Travel the world (and beyond) with Google Expeditions

Google Expeditions

Wanna get away? That's the catchy slogan that Southwest airlines uses to advertise their low prices on airfare but I think this would make a nice jingle for virtual reality headsets too. You may have seen the commercials for companies like Samsung and Playstation who have brought virtual reality into the homes of consumers but now these headsets are popping up in classrooms across the country. It's basically comprised of three things, a cell phone that has the gyroscope feature to enable the virtual reality pictures, a headset to house the phone and a set of lenses that view the pictures (usually included with the headset).

You'll find a number of apps that are compatible with virtual reality but the one that I've found most helpful for teachers is Google Expeditions. This is the perfect app for teachers who are interested in taking their class on virtual field trips. There are over 400 locations to travel to within this app. There are many appealing features that this app offers for educators. First and foremost, it's free! But what I love about Google Expeditions is all of the information that is provided for teachers with each location. For each destination Google Expeditions provides:

• Descriptive paragraphs that teachers can read to students to provide background information while they're immersed in their journey. 
• Leveled questions to check your students for understanding
• Focus Points that direct your students' attention to certain spots where Google provides you with more information to enhance your trip 

Another thing that I love about Google Expeditions is the teacher is the "Leader" of the expedition which puts them in complete control and the students are the "Followers". The teacher determines where we go on our expedition and they can also stop the expedition at any time through the use of a separate device, I used an iPad. There are locations that are waiting for you to explore that are directly aligned to the curriculum. We've traveled to a Native American fair to learn more about their culture and how they adapted to their environment. We're flying into space to examine the many features of our solar system next week. I'm really looking forward to that lesson! 

Here's what we purchased and the cost for each:

Teefan Headsets - $15.72 from Amazon   Samsung Galaxy S4 Smart Phones (Refurbished) - $120.00

                                             

Disclaimer

Be sure to consult your IT department to ensure your district has the wireless capability of pairing the cell phones to other devices, such as an iPad. 

Google Helpouts - Need help? Find help.

My friend and colleague, Clint Rogers (@clint_rogers21) and I were working on our district website yesterday and wanted to try out Google Helpouts to see how it worked.  It wasn't long before we realized this could be a great tool for teachers.  Google Helpouts is a service that connects people that need help, with those people that can help them.  Helpouts are video conferences through Google Hangouts that allow you to speak with Subject Matter Experts.  There are people available to help from all walks of life and fields of work.

Our first ever Google Helpout was with HomeAdvisor.  It was a free helpout (I should say that some Helpouts are paid services) that connected us with a gentleman named JD.  JD was very helpful and answered all of our questions thoroughly about some simple home improvement issues we asked.  

 If you would like to give Google Helpouts a try, a good place to start would be with the group at HomeAdvisor.

Check out HomeAdvisor on Google Helpouts

After participating in my first Google Helpout, I decided I would like to create my own Helpout account.  I received an invitation code from Google and setup my Helpout account offering help with high school and college Biology.  Check out my Google Helpout page and feel free to share with those that may need help with Biology.

Check me out on Google Helpouts for help with Biology.

Thanks,

Tyler Callahan
@STEM_TC
jcallahan@ncmcs.org

Stormboard - Online Brainstorming and Collaboration Platform

So it's the last few days of school and you're interested in trying out a new digital tool in preparation for next year. Here's a suggestion: Stormboard

Stormboard is a free tool for real-time collaboration, brainstorming, and mind-mapping. Using Stormboard, users can create an unlimited amount of "storms" from a bank of education templates (Character Map, Compare & Contrast, Conflict Map, Reading & Analyzing Non-Fiction, etc.) or start from scratch with a blank brainstorming wall. Once the storm is created, users can invite up to 5 collaborators via email, providing the link to the storm, or giving out the storm ID & key. 

Your storm can include color-coded sticky notes, images, videos, and sketches. Users can utilize the chat option to communicate within the storm. The drag-and-drop process makes it very easy to edit the storm. A couple of the nice features of Stormboard is the ability to vote on the ideas on the storm (each user gets 10 votes to prioritize the sticky notes) and the option of commenting on each item on the storm so that your collaborators can give feedback on the ideas. You can retrieve reports from your Stormboard in a variety of formats. 

The Google sign-in feature makes this an easily accessible tool for your Chromebook users. The numerous literacy templates are great if you're thinking about going paperless. 

*Free education accounts until July 31, 2014 which enables unlimited users per storm*