Providing an immersive (and fun!) experience for students; this is what stood out for me today during the class presentations.

Presentation #1; Stop Motion Animation by Keiro

I appreciated how Keiro mentioned that stop motion animation could easily provide curricular integration and covers learning across the competencies.

I’m excited to try this for myself using free stop motion software from Apple.  I think once I have a better understanding of how to make my own short animation I could be better equiped to think about how I could incorporate it into my classroom or into a lesson.

Presentation #2; Google Maps and Google Earth by Eliza, Anne, Connor and Kelly

How amazing would it be to take students to the Sahara when learning about desert biomes in Science class or allow students to visually explore the topographical features they are learning about in their geology class.  We have been learning so much about making lesson plans authentic and that if students can relate what they are learning to the world outside the classroom they feel more invested in the lesson.  How about combining a lesson on Egypt with a virtual trip to see the Sphinx? The fact that there are actual people in the picture further situates the Sphinx in a real world context, as well as gives much needed perspective on sheer size.

Or what about learning about Karst topography by actually looking at examples from all over the world?  Lessons using Google Earth would be more engaging and work for a variety of different learning styles.

Another feature I would love to check out further is the ‘view the past’ application.  Students can get a better understanding of how natural processes can change the land as well as how human developments have impacted our environment.

Thanks to these two groups for their inspiring presentations!