Technology Integration (Blogshare)

Edutopia, which is hosted by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, is a blog site that consistently provides readers with ideas, tools, and resources to promote creativity, innovation, and learning in K-12 students. Although it began with a focus on technology, the blog has expanded to other topics such as social and emotional learning, project-based learning, teacher development, and more. Its purpose is to engage students in life-long learning through collaboration, problem-solving, and creative thinking. Teachers, administrators, and parents can find value within this blog as it shares what is actually possible for students to do within a learning environment. The video below gives more insight into the core values and beliefs of Edutopia.

https://youtu.be/8vDuGyToRoQ

Johnson (2012) suggests that school librarians should not only teach technology skills to students but “ensure [students] are prepared to succeed and participate [in] a digital society,” (p. 2). Through the various blog posts in which I visited on Edutopia, both teachers and school librarians could benefit greatly from the tools and resources shared within the blogs to assist them in ensuring the technological learning of students. The blogs share a wealth of information and resources for technology integration that can be applied across all content areas. However, when I found “Technology Integration” under the topics tab, which reveals a lot of neat, engaging ways to implement technology into learning environments, I found a blog that could really benefit social studies teachers. The particular blog post that caught my attention (mainly due to my recent obsession with AR/VR tools and resources), was 5 Worthwhile Augmented and Virtual Reality Tools by Kathryn Nieves. The blog shares five free resources that are a great, engaging way for students to integrate their learning with technology. These resources can not only be used within a social studies classroom, but also within the school library as a supplement or enhancement to what students are learning within the classroom. Johnson also suggests the belief that the role of the school librarian should move beyond “provider of resources to one who leads in the use or integration of these resources for learning,” (p. 3). The five resources below promote that belief:

1. Story Spheres is a website where students can create VR experiences by uploading or selecting 360-degree-images and customizing the image to tell a story or facts about a topic through narration, music, etc. This tool would give students an opportunity to create, analyze, and give facts about the places they are learning about in a social studies classroom, from their home/school environment in elementary grades to national/international environments in middle and high school.
2. HistoryView VR provides VR tours of historic sites, such as museums, national parks, etc. Touchpoints allow students to learn more facts about the selected location either using a VR headset, tablet, or laptop. This tool would be great for students in upper elementary grades and beyond within a social studies class as they can learn a wealth of information about specific places both nationally and internationally.
3. Metaverse is an AR experience on both a website and app that allows students to translate their learning through 2D, 3D, and 3D animation tools, narration, music, and more. Students can print a QR code to share their creation with their peers. This can be beneficial for summarizing information learned about a social studies topic, such as the branches of government or goods and services.
4. Tour Creator allows students to create a VR tour using Google Maps to create a ‘scene’ that students customize what they are learning using touchpoints, music, and notes about their creation. This can be beneficial for students who are learning about places, like their state and its major cities, in geography, further advancing and establishing their learned information.
5. Panoform is a VR experience that uses real-life drawings to showcase student learning via VR headset, tablet, phone, or laptop. This could be beneficial for students when learning about other cultures or even major historic moments.

Edutopia, and in particular the 5 Worthwhile Augmented and Virtual Reality Tools blog post, really provides teachers, school librarians, administrators, and parents alike with current, attainable technology resources to use within the classroom. Smith (2010) proposes that “sustained project-based experiences with feedback provide the best opportunities for teaching educators how to implement technology,” (p. 627). When teachers, school librarians, administrators, and other school leaders are provided with adequate technological training and support, students will benefit immensely by learning skills needed to manage in the 21st century.

References

Johnson, M.P. (2012). School librarians as technology integration leaders: Enablers and barriers to leadership enactment. School Library Research, 15, 1-33.

Johnston, M.P. (2012). Connecting teacher librarians for technology integration leadership. School Libraries Worldwide, 18(1), 18-33.

Nieves, K. (2019, December 27). 5 worthwhile augmented and virtual reality tools. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/5-worthwhile-augmented-and-virtual-reality-tools

Smith, D. (2010). Making the case for the leadership role of school librarians in technology integration. Library Hi Tech, 28(4), 617-631.