With a Virtual Reality (VR) viewer and Google Expeditions, pupils can go on school trips around the world from their classroom. Expeditions enables teachers to guide groups of pupils through a variety of 360° and 3D images while pointing out interesting sights and information along the way.
On the Expeditions app, available from the app store, there are opportunities to take children to the Great Barrier Reef, National Parks in America, San Diego Zoo, Everest, Shark Diving and beyond. The app is quick and easy to use and pupils can connect to a lesson from their VR device if they are using the same wifi network.
On the above expedition, the teacher is able to take children shark diving. Without any prior knowledge of sharks, the teacher is able to deliver information using prompts and information provided on the app. Pupils can be prompted to look at different areas of the 360° image and can follow arrows on their VR devices so that everyone can see the same thing.
In Midlothian, Strathesk PS invited Google Expeditions to their school. All staff received 15 minutes of training and then delivered expeditions to their classes with the support of Google staff. The photograph below shows a class of P7 visiting the moon.
Google Expeditions offer free visits to schools and staff training as well as bringing all of the kit. If interested in having this experience in your school please contact the Learning Technology Team for further information.
Today the LTT attended an exciting Apple Event in Edinburgh, ‘Everyone Can Code.’ Apple have created new apps which enable pupils from primary and secondary to learn how to code using ‘Swift’ language. This is a coding language Apple have created which is easy to use and is based on words we use in everyday language, making the experience simpler and pupil/teacher friendly.
The app ‘Swift Playgrounds’ is interactive, touch based, simple and fun to use and allows children to use text based code as well as developing skills across the curriculum. It comes with fantastic teacher resources which include 45 hours of lesson plans, accompanying film clips, keynotes, additional resources and online support. This will enable teachers with no prior coding experience to gain confidence and will also develop their understanding of coding alongside their pupils.
Best news of all – the apps and resources are free! All you need to get started is an iPad, the ‘Swift Playgrounds’ app and a class ready to get started on coding. For more information please visit Everyone Can Code
N.B. This resource is suited for Second Level and beyond
Meet Dash and Dot, robots that make learning to code fun. There are 5 free apps available from the apple store which provide learners the experience of simple to more technical programming. We now have a Dash and Dot available in our Loanbank. For extra information please contact the team.
