A Look into Google Cardboard!
Google Cardboard is a great tool to allow your students to experience virtual reality! All you need for this awesome experience includes the cardboard glasses, a smart phone, the Google Cardboard app (which is free!), and YouTube. The glasses can be purchased online for about $15. As far as the device, you could ask for donations of devices that are not being used anymore at home or if you are in an older elementary classroom, the students could have BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) days scheduled for when Google Cardboard is planned in the instruction. As you can see acquiring the needed materials for this technology tool can be quite simple. Now we need to know how to effectively implement this in the classroom! So how can Google Cardboard create engaging learning experiences in the classroom? This tool is absolutely great for virtual field trips! Allowing students to actually experience what they are learning about and to let them see what they are learning about through virtual reality, engages the students and allows that new knowledge to stick with them. Google Earth or Google Streetview are other great programs to use with Google Cardboard. This allows the students to visit different places and to feel as if they are walking on those streets that are across the world. YouTube is another program that offers selections that are compatible with virtual reality. You can find 360 degree videos on YouTube that are made solely for virtual reality. There are so many opportunities out there for our students when Google Cardboard and virtual reality enter the classroom. For instance, for social studies, students can visit virtual exhibits through the app Sketchfab, and experience virtual science labs/ simulations through the app Incell and Inmind. Google Cardboard can also be beneficial to students on the Autism spectrum. Virtual reality can allow these students to practice their social skills by experiencing this type of interaction and then going and applying it in the real world. I can definitely see myself using Google Cardboard and virtual reality in my future classroom. I plan to provide these experiences for my students by implementing virtual field trips to relate to what we are learning about. Students learn best by doing, and that is exactly how I plan to teach my students. Science and Social Studies instruction can be so much more engaging than how it is taught a majority of the time. By incorporating virtual reality into all four of the core subjects, active student learning will be taking place. Not only is learning taking place in the classroom, but the students are learning how to think critically, create, collaborate, and communicate. Critical thinking and creating is used when students use the Google Cardboard camera to create 360 degree photos to produce a video with narrations. Collaboration and communication is used when social skills are practiced or when older students practice for job interviews or public speaking. The students can be put in small groups and create a 360 video. This project based learning activity would allow the students to create something by using critical thinking, while also collaborating and communicating with their group members.
Below is a link to a post titled, "6 Ways to Use Google Cardboard in Your Classroom Tomorrow". This post includes using the New York Times VR app to get your students caught up with current events, visiting Mars by using Nearpod VR, and much more! The opportunities are endless!
6 ways to use Google Cardboard in your classroom tomorrow
Below is a link that includes a video showing how to set it up, as well as ten ideas to use Google Cardboard in the classroom.
Google Cardboard Tips and Ideas
Google Cardboard is a great tool to allow your students to experience virtual reality! All you need for this awesome experience includes the cardboard glasses, a smart phone, the Google Cardboard app (which is free!), and YouTube. The glasses can be purchased online for about $15. As far as the device, you could ask for donations of devices that are not being used anymore at home or if you are in an older elementary classroom, the students could have BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) days scheduled for when Google Cardboard is planned in the instruction. As you can see acquiring the needed materials for this technology tool can be quite simple. Now we need to know how to effectively implement this in the classroom! So how can Google Cardboard create engaging learning experiences in the classroom? This tool is absolutely great for virtual field trips! Allowing students to actually experience what they are learning about and to let them see what they are learning about through virtual reality, engages the students and allows that new knowledge to stick with them. Google Earth or Google Streetview are other great programs to use with Google Cardboard. This allows the students to visit different places and to feel as if they are walking on those streets that are across the world. YouTube is another program that offers selections that are compatible with virtual reality. You can find 360 degree videos on YouTube that are made solely for virtual reality. There are so many opportunities out there for our students when Google Cardboard and virtual reality enter the classroom. For instance, for social studies, students can visit virtual exhibits through the app Sketchfab, and experience virtual science labs/ simulations through the app Incell and Inmind. Google Cardboard can also be beneficial to students on the Autism spectrum. Virtual reality can allow these students to practice their social skills by experiencing this type of interaction and then going and applying it in the real world. I can definitely see myself using Google Cardboard and virtual reality in my future classroom. I plan to provide these experiences for my students by implementing virtual field trips to relate to what we are learning about. Students learn best by doing, and that is exactly how I plan to teach my students. Science and Social Studies instruction can be so much more engaging than how it is taught a majority of the time. By incorporating virtual reality into all four of the core subjects, active student learning will be taking place. Not only is learning taking place in the classroom, but the students are learning how to think critically, create, collaborate, and communicate. Critical thinking and creating is used when students use the Google Cardboard camera to create 360 degree photos to produce a video with narrations. Collaboration and communication is used when social skills are practiced or when older students practice for job interviews or public speaking. The students can be put in small groups and create a 360 video. This project based learning activity would allow the students to create something by using critical thinking, while also collaborating and communicating with their group members.
Below is a link to a post titled, "6 Ways to Use Google Cardboard in Your Classroom Tomorrow". This post includes using the New York Times VR app to get your students caught up with current events, visiting Mars by using Nearpod VR, and much more! The opportunities are endless!
6 ways to use Google Cardboard in your classroom tomorrow
Below is a link that includes a video showing how to set it up, as well as ten ideas to use Google Cardboard in the classroom.
Google Cardboard Tips and Ideas
