Evaluate – Page 5 – iLearn Technology

Detox: the most important event of the school year

August 13, 2013July 27, 2015Kelly Tenkely3 Comments10799 views

Anastasis is in the midst of gearing up for the start of a new school year. It is year number 3! In some ways, we are still very much a start-up (I think this will always be the case in some respect, it’s part of our philosophy to keep innovating!). We are also beginning to establish some nice traditions and events that we look forward to each year at the start of school.

Each year, we take a few days to meet with each student individually to build a Learning Profile. Teachers sit down with each student and go through a survey that helps them better understand a student’s interests and passions as well as gain a glimpse at multiple intelligence strengths, learning style preferences, and brain dominance. These Learning Profile days give students a chance to meet their new teacher in a safe space, help the teacher to learn about the student, and ultimately are used to help Team Anastasis individualize instruction for each learner. I’ve played around with different ways to gather this information: Google forms that the teacher fills in during an interview, Bento for gathering information in one place, an interactive PDF. This year I took a different approach, I am hopeful that it will be more fun for the students. I created a set of cards to sort of gamify the process, giving students a tangible and visual way to think through each statement as it relates to them. Teachers will record this process and then hand the data collected off to me for future planning. I used my new favorite find http://thenounproject.com to help me illustrate these cards. Fun fact: I have an ACTUAL artist working on the next version of these cards that I will be able to share with the world! @mdusing is creating illustrations for each card to help students better understand what each card represents, some of the concepts can be pretty abstract (empathy is always a tough one for kids to connect with…even when they are VERY empathetic!). This version will be available for all of you as a download; it will also be woven into The Learning Genome Project.

Learning Profile Interests/passion survey

Learning style preference cards

Multiple intelligence cards

Brain Dominance cards

Because our philosophy and model are so different, we start each year with a week of detox (fitting since our initials are AA) ;). During this week, we help students “stand up again” in who they are as learners, as creators, as individuals. We undo some of the messages they have learned about learning: that it happens in specific ways and at specific times, that the goal is answers, that the teacher knows it all, that a test is the only way to measure success, that they are bad at learning certain things, that they can’t be friends with kids who are a different age than they are, that only some people are creative…the list could go on and on!

Our detox week is a time for students to remember that they matter. It is an opportunity for them to re-frame the ways that they think about learning. It is a time for them to share their passions with each other. It is a chance to realize the working together is more productive than competing in learning. It is a safe time to explore creativity. It is also the week that new students start to discover that the relationship with their teacher is different here. That the goal of coming to school isn’t an “A” at the end of the semester.

I love this week! We see kids who begin to come back to life. The spark in their eye that can only come through discovering something new. For some kids, this week is life changing. Others are a little more hesitant, they don’t trust the freedom that we offer. They wonder when the “real work” will start and they will settle back into mediocrity. For these students, the detox week is a glimpse of things to come that they aren’t sure if they can trust. It usually takes about a month to really settle in and see that we really do mean what we say.

Individual classes explore what it means to be vulnerable. How to be proud of the individual talents and gifts that make up a class. How to work together to do hard things. We also bring the whole Anastasis community together for some activities. Our first year, students worked together to create iPad styluses out of sponge and wire for less than 10 cents. Last year we held an all-school day of play (highly recommend that!) and marshmallow/spaghetti tower challenge. This year we have some fun group art projects and challenges planned.

At the end of second week, we will hold our third annual identity day. This is an opportunity for students to share an area of passion with the school community. Students can choose to share anything they want to in a way that they want to. We hold a school-wide fair and invite families to attend. The set up almost looks like a science fair when all is said and done. We spend the day getting to know each other- apart from classroom constraints. We take a moment to see the world from another point of view. It is a spectacular day of honoring each child for who they are (teachers participate, too!). After a half day of sharing ourselves, we spend the rest of the day building community at a local park where we go ice-blocking. For those who have never had the privilege of ice-blocking, it involves purchasing a block of ice from a grocery store, finding a large grassy hill, sitting on the block of ice, and sledding down the hill in the sunshine. We have a blast! Parents, teachers, and students get involved in the fun. Barriers are broken down, friendships forged and a community bound together for a year of life and learning together.

Our detox week may be the single most important week of the entire year. It sets the tone, letting students know that this is a safe place to be who they are. That this is a place where learning looks like life. That the questions this year will be as important as the answers. I’m not sure Anastasis would be the incredible place of learning it is without our detox week.

I collect ideas for inquiry units and our detox week on Pinterest. If you are interested in hosting your own “detox,” check out the ideas saved here!

Of course, you can always follow all of my boards on Pinterest here.

Also random side note, I’m trying to convince Anastasis staff that it is a good idea for us to start an Extreme Combat Juggling team. It’s a real thing, which is awesome. Feel free to help me in this encouragement, on Twitter they are: @michellek107, @dweissmo, @bestmscott, @nancybabbitt, @matthewquigley, @lancefinkbeiner. 🙂

Detox concept via Monika Hardy http://redefineschool.com/detox/ adapted by Team Anastasis

Adobe Forms Center: Create & Share Interactive Forms

July 11, 2013Kelly Tenkely3 Comments13219 views

What it is: Sometimes I come across a useful site and think, “how in the world is it possible that I haven’t discovered this before?” That happened today with Adobe Form Central. This free web application lets you create pdf’s that are actually web forms that can be filled out directly on the pdf. Fancy. Forms Central has a huge bank of templates that you can start with including a section just for education. These are mostly application, appointment, quiz type forms. But the best…the ability to create your own custom pdf form! Design items include text fields, date fields, email fields, single choice, multiple choice, drop down menu, single check box, rating scale, file attachments, formatted text, images, and page or section breaks. When you have finished with the form you can set the form up to automatically email recipients, redirect them to a new url, or include a confirmation message. You can even collect payments through PayPal (I’ll tell you why I find that feature useful!). When you are ready to distribute your form you can email the link, embed the form or share on Twitter. From within form central, you can view responses and save to Excel or as a PDF. You can even sort responses from within Forms Central.

How to integrate Form Central into the classroom: The obvious (and boring) use of Forms Central for education is for creating quizzes and tests. Pass. I’m not interested in using it that way so the custom feature is where I head. Form Central is a great place for you to create a guided inquiry form where students can view the current inquiry question and fill in their own lines of inquiry and thoughts as they begin into a new unit. Answers are collected in one place so that you can go through with your class and discuss options. This could be a great twist on the ideation step in design thinking!

Forms Central could be used to create customized rubrics that you and your students can fill in. Again, the great feature here is that everything is collected in one spot! Students can create and use forms to collect scientific or mathematical data that can be analyzed and evaluated later.

Students can create their own custom surveys for collaborative projects and easily distribute their forms and collect answers. Our students created their own not-for-profit (LSGW Foundation), because they occasionally host fundraisers, Forms Central would be really useful for collecting information and donations online. The ability to connect the form to a PayPal account where they can collect donations is fantastic!

The PayPal function could also be used by you at the beginning of the school year. If you’re like us, you have parents fill out loads of Q&A’s at back to school night so that you can get to know the family and child better. You could include a short wish-list of items that you would like for your classroom. Parents could choose to donate monetarily to your classroom fund through your forms. Forms Central also gives them an easy one-stop place to quickly fill out all of the information online.

Do you host an after school club or tutoring? Use Forms Central to create your application/enrollment form and collect payment at once.

Have your students evaluate your class using a course evaluation (template), collect feedback from colleagues at a conference where you hosted a session, collect interest for a new offering in your classroom, create a risk assessment sheet…the sky is the limit for what you can create.

One of my favorite things about the start of the school year at Anastasis Academy is the Learning Profile that we create for each of our students. We survey students to learn about their multiple intelligence strengths, brain dominance, learning style preferences, and interests and passions. Forms Central would be a really great way to collect all of this information (at least until the Learning Genome is finished!).

Tips: You may be wondering…why not just use Google forms? I love Google forms, I really do. But Forms Central gives options that Google does not. Those options are appealing to me on a number of levels! The bank of templates they have to start from is also super helpful when time is an issue.

Are you using Forms Central in your classroom? Share your experience in the comments below!

Here is Today: a web app to put time in perspective

July 10, 2013Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment25366 views

What it is: Here is today is an interesting little web app that helps students visualize time in a new way. Students start out by seeing a square and a title that says “here is today” with the current date. When students click “okay” at the bottom, they are taken to a visual of the next step in. Students can see where the day is falling within the month, the year, the century, the millennium, the epoch, the period, the era, the eon, the earth, life, oxidation, fish, insects, reptiles, mammals, birds, humans, and the universe. Each stage of the graphic has an arrow pointing out how today (whatever day that happens to be) compares in the grander scheme of things. Pretty cool!

How to integrate Here is Today into the classroom: Here is Today is an outstanding way to help students understand where they are in place in time. They can see where they are and then compare it to the larger history of the world and universe. Obviously, this is a natural fit into a history or biology class. Here is Today would also make a great object lesson in math and be great for studying comparison and scale. It would also make for a great philosophical discussion as we realize just how minute the moment we are living in really is.

Here is Today is a great site for students to explore and inquire about independently. What questions arise as they explore the site? After students have investigated and come up with their own lines of inquiry, gather back as a classroom community and discuss those lines of inquiry and the thinking that led to them. If you happen to follow the IB Primary Years Program, this fits in great to “Where are we in place and time” inquiry.

Here is Today would also be a useful visual on an interactive whiteboard or projector-connected computer where a class can observe and explore together during discussion. The way that the site compares time is seriously smart.

Here is Today could launch an interesting creative writing assignment. Invite each student to explore the site and to choose a view. The story should be written based on the point of view and time that they chose. This could be a new way to explore setting, time and theme.

Tips: Here is Today reminds me a little bit of the Scale of Life site that I wrote about here. Using these sites together could be pretty epic. Talk about a great sense of our place in the universe!

Are you using Here is Today in your classroom? Share your experience in the comments below!

Math Class Needs a Makeover: videos, inquiry, math stories and more

June 18, 2013Kelly Tenkely1 Comment4903 views

What it is: I’ve had the great fortune of time to go through my Google Reader favorites this week as I prepare for the shutdown (still bitter about that!). The unexpected benefit I’ve had from Google Reader’s demise? The forced opportunity to go back through and be reminded of some of the truly amazing people and resources in education. Dan Meyer is one of my all time favorite math geniuses. He reminds us that math is more than computation, it is a frame of mind and an outlook on the world. If your math program isn’t that…it is time to change! As I went back through the resources of Dan’s that I had tagged, I re-watched his TEDx Talk: Math Class Needs a Makeover. If you haven’t seen this TED Talk, or haven’t watched it in a while…now is the time. I’ve embedded the talk above for your viewing pleasure…you don’t even have to go anywhere! If you have watched it recently, be a friend and share it with someone else.

Dan also has some other really useful mathspiration. His blog, dy/dan, is a source of math prompts and discussions that will have you thinking beyond computation. 101Questions is a project that encourages students to think about math through photo prompts and inquiry. Graphing Stories is STINKING fantastic, Dan offers a printout for your students, they can then watch any video and graph the story. AWESOME describes this resource. Three Act Math is a curricula that Dan developed, click on the links within the doc to get to the resources. Again…AWESOME. Geometry curricula offers you Dan’s handouts, pdfs, powerpoint and keynote presentations. Algebra curricula offers the same.

THANK YOU Dan for sharing your passion for mathematics, your inspiration for those of us who aren’t as naturally inclined to geek out about math, and for your openness of resources.

How to integrate Dan Meyer’s awesomeness into the classroom: Dan makes it really easy for you to integrate his methods into your classroom. Everything you need from inspiration, to mathematical story sets, to curricula materials is available. If you teach math, the obvious place to start is with the type of math that you teach. Dan’s resources are mostly intended for high school students use. However, as I looked through his resources again, I think they could be appropriate for students in elementary school as well.

101Questions is a great way to have your kids enter an inquiry mindset as they approach math. These are photos that ask your students what the first thing that comes to mind is. Students can type in their answer and get a new prompt. These would be a great way to start your class using a projector or interactive whiteboard. Have your class inquire and come up with questions together. Students can also do this as an independent activity and then share their questions with other students.

Graphing Stories speaks for itself. Again, it is geared toward secondary students, but I think that given enough support, primary students would really enjoy engaging math this way too. (Sometimes we don’t give students enough credit for where an interest can take their thinking. Case in point: Anastasis 2nd and 3rd graders who know Fibonacci inside and out. Normally you wouldn’t see the concept until high school or later.)

The Three Act Math is also a favorite of mine. Use Dan’s three acts, or use his as inspiration for creating your own!

Dan’s resources hit on every level of Bloom’s Taxonomy…that alone is good reason to stop reading this and go on your own exploration!

Tips: Dan is great to follow on Twitter...a constant stream of 140 character mathspiration!

How are you using Dan Meyer’s Awesome in your classroom? Leave a comment below!

Science of Everyday Life

May 16, 2013Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment11211 views

What it is:
Discovery Education and 3M have partnered to bring the science of everyday life into your classroom. This fantastic collection of resources is for students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. On the site you will find videos and interactives that help kids learn about the science around them and make connections to what they are learning in school. Lessons are inquiry based and encourage exploration in life science, physical science, earth science and technology/innovation. Virtual labs are interactive flash-based labs where students can discover more about science like wind energy. At the Innovation HQ portion of the site, students can travel through time and look at innovations that they use in their every day life and “meet” 3M scientists. On the Student page, students can see a young inventors hall of fame.

How to integrate Science of Everyday Life into the classroom: The Science of Everyday Life is packed FULL of great videos, lesson ideas, virtual interactives and student activities. I really appreciate that the approach to lessons is inquiry based! The lessons include great resources and encourage students to ask questions and dig deeper. The virtual investigations and labs are also really well done.

Content is separated out by grade level, quickly find exactly what best fits your classroom needs!

The travel through time feature is really neat for students to explore. This could be done as a class using a projector-connected computer or interactive whiteboard or used as a center exploration or individual activity in a 1:1 or lab setting. Split students into smaller teams or have them explore a specific time period independently. The timeline gives some basic information, and would be a great launching point for further investigation. Students could turn this into a larger project where they connect the innovation from history with innovations today. What learning had to take place in the past, in order for the innovation that we have today? This would make a great compare/contrast activity for students.

Because Discovery Education is involved, you can anticipate high quality videos and related resources.

Tips: The resources and interactives on the Science of Everyday Life are largely Java and Flash based. If you are running these resources off an iPad, you will want to use an app like Rover (which allows you to view Flash), Photon, iSwifter, etc.

I’ve been nominated for a Bammy Award for Educational Blogger. I’d appreciate your vote to help spread the word about iLearn Technology. Vote here. Thank you for your continued support!!

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Science of Everyday Life in your classroom.

NBC Learn: Science behind the news

May 8, 2013Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment4581 views

What it is:
NBC Learn has some fantastic free resources for teachers and students. One of these freebies is called Science Behind the News. In partnership with the National Science Foundation, NBC explores the science, technology and engineering found in current events. Here, you will find a collection of videos that introduce students to the science found in the world around them and current events. Students can learn about everything from quantum computing, to predictive policing, to crowdsourcing and weather phenomenon. Each video is around 5 minutes long and are well produced.

How to integrate NBC Learn into the classroom: I am a HUGE fan of embedded learning. Learning that is in context just makes sense. The learning is richer because students are able to make real connections to the foundational understandings that they already have. In addition, this type of learning gives them an idea of how the learning that happens in the classroom is connected to life. With Science Behind the News, students are able to see connections to the world right now. These clips encourage students to be curious about the world around them, and to dig into the bigger “why” of how things work. I like the thinking that is encouraged here. It is really modelling curiosity beyond just passively listening to a news story.

These clips are a wonderful way to kick off a new science unit, as a resource during inquiry, or for students and classes just to explore. Students can use these clips as a starting point for further research, a “spark” for more learning. Each student could choose a different video to watch and then conduct some research to learn more. Where else is the science used? How has our thinking about a topic changed over time as we have learned more about it? What math is involved? Help your students to see that subjects don’t happen in isolation in real life. Science is connected with social studies, math, literacy, history, sports, art, economics, discovery, etc. Can they find the overlaps in learning?

Tips: NBC Learn has other outstanding resources including: science in golf, science in hockey, science in football, chemistry now, fishing the dream, sinking the titanic, science of the winter Olympics, science of the summer Olympics, writers speak to kids and science in innovation. Check them all out!

I’ve been nominated for a Bammy Award for Educational Blogger. I’d appreciate your vote to help spread the word about iLearn Technology. Vote here. Thank you for your continued support!!

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using NBC Learn in your classroom.

Smithsonian Quests: Learning through discovery and collaboration

May 7, 2013Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment4622 views

What it is:
Smithsonian Quests encourage students to explore learning through discovery and collaboration. As students learn, they can earn digital badges for their quests. Students can explore their own interest through a series of online activities while incorporating knowledge and skill-building in the online quests. The quests ask students to explore a topic of interest as part of a standards-based curriculum or as a student-driven after school activity. By signing up for Smithsonian Quests, you will receive an invitation to join a grade-level based group in the Smithsonian Quest Community. Students from kindergarten through adult learners can join Smithsonian Quest and collect badges.

How to integrate Smithsonian Quests into the classroom: Smithsonian Quests is a great program that connects transdisciplinary learning with digital badges. As your class works through the site, they will start to realize how they have been learning, exploring, connecting and acting. Students can unlock a badge by completing a set of quests that go with it. Some Quests are independent and others are collaborative. Quests get reviewed by a group of “specially selected experts” before badges are awarded. Badges include: oral historian, historical biographer, cool curator, cultural storyteller, portrait reader, community historian, symbols spotter, correspondent, dirt detective, art advocate, environ-scientist, culture keeper, eco-journalist, time traveler, H2O hero, conservation campaigner, invasions investigator and tree hugger. Quests include things like listening to audio, taking pictures, recording, etc. As you can see, there are quests for every interest!

When students sign up for quests, they get invited into a group (class group when the teacher sets up the account), can add friends, see the badges they have collected, and view friends who are online. Students also get an online journal where they can reflect on learning or update their status with the kind of learning they are doing.

I like that these quests can be done collaboratively (a whole class goal to earn the digital badges by learning?) and that they are largely discovery based learning. The quests really challenge students to dig deeper in learning and often lead to additional questions. Quests can also be completed individually by students. Students can explore areas that are high-interest for them. These Smithsonian Quests would be a fantastic end of the year project where students are driving their own learning but working toward a known goal. Spend the last week of school with a time for students to share their learning with others.

As we head into summer break in the United States, consider suggesting Smithsonian Quests to parents as a great summer-time learning opportunity.

Tips: Register for free and have a look around to see all of the cool opportunities for your classroom!

I’ve been nominated for a Bammy Award for Educational Blogger. I’d appreciate your vote to help spread the word about iLearn Technology. Vote here. Thank you for your continued support!!

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Smithsonian Quests in your classroom.

Dragon Box: a game for students to learn algebra…secretly

April 22, 2013Kelly Tenkely5 Comments52283 views

Dragon Box

What it is: Dragon Box has got to be the most brilliant game for teaching a new concept I have seen in a LONG time. I am SO impressed with this app, I can’t say enough about it! This is a math game that teaches algebra without you really realizing that it is a math game teaching you algebra. It feels more like a logic card game than anything else. There are 200 puzzles that secretly teach kids to solve equations. They unlock each level by figuring out how to balance an equation (you have to isolate the dragon on one side of the board in order for him to emerge). After each level, he grows a little until he is full-grown. Students learn concepts such as elimination, fractions and isolating variables throughout the game. This is the best math app I’ve seen. It is NOT a drill/skill type app. It is actually teaching students to think like mathematicians instead of just asking them to solve a bunch of problems.

How to integrate Dragon Box+ into the classroom: I cannot say enough about this app. The way that it gets kids thinking is completely fantastic. Students learn algebra and how to think like mathematicians without even realizing it. The game gives minimal direction, and invites students to explore and try new things to isolate the dragon. The best way to use this app in this classroom: just let students start playing with it! I love that this app could be played by students as young as six years old successfully, but also used by high school students where they would get those “aha” moments of understanding how algebra works that they may have missed along the way.

Put your students in teams, or let them explore Dragon Box independently. Dragon Box allows for multiple logins, so you could even use it as a classroom center rotation.

Because you can download Dragon Box on multiple device types, you could even use this on a classroom computer connected to an interactive whiteboard or a projector and take turns playing as a class. There are plenty of levels for every child to participate multiple times.

Price: $5.99

Devices: Compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, iPod Touch (3rd-5th generation) and iPad. Requires iOS4.0 or later

Tips: Dragon Box is also available on the Mac App Store, Google Play, PC shop, Amazon Appstore for Android, and Windows Store. Even if you don’t have iDevices, your students can play with Dragon Box!

I’ve been nominated for a Bammy Award for Educational Blogger. I’d appreciate your vote to help spread the word about iLearn Technology. Vote here. Thank you for your continued support!!

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Dragon Box in your classroom.

The Answer Pad: BYOD Student Response System

April 16, 2013Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment5851 views

What it is: The Answer Pad is a student response system…only better! What makes it better? The ability for use with BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) classrooms and the ability to collect student responses outside of your typical, limited multiple choice answers that most student response systems are limited to. The Answer Pad is really made up of two parts. 1. The student response piece that lets students go interactive with outstanding drawing features. 2. The answer sheets that score and capture data from existing paper exams including full online reporting, the ability for students to show their work, and a variety of question types. The Answer Pad is available for the iPad, Android or from any web browser. Download the TAPit Free app for the iPad!

The free version of The Answer Pad is pretty robust for teachers and students. Premium features are available at a reasonable price that take it to the next level.

How to integrate The Answer Pad into the classroom: The Answer Pad is a really useful addition to the formative assessment puzzle. I LOVE that it doesn’t limit teachers to gathering low-level data in the format of multiple choice answer (although this feature is available for those times when you want to check for entry level understanding). The Answer Pad lets students draw and type out answers, making the feedback they give to you during a lesson that much more valuable. The fact that it isn’t limited to the basics is GREAT! Imagine a math lesson where students are able to actually show and demonstrate their understanding (not just their amazing guessing skills). The instantaneous feedback is wonderful for adjusting lessons and providing more individualized instruction based on what you are seeing.

In addition to collecting more valuable math feedback, The Answer Pad also gives you valuable feedback for any subject, a blank template lets students free write/draw their understanding. This might even be a great way for students to take notes during learning, you can give your students feedback on their note taking during a lesson. I am always amazed when I look at student notes, some of our students really don’t know what is important enough to write down and how to organize themselves best for later reference. Using the free draw in The Answer Pad would give you good insight into a student’s thinking process and help you to guide and direct them appropriately.

The reporting feature is also really helpful, being able to look not only at student answers, but also at the written work that led to the answer is SO valuable. This embedded feature makes Answer Pad more than just a self-grading platform, this is feedback and data that you can really use to drive instruction.

Tips: Premium features include: custom frameworks for scoring tests, ability to bundle assessments together for side-by-side comparison and reporting, advance functions for test scenarios, an additional drawing palette for the Go Interactive portion, support by phone, and access to black-line template library.

Thank you to @dkapuler for introducing me to The Answer Pad!

I’ve been nominated for a Bammy Award for Educational Blogger. I’d appreciate your vote to help spread the word about iLearn Technology. Vote here. Thank you for your continued support!!

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using The Answer Pad in your classroom.

Atlantis Remixed: Inquiry based virtual world

April 15, 2013Kelly Tenkely1 Comment6169 views

What it is: Atlantis Remixed is a great interactive virtual world that supports students and teachers in conducting rich, inquiry-based explorations during which students learn standards related content and develop pro-social attitudes regarding environmental and social issues. More than just making learning fun, project Atlantis Remixed aims to help kids realize that they can make a real difference in the world. Atlantis Remixed is really a combination of education, entertainment/gaming and social action. The game environment has been designed to support students in social commitment and real-world action. Atlantis Remixed was created for children ages 9-16 to engage in transformational play in both online and offline learning activities. The storyline in the online activities inspires students toward social action.

Atlantis Remixed is a combination of a 3D multi-user virtual environment, learning quests and unit plans, a storyline (presented through an introductory video, novel and comic book), a global community of participants, and a narrative programming toolkit that kids can use to remix user-created stories. The storyline helps bridge the virtual, fictional, world of Atlantis with the real-world. Students can travel to virtual places to perform authentic activities (Quests), talk with other students from around the world, build virtual characters and professions, and demonstrate learning through multi-media portfolios. The platform is transdisciplinary including math, science and literacy. Students are sent on virtual social missions that reflect global ideals such as social responsibility, compassionate wisdom, creative expression, diversity affirmation, environmental awareness, healthy communities, and personal agency.

How to integrate Atlantis Remixed into the classroom: Atlantis Remixed has full units ready to use. Each unit is aligned to standards, inquiry based and meets multiple domains of learning. A single water-quality unit puts students in role of scientists hired by a national park, to come to the forest to help explain fish decline in the area. Students interact with virtual park rangers, loggers, fishermen and indigenous people and discover multiple perspectives. After decisions have been made, students can log back in and see the impact of their decisions. They can reflect on the consequences (and unintended consequences) of their decisions, and make changes as needed.

In addition to the virtual component, there is guided offline learning that can take place including discussions and in class activities. Teachers can modify curriculum to fit their own classroom needs.

Units include: Taiga- a water quality unit, Virtual Mesa Verde- a social studies unit, Plague World- a persuasive writing unit, Ander City- a statistics unit, Spacenik- a planetary science unit, Biological Indicators Mission, Rights & Responsibility Mission, Two Cells-One World Mission, and Diversity Mission. You can look at a snapshot of any of these missions to learn more about it.

Think about the added components you could layer on Atlantis Remixed Quests and missions. Are your students practicing writing business letters? Who could they write to in the virtual world or real world? Are your students learning how to use a new tech tool? What tie-in is there to the inquiry? How can you integrate other learning and customize the Atlantis Remixed environment to best fit your needs?

Tips: On the Educators Page, you can choose to login to the 2D gateway without logging into the 3D world.

I’ve been nominated for a Bammy Award for Educational Blogger. I’d appreciate your vote to help spread the word about iLearn Technology. Vote here. Thank you for your continued support!!

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Atlantis Remixed in your classroom.