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Virtual reality can be a powerful tool for project-based learning by providing an interactive element.
AI/VR

Engage Students with Virtual Reality (VR) and Project-Based Learning (PBL)

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

A combination you seldom find in classrooms brings two popular areas together: virtual reality (VR) and project-based learning (PBL). Combining these two approaches to teaching and learning can deepen students’ understanding. VR within PBL can drop students into an immersive learning experience. But how does that work? VR is increasingly creating interactive opportunities in the immersive internet. See how VR is moving beyond entertainment. Watch Bernard Marr’s video below to assist you in understanding future trends for 2024.

What Is Project Based Learning (PBL)?

You may already be familiar with project-based learning (PBL). TCEA offers a variety of blog entries and an online course about PBL. Moreover, there are many ways to blend game-based learning and PBL. You can see one approach in the Virtual World Builder online course. It shows you how to use a free, open-source, Minecraft-style environment and introduces you to PBL. There’s also some discussion about virtual reality in TCEA’s blog.

One definition of PBL appears below:

Project-Based Learning (PBL) is a student-centered pedagogy. It seeks to involve student in active engagement with real world projects. These projects are meaningful and immerse students in a novel situation. To that new situation, they must apply what they have learned and any skills they have developed. They often do so through the creation of a product.

As they do this, they engage in transfer learning. This engages them and allows them to develop their critical thinking skills. What’s more, it scaffolds student collaboration and problem-solving to a specific task. Human brains love this kind of task-oriented learning. Tasks often come in a wrapper such as a scenario, complex question, problem, or challenge.

What Is Virtual Reality?

Often, virtual reality and PBL don’t mix well in the classroom. Some define virtual reality in this way:

Virtual reality (VR) is the use of technology to create a simulated environment. Students are able to interact with it in a way that mimics real life.

This interaction is different than screen-based, computer imagery. Instead, VR simulates as many senses as possible. Those senses include, of course, vision, hearing, touch, and even smell. The goal is to transport students to places they have never been.

VR provides hands-on experiences that are impossible or impractical for schools and students. Bringing these two areas together can yield big results, enhancing digital literacy, critical thinking, and collaborative problem-solving.

Let’s examine how these two exciting areas can complement each other.

Three Approaches to Using VR for PBL Projects

You can use VR as an engagement tool to grab students’ attention before dropping them into the deep end of PBL. Here are three approaches to pair VR and PBL for boosted engagement.

VR experiences might lend themselves well to lesson or unit introductions. Use them to pique students’ curiosity and lead to more in-depth activities. (Adapted from source)

Approach #1: Take virtual field trips.

With VR, students can visit historical landmarks, explore different ecosystems, and more. They can also journey to foreign countries— no passport or plane ticket needed! Discover this Texas middle school’s example of VR use:

Approach #2: Explore curricular topics.

Use VR to bring complex subjects to life, enabling students to get a deeper grasp of abstract ideas through visualization and manipulation of interactive 3D geometric models. For example, The Body VR helps students learn about human biological systems by journeying inside a cell. Apps like MEL Science VR, which has over 70 VR lessons, provide immersive learning experiences on everything from the periodic table to atoms and ions. See more suggestions for exploring curricular topics in this article.

Approach #3: Develop computing and technology skills.

Use online spaces like CoSpaces for students to create their own 3D virtual worlds. Additionally, they can learn the basics of coding and digital design while experiencing VR.

Here’s one CoSpaces video focused on creating simulations for science:

Captivating Hooks for PBL

Crafting captivating hooks or problems for your projects can be challenging, but VR can set the stage for PBL’s real-world challenges. Here are some suggestions for engaging students with VR-based hooks:

VR SolutionSuggested Use in K-12 PBL Engagement Hook
CoSpaces EduStudents can create and explore their own virtual worlds or simulations, which can be used to present their PBL projects in an immersive way.
Global Traveler appUse the app for virtual field trips, allowing students to explore global landmarks and natural wonders, which can be integrated into geography or social studies projects.
Merge CubeMerge Cude can be used by students to design 3D objects related to their PBL topic and then use Merge Cube to interact with their models, enhancing their spatial reasoning and presentation skills.
TinkercadStudents can use Tinkercad to design 3D models that can be integrated into their PBL projects and visualize them using Merge Cube or VR.
VictoryXREngage students in virtual dissections or explore historical events, making abstract concepts more tangible and relevant to their studies.

Using VR in the classroom certainly deepens student engagement and prepares them for the exciting undertaking of a PBL project. Start your PBL class lessons and projects with VR scenarios and set your students up for memorable learning experiences that will help them retain and demonstrate learning.

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This Works! Screenshot by author.
STEM/STEAM

PBL and Transversal Competence: A Free Curriculum

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

First graders engaged in engineering? Is that possible? Of course it is. It’s never too early to teach students the Engineering Design Process. Before I share a brand new resource with you and your first graders, let’s take a moment to revisit some key ideas.

Introducing This Works!

Okay, so I couldn’t wait, I had to share this exciting new development with you. This Works! offers free materials for educators. They point out the following:

Technology Industries of Finland wants to engage and activate students. It enables them to create and engineer their own machines from recycled materials. At the same time, they will also examine the world through a mathematical framework. The students can gain insights into what they could be when they grow up. What’s more, they explore how technology can change the world.

Technology Industries of Finland is offering the This works! concept – complete with materials – to all first graders free of charge.

That’s right, free of charge. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but what does this involve?

Transversal Competence

Intended for first graders to use over a seven-week period of time, the materials focus on two aspects: technology skills and tranversal competence. Since the latter is a term I was unfamiliar with, I looked it up. As you might suspect, it is a term specific to different parts of the world, including Finland. Transversal competence is another way to describe 21st century skills. Here’s a short description:

In the new national curriculum, transversal competences play an important role. They integrate into all subjects and all school activities. These skills or competences are much more generic than typical content objectives.

They all refer to the behavior and activities needed in society today and in the future (source).

transversal competency
Source: Lähdemäki, Jenna. (2019). Case Study: The Finnish National Curriculum 2016—A Co-created National Education Policy. 10.1007/978-3-319-78580-6_13.

What is included in transversal competence? Let’s take a closer look:

  • Cultural competence, interaction, and expression.
  • Managing daily life, taking care of oneself and others
  • Multi-literacy or students’ capacity to interpret, produce, and make value judgements. This capacity focuses on different texts and perceiving cultural diversity.
  • Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills and competence. This focuses on practical competence, responsibility, information management, and more.
  • Working life and entrepreneurial competence.
  • Participation, influence, and building a sustainable future.

The goal of transversal competence? Fostering student development as a human being and citizen. That is true, regardless of country. The way that some approach teaching transversal competencies is through project-based learning.

Project-based learning is a student-centered pedagogy. It involves a dynamic classroom approach. Students get a deeper knowledge through active exploration of real-world challenges and problems. (source)

Let’s take a look at This Works! materials.

transversal competence

Screenshot by author. Fun Academy Characters  (see video below to learn more about Fun Academy or read their blog)

This Works! Materials

transversal competence Screenshot by author.
Screenshot by author.

The free materials available under Creative Commons copyright have several modules. You can see each component linked to the teachers’ guide below:

Each component, including the modules, is replete with activities. Everything is in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), so easy to access.  The teachers’ guides provide suggestions on how to use the materials and the characters from Fun Academy make an appearance throughout.

You can read the entire story for This Works! online to get a head start. Of course, your first graders will experience it as a series of projects.

What Makes This Works! Effective

Wondering what makes this project-based learning approach work? The story content is engaging, featuring the four Fun Academy characters. What’s more, your students will find themselves navigating various games and tasks. They will also construct simple, moving machines in a team environment.

A Few Reflections

Do you love project-based learning? Can you see the value of developing your students’ transversal competencies? Then you will find this project worthwhile to work through with your students. Although I wish they had some sample student creations in video format and some rubrics, the content is solid. The projects orient themselves on Finnish curriculum, but you can make some adjustments and adapt it for TEKS or Common Core.

Feature Image Source

Screenshot by author.

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Content AreasDigital Literacy

Advancing Student Voice with Oral History Projects

by Soundtrap by Spotify
written by Soundtrap by Spotify

This post is sponsored by Soundtrap by Spotify. It was originally published here.

San Francisco Unified is taking Ethnic Studies to a whole different level, incorporating podcasting to help lift student voices and develop the skills necessary to become agents of change as they are engaged in oral history projects. Two highly effective voices in this powerful cadre of educators, Bruna Lee and Nikhil Laud, are helping lead the way.

Bruna Lee is a teacher at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts (SOTA), the district’s arts magnet school. Because it is an arts magnet, students are always looking for opportunities to bring their art and creativity into their academic classes, especially in humanities, English, and social studies.

Project-Based Content with Purpose

“When I first started at SOTA, and I asked the students, ‘What do you like in a teacher, what are the kinds of projects that have worked for you,’ and nearly all of them said, ‘You know, if there’s a way that we can incorporate our art into our academics, that would really engage us and make us feel like this assignment matters,'” said Lee. “Last year, I was offered the position to teach an Ethnic Studies elective for juniors and seniors. Because it’s an elective, I took that opportunity to be able to make the class as project-based as possible and think of opportunities where students can use their creativity as well as their life experience to display their mastery of the content.”

Lee’s Ethnic Studies students participated in an oral history project through which they interviewed an elder in their community about a topic of their choice. Students turned the interviews into podcasts using Soundtrap. The project, titled Humanizing Oral Histories, features podcasts about immigration, interracial relationships, queerness, feminism, activism, and more. All podcasts have one goal: to provide a humanizing, nuanced account of a person’s life.

Creative Approaches to Student Storytelling

Nikhil Laud is one of the Ethnic Studies co-coordinators that helps support the program at San Francisco Unified School District. According to Laud, “Currently, [SFUSD has] an Ethnic Studies course being taught at every comprehensive high school in the district and in almost every alternative high school as well. Over the years, the program has really grown. Roughly 1,500 students are enrolled in these classes, but that’s not nearly where we want it to be. What Bruna has done, particularly during her time, is a testament to some of our potential of really creative approaches to youth storytelling —and that’s where we entered the picture.” 

In the Ethnic Studies program, students are taught to be change agents. The ability of students to hone their storytelling skills makes this possible.

“Central to developing people’s capacity for being agents of change is developing their storytelling abilities,” said Laud. “We try to have youth-centered narratives embedded throughout our curriculum. Our curriculum begins with concepts explored like identity and narrative and culminates in writing student autoethnography and sharing them with peers.”

As Laud further explained, “Storytelling progresses beyond a critical look at the self into zooming out to see connections to community and the stories that matter to them most. We go from that to students doing action research or directly positioning them as social researchers and ethnographers. That’s what sets Ethnic Studies apart from many other academic disciplines; our pedagogy centers on youth experiences and realities, and we use that as our textbook. In doing so, we want to enhance our young people’s ability to reflect on the life they’re living, to see connections with others, and to ultimately be advocates and allies for those who are most vulnerable.”

Making Community Connections with Oral History Projects

Sharing the project with their communities was key to the success of the students. “One of the most powerful outcomes of this project was the fact that often in the classroom, students are completing work so that it can be presented to the teacher and maybe other students in the class,” said Lee. “But what this project allowed us as an ethnic studies community to do is to bring this project to a wider audience, which brings a lot of relevance to the project.”

Both Lee and Laud have helped their students understand this work, a piece of oral history that they can take to share with their families, communities, and the person they interviewed. It allows for a certain level of authenticity to the project.

“These are stories that need to be uplifted, that have meaning for themselves as well as their communities and families,” said Laud. The stories represent potent examples highlighting the interesting podcasting that came out of Lee’s class at SOTA.

To learn more about the Ethnic Studies program in San Francisco schools, visit the following:

Stanford study suggests academic benefits to ethnic studies courses

 About Bruna Lee and Nikhil Laud

Bruna Lee is an English and Ethnic Studies teacher at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts (SOTA). She creates classroom experiences that uplift student voice and allow young people to see themselves as agents of change. See what her classroom is up to here (Ethnic Studies) and here (English).

Nikhil Laud has been an Ethnic Studies educator for 16 years and is currently coordinator of SFUSD’s Ethnic Studies program centering the principles of knowledge and love of self, solidarity and self-determination.

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ela
English Language Arts

Using Tech for ELA Differentiation and Assessment

by Nicholas Provenzano, Guest Author
written by Nicholas Provenzano, Guest Author

When I taught high school English Language Arts (ELA), one of the ways I utilized technology was to engage my students in different types of reading and writing. While the apps I used over the years have changed and evolved, the reasons behind them always stayed the same. Those reasons are sometimes tough ones for teachers to “sell” to administrators when it comes to using new tools in the classroom.

I remember a time I had to beg to have YouTube unblocked for my class so I could allow students to create and share videos. Sadly, there are still some schools where YouTube and other applications are blocked. Sometimes it just takes the right reason to convince an administrator. Here are a couple of reasons to utilize digital tools to support reading and writing. 

Differentiation in ELA

One of the hardest parts of being a teacher is the need to differentiate all of our lessons to support the wide variety of learner profiles we encounter in a classroom. The days of just standing in the front of the class and talking for 45 minutes in the hopes that everyone writes it all down and memorizes it later should be long behind us. Students and teachers have access to amazing applications that can change the way that they engage with reading and writing.

When it comes to differentiation in the classroom, there are many valuable applications that can dramatically increase student engagement in the reading and writing process. Whenever students asked me how to become better readers and writers, I told them doing more of both is the best way to get better. With more and more tools out there that allow students to engage with the text they read and write, more students will feel comfortable doing the reading. When more students read and write in differentiated situations, everybody wins. 

Differentiation Tools

For students that need support with reading, a teacher can use Newsela to vary the reading level of the same article. This allows the students to read the article at their reading level and still be part of the overall conversation. Nobody has to feel left out of the reading process and the overall learning process.

Snap and Read is another great tool that is a Google Chrome extension that can help students by reading text to the students that need a little more support. Like Newsela, there is a feature that will allow readers to highlight text and adjust the reading level to meet their needs. 

Variety of Assessment

One of the things that stood out to me as an ELA teacher was how students would choose to engage in the reading based on the assessment that was going to wrap up the unit. In my first few years, my assessments were the standard multiple choice test. The high achievers would be engaged, but students who struggled with those types of assessments would not be as involved.

Why would they put in the time when they would fail the test whether they read or not? If the final assessment was a formal essay or impromptu writing piece, the students who excelled at writing were engaged in the reading, but those who struggled in that area would check out until the next unit. By looking at the data, I noticed a trend, and I needed to do something about it to increase engagement in all my students. 

The PBL Puzzle

One of the biggest changes in my classroom was the move to Project-Based Learning (PBL). Instead of having me run a class discussion and then students take a test or write an essay, students would dive into the texts themselves, identify theme, symbols, motifs, etc., and then come up with a way to demonstrate their understanding of the text to share with the class. What this did was give all students an opportunity to engage in the text and then engage in the assessment in a meaningful way.

Some students would create movies using iMovie and share on YouTube; some students would create comic books using Pixton; some would create photo portfolios using Google Photos; and the list goes on and on. Students were fully engaged in the reading because they could use the digital tools that they were comfortable with to share what they learned. The more I made the end game clearer to students, the easier it was for them to engage in the reading in the present and plan for their project at the end. 

The variety of assessments added Project-Based Learning and still had places for traditional ELA writing. When students knew they were going to be able to approach texts for essays the same way they approached their projects, I saw an improvement in many of the writing scores. The variety of assessments allowed students to engage in the reading in a personal way because they would be able to use digital tools they knew would help them best explain what they understand. 

Increasing Engagement in ELA

When it comes to increasing engagement in reading and writing, teachers need to start moving beyond traditional instructional methods and embrace the wide variety of technology-based tools that can support students with a wide variety of learning profiles. The more students can connect with the text, the more likely they are to keep reading, work on their writing, and push through obstacles.

Taking the time and implementing different digital tools is worth the extra effort because of the long-lasting impact it can have on students who struggle in English Language Arts classes. At the end of the day, helping these students is what is important. 

You can view a presentation related to this topic here.

unsplash-logoPhoto: Aaron Burden
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trello
Educational TrendsGood Teaching

Trello for Teachers

by Andrew Roush
written by Andrew Roush

Online tools can make teaching and learning more efficient and effective — regardless of the circumstances. Today, many teachers are looking for ways to stay organized and communicate efficiently. Trello, the online project management tool, is one way to do that.

A number of free or low-cost project management apps are out there, like Asana or Basecamp. But let’s take a closer look in this post at Trello, a free (with premium plans available), card-based project management tool that you can start using to organize, encourage participation and communication, and even ramp up your students’ project-based learning. And if you’re teaching from home while schools are closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, then Trello is a great solution for you.

Getting to Know Trello

Trello allows users to create boards, like a bulletin board, to organize teams and projects. Each board consists of a number of user-generated columns with cards that can be dragged from column to column, for example, to track student progress. Looking for quick guidance? Trello has a quick user guide for educators.

Then, check out the video below from James Kieft on the basics of Trello for teachers.

Organization and Participation

As a tracking tools, Trello can be a useful way to not only organize tasks — whether for yourself or for students — but also to track participation. Students can move their task “cards” through a project process in a shared board, giving teachers real-time feedback on where students are in the process and access to student work.

Trello allows teams to create and organize to-do lists. The tool is much like a big digital board that anyone can create and pin post-it notes on. The features follow a fairly simple logic:
Each board contains lists, which can be big questions, projects or groups of activities.
Each list is made of cards, which are activities or steps related to the list
Every card can include checklists, due dates, links, media files, and the person responsible for completing the card.
Both lists and cards can be rearranged on the board by simple drag-and-drop.

“No Slacking Off! How Savvy Teachers Are Turning to Trello and Slack” by Tony Wan, Ed Surge

Emma Trentman, an Arabic professor at the University of New Mexico, uses Trello to organize her classes weekly. Her website includes a template board, a great place to get started. In a detailed post on her blog, she explains how she uses Trello for many aspects of organization, including keeping track of “little details,” tracking beginning and end-of-semester events, scheduling time for grading and assignment preparation, and coordinating with her fellow educators.

For me, the primary benefit is freeing up mental energy to spend my teaching time on more creative things, like designing lesson plans or implementing genre-based approaches or translanguaging pedagogy.  It also lets me prioritize research (necessary in a tenure-track position) by letting me know that if I get behind on the details, it’s easy to be reminded of what I missed. 

“Using Trello to Organize Teaching” by Emma Trentman

Alison Ryan, a K-2 reading consultant, outlines ways to save time in the classroom on her blog, Learning at the Primary Pond. Her focus is on recording anecdotal data on student participation to help future planning, tracking regular prep work, and even organizing student assessment information.

Lesson planning is another crucial aspect of teaching that Trello can help with. The Australian website Fizzics Education lists five different ways of deploying the app for organizing and planning.

This is the kind of app that allows you to keep track of tasks and their due dates, assign these task to students or colleagues and provide resource links to further support material. The best bit is that Trello is collaborative, which means you can invite all of your students onto the platform where they can then see clearly what is needed and learn not only be organised but also learn to work together as a team.

“5 solutions to classroom organisation & lesson planning using Trello” by Ben Newsome, Fizzics Education

Communication

Organizing your students, their work, and even an educator’s lesson planning through Trello can make teaching and learning easier. But there’s more to Trello. Consider using it not only as a communication tool with colleagues and students, as outlined above, but with parents, too.

On her blog, Erin Wing discusses how educators can use Trello to communicate about major school events, share student progress, post homework assignments, even create volunteer sign-ups and more.

On each card, you can add text descriptions, checklists, images, files and more. You can color code each card if you want, and you can assign a due date to each card as well. You can choose to view the cards in list form, or you can see the cards with due dates in a calendar view. It’s a collaboration tool, so you can add other users to view and edit certain boards. But you can also just use it on your own, minus the collaboration.

“Trello for Teachers: A Parent Communication Tool,” by Erin Wing

Project-Based Learning

Trello is, after all, a project management platform, so it’s no surprise that it’s a helpful tool in guiding, observing, and assessing project-based learning. With the ability to track and customize cards, keeping up with large projects is simpler for both teacher and student. Here’s how educators are using Trello for PBL.

Biomedical science educators Michael Burke and Josh Clemmer are teaching an entirely project-based classroom as part of a national initiative called Project Lead The Way. The entire class culminates in one large project at the end of the semester focused on a topic in the biomedical field. …Since the entire class is based completely on projects, some key aspects of the students’ grades are around organizing the project, creating a timeline, and executing on their responsibilities. Given the nature of the project planning needs of the curriculum, Trello felt like a natural fit. Each group of 3-4 students collaborates on their project using a shared Trello board where they can assign tasks, communicate back and forth, and, most importantly, move each task to a “Done” list.

“Trello for Teachers: A Roundup Of Trello Boards For The Classroom” by Lauren Moon, Trello blog

Project-based learning gets a jump start by having accessible ways of tracking like Trello. A number of project-management tools can also be used in a similar way.

When engaging in group work, it is crucial that team members communicate and collaborate with each other. Teachers can more easily track participation across group members when collaboration tools are used to track activity. Use of project management tech tools encourages students to be responsible and timely in their work performance, and prompts each individual to participate equally.

“5 Project Management Tech Tools for Students,” k12teacherstaffdevelopment.com

Conclusion and Best Practices

One of the greatest strengths of a tool like Trello is the ability to customize your boards. So don’t be afraid to experiment. Add-ons like Boosted Boards can help you tag, categorize, and add calendars to your creations. Trello can even integrate with tools like Slack.

Itching to get started? Check out the Online Tools for Teaching and Learning from the University of Massachusetts. It includes an exhaustive review for Trello for education and is a great place to learn the basics, get inspired, and get started.

Are you using a project management tool like Trello in your class? Let us know in the comments!

unsplash-logoPhoto: Christina @ wocintechchat.com
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classroom design
Educational TrendsFuture

Designing Classrooms That Engage Students

by Andrew Roush
written by Andrew Roush

Classroom design can be a burden. It can feel like starting from scratch. A blank slate, or a blinking cursor, can be paralyzing. But with a little inspiration, you can apply thoughtful design that catalyzes learning in common spaces, libraries, and media centers, as well as in classrooms. Much of this stems from the notion of today’s always-connected students and the need to adapt learning spaces “designed with the assumption that students will have constant access to connectivity.”

Design thinking is a crucial skill, not only for students, but for educators as well. For teachers, administrators, and staff who love technology, this kind of thinking often shapes how we assess and use new tech. Is the user interface well-designed? Is this system intuitive? Does it reinforce learning goals? Does it work with other devices or software? Motivated educators use this kind of thinking, meant to encourage thoughtful consideration, planning, and use, to help their students achieve. But do we often apply this thinking to the physical world? To the non-digital space in which we engage students?

That thinking can be applied to physical learning spaces, too. Creative, flexible classrooms can encourage project-based learning and makerspaces. Consider how you want help students learn, and shape your space to those goals. Here’s some help getting started.

Get Active

Research suggests that simple ideas like flexible seating and classrooms that require students to move around can result in positive learning outcomes. While the links between good nutrition, exercise, and learning outcomes have been documented, it’s important to consider how to include this understanding in all aspects of education, including during classroom time.

In 2006, researchers at East Carolina University found that “classroom-based physical activity program was effective for increasing daily in-school physical activity and improving on-task behavior during academic instruction.” That physical activity doesn’t have to be limited to the playground or in P.E. The researchers also point out that “children who participate in short bouts of physical activity within the classroom have more on-task behavior, with the best improvement seen in students who are least on-task initially.”

Consider Accessibility

As an educator, you know that each student has unique needs and not everyone has the same physical needs. Understanding diverse needs can help create inclusive classrooms.

Technology can help improve access to learning, but it comes with challenges, notably in the availability of resources for schools and districts. Making each learning space open, modern, and accessible—both physically and mentally—can help improve that.

When it comes to tech, a checklist can help map out accessibility needs. Physical needs must comply with regulations and should also be evaluated carefully for each student’s needs. In eSchool News, teacher Danise Olague outlines three questions to consider when thinking about access:

  1. Is it easy to operate?
  2. Is the content understandable?
  3. Can the content be interpreted by assistive technologies?

These ideas can be applied to your classroom, too. Can students more around easily? Do they understand how the room is laid out, and how they can use it? How could the flow be improved?

Curriculum and lesson planning is also important to consider. American University has an extensive guide that highlights the connection between “universal design,” a notion initially applied only to physical spaces, and learning.

Integrate Space and Learning

Dr. Jennifer Jones is the head of New York’s Green Ivy Schools. She focuses on comfortable, engaging, and aesthetic learning space. She also focuses on integrating the space with the curriculum; having the space reflect and enforce the school’s learning goals. Here’s how a profile of Jones from EmergingEdTech.com describes it:

The classrooms are outfitted with wall to wall white boards for ‘surround sound learning,’ and the walls between classrooms are designed to fold away, to bring two class groups together to combine ideas. There are no desks, not even at the middle school level; only large tables for communal learning. Through her careful curating of the entire academic experience, Ms. Jones is closing the gap between what parents’ ideas of traditional teaching and education are and a new world of integrated education that includes real-world, hands-on applications and an atmosphere full of bright, beautiful colors.

Furthermore, thoughtfully designed classrooms can offer digital-native students the ability to not only use technology, but use it holistically in learning—that is, learning with tech and about it. In a 2015 TED Talk called “Reimagining Classrooms: Teachers as Learners and Students as Leaders,” Kayla Delzer notes the imperative to use classrooms as hotbeds for technology learning. “As educators,” she said, “it is now our job to be champions of digital citizenship.”

Helping students act responsibly in digital spaces, however, requires physical spaces that allow that learning and reflect the omnipresence of technology in our lives. It can be a daunting task. But coordination between stakeholders can help manage those changes.

Understanding District-Level Needs

Administrators and decision-makers have a large role in guiding how teachers, instructional coaches, media specialists, and librarians arrange and use spaces. Some districts are investing in making their learning spaces future ready one room at a time, while others are laying out district-level plans, securing grants, and organizing across campuses. Whatever their capability, districts should consider broad planning initiatives when it comes to interactive learning spaces, just the way they consider general facilities management.

Here’s how Ed Tech describes this movement toward modern learning environments:

In a modern learning environment, flexible classroom spaces organically integrate technology, helping teachers to better engage students and facilitate the mix of independent, small-group and whole-class learning that is now viewed as essential to student success.

In practice, this means space that facilitates the use of handheld devices, computers, and other technology in flexible, comfortable ways. Notably for administrators, this process includes understanding students needs, as well as working with stakeholders: “Whatever the project’s size, it’s important to include all relevant stakeholders during the design process, including the IT and facilities departments, school administrators, faculty and students, experts say.”

Classroom Design Resources

Photo: Daniel McCullough

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ed tech news
Educational Trends

Ed Tech News Roundup: Back-to-School Updates and PBL

by Andrew Roush
written by Andrew Roush

Howdy, folks! Welcome to another in a series of biweekly ed tech news roundups. We hope you enjoy — and if you have a story you’d like to see included, let us know.

Making a Plan

As the new school year beckons, a few folks are thinking big when it comes to learning. The Maker movement is marching past isolated building activities into a framework for learning, and immersive learning is offering new paths to engage students.

  • Digital Promise, an ed tech nonprofit, has revamped their Maker Learning Leadership Framework, designed to grow maker learning in education. [Digital Promise, STEAM Universe]
  • Immersive learning often refers to learning facilitated by multi-sensory digital environments. The underlying notion of using space to enhance learning can refer to physical spaces, too, and spaces where the physical and digital overlap. [School Planning and Management]

Kids These Days

The students funneling into classrooms across the country represent Generation Z and Generation Alpha (the children of Millennials), digital natives whose behaviors and preferences, always crucial to educators, are starting to gain the attention of the wider world.

  • NBC News jumps into the world of Gen Z looking for insights on the generation’s tech and social media use, which includes some interesting results (they don’t, for example, watch much TV). [NBC News]
  • One seemingly unstoppable trend among younger generations is a huge — and lucrative — fascination with esports. Take a peek into the first Fortnite World Cup with 12 year-old gamer “H1ghSky1.” [Vulture / New York Magazine]

Project Management

Engaging students with project-based learning can help them understand material in hands-on, real-world ways. But using PBL in the classroom can be a challenge. Luckily, lots of smart educators are sharing a wealth of experience.

  • Going deep into in-the-field experiences with PBL can help teachers solve some of their most common issues. [THE Journal]
  • For those putting together PBL lesson plans, reviewing a few do’s and don’ts can help avoid issues, too. [Ed Tech]

…And Finally

Ed tech innovations often reach students through a screen. But could new ways of delivering education through technology actually reduce screen time? This startup says it can.

Photo: Peter Gonzalez

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Social Studies

Napkin PD: A PBL Approach to Texas History

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Like Davy Crockett, I got to Texas as fast as I could. Arriving as a ten year old, the son of a Swedish immigrant family descendant (my father, who served in the army during the Korean Conflict) who married a Panamanian educator (my mother), I grew up studying Texas history. As a Texas immigrant myself, the fictional tales of Texas settlement and independence enthralled me. Forget the Alamo had yet to inform educators of what actually happened and why. As an educator, I often wished that I had easy access to fantastic resources and projects. One resource I missed completely included the Texas General Land Office (GLO). In this blog entry, we will explore a few projects based on Texas GLO Education Resources and Lesson Plans.

 

texasglo

Image Source: Texas General Land Office (GLO)

The General Land Office’s main role is to manage Texas’s publicly owned lands, by negotiating and enforcing leases for the use of the land, and sometimes by making sales of public lands. Royalties and proceeds from land sales are added to the state’s Permanent School Fund, which helps to fund public education within the state.[2] The agency is also responsible for keeping records of land grants and titles and for issuing maps and surveys of public lands. Since 2011 the GLO has managed The Alamo in San Antonio (Source: Wikipedia)

A PBL Approach to Texas History

Having grown up in Texas, I often consider the rich (albeit problematic) history of Texas and how it influences the current state of affairs. One way to introduce students to the approved version involves implementing a problem-based learning (PBL) approach. I like PBL, not only because it is well supported in the research, but because it takes a fresh approach towards old problems. What student of history hasn’t asked himself how he might have responded in a different way to historical problems? PBL puts students in the situation and forces them to consider it from a stakeholder perspective. In the projects in this blog entry, you will get the chance to see some examples of that. These activities pose a scenario and a project task.

Each project involves three steps, including:

  • Step 1 – Choose a Project or Come Up with Your Own: While a project is suggested, since participants are adult learners, they have the option to develop their own task. This step presents a problem scenario and a task.
  • Step 2 – Explore and Create: In this step, adult learners explore a variety of resources that can help them achieve the task. These often involve focusing on the various technologies, as well as other curated items.
  • Step 3 – Share: In a final step, participants turn their final project in. This artifact will often take the form of a video, image, or link to a digital document (e.g. OneNote, Slide deck, Google Doc).

As you can see, these steps provide a consistent framework that allows participants to move from project to project, exploring tools and topics of interest. Include QR codes on the one pager to make it easy for students to access projects.

NapkinPD

Get your own copy of the infographic via Google Slides

Let’s take a brief, closer look at some of these PBL activities with a focus on the Texas GLO resources embedded in each. For fun, here’s another one I made just in case folks were bored:

View digital version: https://go.mgpd.org/ccptm

Project #1 – Victory or Death

In Victory or Death, participants are engaged with the following scenario and task:

Modern students are wondering how Commander Travis could have done a better job asking for help. As a result, the 21st Century Historical Time Bureau has contracted with your team to re-think Commander Travis’ call to action. Take a moment to read the letter, then come up with a 21st Century equivalent to a call for action. Create a product that models various ways Commander Travis could have sent out a more effective call to action.

Workshop participants rely on a variety of tools to create their 21st Century call to action. In this activity, participants can use tools like iMovie (free), and/or PicCollage (example). These have resulted in some fascinating examples and creations from past workshop participants.

The real star of the show is the Texas GLO education resources that include the following:

SAVE THE DATE:

Attend the Annual Save Texas History Symposium. Learn more at this fun event.

Project #2 – Digital Commemorative Map

In Digital Commemorative Map, participants create a digital version of a traditional commemorative map.

The local historical society has bemoaned that students in your classes lack a real appreciation for commemorative maps and history. You and your team resolve to make a digital tour that honors the state’s past around a particular subject. How could you create a digital, interactive commemorative map or document that features maps?

The Texas GLO website includes a variety of map-related resources. For example, the Launch Texas Hidden History provides an interactive map of Texas. You can click on icons that show what Texas looked like then compared to now.

Image Source: Texas Hidden History

Want To See More?

Want to see what other incredible resources Texas GLO Education Resources have available to support projects in your classroom? Be sure to visit the resources for my session, Class Collaboration Projects.  The GLO resources include Texas history and coast  lesson plan and activities. You can also find other interesting resources at the main GLO site.

Turn Napkin PD into a Reality

Want to schedule TCEA professional learning for your school district that focuses on inquiry-based learning? Fill out a TCEA logistics form, as well as attend our face-to-face conferences and the annual TCEA Convention. We can help you turn your napkin professional development plans into a reality.

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Minecraft
Microsoft Tips and TricksProfessional LearningSTEM/STEAM

Five Steps to Game-Based Learning with Minecraft

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

tceamee_gameboard

TCEA MEE Gameboard
(Get Full Sized PNG Image or Adobe PDF version)

Wondering how to effectively engage students in interactive learning? Before we explore five steps to game-based learning with Minecraft: Education Edition, let’s recall why engagement remains important. If students don’t care, they fail to learn. Some of the top ways to engage students include:

Project-Based, Gamified Learning

Minecraft, which is a game-based effort to engage and keep students focused on learning, taps into student enthusiasm about gaming. Even more important, it models cooperative learning that mirrors teams in the workplace. The skills they develop are the “glue that keep people working together” (source: Getting to Know Minecraft: Education Edition slideshow). Think of Minecraft as a giant, blank canvas, a genesis of divergent learning opportunities students can take advantage of. Minecraft: Education Edition (M:EE) brings a plethora of built-in opportunities ripe for written/video reflections on learning. Also, opportunities for flipped learning about relevant topics are embedded in project-based learning.

Getting Started Actions

People learn through observation, trial and error, and play-based practice. Minecraft’s open learning enables differentiation for students as they accomplish project-based tasks. These tasks are seldom accomplished in isolation. Like real life, they must be done in tandem with a committed team. Follow these steps to get started with M:EE in your school or district:

Step #1: Get your hardware and software licenses in order.Before you can get M:EE going in your classroom, you will need to ensure that your computers have Windows 10 or OS X “El Capitan.” Also, each machine will need an external mouse and every student will need an Office 365 account. These accounts are available through your school district’s Office 365 setup or via a free account.

Step #2: Install Minecraft: Education Edition on Windows 10 computers.To get M:EE ready to go on your Windows 10 or Mac OS X “El Capitan” computers, you will need to go to the M:EE web site. You will need your Office 365 account to get access to the software. Check out the M:EE Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to get started. View this short installation guide with screenshots.

Step #3: Build familiarity with the game.You need to achieve some level of comfort with Minecraft: Education Edition. To help you, TCEA has created this M:EE Gameboard. (You can download a PDF of the M:EE Gameboard above.) There are various tutorials you can watch online at the web site. And here are M:EE online courses that will help build your comfort:

Video #1 – Learn to Play Minecraft: Get ready to jump into a Minecraft world. It will help you learn the controls you’ll need to play. Learn to move around, swim, climb, jump, and place and destroy blocks.
Video #2 – First Weeks of Learning: This is the introductory module for the Minecraft in Your Classroom course. Some teachers may wonder whether they should take the time to incorporate game-based learning into their already packed curriculum. In this module, you will learn (1) what type of learning environments result in the greatest retention by students and (2) how Minecraft Education Edition not only supports such learning environments, but creates a safe, risk-free learning space for students.
Video #3 – Building Blocks of Literacy: This panel explores how and why Minecraft is being used to encourage literacy through play. From artistic collaborations between literature and gaming to stimulating learning through role play and stories, to nurturing new voices and young storytellers, you will take a closer look at the ways Minecraft is inspiring a new generation of readers and writers.

Step #4: Learn key terms and tools in Minecraft: Education Edition. M:EE brings a wealth of specific classroom tools. These are intended to make the game less about surviving zombies, creepers, and griefing (e.g. destroying) and more about working together to externalize learning. Check this glossary available online.

Step #5: Plan your project-based lesson.There is a rich collection of M:EE lessons you can adapt for your own use! We will explore these in more detail in a future blog entry. For now, take a look at some of the ideas displayed in this TCEA TechNotes blog entry Amplifying Creativity: Minecraft Fairy Tales.

 

Did you know? TCEA is offering Introduction to Minecraft workshops throughout Texas. The first is January 23, 2017 in Pittsburg (Area 8). The second is February 27 in Edinburg (Area 1), and there is another on March 31st in Victoria (Area 3). Online course offerings will also soon be available! Sign up now to learn with a Minecraft Certified Trainer.

Conclusion

Technology can facilitate real-life learning through the presentation of ill-structured problems. Minecraft: Education Edition enables learners to create external thinking models as they work to solve those problems. This short guide should start you on a journey of discovery.

 

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