Has anyone tried Google Cardboard yet? I love how it is making VR experiences available for everyone, especially cash strapped educators. Virtual reality is really in its infancy, but the availability of VR tools, like the cheap paper goggles offered by Google and the apps that utilize its simple concept, make it easy for a generation … Continue reading Panorama-rama
Tech
Amazing Animations!
They say a picture say a thousand words. How about an animation? Jake and Wes O'Neal are the creative brains and graphic-design brawn behind the amazingly illuminating animations of Animagraffs. In the same spirit as The Way Things Work but with the visual flair of Interactive Simulations, Animagraffs breaks down everyday technological and natural wonders into their … Continue reading Amazing Animations!
Explore More!
I am a huge fan of Museums and other species of exhibitionary locations. (Is there a word for the planetarium/science/interactive exhibition/type place that I am talking about?) In St. John's, my favorite school days are visits to the Fluvarium, Geo Centre, or The Rooms. I count myself lucky to have such institutions available in my … Continue reading Explore More!
Simulations!
Physics can be hard, right? Even though the idea of curved space-time has been around for at least 100 years, most of us average Joes and Joelles have a hard time wrapping our heads around the concept. And so even upon the recent proof of gravitational waves many of us still have a hard time understanding … Continue reading Simulations!
AI and Language Learning
Over the summer I did a course called Design of Technology Supported Learning Environments. I posted my group's final project out of a sense of duty and shameless self promotion. I post this link from another group in my class out of interest and respect for a job well done. If you are even the … Continue reading AI and Language Learning
Multimedia Lesson Plan
I am working on my Master's of Educational Technology from the University of British Columbia. I am about to wrap up a course that deals with the design of learning spaces. As a final project, my group designed a unit for Social Studies that deals with propaganda and the use of digital tools. You can … Continue reading Multimedia Lesson Plan
Game on
I recently became very excited about a discussion of educational gaming. Imagine, playing games for fun, but learning at the same time. Sounds crazy, right. Well, believe it or not, there are well respected intellectuals working on it as we speak. Check out this video where James Paul Gee distils the salient points in the … Continue reading Game on
The New Taxonomy
Most teachers will remember Bloom's Taxonomy from their days in teacher's college. Our ideal as pedagogues is to bring students from the lower levels of knowledge acquisition and understanding to the higher levels of synthesis and evaluation. Moving through these levels is necessary for critical thinkers. The original was proposed in 1956 by Benjamin Bloom … Continue reading The New Taxonomy
Great Websites for Kids
I have lamented here before about how there is so much material on the internet that we have to sift through to find the really good stuff. Well, this site does a pretty good job. It is aptly named "Great Websites for Kids" and is sponsored by the Association For Library Service To Children, a division of the … Continue reading Great Websites for Kids
Writing in Air
When I am searching for topics for this blog, I often come across interesting things in which I can't find an obvious educational benefit. I bookmark these dubious sites in the hope that I will one day find a use for them. My list of bookmarks has become a desultory list of oddities and eccentricities. But when … Continue reading Writing in Air
