chromebooks, which are the most popular school products in the classroom today, are limited to more web XR experiences,” Donally says. “So an example of that is actually building in a virtual or 360-degree environment.” 

If students have access to devices with cameras such as an iPad, iPhone, or Android device, they can engage in AR lessons. “They can do augmented and virtual reality experiences in it, and it gives them the chance to be able to explore and sometimes even create and design,” Donally says. “Depending on which device they get, they can even do 3D scanning to be able to build and populate their immersive experiences. Most of what I share is being used or leveraged on iPhones or iPads, or Google mobile devices."

3. Who Can I Collaborate With?  

Collaboration with administrators and other colleagues is key to developing successful VR lessons, especially as the technology you are utilizing gets more advanced and potentially expensive. 

“[Collaborate] with your curriculum team, your technology team, other teachers in the same group, whether it be grade level or subject level,” Donally says. 

When this collaboration portion isn’t in place, sometimes efforts to incorporate VR into the classroom can be a bust. “What happens is you have this really energetic teacher that jumps into this technology, with absolutely no support through their curriculum, no support through their technology, and really no guidance. So they run into all these stumbling blocks,” Donally says. “I've actually heard of school districts going out and spending grant money for VR headsets, and the technology department shuts it down because it's not safe, or there are complications within their own network.” 

4. What Resources Are Available?  

Donally has written more than 200 blogs on VR learning and related topics for her website that teachers can access for free. In addition, she has developed two free courses in partnership with the Verizon Innovative Learning Center and has written two books published by ISTE on the topic, The Immersive Classroom and Learning Transported. 

Educators can also connect with other VR-interested teachers using the #ARVRinEdu hashtag on social media. “You're going to find a lot of resources from the community sharing ideas and inspiring one another," Donally says. 

She recommends the following courses: 

• ARVRinEDU.com
• AR Course
• VR Course
• Everfi Metaverse Course

5. How Do I Know My VR Lesson Is Successful?  

The more that our VR lessons can be student-directed, the better. “I think a successful lesson is letting the students own the technology,” Donally says. “When students are building and creating experiences, sharing those experiences with others, and that’s something that others can enjoy and maybe even be inspired by. I think that's really when we're going to see this kind of technology take off.” 

Too often there’s is a reluctance to hand students the reins. “We tend to want to control every piece. We have to know every aspect [of a lesson]. I don't know, every aspect,” Donally says.  “Every time I talk to teachers or students I learn something new. And I think when we can all look at it from an approach that we are in this together to learn this together. This technology is changing so rapidly, that we always have room for growth and to learn together. I think that that's when you have a successful lesson.” 

• Best VR Headsets for Schools
• The Metaverse: 5 Things Educators Should Know
• Using Virtual Reality To Enhance Existing Lessons

If virtual reality or augmented reality are of interest to your school then this guide is what you need to get it for free. While the relatively new technologies may seem expensive and complex initially, when you look more closely it becomes clear that either can be very accessible.

Yes, a virtual reality (VR) headset or an augmented reality (AR) one can make for the most immersive experience for students – but neither needs to be a requisite, nor does one need to be expensive.

This guide will explain what VR and AR are, how these platforms can be used in schools, and the best ways to get either for free. Just want to know how to get these for free? Skip down to that section heading and read on to find out.

What is virtual reality or augmented reality and how can it be used in schools?

Both virtual reality and augmented reality are forms of digital creations that allow anyone to enter that world. In the case of VR, a headset can be worn in which screens display that world while motion sensors change what's shown based on where the wearer looks. This allows you see and move about in a totally virtual environment.

Augmented reality, on the other hand, combines reality and the digital world. This uses a camera and screens to overlay digital images on the real world. This allows users to look about and see virtual objects in a real space, but also to interact.

Both can be used in schools. Virtual reality is great for school trips to places that might otherwise be out of reach literally, or due to budget constraints. It can even allow for travelling through time and space to visit ancient lands or far off planets.

Augmented reality is better suited to real world use, such as experiments. For example, it can allow a physics teacher to offers complex and otherwise dangerous experiments in a safe environment, digitally. It can also make it far cheaper and easier to store equipment.

How can I get virtual reality or augmented reality free in schools?

While both VR and AR can be accessed for free, it's AR that's better suited to this format. For virtual reality, you really do need some sort of headset for the true experience. Of course, you can enter a virtual world and explore it using any device with a screen. 

Google Cardboard is a very affordable way to turn a smartphone into a virtual reality headset. It features two lenses and uses the phone's motion sensors to let the wearer look about in a virtual world. With lots of free apps and plenty of 360 VR content on YouTube, this is a super affordable way to get started.

While there are augmented reality headsets, these are expensive. It can be easy enough to get this AR-style setup with a smartphone or tablet. You don't need to have a headset with this, since you are looking at the real world. As such you can use a tablet or smartphone's camera and display, as well as motion sensors, to move about and see the virtual objects in a real room space.

So, the key to free AR and VR experiences is using a device that students or schools already own. Since smartphones and tablets do this, even on older devices, these should be accessible in many places. The only thing left to do then is to find the best content. Here are some of the best AR and VR experiences available for use in schools right now.

SkyView app

This app is all about space. It uses a smartphone's motion sensors to allow students to point the device at the sky and see what stars are above. This is great for use at night, when the real stars, planets, and other space objects can be seen, but also works just fine from wherever and whenever this is used.

This helps students to identify stars as well as constellations, planets, and even satellites.

Get SkyView for Android or iOS devices.

Froggipedia

A useful app for science classes in which dissecting an animal may be too brutal, too expensive, or simply too time-consuming. Froggipedia allows students to see the insides of a frog as if it were really there on the table in front of them. 

This is a safe way to work, cleanly, and allows students to observe how the insides of a living body are laid out and even how it all works together to sustain the animal. There is also a human anatomy app but this costs $24.99.

Get Froggipedia on the App Store.

Get the Human Anatomy Atlas for iOS.

Other free virtual labs can be found here. 

Berlin Blitz

For anyone wishing to take a trip back in time, this is a perfect way to experience history. The BBC has created the 360-degree virtual experience that's freely available to all and can be viewed easily from nearly any device using a web browser.

The experience lets you take a ride in a bomber plane in 1943 as captured by a journalist and camera crew as the plane flew over Berlin. It is immersive, allowing you to move the cursor to look about. It was described by the journalist, Vaughan-Thomas, as "the most beautifully horrible sight I’ve ever seen."

Watch the 1943 Berlin Blitz here.

Google Expeditions

Go anywhere in the world using Google Expeditions. As part of the Google Arts & Culture website, these virtual trips are freely available to all. 

These make distance no issues and even transcends time with past, present and future locations available to see. This also has follow-up materials to help teach classes based on the trip, making it more useful for students and easier to plan for teachers.

Go on a Google Expedition here.

Visit a museum virtually

Since lockdown, museums have started to offer virtual tours. These are now common with most big name museums offering some form of virtual visit. 

For example you can visit the National Museum of Natural History picking by permanent exhibits, past ones or current ones and more. You can even take a narrated tour for ease and maximum learning.

Check out the National Museum of Natural History tour here.

Check out other virtual field trips to museums, galleries, and more here.

Sandbox AR

The Sandbox AR app, from Discovery Education, is a great example of the power of augmented reality in the class. This allows students to build virtual worlds in the app and have them scale up to fill a room. Students could explore ancient Rome in the sports hall or lay out interactive tools on tabletops in a classroom.

This is free to use and works across even older devices. There are pre-built locations, with more added regularly, making this easy to use and explore with.

Get Sandbox AR on the App Store.

Sandbox AR comes from Discovery Education as an award-winning digital media platform that now serves over 4.5 million students worldwide across 140 countries, which isn't new. What is new is the Sandbox AR app itself.

Launched this year and shown off at Bett 2022, the augmented reality app gives a glimpse into how education could work in the future, starting now. The app, available on iPad only at launch, takes advantage of the device's camera, display, motion sensors, and high-speed processors to meld reality and digital creations.

But how does this actually work? We took a tour with Phil Birchinall, Discovery Education's senior director of immersive content and teacher of 30 years.

• Best of Bett 2022

How Does Sandbox AR Work?

The app allows students and teachers to enter an empty space, say a school hall, and hold up the tablet with the camera on. Instead of displaying the empty room, the app overlays digital creations in that space. You can then move about in the real world to explore the virtual creation.

This could mean, as shown in the above real-world example picture, that students are able to explore an ancient Roman city as if it were really there right in front of them. That opens up the possibilities for school trips, allowing students not only to travel the globe virtually but to visit certain places in time as well.

What Makes Sandbox AR Unique For Education?

Augmented reality has been around for years now, although upgrades in Apple hardware and software – following the launch of ARKit – are making that more accessible than ever. As a result, this platform has been created to simplify the process of using AR while also creating with it. Consequently, any iPad since Gen 5, in 2017, will now be powerful enough to run this app.

"We are aware of equity in schools and wanted to make sure this was accessible to as many as possible," says Phil Birchinall.

What would have previously taken super powerful computers to generate AR environments is now made available to teachers and students. Sandboxes, as these spaces are called, allow students or teachers to build virtual realities to visit or to share with the class – a bit like Minecraft in AR.

A host of pre-built sandboxes are available, allowing classes to take trips easily without the need to build. This can mean historic trips through time and space. You can also share these using QR codes, a great idea for melding with the real world. Imagine tables in a class, each with a QR code students can scan to reveal a different experiment or trip on that area.

Birchinall points out the choice of this AI over VR: "We have worked with VR for years but it's AR that works so well for education. This opens the experience up so that a group of students can explore a space together in this more sociable way of experiencing the digital world."

How Can Sandbox AR Be Used In Education?

We've already touched on what Sandbox AR is capable of but there is so much more. In fact, this is a virtual creation space so it is only limited by the creativity of its users. Think of how Minecraft has grown since its creation – this is a bit like that in terms of creative freedom, only with a far more lifelike and immersive experience. 

The key here is that this can grow as is needed by educators and students. "We plan to have developments for major events, like Tutankhamun’s 100th anniversary that’s coming up, there will be specialist Egyptian build materials for that," Birchinall says. "But we’re also building based on what educators are asking for. We can do this with direct requests and also from the user data we see from our established De:X platform. Where this grows is up to those that use it in school and we're really excited about that."

Why should teachers integrate augmented reality (AR) apps and sites into their curricula? With manipulable 3D visuals, augmented reality apps and sites inject a wow factor into any subject, increasing kids’ engagement and enthusiasm for learning.  In addition, recent research suggests that AR can foster greater empathy in users. Many of these AR apps and sites are free or inexpensive. 

 iOS and Android AR Apps

1. 3DBear AR
   This super-creative AR design app offers lesson plans, challenges, 3D models, social media sharing, and 3D printing capability. The 3DBear website provides video tutorials, curriculum, and distance learning resources for educators. Great for PBL, design and computational thinking. Free and paid plans, with 30-day free trial.  iOS   Android 
   
   
2. Civilisations AR
   Based on the BBC Two art history program Civilisations, the Civilisations AR app helps users explore masterpieces from ancient Egypt to the Renaissance. Themes -- including faith, progress, and the human body -- are illuminated through the investigation of the featured 41 artifacts. This research tool can ignite kids’ interest in history, art, or science. Free. iOS Android  
   
   
3. Quiver - 3D Coloring App
   Quiver turns a special coloring book into a 3D augmented reality experience. Users print AR-enabled blank coloring sheets through the app or the website, then color each with crayons, colored pencils, or oil pastels. Activate the quiver app to bring the pages to life. Free app, free and paid coloring packs. iOS  Android 
   
   
4. PopAR World Map
   Explore the wonders of the world, from wild animals to international culture to historic landmarks. Features include 360-degree view (VR mode), interactive gameplay, and 3D models. Free. iOS Android 
   
   
5. SkyView® Explore the Universe
   One of the most popular AR astronomy apps,  SkyView® Explore the Universe makes it easy to identify galaxies, stars, constellations, planets, and satellites in the night sky, while the AR mode allows users to spot objects day or night. Great for out-of-the-way places, as no WiFi, data signal, or GPS is required. Try the Time Travel setting to see the sky of ancient and future ages. $1.99. iOS  Android  From the same developer, the similar SkyView® Lite is free.
   
   
6. CyberChase Shape Quest! 
   Based on the PBS Kids math show CyberChase, CyberChase Shape Quest! combines games, puzzles and 3D augmented reality to practice geometry and spatial memory skills. Three different games and 80 puzzles provide lots of variety and skill levels. Free. iOS Android 

iOS AR Apps

1. Augment
   A simple app for viewing 3D AR models. Users upload their own 3D models and can manipulate each one in various ways with the app. Augment works well for design-related subjects and presentations; resources are available for students and teachers to get started.  Free. 
   
   
2. East of the Rockies
   A beautiful story app from the National Film Board of Canada. Written by acclaimed author Joy Kogawa, this interactive tale follows the journey of a Japanese-Canadian family interned during WWII. Free teachers guide in English and French. $3.99
   
   
3. Fetch! Lunch Rush
   A fun multiplayer game based on the PBS KIDS TV series, FETCH!, in which players try to keep up with the sushi orders. Designed to supplement national standards for first and second grade math curricula. Free. 
   
   
4. Froggipedia
   An impressive AR anatomy app that covers every phase of frog life, from a single-celled egg to a full-grown frog. Dissect and examine the AR frog’s lifelike internal organs using a finger or Apple pencil with this 2018 iPad App of the Year. $3.99
   
   
5. Sky Guide  
   Winner of the Apple Design Award 2014, Sky Guide allows users to instantly locate stars, planets, satellites, and other celestial objects in the present, past, or future. Augmented Reality mode makes it easier to visualize and identify constellations. Works with or without WiFi, cellular service, or GPS. $2.99
   
   
6. Wonderscope
   This highly engaging interactive story app puts kids at the center of the unfolding action, allowing them to move around, become part of the story, and explore details by tapping on objects. Free for the first story; additional stories are $4.99 each

Websites for AR

1. CoSpaces Edu
   A complete 3D, coding, and AR/VR platform for education, CoSpaces Edu provides online tools for teachers and students to create and explore their own augmented worlds. Features include lesson plans and an extensive gallery of CoSpaces created by teachers, students, and the CoSpacesEdu team. AR requires iOS or Android device and free app. Free basic plan for up to 29 students.  
   
   
2. Lifeliqe
   A standards-aligned K-12 science curriculum with lesson plans and eye-popping, sophisticated interactive 3D models. Integrates with Google Drive, Google Classroom, and Microsoft Teams for easy sharing and saving. Prices start at $8 per student annually. 14-day free trial with premium content. 
   
   
3. Metaverse
   An augmented reality creation platform that requires no coding knowledge. Users build, publish, and share AR stories, games, and polls on the platform. Mobile devices are required to run AR programs.  Free with premium options available. iOS Android

In recent years, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) have helped teachers educate, motivate, and increase classroom interaction for students of all ages and abilities by making learning more accessible, memorable, practical, and engaging. 

VR immerses the user in a 3D environment in which they hear, touch, smell, and taste stimuli. Students interact either through a traditional desktop and VR software or wear a head-mounted display (HMD) and data glove. AR enhances physical content with 3D effects so that users remain external observers and observe the augmented effects through apps such as Google Lens.

The challenges implementing VR and AR are mostly logistical and technical. Qualified staff and plenty of space is required for VR, plus users can become easily distracted and need to be trained in digital competencies. Apps entail data security and privacy issues. Equipment can also be expensive.

Still, schools can employ even limited AR and VR solutions, especially to support students with special learning needs. 

Supporting Students with Special Needs 

Both AR and VR have been shown to increase motivation, facilitate interaction, develop cognitive skills, improve short-term memory, and make lessons more enjoyable. The greatest effect lies in improving communication skills, especially in students with hearing problems. For autistic students, VR seems to facilitate social interaction. 

Examples of VR and AR being used to help students with disabilities abound. Teacher Veronica Lewis uses Google Chromecast to enlarge images for visually impaired individuals, and employs VR screen readers, such as VoiceOver and TalkBack, that describe the environment with information from alt text in the images and videos. Morehead State University researcher Sue Parton has shown how deaf students benefit from Google Glass and from video and 2D barcode camera phone scanning. In The Deaf and Dumb School in Gujarat, India, where some students don’t recognize their own names, staff uses VR images processed through a program called Foton to teach them. Multiple studies have shown that VR and AR help users on the autism spectrum recognize facial emotions and improve their social skills.

For learning disabled individuals, AR can improve vocabulary through gamefication. In India, educators have created an interactive textbook that uses 3D images, audio clips, and videos to explain text. Other studies show how VR has been effectively used to improve social anxiety, language deficiencies, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), physical or motor disability, cognitive deficits, dyslexia, and Down syndrome, among other disabilities.

At the 53rd St. School in Milwaukee, Megan Rierdon, a special needs educator, uses Google Earth VR for field trips. “The kids sat down in a chair, put on a virtual reality headpiece and saw a tour walking around an entire greenhouse,” Rierdon told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “[They] were reaching down to touch the dirt and waving to the people they saw.” 

AI-based Training with Molly Porter helps prepare students to discuss their disabilities with interviewers.

Too much sensory overload? At the Perkins School of the Blind relaxing 360-degree videos of animate or inanimate objects or locations is used to calm students. 

More Promising VR and AR Options on the Horizon 

With developments in VR and AR on the rise, applications are immense. For example, a team of researchers at the University of Michigan are developing iGYM, an augmented reality system designed to teach wheelchair-bound children community-level sports.

Developers are also beginning to prioritize accessibility during design, leading to lighter headsets and more user-friendly controllers, among other gear, for users with physical disability; appropriate color choice, audio descriptions, and text and image magnification for children who are blind; and clear transcripts and closed captioning for users who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Ultimately, teachers will be able to use virtual and augmented reality to make a classroom environment that fits the needs of any student.

Leah Zitter, Ph.D., is a High-Tech Writer and Research Scientist. 

Immersive reality (IR) is becoming more accessible, especially at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, where the staff is piloting a browser-based IR world using VirBELA Open Campus. 

“IR started with virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality, and now it’s evolved into IR,” says Ray Lefebvre, vice chancellor and chief information officer at UMass Boston. One of the best things about IR, he says, is that you don’t need an expensive headset like you do for most VR. Instead, you can use a computer monitor or laptop screen to participate in an IR world.

In an IR world, you create an avatar and move around a virtual environment. For faculty and staff at UMass Boston, they can go into virtual offices, meeting spaces, and libraries to communicate, engage, hang out, and learn. “I think this could reinvent higher education,” says Lefebvre. “An immersive reality platform will help us to make sure we truly connect with today's digital native students.”

Lefebvre got started by testing Open Campus earlier this year after participating in a CIO panel about coping with COVID and discovering that another college was exploring IR. 

Within the IR world, the UMass Boston team has access to 36 offices and four conference rooms, including an IT office suite with a reception area. Lefebvre holds staff meetings in the small IT conference room. He can walk around, sit in a chair, talk to staff via the audio capabilities, share his screen, and upload content.

Although the college isn’t using IR for teaching and learning just yet, the platform is being piloted to see how students and faculty might use it in the fall and beyond. Earlier this summer, the platform was used for an IT art project. 

“Each year, our IT student workers take photos on campus and we showcase their work in one of our galleries,” says Lefebvre. “This year, we created a gallery and showed the photos in our IR world. People can come to the IR gallery and check out the photos as if they were in the physical gallery.”

Creating Opportunities

As word of mouth spread on campus, the School of Nursing has reached out and wants to use the platform for poster sessions and possibly for welcome sessions. The History department is also considering the platform. 

The IR world offers customizable classrooms that can be configured in multiple ways, from small groups to workstations. An auditorium that can be accessed by up to 150 avatars is available, perfect for larger lecture-style courses or events.

“We’ve discovered a lot of use cases for this—everything from hosting meetings to offering tech support,” says Lefebvre. “It also seems like a great way to get students engaged.”

For now, he’s content to host meetings in the IR suite and be available for nonscheduled chats. “Pre-COVID, people stopped by my office all the time,” says Lefebvre. “I’ve been starting my day by sitting in my virtual office and people walk over and we have great drop-in conversations—no dialing, no calendars, no setting up a Zoom.”

Open Campus pricing starts at $100 per month for 10 users, but there’s also a free version to explore. Other vendors in the space include Vectorform and Mursion, and Lefebvre encourages anyone interested to do their research and explore each one.

Creating Opportunities

As word of mouth spread on campus, the School of Nursing has reached out and wants to use the platform for poster sessions and possibly for welcome sessions. The History department is also considering the platform. 

The IR world offers customizable classrooms that can be configured in multiple ways, from small groups to workstations. An auditorium that can be accessed by up to 150 avatars is available, perfect for larger lecture-style courses or events.

“We’ve discovered a lot of use cases for this—everything from hosting meetings to offering tech support,” says Lefebvre. “It also seems like a great way to get students engaged.”

For now, he’s content to host meetings in the IR suite and be available for nonscheduled chats. “Pre-COVID, people stopped by my office all the time,” says Lefebvre. “I’ve been starting my day by sitting in my virtual office and people walk over and we have great drop-in conversations—no dialing, no calendars, no setting up a Zoom.”

Open Campus pricing starts at $100 per month for 10 users, but there’s also a free version to explore. Other vendors in the space include Vectorform and Mursion, and Lefebvre encourages anyone interested to do their research and explore each one.

Creating Opportunities

As word of mouth spread on campus, the School of Nursing has reached out and wants to use the platform for poster sessions and possibly for welcome sessions. The History department is also considering the platform. 

The IR world offers customizable classrooms that can be configured in multiple ways, from small groups to workstations. An auditorium that can be accessed by up to 150 avatars is available, perfect for larger lecture-style courses or events.

“We’ve discovered a lot of use cases for this—everything from hosting meetings to offering tech support,” says Lefebvre. “It also seems like a great way to get students engaged.”

For now, he’s content to host meetings in the IR suite and be available for nonscheduled chats. “Pre-COVID, people stopped by my office all the time,” says Lefebvre. “I’ve been starting my day by sitting in my virtual office and people walk over and we have great drop-in conversations—no dialing, no calendars, no setting up a Zoom.”

Open Campus pricing starts at $100 per month for 10 users, but there’s also a free version to explore. Other vendors in the space include Vectorform and Mursion, and Lefebvre encourages anyone interested to do their research and explore each one.

Creating Opportunities

As word of mouth spread on campus, the School of Nursing has reached out and wants to use the platform for poster sessions and possibly for welcome sessions. The History department is also considering the platform. 

The IR world offers customizable classrooms that can be configured in multiple ways, from small groups to workstations. An auditorium that can be accessed by up to 150 avatars is available, perfect for larger lecture-style courses or events.

“We’ve discovered a lot of use cases for this—everything from hosting meetings to offering tech support,” says Lefebvre. “It also seems like a great way to get students engaged.”

For now, he’s content to host meetings in the IR suite and be available for nonscheduled chats. “Pre-COVID, people stopped by my office all the time,” says Lefebvre. “I’ve been starting my day by sitting in my virtual office and people walk over and we have great drop-in conversations—no dialing, no calendars, no setting up a Zoom.”

Open Campus pricing starts at $100 per month for 10 users, but there’s also a free version to explore. Other vendors in the space include Vectorform and Mursion, and Lefebvre encourages anyone interested to do their research and explore each one.

Social studies and history educators always look for ways to bring lessons to life, introducing the world to the students and the students to the world. Tech helps not only inside the classroom, but also from the living room for students working with updated Chromebook software.

We discuss Google Expeditions with James Fester, who as technology coach led his former California district in an early Google Expeditions Pioneer Program.

Who: James Fester, Technology Integration Specialist

Where: Hill-Murray School, Independent 6-12 School in Saint Paul, MN

What: Using Google Expeditions and Tour Builder to enhance learning

Google Expeditions is more than just a way to get your students to "virtually" visit different locations. The ever-expanding list of experiences (around 900+ currently) includes topics in social studies, science, the arts, and career and technical education (CTE). 

Expeditions can become an engaging entry into your next learning unit or another form of input for student-centered research projects. It helps students connect class content to the real world by providing a window to the places and people that need to know what students are learning. By using the power of place, students understand the significance of the learning objectives they are trying to meet. 

You can illustrate the importance of angles and parabolas by leading students through a tour of world bridges. They can see how important an understanding of food webs is to park rangers. This kind of authentic connection just doesn't happen with textbooks and worksheets.

Getting Started

Students can access Google Expeditions in two ways: Using mobile devices with viewers, or through Chromebooks. The mobile devices tend to be more popular as the gyroscopes in the devices react to the student as they turn, creating a more immersive feeling. This is a great option for schools with a BYOD policy or during distance learning as the entire experience can be completed on a student's own phone or device. 

Biggest Challenge

The biggest challenge for schools is probably the cost. Electronics retailers such as Best Buy offer premade Expeditions Kits for classes of 10, 20, or 30 students, but these cost thousands of dollars. There are also issues around the maintenance of the devices and set-up that require the support of an in-school technician or dedicated teacher. 

Until recently Google Expeditions required Android devices, but now you can access the platform from any Chromebook, which is a huge win for schools. Students can use the touchscreen or their mouse to "drag" their point of view as their teacher leads the experiences. 

If the Chromebook route is your choice you'll want to make sure to have someone familiar with technical requirements to check and see if your school's devices can handle the AR content.  

Unexpected Pros and Cons

Two things that we didn't expect was the popularity of Google Expeditions throughout the school and the release of Tour Builder. When we first purchased these devices we assumed that they would be used primarily as science and history tools. Before long, however, the sign-out list included art, world language, and ELA teachers as well. 

Teachers heard from their students about how incredible Google Expeditions-infused lessons were and wanted to harness that interest in their own lessons. This proved to be both a good and bad problem. The popularity resulted in that the kits were constantly checked out, meaning that maintenance and issues of equity across schools needed to be addressed. However, since so many teachers were using the platform, we soon found that they were sharing lessons and best practices with each other on their own, creating a home-grown support system. 

What NOT To Do

Make sure that you don't overuse Expeditions. The power of VR and AR tech is the way it captures student attention and illustrates tricky-to-understand concepts in a simple way. But the magic soon disappears if it is overused or becomes "just another thing" in the classroom. 

Also, if students experience too many Expeditions experiences in one day they can get motion sick. (Don't ask us how we learned this...) 

Pro Tips

Google Expeditions works well as a standalone experience, but even better when it is the focus of inquiry-based lessons. Pairing the content with instructional strategies such as visible thinking routines or part of a project-based learning experience amplifies the effectiveness and the eventual payoff.

Prior to the release of Tour Builder, teachers were relegated to the premade selection of programs. Now, with a little bit of training, they can create their own virtual tours, making it possible to tailor the content to their classes. This has been a game-changer for educators who felt that the catalog of programs missed the mark somehow.    

If your class field trip was canceled, you can use these tips to take your students on a Virtual Field Trip

Finding Funding

Premade kits from Best Buy or other retailers are the most expensive options. Using Chromebooks that you already own is the cheapest and a good way to see if Expedition kits are worth investing resources. 

One strategy that I've seen work in larger districts is to split the cost between several schools and then do a timeshare in which each school gets the kit for a set amount of time. Another method is trying to assemble your own from a combination of older or donated devices and newly purchased ones. A school I worked with previously put out a call to their parents for old phones and within two weeks had assembled a class set of expeditions devices.

Tech Tools

• Edpuzzle
• Screencastify
• Google Hangouts
• Google Forms
• Flipgrid

 I would highly recommend the Google art and culture website and Google Earth Tour. I’m actually beta testing Google Earth’s tour creator, which is not yet available to the public but is incredible! Builds on many of the same principles that make Google Expeditions so great. 

New App to Help Students Experience Social Distancing 

As part of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Discovery Education and Afterschool Alliance today announced the launch of a new application for iOS products called Social Distancing Trainer. This new app, available now at no cost in the Apple App store here, teaches users about safe and healthy social distancing through augmented reality.   

Free Resources for Social-Emotional Learning, Happiness

Digital content from Discovery Education and its partners is available to families and students worldwide on the first International Social and Emotional Learning Day, which recognizes the importance of social and emotional learning (SEL) for both students and communities. 

Discovery Education is highlighting the following SEL partnerships which deliver no cost tools and resources to teachers, students, and their families:

Discover Your Happy

Discover Your Happy Virtual Field Trip (grades 7-12): Identify how happiness impacts physiology and psychology.

Ignite My Future in School

If You’re Happy and You Know It Activity (grades 5-8): Outline the many pathways to happiness and discover how to teach others the roadmap for success. 

Soar with Wings: Social and Emotional Skills for School & Life

Zen Zone Activity Guide (grades K-5): Practice self-management and responsible decision-making skills within the home. 

Teaching with Testimony

Stronger Than Hate Challenge (grades 7-12): Create a poem, story, video or piece of artwork that uses the power of story to counter hate for a chance to win up to $10,000 in prizes. 

CyberChase Shape Quest!

AR adds unique twist to geometry, spatial reasoning games

Pros: Leveling and strategic clues help the games appeal to students with a wider skill set.

Cons: Maneuvering the device over the game board can be difficult and awkward.

Bottom Line: Once kids get a hang of things, this app's puzzles will get them thinking creatively about shapes and spatial reasoning.

Read more 

App of the Day picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed by Common Sense Education, which helps educators find the best ed-tech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly. 

By Common Sense Education

Today at the annual Texas Computer Education Association Conference (TCEA 2020), zSpace Inc., zSpace announced a 100% sales increase in Texas of its augmented and virtual reality learning platform.

One of the company’s largest customers in Texas, Longview ISD, is in the process of deploying zSpace learning solutions to about 6,000 of the district’s students in seven of its schools. 

zSpace provides more than 2,000 school districts, technical centers, medical schools, colleges and universities worldwide with access to STEM content supporting core academic and Career and Technical Education (CTE) curricula. 

zSpace facilitator Ali Worsham, an Instructional Technology Specialist at Longview Independent School District in Longview, Texas, was nominated as the 2019-2020 TCEA Instructional Technology Specialist of the Year for her work in technology planning and curriculum integration through the use of AR/VR. This award honors those who work in technology planning and curriculum integration and recognizes the significant contribution these educators made toward successful technology use in schools.

“I see zSpace inspiring curiosity because it’s innovative and different. Students are engaged with the product in ways that help them master content through new and creative learning,” said Ms. Worsham. “zSpace allows my students to gain a deeper understanding of complex subjects because they can really pick apart all the layers. They can see how different things work. They can manipulate objects and really get in there and look at things in a different way.” 

For Texas educators who want to learn more about teaching through AR/VR, zSpace AR/VR in Texas includes posts, events, professional development opportunities, and video case studies from Texas schools and Districts of Distinction.

zSpace will be at TCEA in Austin, February 4-6, 2020, demonstrating its AR/VR education solutions in booth 2043. Join zSpace and Everman Independent School District to learn more about enhancing STEM and CTE programs with AR/VR on Friday, February 7 from 12:15 p.m.-1:05 p.m. at the Austin Convention Center, Level 4, Room 18A.

Tech’s Gone Country, AR/VR in Rural Ed

One rural district opened the world to their students using augmented and virtual reality elements to enrich core subjects and prepare them for the future. 

Who: Tina Bobrowski, Library Media Specialist 

Where: Owsley County High School in Southeastern Kentucky 

What: Using AR/VR to enhance rural education

Our students live in an isolated area in southeastern Kentucky. Without access to experiences that would be readily available in larger cities, such as museums and job shadowing experiences, and with a steep socio-economic gap with learners from other regions, we quickly realized that augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) can bridge this gap by providing our students access to virtual experiences and resources in the fields of medicine, arts and humanities, and mathematics. Students learn immersed virtual worlds more quickly and with greater mastery. 

[AV Goes Accessible]

A big thing about our community is its natural beauty. Being located in the Appalachian mountains gives our students the opportunity to be surrounded by natural beauty including the Kentucky river, the Red River Gorge area, and the nearby Daniel Boone National Forest. Our student senate began an initiative with support from a community challenge grant awarded by the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative (KVEC) to capture the beauty of our region and tell our story as citizens of Owsley County and southeastern Kentucky. We purchased a drone to fly in the woodland areas and capture images and video of the natural wonder that is southeastern Kentucky.

Positive Results

In a high school setting, where students are often hesitant to raise their hands, come to the board, or demonstrate their learning, we have witnessed our students jumping at the chance to put on the headset and explore, show their friends what they have found, and share their experience with others. Students make connections and use them to cement concepts gained from their texts and lessons. With the implementation of drone technology in our classes, students are beginning to see new fields of employment, including unmanned aerial photography and videography. 

Not only is it in their digital world, where they feel comfortable as digital natives, but it also provided them with more immersive learning, where students felt free to take risks and explore. In particular, they immediately bought into the idea of flying a drone for class. Journalism students were eager to “spread their wings,” learn to fly, get coverage of locations and scout ideas for other flights quickly. ELA students took a virtual reality tour of Ancient Greece, focused on Greek sculpture, then utilizing Z spaces actually created their own “virtual sculpture of a peer” in a similar style.

Biggest Challenge

Our biggest obstacle is capacity. With only one virtual reality headset currently and six augmented reality systems, students must work in small groups. We overcame our challenges by embracing modular learning, where students receive information at one station, work on Z Spaces in another station, and complete other portions of their lesson in the classroom.

Finding Funding

Grant funding has supported this initiative. In addition to federal Title I funding where available to support student learning. 

Unfortunately, in our small socio-economically distressed area, traditional jobs are not available. Our new Gigabit Community with high speed internet can provide new viable options for graduates who may choose to stay and work from their homes in tech fields. Having tech skills is imperative as our community's TeleWorks USA Hub has provided work in our area from Apple, DELL, UHaul, Amazon, Concentrix and is now the largest employer in our county.

Pro Tips

Target specific units of study when implementing software. Utilize available space and stage the learning environment. In addition, make sure students can not only utilize the technology, but observe others utilizing the technology, see what they are doing, and share their experiences. When looking into drone technology, educators should take a close look at larger companies and understand the standards for sensors, and how drones can be used in the classroom. Companies such as DJI cater specifically to the educational realm. 

Finally, make all decisions on what is best for students and what can remove barriers to student learning. Carefully review software to include students with special physical considerations, including assisted visuals, captioned audio, seated only interactions, and controller sensitivity adjustment for learners who may need assistance with their fine motor skills. We have found all students, including “differently-abled” students with special needs, find virtual learning to be more accessible than traditional learning resources.

Tech Tools

• Z Space Augmented Reality System
• Primary and Secondary AR glasses/Stylus/Tables to support at least three chairs per Z Space
• Custom Built PC w/additional large monitor for other students to observe
• HTC VIVE Virtual Reality System with Audio Upgrade (over-the-ear headphones)
• Viveport software subscription service
• DJI Mavic Pro 2 drone

Watch as we are “Traveling Beyond Appalachia in a Virtual Learning Lab”: https://portfolios.digitalpromise.org/ip/Portfolio_Intro?Id=a2z1G000000X5afQAC 

 A high school journalism class uses drone footage in their monthly digital newsletters: https://owsley.kyschools.us/District/1622-Untitled.html

Today at the Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC), zSpace Inc., Silicon Valley-based edtech provider, and MEL Science, London-based VR and hands-on learning science education specialists, announced a partnership to bring MEL Science’s curriculum-based chemistry courses to zSpace’s augmented and virtual (AR/VR) education platform.

This partnership delivers the MEL Chemistry application and lesson plans to millions of students around the world, expanding content available to zSpace users. As of today, 10 activities for middle school and 39 for high school are available through MEL Chemistry, including lessons and makerspace labs that provide open-ended creation opportunities and hands-on learning activities.

With MEL Chemistry on zSpace, students use AR and VR to experience being inside pure substances, mixtures, and even atoms. MEL Chemistry provides  visualization and explanation of chemistry concepts - from atoms to molecules, including the periodic table, gas laws, and isomerism. 

zSpace will be at FETC in Miami, January 15 - 17, 2020, demonstrating MEL Chemistry in booth 1002.

Technology in education, like most other areas of education, has fads, buzzwords, and trends that come and go often. There have been many predictions in the past regarding the future of technology in schools. This list contains a variety of trends that did not meet expectations, but also did not completely flop. The primary focus is on K-12 education, but there will be a few exceptions that apply to education at all levels and in general.

1. Virtual Reality (VR) & Augmented Reality (AR)
   It still seems that the price tag still remains a major barrier of entry for Virtual Reality. Once this barrier is breached, then the issue becomes finding sufficient appropriate learning materials that use the virtual reality components in an efficient and effective educational manner. Augmented reality has become more widespread due to lower barriers of entry, but many implementations of AR could be seen as a simple short-term use gimmick. On top of the barriers of entry, there are also reported issues of headaches and motion sickness which make the selection of VR/AR less desirable to some. While there surely are many people that successfully use both AR and VR in their classrooms, it will likely take further improvements in the technology, more development of appropriate educational programs that can be used on a VR/AR platform, and a lower price point to make this trend reach its full potential.
   
2. Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD)
   The idea of having students bring their own devices to school is a very polarizing issue.  Some think it is a great idea to have students connect their education to their personal devices since they spend a lot of time on them anyway.  Others would say that it is a terrible idea, since the school may not be able to adequately monitor exactly what the students are doing on their devices since they are not school-issued and maintained.  Part of the reason why this may have not caught on to a higher degree could be because of the issue of what to do with students that do not own their own device, or whose parents do not permit them to take their devices to school.  This adds another layer of required management.  Some schools may collect old devices and enable them to be used by students without their own devices, or schools may purchase several loaner devices, but doing so undermines the concept of BYOD to a certain degree.  This is a trend/prediction that could go either way.  Schools could make a push to gather and repurpose used devices for students that do not have the ability to bring their own device.  On the other hand, schools could all together ban the use of personal devices (specifically as it relates to the educational experience) and only allow for school-owned devices to be used in schools.
   
3. Interactive Whiteboards
   This is a trend that I feel has already hit its peak and will begin to fade.  For many students in a 1:1 device environment, the need to have a central presentation location seems to be diminishing.  The expense of purchasing and maintaining the equipment can be high, compared to programs that can allow one computer to share a screen with a class of students on their own devices.  The fate of this trend seems largely tied to a variety of other trends in education that place priority on individualized learning over large group lecture-style learning.
   
4. Computer Labs
   While still somewhere in the middle, this seems to be a trend that is on its way down.  1:1 devices, inexpensive laptops, tablets, BYOD, and other related tech trends all seem to point towards the end of single-purpose computer labs.  While there is certainly still a need for students to learn computer skills, a dedicated lab of computer seems like it will soon no longer be the place.  Students may be able to get a better learning experience in any learning space with their own device and a teacher guiding them through productivity apps, computer science, and/or basic functions of a computer.  There will certainly be exceptions to this.  Rather than eliminating the space altogether, these spaces seem to be prime for morphing into STEM labs and maker spaces.  
   
5. Wearables
   I have predicted it in the past as an upcoming tech trend in education.  But its not quite there yet.  This can include a huge variety of tech-enhanced items including smartwatches, enhanced virtual glasses, and assistive technology for individuals with disabilities.  There still remains relatively high price points for these devices, and many are small and have the potential to be easily lost or damaged by students.  These issues seem to be preventing wearables from becoming a bigger trend in educational technology than they have been so far.  I still feel that this category has great potential to become a major tech trend in education in the future.

Dr. Lahullier is the Coordinator of Technology Services for the Rochelle Park (NJ) School District.

From our friends at T3: These are the best AR toys on the market today and they are guaranteed to amuse you and your smartphone plenty, while also not take up too much of your time or raid your wallet like a pirate captain. Many of these toys are not just AR-infused either, but injected with educational value as well, meaning that their owner can get smarter while they have insane fun, too.

Why this matters: Augmented reality (AR) and its cousin virtual reality (VR) have become important teaching tools in the K12 classroom, allowing teachers to lead students digitally beyond the classroom walls for authentic learning.  With prices as low as $13.00, these educational AR toys can be a reality in any classroom.  Learn which toys  offer the most engaging educational content and associated apps by reading the full report at t3.com. 

Discovery Education today announced the acquisition of leading virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) provider Inspyro. Terms were not disclosed.

While VR and AR content is currently available across Discovery Education’s digital services, the purchase of Inspyro provides the company an in-house ability to quickly design, build, and integrate new VR and AR content into its  Math,Science, and Social Studies Techbooks, the new Discovery Education Experience, and other digital solutions.

Winners of multiple Bett Awards, Inspyro is a  experienced VR and AR developer.  The creators of curriculum-aligned learning modules supporting science, history, and geography instruction across the UK, Insypro is a full-service company whose assets can be scaled across multiple platforms and are compatible with various VR headsets and displays.

For more information about Discovery Education’s digital resources and professional learning services, visit www.discoveryeducation.com.

Civilisations AR

Nifty app gives students up-close access to historical treasures

Pros: Makes 41 of the world's treasures part of students' worlds, offering a fresh way to engage.

Cons: A little slow to pull up artifacts; audio support isn't consistently offered for all 41 artifacts.

Bottom Line: This is an undeniably cool app that encourages connection and curiosity, but without teacher support, student learning will be superficial. 

Read more 

App of the Day picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed by Common Sense Education, which helps educators find the best ed-tech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly. 

By Common Sense Education

Alive Studios, a provider of augmented reality-based literacy tools for early learners, has unveiled Classrooms alive! for pre-K and kindergarten classrooms. This research-based supplemental curriculum provides a multi-sensory learning experience where 26 animals come alive in 3D and interact with students to help them learn the foundational skills for reading and math. 

Teachers can boost their math and literacy blocks with zoo-themed lessons and activities aligned to kindergarten state standards. The complete Classrooms alive! package includes:

• Learning alive Plus interactive reading and math software kit;
• 12’ x 7’6” oval Alphabet Classroom Rug with Rugs alive™ mobile app;
• My Letters alive Journals  20 pack with Journals alive™ mobile app;
• My Math alive Journals  20 pack with Journals alive mobile app;
• Supplemental curriculum lesson plans; and 
• A 60-day trial of assessments for guided instruction. 

Learning alive Plus is a learning kit for reading and math that works on Windows-based and Apple computers. Children interact hands-on with 26 zoo animals while learning letters, letter sounds, phonetic word-building, and sentence-building—as well as 86 essential math skills. Lessons can be whole-group with a projector or smart panel, or small-group and intervention on a computer screen. 

The Alphabet Classroom Rug and free Rugs alive mobile app turn smartphones and mobile tablets into a window through which students can see 26 animals—one for each letter of the alphabet—come to life on the rug. 

My Letters/Math alive Student Journals and the free Journals alive mobile app provide children with their own book for mastering letters, shapes, numbers, and counting. 

Classrooms alive! also includes supplemental lesson plans aligned to kindergarten state standards.

Interested educators can experience a Zoo Tour in person at ISTE 2019 in Philadelphia at booth #3037 or at SDE19 in Vegas at booth #319.

CDI Technologies announces that it partnered with ClassVR to offer classroom-ready AR/VR kits that include a complete toolset for teachers to incorporate AR/VR into their classrooms. ClassVR’s virtual and augmented reality system is designed for the classroom and provides students with engaging, immersive experiences. Students can go on virtual field trips with the 360-degree video experiences or they can get up close and personal with content such as a beating heart by looking at a ClassVR worksheet while wearing the headset.

ClassVR kits include:

• Standalone VR/AR headsets that eliminate the need for additional mobile devices or Bluetooth controllers. The headsets also feature an intuitive hand and head-based gesture control system to help students navigate and select activities.
• Curriculum-aligned VR, AR and MR (mixed reality) resources and lesson plans designed to immerse and engage students. Users can also upload and share their own content.
• A web-based portal that allows teachers to control and manage the headsets, plan lessons, and monitor student progress. Teachers can set “points of interest” on students’ headsets to direct them to certain parts of the lesson and can view thumbnail images of what each student is seeing.
• Online tutorials and training videos for teachers.
• A ruggedized portable storage case and 100 GB of cloud storage.

The kits come in sets of four or eight headsets. For more information, visit https://cditechnologies.com/inspire/vr-kits/

Lifeliqe

Impressive, interactive 3D models augment classroom learning  

Pros: Beautiful models, ease of use, and an extensive library of lesson plans and curricula make this app extremely versatile.

Cons: Making your own ebooks is not intuitive, plus the pricing likely will keep it out of students' hands at home.

Bottom Line: While some models are lower resolution and less appealing, Lifeliqe is still a no-brainer for supplying mostly clear, professional 3D models for deep investigation.

Read more here.

App of the Day picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed by Common Sense Education, which helps educators find the best ed-tech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly. 

By Common Sense Education

3DBear AR

3D design and augmented reality merge in creative, interactive app 

Pros: Students can independently or collaboratively design and create scenes that fit any subject area.

Cons: You'll have to go searching for tutorials; while learning through experimentation can be engaging, the lack of hints may frustrate some kids.

Bottom Line: A great fit for classroom or makerspace settings as long as kids have compatible devices. 

Read more

App of the Day picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed by Common Sense Education, which helps educators find the best ed-tech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly. 

By Common Sense Education

Both Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are emergent technologies primed to make a real impact on learning and training. The excitement around them is great for quickly engaging an audience on a topic or theme, but the challenge for fields focused on learning and training is to leverage these technologies to achieve meaningful objectives.

I have been making a deliberate effort to increase exposure to these tools in my own middle school classroom. Most recently, my social studies classes were researching various battles in World War 2. We began with my students completed a pretty standard short research project criteria: Dates, Countries Involved, Significance of the event, etc…

After a day of research, I shared what we can do with their research in CoSpaces EDU. Through CoSpaces EDU, users can include 3D models from Google Poly and code them with the CoBlocks (a block coding program). I asked my students to try to image the battle they studies in VR. After building with their Chromebooks, I was pleased to see diverse interpretations of my direction. 

Finally, students who were ready to preview their work, shared it to my teacher account to view in the Oculus Go app. 

I am looking forward to seeing what we can create and use with these awesome tools next! 

cross posted at micahshippee.com

Micah Shippee, PhD is an out-of-the-box-doer, a social studies teacher, and a technology trainer. He works to bridge the gap between research and practice   in the educational sector. Micah explores ways to improve motivation in the classroom and seeks to leverage emergent technology to achieve educational goals. As an innovative "ideas" person, Micah likes to think,   and act, outside the box. Micah is motivated and energetic, taking a creative approach towards achieving goals. As an Educational Consultant, and Keynote Speaker, he focuses on the adoption of emergent technology through   the development of an innovative learning culture. Micah believe that innovativeness is the pedagogy of the future.

There are times in a school year when we are able to try things out with students with less risk (meaning failure is ok). For me, one of those times is often found at the end of the school year and final exams are finished for the content goals and objectives are complete, it’s at these times I like to try out something new.

Recently, I asked my students to bring whatever devices they had access to from their homes to school if their parents would allow it. Being 7th graders I wasn’t too sure how many of the students would be allowed but nearly 70% came back to school with the devices. So we set out to employ BYOD (bring your own devices) with augmented reality.

I started by asking the students to download several apps including Merge Cubes’ Galactic Explorer and Google Expeditions. I realized employing students own devices in an activity of this nature would bring to the surface very quickly any problems one might have with multiple (different) types of devices and operating systems. My student phones ranged from iPhone 5, 6, 6s, 7, 8 and 10 to HTC, Samsung, Pixels etc… Admittedly there was a lot of troubleshooting going on in my classroom during this augmented reality and virtual reality experience. I found that with my own Pixel to lead with Google Expeditions I needed to go into airplane mode so that my students with various devices could join. I also realized a key problem: that several students did not have an updated AR Kit (iOS) for AR Core (Android) which would allow them to really engage In the augmented reality experiences being offered.

NOTE: Having class-set of common devices (like an iPad cart) can allow you to quickly troubleshoot and set up for more successful engagement.

Merge Cube’s Galactic Explorer

Galactic Explorer by Merge VR allows students to very quickly experience augmented reality in very impressive ways. This is a target based form of augmented reality meaning the Merge Cube needs to be in the sight of the phone’s camera in order to initiate the augmented reality experience. Galactic Explorer is an experience that shows students the solar system. Students can rotate the cubes and rotate their phones to see different celestial bodies from different perspectives and view an information pop-up about the planet they were viewing. I recorded a little bit of the experience my classroom and when I re-watched it I was excited to hear my students say “Oh, wow!” as they saw the different celestial bodies pop-out of the Merge Cube for the very first time. All I could think about was how cool it would be to have student created oral reports in a science class based on the solar system since students in Merge Cube are also able to record their experience so they could have a video of themselves talking about a planet while they hold it in their hand.

Google Expeditions

Google Expeditions has traditionally been a virtual reality platform that allows teachers to lead students on 360-experiences with content from all over the world. Most recently Google has released an update with Expedition’s that allows for augmented reality views of new content. In this AR experience, teachers can use targets around their classroom to lead students in the exploration of 3D, computer-generated models. All while leveraging one of the most powerful aspects of Google Expeditions… the shared experience. A whole class can have a conversation about what they’re all seeing together.

In my most recent use of Google Expeditions AR experiences, I brought my students outside and connected all of our devices together through a wireless router.* Outside, my students examined Leonardo da Vinci’s machines. I was struck by how the context of our learning really contributed to what they were seeing, meaning that my students were able to see natural resources everywhere trees, dirt, sand, grass, etc… and then look at da Vinci’s three-dimensional computer-generated models that were created Buy DaVinci using this very same natural resources. What struck me is that students were given an in-the-moment experience that was related to their immediate surroundings and allowed for them to retain a sense of mindfulness and awareness of the environment in which the great Renaissance Inventor, Leonardo da Vinci, was able to invent over 500 years ago.

Helping students to understand the power of technology, that many have access to, is a step towards preparing students for their future. While not every student has access yet, we can be assured that costs will come down and power will go up… see Moore’s Law. I believe an ancillary, teachable moment, in classroom experience I have described here, is perseverance… Yes, it needs to be taught. Yes it’s ok if students see us fail and troubleshoot. They need to know adults do have to figure stuff out and sometimes we are not as put together as we may appear.

*NOTE: I’m using a wireless router to connect to devices not through the internet but through a Wi-Fi connection. We often use the word Wi-Fi as a synonym for internet when actually Wi-Fi is a communication tool similar to Bluetooth that allows devices to communicate with each other. So using an old router and a phone charger with a brick I’m able to have our Devices connected by Wi-Fi. 

cross posted at micahshippee.com

Micah Shippee, PhD is an out-of-the-box-doer, a social studies teacher, and a technology trainer. He works to bridge the gap between research and practice in the educational sector. Micah explores ways to improve motivation in the classroom and seeks to leverage emergent technology to achieve educational goals. As an innovative "ideas" person, Micah likes to think, and act, outside the box. Micah is motivated and energetic, taking a creative approach towards achieving goals. As an Educational Consultant, and Keynote Speaker, he focuses on the adoption of emergent technology through the development of an innovative learning culture. Micah believe that innovativeness is the pedagogy of the future.

Alive Studios, a provider of augmented reality-based literacy tools for early learners, has introduced Rugs alive, a classroom rug that brings wild animals to life in the classroom.

The new classroom rug and free Rugs alive mobile app can turn smartphones and mobile tablets into a window through which students can see 26 animals—one for each letter of the alphabet—come to life. As they practice their letters with the rug, students can also practice early STEM concepts by matching the right habitat with each animal.

Once they’ve selected the correct habitat for the animal, students can walk around it to explore, name its body parts, or talk with classmates about why it belongs in that habitat. Students can even take pictures of their classmates petting their virtual animal friends and then share the photos with others.

Interested educators can experience Rugs alive in person at FETC booth #2237.

The online educational publisher Twinkl has created a multiplayer augmented reality game that teaches Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.

ARchitect can be played by up to four people and invites players to create structures using different materials such as wood and ice, while facing challenges and adverse conditions.

The game introduces concepts such as structural integrity and provides a platform to learn real-world physics as players create towers, bridges and boats in a 3D world created with augmented reality.

Twinkl will be exclusively showcasing ARchitect at the Bett education technology show, which runs from the 23rd to 26th January at the ExCeL in London.

“ARchitect was inspired by the challenge often used in schools to build the tallest tower out of marshmallows and uncooked spaghetti,” explained Pete Casson, Chief Technology Officer at Twinkl.    

“The game hasn’t been designed to replace such activities but to be used alongside them. The main benefit of using ARchitect is that it allows children to build things that would otherwise be impossible, such as the biggest tower in the world made of wood or a bridge made entirely of ice, all in 3D.

As well as being showcased at Bett, ARchitect will be available to download for free from the Apple App Store from Wednesday 23rd January. 

Edmentum (edmentum.com) has announced a new partnership with Boulevard Arts. Edmentum and Boulevard Arts will partner closely over the 2018-19 and 2019-20 school years to build a full suite of augmented reality (AR) activities for humanities courses – including English 9-12, World History, U.S. History, and Art Appreciation and History. This partnership brings together Boulevard’s expertise in developing virtual, augmented, and mixed reality experiences with Edmentum’s 60-year history in digital curriculum, assessments, and education consulting to create new levels of student engagement and personalized learning.

[Google Expeditions Tour Creator]

For the first project, Edmentum and Boulevard Arts are developing several AR activities to be folded into Edmentum’s English 9A and 9B courses, and will continue to create AR experiences for additional courses in the future.

Acer today announced that it is accepting entries for its Acer STEAM Lab Makeover for K-12 schools in the United States. The winning school will receive 10 Aspire 7 laptops and 10 Acer Windows Mixed Reality headsets, valued at $13,000.

STEAM Labs help students explore connections between science, technology, engineering, arts and math, and delve into emerging fields like 3D modeling and design, electronics, digital media and fabrication.

Schools may submit entries now through Aug. 31, 2018 and the winner will be announced in early September by a random drawing of all valid entries. To enter, applicants must Tweet @AcerEducation with the hashtag #AcerGivesBack along with a brief statement describing why their classroom deserves to win a makeover and how the makeover would make a difference at their school. The statement may also include a Twitter post, picture or video attached to the entry Tweet.

The Aspire 7(A715-71G-71NC) features an Intel Core™ i7-7700HQ processor, a 1TB hard drive, 15.6-inch Full HD display, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 graphics, 8GB of DDR4 memory, a wide range of ports and advanced connectivity with 802.11ac wireless LAN and Gigabit LAN. It is available for $899.99 (MSRP).

The Acer Windows Mixed Reality Headset with wireless motion controllers pairs with the Aspire 7 and is available for $349.99 (MSRP). It immerses students in the virtual world, while allowing them to interact with others in the physical realm without removing the headset – all that’s required is a flip up of the headset visor.

Entry details, rules and regulations for the Acer STEAM Lab Makeover may be found on the contest website.

With donations from the Atlanta Retailers Association (ARA)and the Community Foundation for Northeast Georgia, Alive Studios is equipping all 15 Gwinnett County Public Library branches with its Learning alive™ kits.

Alive Studios’ programs use a technology called augmented reality (3D without glasses) to bring lessons to life. Students interact with 26 virtual zoo animals while learning the essential fundamentals of reading and math.

[Mock It Up! 9 Tools for Learners to Design, Blueprint, and Visualize Their Innovations]

The Learning alive Plus kit that will be donated to each library branch includes 26 letter cards, 97 sight-word cards, and 84 word-family cards. Each card is interactive and triggers multiple 3D animations depending on the word or sentence that is created. While learning to identify and sound out each letter, children are able to hear, see, touch, build, and speak throughout the lesson. Also included are three Interactive Stories and a full, supplemental math program aligned to state standards for kindergarten.

Quiver Education - 3D Coloring App

Augmented reality app adds some interactivity and learning to coloring

[Innovative Timeline Helps Students Examine Freedom Through Art, History]

Pros: One-time purchase price includes all sheets.

Cons: Only works with Quiver Education sheets, so students and teachers can't make their own custom AR sheets.

Bottom Line: This can make a great occasional lesson supplement, but ultimately the lack of customization and light learning hold it back.

Read more here.

App of the Day picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed by Common Sense Education, which helps educators find the best ed-tech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly.

By Common Sense Education

ARtGlass is collaborating with Epson and with leaders of iconic cultural sites to provide augmented reality (AR) tours using smart glasses major historic sites, including George Washington’s Mount Vernon and James Monroe’s Highland.

Highland, the William & Mary-owned historic home of President James Monroe, today became the first U.S. site to launch the AR tours. Mount Vernon AR tours premiere this Spring. See a “behind-the-glasses” sample of the Highland tour below:

Visitors experiencing ARtGlass tours roam through augmented environments, inside and out, while 3D holograms, videos, pictures and text appear amidst real-world art, artifacts, architecture and landscapes — completely hands-free.

DISCOVERY VR FIELD TRIPS

“My goal is to get our students out of the classroom any way we can, and we already do more than 100 virtual field trips a year, so when Discovery VR (discoveryvr.com) became available, we knew we’d add it to the mix,” says Dacia Jones, district science specialist and STEM educator for Durham (NC) Public Schools (DPS), where only a couple of schools are not Title I.

DPS students haven take more than 100 virtual field trips with Discovery, including exciting new virtual reality field trips. Teachers download the Discovery VR app and use it on iPads and other devices; all students have to do is manipulate the mouse on their computers to move the picture around and see things from different perspectives.

Earlier this year, a fifth-grade class got to ride a roller coaster virtually with its developer. “He showed them how he engineered the coaster and we did a hands-on activity while we Skyped; then he rode the roller coaster,” says Jones. “Later, Discovery made a VR video called ‘Get Ready for the Drop.’ Our teachers were able to go back and revisit that experience.”

Jones writes lesson plans to go with the Discovery VR clips. For “Lion Whisperer,” in which students watch a man speak to a lion, she came up with activities to do before, during, and after that are tied to the North Carolina science standards. Luckily for her, Discovery is adding new VR clips every week.

When DPS first graders took a virtual field trip to the Sistine Chapel to learn about gravity, the docent described how Michelangelo lay down on his back on scaffolding and painted. Afterwards, the teacher asked the students to crawl under their desks – she had taped paper under each one. She handed out crayons and instructed them to draw. After a few minutes, everyone’s arms hurt. That led to a conversation about the effects of gravity. “Like the students who rode the roller coaster, this was so real to these students,” says Jones.

For more ideas and examples of trips Jones has done, visit eieiOh! Engage! Inspire! Expect! Inform! (engageinspireexpectinform.com).

VR WITH ZSPACE

Getting ready to go to the Virtual Vortex and use zSpace stations at Teasley Middle School. “When people hear the words 3D or augmented reality, they get scared because they don’t know what it is, but we built a technology-rich school two years ago and teachers love it,” says Leah Bleisath, STEM teacher at Teasley Middle School in in Canton (GA). Students visit the Virtual Vortex and learn with 13 VR stations set up as a zSpace STEM lab. Each zSpace (zspace.com) station accommodates two to three students. One student lifts, turns, or takes apart virtual holographic objects using an interactive stylus. The other students make observations and record data. All students wear custom 3D glasses to create a communal VR experience.

“We use an AV rover to project a five-to seven-minute 3D video on a blank wall and students wear their 3D glasses and become immersed. If we’re teaching about blood flow, we become a blood cell. Instead of looking at a picture of a vein in a book, you are actually inside the vein,” says Bleisath.

If a teacher doesn’t want to come up with lesson, there are built-in lessons. Students complete their own activities, such as using a stylus to dissect a heart. They can look at all four chambers, make the heart transparent, and stick a video camera inside to see all the components. Best of all, the heart even beats. Math students can use the stylus to pick up a 3D rhombus and count its sides. “It’s similar to using a manipulative but goes beyond that,” says Bleisath. “They pick it up, bring it to them, and twist their arm until they see the back side. They can move pieces around to learn formulas or walk through a real-world problem to fix it or create something to solve it.”

Bleisath’s goal is for all 90 teachers to visit the Virtual Vortex; so far, all of the math and science teachers have been there. “We’ve taken learning to the next level. A lecture doesn’t last, but once a student becomes that vein, they remember it.”

AUGMENTED REALITY APPS

When Patricia Brown, technology integration coach at Old Bonhomme Elementary School in St. Louis (MO), worked with second graders earlier this school year on a solar system unit, she was able to take it to a new level, thanks to AR and VR apps. With the MoonWalking app (moon-walking.com), students can simulate walking on the moon as they watch the first moon landing. “We used iPads, and it was like we were landing in the classroom,” she says. “Neil Armstrong actually landed on someone’s head.”

Elementary students bringing the solar system to life with AR apps like MoonWalking. By going through the process and listening to the actual recordings of Armstrong talking to the President, students experienced a deep connection.

Students also used a wall chart/interactive poster and 3D pop-up books from from Popar Toys (popartoys.com). When they scanned the AR pictures, they became 3D versions of planets. Brown set up four rotation stations for research: the wall chart, the Planets 3D app, the MoonWalking app, and ThingLink (thinglink.com). “It was so much better than just going to a Web site and conducting research,” she says. “We manipulated planets, viewed them in 3D, spun them around. It’s particularly great for kinesthetic and hands-on learners.”

Next time around, Brown wants students to use Aurasma (aurasma.com) to create their own ARs by recording a video of themselves talking about the planet they researched.

Although she’s currently using AR apps mostly for science and a little math, she started out by using them for literacy projects. She photographed students reading books by Mark Twain and created big posters of each child holding their book, and then she created Aurasmas of them talking about their books. When students scan the poster, they hear a book trailer.

“AR gives us the possibilities to create awesome experiences for our students,” says Brown.

GOOGLE EXPEDITIONS

High schoolers in Ossining, NY, love to go on Google Expeditions. “Once it’s rolled out fully, Google Expeditions (google.com/edu/expeditions) has the potential to completely change education,” says Adam Schoenbart, an English teacher and technology coach at Ossining High School in Ossining (NY).

Schoenbart piloted the Expeditions Pioneer program last November with 18 different classes in every subject, including cultural arts, AP, special education, science, and English. Teachers designed a lesson that used the Expeditions field trip as a tool to engage students and process information, and Google employees showed up in a Google car with three cases of Expeditions, which included devices with the Google Cardboard viewfinder installed on them. Every kit had 30 devices and a tablet for the teacher. “Students hold the viewfinders up to their faces and are immersed in a 360-degree experience,” says Schoenbart. “I put on a field trip to go to the Congo, under the sea, or the Eiffel Tower, and all you can hear is ‘Whoa!’ It’s really powerful.”

Engineering teachers viewed landmarks to discuss math and science; history teachers took students back in time and all over the world. Teachers can ask guided questions and provide an in-depth view of the locations. “What I love most is that it’s a resource, a tool, or a supplemental activity to enhance and ground what teachers are already doing. We may never go to Europe, but we can experience a dozen different landmarks and cities.”

One day, Schoenbart hopes that students can create their own field trips by going into the community, taking 360-degree photos of the Hudson River, and sharing their own stories. “Once you add sound and narration, that’s where the real power comes in,” he says.

OUT OF THIS WORLD

Students embark on a virtual mission to the International Space Station (ISS) to observe Earth from space, monitor experiments, have on-orbit experiences, and see what’s it’s like to be an astronaut. Choose from a summer trip for grades 6 through 12 or a blended class for grades 4 through 12—or get a teacher license (grades 4 through 6) so that you can bring your classes on a virtual mission to the ISS to excite students about STEM. For more information, visit SpaceStationAcademy.org or or contact Kim Spangenberg at kspangenberg@thevhs.org.