Updated from an original post on DefinedSTEM.
Technology creates many opportunities for teachers to provide innovative learning experiences for students. An even greater benefit is that these learning experiences can take place regardless of the time and place, and offer students more personalized opportunities for interacting with their peers and the content. With so many choices now available, sometimes deciding on a specific digital tool or a type of tool can present a challenge.
I am often asked about where a teacher should start when either implementing technology for the first time or creating a blended learning environment. What I suggest is to first think about some of the learning activities that are already being used in the classroom. What has seemed to work the best and what are some that possibly either take a lot of time to create or that don't offer students a lot in the way of choices.
Another consideration is focusing on your goals and what you are hoping to accomplish by using technology. Is it to create an access point where students can ask questions, obtain class resources or interact with their peers? Or is it to provide students with different methods to practice the content and also to apply their learning in more authentic ways?
Here are four strategies for helping students to communicate, collaborate and create in the traditional learning space as well as beyond the classroom setting. By trying some of these ideas, you will see some positive changes that promote student voice, create more time for you to interact with and support students in learning, and it will help students to build digital citizenship skills as they learn to leverage the technology and navigate in the digital world.
One way that I have used technology that has had a big impact in my classroom is by using a messaging tool. A few years ago I noticed a disconnect with students and the class, either they were absent and could not get materials or they had questions after the school day had ended. By using messaging apps, I can send reminders, answer student questions and provide feedback when students need it. You can also use some of these apps to connect with families as an alternative to email. There are a lot of options available and your choices will depend on the level and area you teach and whether your goal is to set up communication between students and you or with parents. I use Remind with students and parents, and BloomzApp is another option for creating a space to interact with parents. Either of these is good for providing students and parents with live feedback. It is easy to sign up for either of these using any device, and privacy and security are provided.
However, I was recently looking at communication tools and thinking about promoting family engagement and came across ParentSquare before attending FETC in January. ParentSquare is more than simply a one-way communication tool. It is a multi-purpose platform with capabilities to facilitate communication, collaboration and increase family engagement in schools. ParentSquare is for use in grades PreK-12, geared toward streamlining parent notifications, increasing participation and family engagement in the school community and more. It can be used by students, teachers, staff members, administrators, and parents, and it creates a virtual space where so many vital communications and interactions can be completed.
ParentSquare provides a consistent and reliable way to communicate within the school and school district, fostering and building the relationships that promote better communication, student success, and family engagement.
By establishing a specific location for students to access class resources, find out about assignments, and to ask questions, we can provide the support that students need to be successful. Some of the ways that I have used Edmodo and Google Classroom are to curate and provide resources, post daily assignments or reminders, announce upcoming class events, and to be accessible for student questions. Depending on the platform you use, it is easy to update the site and it is also a good way to help parents stay informed of what is going on in the classroom. It can be a collaborative learning space for students to interact with their peers or to connect globally using additional digital tools that are all housed within one learning space. Tools like Edmodo, a blogging site, Google Classroom or creating a standalone website will help to create a connection between you, the students, and their learning.
Sometimes you may want to have students brainstorm an idea, participate in a scavenger hunt, share a learning experience, or just respond to a question. While we can always use the traditional tools for this in class, sometimes we may want the discussion to go beyond the class time and space. I would recommend trying either Padlet or Synth. There are so many ways to use Padlet, that if you want students to post images, record audio, upload video, or simply respond to a question, it offers all of these options in one tool. Students have come up with some great ideas for using Padlet, such as building a digital portfolio, creating a multimedia presentation, or presenting their Project Based Learning. It is a versatile tool that many educators may already be using, but may not be aware of other innovative ways to use Padlet.
Also by using Synth, a tool for podcasting, educators can provide daily class updates, add links or resources to supplement what was done in class, and even interact with other students in classrooms around the world. It enables discussions to happen at any time and is an easy tool to use for promoting discussions and helping students to share ideas. There are many ways that these tools can also add to the organization in the classroom by providing written or verbal directions and ways to reinforce instruction.
Some students are visual learners and having tools which enable them to display different types of information and content, they will be able to retain the content in a more authentic and meaningful way as they create. Infographics are useful for so many class assignments and projects that are student created, but they are beneficial for teachers to create a course syllabus, make visuals for the classroom, or to create a flipped lesson and display all of the learning materials in one graphic. Beyond creating representations of learning, they are useful for sharing information and offering ways for students or parents to contact you or access class materials. Some of the options available are Buncee, Canva, Piktochart, Smore, and Visme. It is always good practice to learn with and from the students, so try creating some new materials for your classroom as well. Perhaps create a class newsletter, or make some signs that will be useful for your learning space.
There are many ideas for how to expand the learning space and to set up different learning opportunities for students. These are just a few of the ideas that we have used and that have worked well in our classroom. Sometimes we just need to brainstorm a little or, if you want to find new ways to use some digital tools in your classroom, try asking your students. Students come up with really creative ideas and by involving them in some of the classroom decisions, they will feel more valued and have a more meaningful learning experience.
This post is sponsored by ParentSquare. All opinions are my own.
Over the last few weeks, I have been exploring ParentSquare and considering how it can be used to promote family engagement, foster better communication and facilitate collaboration between home and school.
Choosing something that will give students, teachers, parents, and administrators equal access to the vital information, resources, school news, and alerts, in addition to many of the other communications that are exchanged on a daily basis is an important task. There are multiple tools that can be used, but this often requires remembering where to find specific information or parent and teacher preferences for communication. Having one platform that provides all of this and more makes sense. With ParentSquare, all of this is possible and it brings with it the potential for using it in different ways that meet the needs of school and home, making it highly beneficial.
There are many features of ParentSquare that facilitate more consistent and reliable information sharing and access to resources. Consider the tools and methods you are currently using and then compare with ParentSquare to see how much easier it is to engage families in the education of our students. Think about a typical day and the ways you communicate, the tasks that you do, the information that you exchange and how much time is spent in the process. ParentSquare helps to streamline all of the necessary communications.
Here are 10 of the best features that I think make ParentSquare really stand out and why I recommend that school administrators and teachers take time to explore the platform.
Ease of navigation within the platform: A key feature of ParentSquare is in its simplicity. Available through the web or mobile devices, getting started and finding what you need is easy, without worry about a steep learning curve.
Increases families engagement: Families choose their preferred methods of communication such as email, text, web portal, app notifications, voice calls, or mobile app. ParentSquare helps to create a closer home to school learning community full of ways to connect families.
Facilitates timely and relevant communication between home and school: Messages can be sent immediately, with real-time interactions and reports to show the reach and deliverability, making it easy to identify who has or has not been contacted. Easier to share relevant updates of all school-related activities and groups within one platform.
Promotes better two-way communication with parents: Keep the conversation going with multiple options for communicating in less time. Communicate through direct messages, create polls, and post comments all in one platform.
Easier to plan and RSVP for upcoming events: With ParentSquare, creating events and tracking RSVPs is much easier. ParentSquare even sends reminders for you.
Involves families through photo and file sharing: Share photos and files with families quickly and with private and secure access within the platform.
Creates more opportunities for family involvement: Schools can create wish lists, manage volunteer sign-ups and launch fundraising campaigns, all in one platform.
Language Features: ParentSquare offers direct language translation in real-time for two-way communication. Language translation can be specific to the school or based on family preferences.
9. "Pushes" vital information to families when needed: Immediate access to information such as emergency alerts, grades, absences, lunch balances, upcoming events, volunteer requests, parent-teacher conferences and more. Parents do not need to search for information, everything is easy to find.
10. Analytics: With the reports, it's easy to determine who received messages, how they obtained the information and how many people still need to be contacted. Access to the "Overall Snapshot" makes it easy to see how the information is being received and areas that need to be improved.
Find out how ParentSquare can make a difference in your school. I recommend that you schedule a demo to learn more about the features and possibilities with ParentSquare. Personally, I like to get started by exploring the website, learning about the team and the platform as much as I can before the demo. It is helpful to consider the different methods or tools you currently use for communicating and collaborating with students and families. Perhaps even make a list to compare. You will see how ParentSquare unifies so many time-consuming tasks and streamlines the exchange of forms and correspondence, into one tool that provides it all.
ParentSquare provides a consistent and reliable way to communicate within the school and school district, fostering and building the relationships that promote better communication, student success, and family engagement. Sign up for a demo today!
In my previous post, I shared the background of ParentSquare, where the inspiration came from and provided a basic overview of what the platform offers. To learn more, I scheduled a demo with Anupama Vaid, Founder and President of ParentSquare, and was able to "experience" the platform from the perspective of a parent, teacher, and administrator. I also had an opportunity to explore the platform on my own, delve more into each of the features, and compare it to the tools that I use in my own classroom as well as those used within my school.
ParentSquare offers unique features that make it stand out when compared with other similar home-to-school communication platforms currently used in schools. While other platforms offer similar benefits, one of the things I appreciate most about ParentSquare is understanding the vision that Anu has for the platform. She has a genuine passion for connecting families in the school community.
Everything in ParentSquare has a similar look and feel, "if you know how to do one thing, you know how to do everything." For students, parents, teachers, and administrators, this ease of use and accessibility are key.
When it comes to ParentSquare, Anu has a unique perspective. She can evaluate the benefits by using it as a parent, which gives her a more authentic experience with the platform. And she is in a position to make changes based on the feedback she receives and through her own experience in communicating with her children's teachers.
What makes ParentSquare stand out?
The first thing that I noticed about ParentSquare is how easy it is to navigate in the platform. When looking at digital tools, especially those that offer as many features as ParentSquare, a common question is if there will there be a big learning curve. A key feature of ParentSquare is in its simplicity. Students, parents, teachers, and administrators, whether tech-savvy or new to technology, will be comfortable using ParentSquare.
With ParentSquare, you can streamline many of the tasks and communications that are a regular part of school, but that typically come in multiple formats. ParentSquare takes everything that schools and teachers are currently using and unifies them in one platform that is easy to use and widely accessible. Schools can establish consistency in communication which will increase family engagement and provide all of the necessary resources in a safe digital environment.
Smart Alerts and Notices: Send alerts for school closings, urgent notices, or quick reminders to parents. Alerts can be sent to the entire district, individual schools, parents, or students. Sending a recorded message or using the text-to-speech feature provided by ParentSquare is easy to do. Through the reports, you can verify the number of messages that have been received, even getting a prompt that provides the percentage of contacts being reached and the number needed to reach 100%.
Classroom Communication: Posting a message takes little time and messages can be sent to parents, privately exchanged with teachers, or as part of a group chat. Parents choose their preferred method of contact and you simply create one message that is delivered to parents in the format and language they choose.
Clerical tasks: taking attendance, creating permission forms, and contacting parents.
Daily classroom procedures: sending class announcements, posting reminders, and sharing class materials.
Personally, I have been using between four and six different apps and websites to complete these tasks. However, with ParentSquare, you can facilitate faster and better communication and collaboration between home and school. And more importantly, it will help to foster the relationships that are the foundation of learning.
2) Directory – Parental contact information is more accessible, taking less time to find and exchange emails or messages. You can search by student or parent name, email address or phone number.
3) Paper-free – Easier to keep track of permission forms, absence excuses, and volunteer sign-ups. Exchange information faster and access the "paperwork" when you need to without having to print extra copies or keep folders full of documents.
4) Grade reporting – ParentSquare integrates with your grade book and notifications can be sent to keep parents informed about student grades.
5) Attendance Tasks – Keeping attendance records and gathering excuses for absences is much simpler using ParentSquare. Parents receive notices of absences and can respond with an excuse instantly within the app or on the web.
These are the first five areas that I thought of which likely take up a good portion of time for most educators each day. Using ParentSquare to facilitate these five tasks alone would make a big difference. In addition to being beneficial for time management, it would foster the creation of a supportive and engaged community of students, parents, teachers, and administrators.
Sign up for your demo today!
For the past three years, I have enjoyed attending the Future of Educational Technology Conference (FETC) held in Orlando at the end of January. It has become one of my favorite conferences because of the diverse opportunities available to explore emerging technologies and to network. One of my favorite things about FETC is seeing the new tools and exploring different options for my students, as well as finding some ideas to share with members of my PLN.
In the middle of January, I started to receive flyers from edtech companies who would be at FETC. My habit is to check out their website and then make time to stop by their booth and have a conversation to learn more. This year, I also received one email, from Anupama Vaid, Founder and President of ParentSquare.
Her email invited FETC attendees to stop by a hospitality suite hosted by ParentSquare, to learn more about the platform and spend time networking. Because of my schedule, I would not be able to attend, so I emailed Anu to introduce myself and make an initial connection. We had hoped to meet while there, but of course, time flies when you are at FETC and we missed the opportunity to connect in person. With a call setup for a few weeks later, I was glad to have more time to explore ParentSquare on my own before "meeting" with Anu earlier this month.
Beyond knowing what a particular tool does or how a platform works and the benefit for students, I really enjoy getting to know and connect with the people behind these tools. Understanding their story and motivation for creating their product helps to make a more authentic connection with them and to see if my goals as a teacher are in alignment with their purpose so I can provide the best options for my students.
I enjoyed having the opportunity to learn about the start of ParentSquare and the growth that it has seen over the past eight years. Anu shared the story behind ParentSquare and her passion for the work that she does is clear. As a parent, Anu often received a lot of different messages and communications from her children's' school. While receiving the information was not a problem, the variety and inconsistency of formats (email, paper, newsletters, even Google groups) being used in schools was a problem. Parents had to keep up with and know the practices for communicating with each teacher.
Anu thought there had to be a better, more consistent way and she made it her goal to design something that would facilitate all of these vital communications in a more accessible and simplified way, that everyone (families, teachers, and administrators) could access. By using one tool, there is consistency, reliability and it promotes more equity when everyone has the same options for staying informed and feeling connected to the school. Anu wanted to "get everyone to be on the same platform, working together toward a common goal," to unite all stakeholders in the educational community.
Starting with four schools during the first two years, ParentSquare has grown across the United States and is now being used in more than 1500 schools in 36 states. Moving forward, Anu hopes to connect with more schools and educators, to communicate in more effective ways so that together we can provide the best learning experience for students and the most support for their families.
ParentSquare is more than simply a one-way communication tool. It is a multi-purpose platform with capabilities to facilitate communication, collaboration and increase family engagement in schools. ParentSquare is for use in grades PreK-12, geared toward streamlining parent notifications, increasing participation and family engagement in the school community and more. It can be used by students, teachers, staff members, administrators, and parents, and it creates a virtual space where so many vital communications and interactions can be completed. It truly fosters a learning community.
When I explored ParentSquare, what I noticed first is the setup of the landing page and how easy it is to locate the information you are looking for. It is a versatile tool that helps to facilitate many different interactions and increase communication between home, school and the community. Having time to explore ParentSquare closely, I thought about the tools that I use for communicating with students and families, and realized that rather than using multiple different tools, I could use ParentSquare to do all of that and more.
With ParentSquare, communicating is easy. You can quickly exchange information, share photos, engage in two-way conversations with parents, plan events, to name just a few of the options, and I was amazed at how easy it was to find what I needed. You can see right away how beneficial it is for schools and families. If you find yourself or your school using multiple different apps to keep track of correspondence, announce events, share files and photos, send messages, or even ask for volunteers, ParentSquare enables you to use just one tool that facilitates so much within the school community.
There are three main areas that ParentSquare provides: Communication, Resources and Participation with many options available within each.
The landing page is easy to navigate to keep track of events, messages, upcoming activities like fundraisers or school events.
To communicate, you can send or schedule a post, create an alert, or even send a two-way message to interact with parents one-to-one.
Parents can opt to receive an email with a link to read without having to log in or they can choose to read a text message or app notification.
Parents can also choose to receive their notifications in a digest format. With a digest format, parents will receive all notifications from the day at a specified time, rather than receiving notifications that are dispersed throughout the day.
Signing up for events and sending RSVPs have never been easier.
Technology tools like ParentSquare provide so many benefits for schools and families. By using ParentSquare, schools can provide a more consistent, effective and reliable way to facilitate higher engagement and better communication between school and home. Parents will appreciate having one tool with multiple functions that help to bridge the gap that can happen when using multiple apps or means of communication within the same school setting. School to home communication and collaboration is at the heart of ParentSquare.
Sign up for a demo today and stay tuned for the next post which will highlight some of the features of ParentSquare and how to get started.
This post is sponsored by Metaverse. All opinions are my own.
Metaverse has become a favorite of my students for creating fun, interesting, interactive "experiences" for class. The best part about using a tool like Metaverse is that it enables educators to give students more control and an opportunity to create something that is more meaningful to them. With libraries full of thousands of choices, every student can find something that meets their interests and engages them more in the creative fun and process of learning. While sometimes it can take a little bit longer to figure out how to use different tools for creating in Augmented Reality, or problem solve to find out why something isn't working during the creation process, with Metaverse, all students can find exactly what they need. Sometimes people wonder if there's any bit of a learning curve or how much time it takes to get started with something, but in this case, it couldn't be easier.
I have found that students really enjoy creating with Metaverse, especially because they have so many possibilities for what they can create. They can add in characters and 3D objects, portals, 360 videos, YouTube videos, audio, and much more. There has been an update to the way that the website looks and it is now even easier to find what you need in order to create your very own experience. Of course if you need help, you can send a message directly to the Metaverse team using the chat or check out some of their updated video tutorials on YouTube.
I find that another bonus of using Metaverse is that it is very user-friendly to get started with and it doesn't take long for students to figure out how to design their experience on their own or for students to step in and help their peers. I've noticed when using tools like Metaverse in the classroom that there is this other component to what students are able to "experience" while learning. It really does a lot for helping peers work on their collaborative skills and even social-emotional learning skills. There are many ways to use this for students to create a representation of something they have learned, to tell a story, to create a scavenger hunt even. You can learn more about Metaverse and how it works from my prior post or check out a recent post about using Augmented Reality tools for blended learning here.
I had a chance to preview the Collections with the Metaverse team about a month ago, and I was very excited when I learned about the changes that would be coming to the Metaverse platform. Not only would there be more items and awesome things to choose from, that students and teachers could create with, but there would also be a new dashboard with a better way for students and teachers to access the experiences that have been created.
Having used Metaverse for a few years, I have saved a lot of student-created experiences to use in my STEAM classes. In order to make these experiences available for all students to see and enjoy each year, I chose to create a Padlet and have students post their QR codes onto the Padlet. By doing this, it was easy to simply display the Padlet on the Smartboard and have students walk up and scan the QR code. Another benefit was that it gave students time to explore a variety of experiences created by their peers and make new connections while learning.
It's very easy to manage the student work from your classroom once you create a collection from your Metaverse dashboard. With this new feature, you can see all of your students' experiences, you can set them up by class or if it's the same class, put all of the experiences together, that way students have even more to explore and learn from. As a teacher, you have the option to edit the student experiences and take a look at what they have created, and beyond that, once you have the collection created, you the projects for the entire class can be shared through just one link. So easy to connect student work in one space. Check out Collections here!
So how do you get the Collections? For right now it is still a free feature, without the Collections add-on. Creating collections will become a paid add on for the Metaverse studio. To submit one of your experiences to a collection, there is no cost involved. Students from prior classes or who create experiences in other courses can still share their experiences to be used with the other students in my STEAM class.
The cost is going to be approximately $7 per month or you can sign up for a year at a discount rate of $64! And speaking of benefits, use the promo code ARforEDU and take advantage of a free month of Collections!
A much easier way to gather, explore and share student work. More convenient and better access to be able to explore the different experiences. One thing to keep in mind is to always check over the student experiences and keep providing reminders about digital citizenship and responsibilities as part of learning journey in Augmented Reality. Ready to get started with Metaverse in your classroom? Check out all of the great resources for teachers here.
Dr. Will Deyamport, educator, podcaster, innovator. I am thankful to have gotten to know Dr. Will by becoming a more connected educator and joining Edumatch, created by Dr. Sarah Thomas. I joined Edumatch a few years ago and started to connect with educators from around the world, opening up many opportunities for learning and growing together. Through Edumatch and the power of social media, educators have joined together to share knowledge, to support one another and become part of a larger educator community, far beyond a typical PLN (Personal or Professional Learning Network), and instead became a PLF. A family of connected educators.
Looking back to when I first became involved with Edumatch, I never imagined how many positive experiences and how much of an impact on my life that my involvement with Edumatch would have. And more importantly, the impact on the lives of the students that I'm privileged to teach and the educators with whom I'm honored to be connected.
One of those educators is Dr. Will. Our first real conversation was two years ago when he invited me to be a guest on his podcast, the Dr. Will show. I didn't think that I had a story to tell. What could I possibly share? But when you talk with Dr. Will, you know that your voice matters, that he hears you and is truly listening to what you are saying. Why? Because his motivation and passion are for sharing your story and your words with others who need to hear and can learn from them.
Flash forward to last summer, a hectic schedule at ISTE 2018 in Chicago, where I had a brief moment to get a picture with Dr. Will and some other Edumatch friends. I thought that might be the only time we would have to catch up, however, as luck would have it, we ended up attending the same social gathering that Tuesday night. I took a seat next to Dr. Will. We spent a few hours talking about podcasts, blogging, conferences, writing books, all things education and I remember telling him that I thought that he should write a chapter for "Snapshot in Education 2018." I'm pretty sure I recall him saying he "didn't know what he would write about." I suggested podcasting. He was so passionate about podcasts and I admired the work that he did. I thought that his experience could really help a lot of people who were thinking of starting their own podcast or for setting one up for use with students.
Our conversation was one of the highlights of the conference. Time to slow down and just enjoy that time to connect. Did he take my advice? I'd like to say that he did, but I know he had others guiding him and sharing their ideas as well. When he was added to the Edumatch authors group on Voxer, I thought he took my advice to write about podcasting. But what he has done instead is absolutely a groundbreaking and phenomenal work of genius. Having seen the trailer for "The Edupreneur" a few weeks back, I was immediately drawn in and eager to see the full documentary.
Dr. Will has produced a documentary, focused on the lives and transformation of eight educators into "Edupreneurs." With the help of Sarah Thomas, he has produced something very unique, unlike anything else that I have seen. We are taken on a journey as we learn about the lives of eight educators with different roles, experiences, backgrounds, and viewpoints on what it means to be an Edupreneur. Each educator openly shares their story, the good and the bad, and what it took for them to get them to where they are today: making an impact in the lives of educators around the world.
We only see who they are now, what they are doing in education and don't often know their stories, their struggles, challenges, or frustrations. All the things that we experience in our everyday lives and probably don't talk about it. When we see educators like these, we might think or assume that success came easily for them and aspire to achieve the same success for ourselves. However, as you will hear from their stories and see as they tell them, it wasn't and isn't always an easy road to follow. Get it here.
The documentary is broken into sections where each Edupreneur shares their backgrounds, offers advice, and more about who they are and what they believe in. These are just a few of my takeaways, which have led me to reflect, to plan and to aspire to do more, because our students deserve it.
Angela: When teaching preschool students, she told them they have a moral obligation to share knowledge. "Can't hold in what we have been gifted with." Be prepared, ALWAYS bring your A game! Self-awareness is not self-esteem, it is the simultaneous ability to exist within and outside of yourself. PURSUE SIGNIFICANCE, not SUCCESS.
Robyn: We need to create a business in the education space. Articulate the transformation you are going to provide. Be relevant, develop a model. Let people know they can trust you.
Eric: Twitter was a catalyst to becoming an Edupreneur, access to ideas that made a change. Always be reflective on how can you get better, how can we evolve in a way that aligns with realities.
Catlin: "People were hungry for resources." There was a demand in the edtech space. Students needed support to engage in academic conversation. Be intentional about what you do. If you are passionate about it, stick with it!
Abbey: Keep it real. Reputation is very important. There is something to learn every day. Keep it real, share experiences. Invest in yourself and don't be afraid to know your worth.
Ai Zhang: You have to invest in yourself, keep learning and never stop. Learn with and from people on the journey, especially those who are more successful, because it can be a shortcut to learn from their mistakes and experiences. Education is a service industry. Be vulnerable, show your struggles. Embrace authenticity and storytelling to build community. Be HUMAN.
Ai: If you want to be EduPreneur, there is not a linear work/life balance, it is work/life INTEGRATION.
Robyn: Find ways to optimize life. Protect your life, be INTENTIONAL.
Jeff: You need a system to do what you want.
Angela: Get ahead by never COMPROMISING what your core is.
Ai: Storyteller and disruptor, teach others to embrace Social Media to enhance teaching and learning.
Catlin: Find a platform to push ideas, find your voice online and be consistent.
Eric: Branding is about TELLING not SELLING. Don't forget WHY you went into education, HOW you make a difference, Have confidence.
Tom: Be relatable, never forget where you came from.
Angela: Litmus test, "If I made an impact on ONE, helped them understand their value, that is FAR more important to me than any outside measure of success." Living FIERCELY and FULLY, committed to WHO I AM and PROUDLY PRESENT for people in her life.
Angela: Don't compare yourself to other people. What do you deliver that NO ONE ELSE can and how do you show up for that role every day?
Ai: Be patient, there is no overnight success, a journey can take time, experience it before offer it, transform internally.
Tom: The grind takes time, give back and mentor.
Jeff: Find that niche, that you do better than anyone else, be known for one little thing.
So What Makes this Different? What will you learn from hearing their stories?
As educators, we constantly need to be learning and exploring, but we are often short on time or resources. Being able to read books, listen to podcasts or watch webinars, provide us with so much information and of course being connected through social media especially Twitter, enables us to connect and reach out with other educators around the world more than we were ever able to before. It takes us away from the isolation that we can sometimes feel in our space.
But what's different with this documentary, is by seeing these educators, hearing them tell their story in their own words, feeling their passion, allows you to connect with each one of them. What they share will resonate with you in some way. They openly share so much of who they are, why they are so passionate about education and offer advice and words of impact to inspire other educators to begin the transformation from educator to Edupreneur. It is not always easy to be an educator, to know all the answers, and we're not experts and we make mistakes. Knowing that everybody experiences this and that it's a pretty normal thing, definitely helps.
If you want to know the story behind the educators you see on social media and on the conference circuit, and you've often wondered how they got to be where they are today, The Edupreneur is exactly what you are looking for. It is brilliantly done, absolutely engaging and will inspire you to begin your own transformation.
This is post is sponsored by Shapes 3D. All opinions expressed are my own.
Over the past few weeks, I have been fortunate to attend and present at several educational technology conferences. First was FETC (Future of Education Technology Conference) in Orlando, then TCEA (Texas Computer Education Association) in San Antonio, and the most recent, PETE&C (Pennsylvania Educational Technology Expo and Conference) held in Hershey, PA. A large part of my experience at each of these conferences involved presenting on and attending sessions about Augmented and Virtual Reality. There has been more discussion and a lot of excitement recently surrounding the AR/VR tools and exploring how these tools can be used for education. In my own classroom experiences with students, I have seen tremendous benefits for students by implementing some tools for augmented and virtual reality as part of their learning experience. The tools we have used give students an opportunity to engage in a completely different kind of learning which gives them more control in the classroom, and an immersive and authentic experience.
The terms "augmented and virtual reality," might seem to be complex concepts that require a big investment of time or come with a steep learning curve. However, with tools like Shapes 3D, this is not the case at all. Shapes 3D provides the perfect opportunity for students and teachers to explore core concepts of geometry and help students to discover 2D and 3D shapes by engaging with these shapes in an augmented reality experience. Using a Merge cube, students can now examine 3D shapes in Augmented Reality. Imagine learning geometry by holding the solids in your hands, manipulating them and being able to more closely understand the core concepts of geometry. In personal experience, having this app available during my ninth grade year would have made a huge difference in how I was learning and the way that I could build on my knowledge! Preview it here!
Whether you have experimented with AR/VR or not, getting started with Shapes 3D is quite easy to do. If you prefer to have a tutorial, Shapes 3D has videos to help you get started. Often the number one answer given when educators are asked why they are not using technology or even a specific tool in the classroom is due to a lack of time. There are so many components to teaching today that can make it a challenge to find extra time to try new tools or implement new methods. Fortunately, Shapes 3D makes it easy to get started with the availability of bundles to use for instruction, access to lesson plans and tutorial videos that can help any educator get started quickly. You can gather a lot of ideas by searching through Twitter looking at tweets related to Shapes 3D, especially when it comes to edtech conferences, which can provide new ideas and new connections. There are also publications and other helpful resources shared and updated on the Shapes 3D site. You will love Shapes 3D applications, get started by grabbing a bundle at the price of $ 5.99, Shapes 3D Bundle!
If you are like me and prefer to just get started without tutorials, start by exploring the tool and the options available, and then dive right in! Use Shapes 3D as a way to introduce a concept or shapes to students, to act as a "hook" for the lesson. Once students begin engaging with Shapes 3D, give them the opportunity to create and explore on their own and run with it. They will likely exceed your own knowledge of the possibilities that exist with Shapes 3D and that is okay. You will notice that students catch on rather quickly and will become immersed in more authentic and meaningful learning, right in their hands. It is a lot of fun to use the Merge cube and really look closely at the shapes!
Students can easily explore the object by using their device or a classroom iPad for example, if accessibility is an issue consider using stations in your classroom, where students can work in small groups. But if you want to take it to another level and really put the learning in the students' hands, why not get a few Merge cubes to use with shapes 3D. What is so unique about this possibility is that students will be able to interact with the object and even draw lines and manipulate the shapes in their own ways, which will provide a more personalized learning experience for them.
Shapes 3D is great for teachers to use as a way to engage students, but also to provide opportunities for students to become the teachers in the classroom. Like presenting at conferences, getting to share what you are doing in the classroom, to brainstorm ideas with classmates, and maybe more importantly, have the opportunity to learn from one another builds more confidence in learning. The great thing about tools like Shapes 3D is that educators will not have to spend a lot of time trying to figure it out on their own or come up with ways to use it in the classroom. Leave it to our students. We need to push for more opportunities for our students to do more than consume, but instead, to create, to explore and to become curious for learning. Using technology in classes today should be focused more on creation rather than consumption.
So why use Shapes 3D?
As educators, our purpose is to help our students to develop a wide range of skills that will not only engage them in learning which is authentic and meaningful but also provide skills that will We want to put tools that can engage them and more authentic and meaningful learning in their hands. Students learn more by doing and having opportunities to engage in hands-on activities, where they control the direction their learning takes. We need for students to design their own problems, to ask more questions, and even at times to experience some struggles in learning. Preparing them for the future means giving time for them to problem solve, collaborate, communicate and even create on their own as they are preparing for the future and life in general.
Before adding technology into the classroom, be sure to focus on the "why" behind using a specific tool or method. What is it going to do differently for students, that will enhance learning and go beyond the traditional methods t being used in the classroom? What sets it apart from other options? I think the answer is clear. Tools like Shapes 3D will enable teachers to move students to a more active role in the classroom, become the creators and immerse themselves in a new learning environment. Students can do so much with Shapes 3D to really understand geometry concepts that might otherwise be difficult to understand, in a 1D format. Draw lines, rotate solids, check the properties of the solids and more. Hands-on learning takes math to a new level.
By having a Shapes 3D bundle, students in grades K through 12 have access to a wide variety of ways to interact with different structures and to really understand math concepts at a deeper level. When we can place tools like this in the hands of our students, we amplify their potential for learning, because of the accessibility to explore on their own and build their skills as they manipulate the objects in the 3D space. It pushes student curiosity even more and leads them to ask questions and to develop their understanding at a deeper and more meaningful level.
As teachers, there are so many things that we are responsible for and need to keep up with, that it can be difficult to stay current and relevant with all of the emerging trends when it comes to technology. Fortunately, there are tools like Shapes 3D that make it easier to get started and that provide innovative ways for students to learn. It just takes a few minutes to get started and then encouraging the students to explore on their own and with peers. Join in the Geometry learning fun with Shapes 3D Geometry Drawing on iOs today! Enjoy the app (for free) on Google Play, there is a beta version of Shapes 3D Geometry Drawing, and it works with Merge cube!
Don't wait, sign up today! Get started with Shapes 3D applications by grabbing a bundle at the promotional price of $ 5.99, bit.ly/Shapes3Dbundle !