VR/AR, Applied Digital Skills, PD

Google Tour Creator

When I saw the announcement last Wednesday that Google has created a really cool, easy to use tool to make VR tours right on a chromebook, I envisioned using it for a current 4th grade project on regions.  Well, we're still waiting for it to roll out for our district.  But, I do have access on my personal Google account and will keep checking the domain settings to see when it lands out heah.  Essentially, you start here, then you go to Google Maps, street view (grab that little peg man and plop him where you want to look around), use the images found there or upload your own 360° images. So, I decided to test it out by looking around on the Kenai Peninsula where my son is doing some forestry work. Guess what- no roads= no Google street view- duh!  But I did check out Yellowstone and found some good street view images there- although of course not everywhere I wanted to see.

But, if you want a couple of really good tutorials- turn to Richard Byrne's blog and learn more.  I will put the 1st tutorial below, but he has another one to add even more detail. Check out his second tutorial here.  

Applied Digital Skills

​I posted a video about this back in March, and although I signed up to try it out for Digital Skills Week, life intervened and I didn't get back to it.  Since then, I have talked with other educators and some are using pieces of this all the way down to 3rd grade- or at least upper elementary. EdTechTeam hosted a couple of half hour webinars that you can check out on YouTube.  There is so much to explore in this well organized system that is already made for you. I loved the clickable pdf that Heather Sanders made.  If you have a few minutes, check out a tiny piece of the curriculum- theIf-Then adventure stories are great for all ages.

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Summer PD

I know- too early to even think about... let me get through the year... BUT I just wanted to let you know that MassCue is sponsoring yet another PD opportunity in Western Mass!  This one will also be at Gateway- over in Huntington. Their IT director-Chris Parker- is a Hadley native and I have to say, having met him all of one time at #EdCampWesternMass - he's kind of awesome.  Lots of ideas, runs a great program in his district.  So- this will be in August. My all time favorite Google Guru to learn from- Jenn Judkins will be there. Honestly, I can sit in her sessions all day long and come away with something new every time.  She actually uses these tools, has incredible work flow ideas, and she's funny.  It's $65 for the whole day. I can pretty much guarantee that you will come away with ideas that you can use in the classroom, as an admin, etc.  Check it out here.  

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AR/VR

Photos from Brandon Thomas' post LIVE Q&A with MERGE featuring Leslie Fisher

Those of you who know me, know that Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality both make me feel seasick. I can be sitting down, I can hold a 3D image way out away from me, but I am the Dramamine queen. But, that does not mean that I don't see the value in this for some of our students. I have a whole box of Merge Cubes that I picked up when they were on sale at Walmart for $1/each, but haven't had the time to mess around with them. If you have time, stop by- I'll share. I love the Merge Cube educator group on FB. The ideas being shared every day are really amazing.

​I was fortunate enough to catch Michael Fricano's webinar on Saturday. It went long- so you can watch the whole hour plus if you have time, or just check out the resources he shared in the Livebinder.  He is also consolidating all of the AR/VR stuff into a nice new website- check it out here.

Click here to open this binder in a new window.