Mr. B EdTech Blog

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I recently had a colleague explain to me that due to a change in policy, a field trip she used to take with her class has been altered and much of it had to be eliminated. I have also been on the field trip and I sympathized with the learning opportunity that has been lost. Then I thought, if I can bring the students to the location, how would I bring the location to the students? Apps/Devices Google Earth VR https://vr.google.com/earth/ You can take your students to anywhere in the world if you are able to use Google Earth VR. Students can use Google Earth to visit locations anywhere in the world, fully modeled in 3D. This would require an Oculus Rift (and capable PC) OR an HTC VIVE VR System. Oculus Rift :  https://www.oculus.com/rift/ HTC Vive :  https://www.vive.com/us/product/vive-virtual-reality-system/ Nearpod VR https://nearpod.com/experience-vr Don't have VR headsets? Don't worry, they are not required for this one. Students can explore 360 degree...

https://shakeuplearning.com/blog/shut-the-front-door-digital-differentiation-with-google-forms/ This article does a great job at explaining how to differentiate questions using Google Forms. Learning to do this can also apply to other apps such as making assessments in Google Slides. Each of these use a method this author calls "branching." Basically when looking at your test, you need to ask your self a question each time you the student clicks on something. For example, what should happen if the student clicks the wrong answer? Should the test continue on to the next question as normal? Should it go to a different question? OR should it go to another resource so the student can review the topic?

https://www.controlaltachieve.com/2018/09/collabordependent-slides.html This is an interesting idea that I would not have thought of. It is good to combine the idea of creating passwords and having a purpose behind the password. That idea would be reinforced each time the password is entered.

https://www.controlaltachieve.com/2018/09/story-cubes.html Welcome 2019! That year still sounds far off into the future to me. :) Again, another creative educational use for a tool that is underutilized or overlooked.

Well it is that time of year again. I will be taking some much needed time off during this holiday season. However, I will return on January 7, 2019 with new posts. Before I go here are some random thoughts and reflections on this year. Year 1.5 of 1:1 In my school district this is the second year our 1:1 deployment. K-12 we have Chromebooks with 6-12 taking their devices home. The summer was a huge learning experience with having to sort and process an entire district worth of devices (over 1600) on top of a deployment of new desktop computers. I know more than I did last year, but not as much as I'll know next year. Overall I am amazed at the impact this has had on student learning and can't wait to see what the future holds. No More PARCC, now IAR This was the last year of PARCC testing in the state of Illinois. This school year, we are moving to the Illinois Assessment of Readiness. I have heard from the state that although the test will start very similar to PARC...

http://teacherrebootcamp.com/2018/10/12/kindonline/ I remember one of my first training lessons when I got promoted to a manager at my first job. They taught me about taking complaints over the phone. The biggest thing I remember is "the power behind the phone." People would not say some of things they would say over the phone, if they were talking to you face to face. Some of those things, they wouldn't even normally think. That has proved to be a very valuable lesson and one I believe has helped me in multiple facets of life. I believe that mentality can help those when communicating online as well.