Information Technology Education

If you are one of the millions who tried the Hour of Code this year,  you know that one of the themes was Star Wars and that by the end of the hour, you could create your own Star Wars-themed game. Every student at my school completed the Hour of Code, but I got to thinking about the final puzzle where they had the opportunity to create their own Star Wars-themed game.  I decided to connect this with the game design and the design process itself with user feedback and all.  Here's how we did our galaxy walk in one class period: 1)  Students were placed in small group of 3 students who were then tasked with creating a Star Wars-themed game using the commands and events in the final stage of the Star Wars Hour of Code. They were given 20 minutes to brainstorm and create their games. 2)  Groups of students then did what I call a "galaxy walk" - really a modification of the gallery walk.  They rotated through all the other games created by their classmates. Dur...

Photo by Maggie Zehring Have you ever taught a science lesson on animal adaptations and wished you could show something more compelling than a photograph or labeled diagram in a textbook? Have you dreamed of teaching about fragile coral reef ecosystems by going for a dive and really looking closely at these amazing creatures? A few years ago, I never could have imagined that I would be able to show students closeup glimpses of Mars in 3D. But all of this and more is  now possible through the Google Expeditions Pioneer Program.   Available at no cost to schools, the program visits schools around the U.S. and provides everything needed to run virtual reality (VR) expeditions for the day, including cellphones and Google Cardboard, which are VR viewers. They also include a short training to guide teachers in leading a virtual trip for their own students. To get started, submit an interest form to find out if the Expeditions Pioneer Program will be coming to your area. Instant en...