Author Michelle Reiser

Virtual Reality in PE to Rock Climb Yosemite

Michelle Reiser Leave a comment

Practically overnight virtual reality (VR) technology has become our reality, and more and more educational applications are becoming available. Using a $9 viewer and a smartphone you can enhance student learning by using VR technology in your classroom. Here’s one way to get started using this technology in the physical education classroom.

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VR Basics

As used in our classroom, there are 3 basic components that provide the VR experience:

  • the smartphone
  • the viewer (we use a cardboard version)
  • the phone app, website, or file that displays media in VR format

The smartphone provides the media (what is seen, heard, or interacted with) by accessing an app, website, or file. The viewer is the mechanism that holds the phone and makes what appears on the the phone screen appear realistic when looked into. Viewers come in different forms from cardboard designs that costs as little as $9 to more elaborate models that vary in price depending on functionality.

How We Used VR Technology In Our Phys Ed Class

The traverse climbing wall is a major component of our climbing unit, and I was excited to show students how the skills developed while climbing this wall compared to those needed to climb in a natural setting. As I explored the internet and Google Earth looking for 360° views of rock climbers I happily came across Google Treks. Google Treks is an in-depth VR experience that as explained by Google explores “some of the most interesting places in the world”, including our classroom’s journey up the vertical rock formation known as El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.

Starting at the base of the base of the the rock climb and moving all the way to the top students learn about the equipment, technique, basic needs, and history of the climbers featured in El Capitan 360° VR climb. The website provides a wealth of information about different parts of the climb, while the 360° view opened in the Google Street View App shows the setting. We used stations during our climbing unit, and while at the VR station students saw the 360° VR climb using the viewer and then read about what they saw by looking at the visual fact sheet I created using the facts from the website.

At any given time, students were talking about the climbers, the scenery, and the rocks that were being climbed. Students were pointing up as they discussed what they were seeing, and one student even commented that she, “Really felt like she was sitting in the dirt looking at the climber!” After viewing the scene students connected what they saw in VR to what they do while climbing the wall by answering a quick reflection question.

Procedure

The smartphone, VR viewer, internet, and Google Street View app were all that was needed to complete this virtual climb. I bookmarked the El Capitan Climb on my smartphone’s internet browser for easy access, and opened the specific part of the climb I wanted students to view that day by clicking “Explore”.

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Once opened, the scene has various interactive options. First, by moving the phone in space you can view 360° of the scene. Second, there are small white circles that when clicked share facts about the climbing scene being viewed (this is where I got the facts for our scene fact sheet). Third, there are options to share the scene on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook. Finally, the 360° VR climb can be opened using Google Maps, which will open up automatically in the Street View app. In our classroom I did the latter by clicking on “Google Maps”.

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Once opened in the Google Street View App, all you need to look for is the mini VR viewer icon to start the 360° VR climb.

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You will know that the phone is ready to be placed in the viewer when the view appears to look like it is being seen through a big pair of goggles. Turn the phone so that the image appears upright and place in viewer to begin the 360°  view of different parts of the El Capitan climb.

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Final Considerations

Although some preparation was needed initially, I was able to put the phone to sleep and turn it back on with the VR view screen opening right up. This meant that I only had to use the internet bookmark and open the VR view for the first class of the day and could just unlock my smartphone to access the VR climb from thereon. Next, with safety as the first priority, students used the viewer while seated. As you download and use the VR capability of Google Street View, additional considerations are presented.

 

I would love to hear how you are using VR in your classroom. I am extremely curious about Google Excursions if you can share how you have applied it into your lessons.

*All virtual reality image screenshots obtained from: https://www.google.com/maps/about/behind-the-scenes/streetview/treks/yosemite/

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One App to Explain Everything

Michelle Reiser 2 Comments

One App to Explain Everything

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Explained…

It is time to rethink your typical classroom presentations… think Explain Everything. This app allows teachers to create by providing an interactive whiteboard and a screencast tool in one place. Using this app, presentation slides can include a variety of media- from websites and drawings to pictures and videos- Explain Everything has it all. Sharing your creations is simple, and screencasts can be shared and exported as videos, PDFs, and Explain Everything project files to programs like Dropbox, Google Drive, and YouTube for viewing on and off of the Internet. Explain Everything offers different presentation formats to meet the needs of all learners. Flexible viewing options also allow the teacher to control how screencasts are viewed. Teachers can provide students with the option to control the pace at which a Presentation is viewed, or it can be viewed and paced at the teacher’s timing.

Supported…

Explain Everything is used by over 2 million people, and is growing daily. In fact it is not only used in classrooms, but by leaders and learners worldwide. The Hytech Lawyer, which is devoted to technology solutions for lawyers writes, “The potential uses for this app are only limited by your imagination.” Similarly learninginspired.com, a website devoted to Apple technology in the classroom writes, “Some apps are like swiss army knives. Some can do more than you think. Some can be used in thousands of ways in the classroom. Explain Everything is one such app.”

Useful…

The uses for Explain Everything is the classroom are plentiful. Teachers can use the app as a learning medium that includes a variety of rich media, and videos and images created on other apps are easily imported. Students can also assume the creator role using this app by constructing and sharing their knowledge while creating Explain Everything screencasts of their own. 

Furthermore, formative assessment opportunities are created as both teachers and students can share and respond to the same screencast when the file is shared as an Explain Everything project; thus allowing for instruction and responses that include text, video, audio, and more. Explain Everything is also a great medium for utilizing the flipped classroom model as screencasts provide student-centered learning opportunities that can be viewed and responded to at home and in school. Finally, why not connect with parents using this app? It is a great way to send home announcements and homework help tutorials.

Contact me to hear how we have used Explain Everything in our 1:1 classroom… and I’d love to hear how you have or how you see yourself using Explain Everything in your classroom!

(this blog was updated from an original post that was written by me and posted on this group blog. Check out this link for great posts contributed by the other authors!)

Two Pencil Free Assessments to Use Tomorrow

Michelle Reiser 2 Comments

“My pencil is broken!” Words we hear and panic- the seemingly quick exit ticket is complicated by materials, and is taking time away from valuable teaching and activity time. Yet, as a teacher that knows the value of formative assessment to drive future instruction, you are not willing to give it up. Below are 2 pencil free assessments that are easy enough to use in your classroom tomorrow.

1. Plickers

Materials needed: 1 student plicker response card per student, 1 teacher mobile device.

Cost: Free

Using Plickers, students hold up a specific side of their printed Plickers card to indicate their answer. The teacher scans all of the responses at once, using a phone or tablet, for an immediate visual representation of correct and incorrect student responses.

Plicker

After viewing student answers live, a visual report of all responses is available online.

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Plickers is great for immediate feedback as well as for exposing individual student’s misconceptions, as each student’s card is different than anyone else’s in the class. The app recognizes the individual cards, and reports back to the teacher the answers for whomever the card is assigned. If you teach more than one class per day, the Plickers website allows you to organize students and reports by class. The same paper cards can be used from class to class, as long as students use the permanent card number assigned to them in their “class” on the Plickers website.
Plickers is free to download and use, and can be downloaded for both iOS and Android devices. The Plickers cards can be printed in varying quantities for free from the Plickers website, and laminated versions can be purchased from Amazon.

2. “Tear Along the Dotted Line” Assessment Slip

Materials needed: 1 paper tear assessment slip per student

Cost: Free
The concept of these is simple, students tear the sheet of paper along the dotted line to indicate their answer. It is a quick and easy task, and easily shows you what misconceptions students may have. These are great to pass out during lesson close, and as students exit the gym they drop their assessment in the bucket or hand it to the teacher. Tear assessment slips are not limited to lesson closure either- they are easily used at the beginning of class and during transitions from instruction to activity and the slips are easily reviewed as collected. Although you will not know which students submitted which slip, you learn which concepts to revisit or reteach after reviewing the assessment responses. Customize and print your own using this template (4 assessments per page).

Tear Slip Sample

 

What strategies have you used to formatively assess students in the classroom? Share the pencil free assessments have you used in your classroom.

Nearpod to Enhance Sport Ed in Phys Ed

Michelle Reiser Leave a comment

It is a very exciting time in education. New technology is allowing us to create blended learning experiences that enhance student learning. Best of all, students are motivated and become more involved in their own learning process as they synthesize information to construct knowledge. Nearpod is a website and app that allows teachers to share real-time presentations that include a variety of media and interactivity. Whats more, student interactions and submissions are available as a report for teachers to view. Below, the use of Nearpod in Sport Education units is discussed.

In addition to being an effective tool for teaching important concepts and cues of an activity or sport, Nearpod is a great way to engage and motivate students in their sport education unit. The presentation format makes it possible to incorporate many different types of media including images and video while the interactive assessment and activities are excellent for checking for understanding and developing sport education materials.

Let’s examine the use of Nearpod in my 6th grade physical education class where students used nearpod to learn about offensive strategies, develop team plays for playbooks, and to create team flags . Each student in my class accesses Nearpod from their iPad using the session code- no need to create accounts which is one of my favorite parts of this program. After entering their first name, the teacher paced presentation asked a few pre-assessment questions.

Play

Student offensive play created using Nearpod

The following slides taught students about offensive strategies: what they are, their purpose, and 4 strategies they can use in class (give and go, moving to open space,  running routes, and creating plays). After learning about each, student’s saw a demonstration of each strategy from videos imported into Nearpod from PowerPoint . Following the last strategy, which was creating a play, students used the drawing feature to create and name a play of their own. This play was later printed and added to their team’s playbook, which was used during gameplay.

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Students planning their running routes for a play in their playbook.

The final activity of creating the team flag was planned by the entire team, and only submitted by the team’s coach. Students always get REALLY into this part, it’s great! The flag was displayed underneath the team name on the scoreboard.

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Team flags created by students using Nearpod. Flays were displayed on scoreboard with team points.

In all the Nearpod presentation took about 20 minutes. Within this time students were pre-assessed, taught a concept, created team plays, and made team flags. The use of Nearpod alleviated the need for passing out pencils and papers, drawing/showing demonstrations, and multiple transitions. Besides creating the presentation, all that was required was accessing the submission report and printing the team flags and plays.

 

In what ways have you used Nearpod in Physical Education?
More About Nearpod:

Using nearpod in the classroom provides information to both students and teachers. As students view the presentation, they are shown slides that can  include videos, images, text, websites, pdf files, and audio- thus allowing teachers to present content in multiple ways. Slides can also include interactive features like open ended questions, fill in the blank, multiple choice, and drawing. As the teacher you are not only sharing lesson content with students, but also learning from their submissions via a visual report displays student participation, answers, and reflections.This data helps drive instruction and expose student understanding.

drawing feature

Student using the interactive drawing feature of Nearpod to respond to a question

 

 

Cyberbullying- Be the One to Make a Difference

Michelle Reiser Leave a comment

Bullying is a real issue that can greatly affect the lives of those involved. With the increased use of technology, including mobile devices and social networking sites, cyberbullying has become an important bullying topic and nearly 50% of teens and adolescents report being cyberbullied (isafe.org).

Learning more about cyberbullying is important for students, parents, and educators. There are many resources available to help. Below are resources to help educate, take action, and report cyberbullying.

Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying can happen 24/7. There are steps to take when you or someone you know is being cyberbullied.

Video Without Spoken Audio.

Cyberbullying Resources

Stop Cyberbullying.org

Defines cyberbullying and discusses prevention, action steps, and the law related to cyberbullying.

Cyberbullying Research Center

Has resources for parents, students, and educators. Lots of great tangibles and activities about preventing and handling cyberbullying, as well as internet safety.

StompOutBullying.org

Discusses the different types of cyberbullying and explains what to do in different bullying situations. A help chat line is available for those being bullied. The site displays news and events about bullying as well as resources for parents and educators.

Stop!t Reporting System

A platform for reporting and managing different types of bullying behaviors within a school district or organization. A mobile app allows students to anonymously report bullying while also allowing them to seek help from their school or a crisis center if necessary. School administrators view incidents, alerts, and trends on the Stop!t dashboard.

What cyberbullying resources, programs, or activities have you successfully used in your classroom?

Sources:

i-SAFE Inc., “Cyber Bullying: Statistics and Tips” http://www.isafe.org/outreach/media/media_cyber_bullying

http://www.powtoon.com

Vocaroo and You… Easy Classroom Uses of Audio

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The Paperless Trail by EduAppsandMore

Screenshot 2015-08-09 16.43.15

Have you ever wanted kids to make a speech? Maybe present a book report? What about getting a bit more daring, and making a sort of radio announcement, maybe a speech for running for student council?

Odds are, you have. Odds are also pretty good that there have been times when a few students didn’t want to do it because they were not comfortable in front of a group. While that is something we need to work through and build confidence for, we can still allow them the opportunity to present their material in a meaningful way.

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Using Google Forms for Back to School Night

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The Paperless Trail by EduAppsandMore

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So, we had our back to school open house. As usual, the school was abuzz with excitement. It’s a treat to be able to meet all of our parents, a treat we really should find a way to do more often.

I decided that I would do away with the old fashioned sign in sheet. It seemed to make little sense to have parents fill out a paper sign in sheet when we are a paperless classroom. We wanted to give them an idea of how their kids are expected to work this year, so we did open house in our rooms paperless style.

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Digital Citizenship- Responsible Online Posts

Michelle Reiser 1 Comment

Digital citizenship is an important topic to learn about in today’s digital world. One component of digital citizenship is responsible online sharing. Below are a few questions for students to ask before they share online. A PDF version is available as well.

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Before You Post…

Think it Over!

By: Michelle Reiser

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You just posted a picture of yourself online and are having regrets. All that is running through your head is, “What will my Grandma think?!?” You quickly delete the picture and hope no one viewed or re-posted it.

But did you know that with every click or share online you are creating your digital footprint? Your digital footprint contains the information you share online and what websites you visit. Even information you may have deleted can be part of your digital footprint, and has the potential to be retrieved again.

In order to avoid those after-post regrets, ask yourself a few questions about what you are sharing before you add to your digital footprint.

  • What are my privacy settings? Will strangers be able to access my posts and personal information?
  • How much personal information am I sharing with strangers, and do I want them to know where I am by tagging my location?
  • This post may be seen by my current and future friends, employers, and family. Is this how I want them to see me?
  • Do I have permission to post someone else’s picture or information?
  • Is what I am about to post based on fact?
  • Is this post based on kindness and respect for everyone?

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What do you teach your students about responsible online posting and sharing? Please comment below!

3 Technology Based Assessments to Drive Instruction

Michelle Reiser Leave a comment

http://farm8.static.flickr.com/7256/7118787133_f8762b2516.jpg

Drop the pencils and papers, they’re not needed here. Assessment in the classroom is evolving, and there are new and exciting ways to track student understanding using interactive websites and apps.

Imagine this- displayed on your student’s computer or tablet is the question you developed to assess their learning. As you look down on your device you are seeing their answers as they are submitted in real-time. This is no longer just something you imagine, because here are the websites to make this a reality in your classroom. Below, I examine 3 online assessment tools that offer a variety of features to teachers and students.

Make sure you check out number 3 on the list… it is a HOOT!

1. Nearpod

Nearpod is an interactive presentation website that allows teachers to instruct and assess within the same presentation. Presentations are created or accessed in the Nearpod library, and are viewed by students on their devices in real-time or at their own pace. Slides can include media like videos, images, text, websites, PDF files, and audio as well as interactive features like open ended questions, fill in the blank, multiple choice, and drawing. As the teacher you are not only sharing lesson content with students, but also learning from their submissions via a visual report displays student participation, answers, and reflections.This data helps drive instruction and expose student understanding.

Students do not need to create a username to use Nearpod, as they access the quiz by entering the quizzes session code on nearpod.com. Nearpod is also available as an app.

2. Socrative

Socrative is an online website that allows teachers to create quizzes that include multiple choice, short answer, and true/false format questions as well as exit tickets and polls. There is no need for students to create an account. From their devices, all students have to do is enter the class code to access the current quiz being given by the teacher. Depending on the quiz settings, students answer questions in real-time or student paced and feedback can be provided for each answer. Like Nearpod, student answers are able to be seen by the teacher as they are submitted and a report is available as well. There is no library to use quizzes developed by others, however, you can import quizzes with a code provided by a quiz’s creator.

One of my students’ favorite quiz formats is called the “space race”. Students work either alone or in groups to complete the quiz. For every correct answer their space ship advances. The spaceship that moves the furthest in the shortest time “wins”. Since the space ships move with every correct answer, students love to look up at the SmartBoard to see where their spaceship is. LOTS of excitement with this format.

3. Kahoot!

On the topic of excitement, this site really nails it. From their devices students are provided with an access code to enter the quiz, and students do not need to create an account. Quizzes include multiple choice questions created by the teacher or from the Kahoot! library. The goal is to be the first person to answer the question on the screen correctly and with each submission students are given points for answering correctly and the speed of their correct submission. After time has elapsed for the question, the correct answer is shown along with the names of the students with the highest point values. While this is being displayed on the SmartBoard, student’s devices show them how many points they need to catch up to the person ahead of them. This way, students who are not displayed as a high scorer don’t know exactly what place they are in and continue to be motivated to reach that next person ahead of them. Student results are available to the teacher as a report that can be downloaded as a file or into Google Drive.

Each of these sites offers different features and benefits in regard to assessing students in the classroom. With each there is flexibility in device, as each can be accessed from computers, smartphones, and tablets.

What ideas do you have about using these websites and apps in your classroom? Please leave a comment.

Image Source: http://farm8.static.flickr.com/7256/7118787133_f8762b2516.jpg

Cloud Based Site to Organize and Share Links

Michelle Reiser Leave a comment

Every think about how great it would be to access and share all of those great resources you have bookmarked on your computer… from anywhere?

Symbaloo is an online website and app that allows users to view, share, and access organized links on one easily accessible page. What makes it different from similar sites is its visual nature that makes it simple to navigate.

Using Symbaloo, users can organize important links on a page or “webmix”, which can then be further organized into categories by using color “markers”.  Each webmix has its own sharing link and embed code so it can be added to a website.

Here is an introduction to Symbaloo.

In addition to organizing your websites and links in one place, Symbaloo delivers benefits in the classroom.

1. Benefits to Students

Symbaloo is a great place to house links to class documents and it provides flexible viewing options (device, time, place). Furthermore, an entire project’s documents are easily included within a marker on a webmix.

For example, students in my health class created comics using ToonDoo to refuse peer pressure, and everything they needed to complete the project were under one Symbaloo marker. From the Symbaloo link they accessed:

When completing projects using Symbaloo students are using 21st century skills of information, media, and technology literacy.

Symbaloo is a great place to place for students to compile important resources of their own. By creating their own Symbaloo webmixes students are saving important resources for later use and organizing them so that they are easily found, thus practicing executive function skills.

2. Benefits to Colleagues

A benefit of being part of a professional learning network is the ability to share your knowledge while learning from your peers. Often, a disadvantage is that shared notes and photocopies are easily misplaced and the group may not meet regularly. With Symbaloo teachers are easily able to access many resources from one place and at anytime. Additionally, as new links are added the webmix is automatically updated.

Final thoughts…

Symbaloo provides so many great options in education. One improvement that could be made is ability to add multiple administrators to edit a single webmix. This would allow professional learning communities or student groups to collaborate in adding to the same webmix.

Have you used Symbaloo in your classroom? What are some of the ways you have or see yourself using this website? We’d love to hear… share your comment!

Resources:

http://www.imls.gov/about/21st_century_skills_list.aspx