Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1158290
I magine a fifth-grade field trip into the deepest Amazon jungle without needing mosquito repellent. Or having stu- dents chat with astronauts floating 50 miles above Earth, then producing a news program about the out-of-this-world interview. Or your class collaborating with students around the globe to create and customize robots and other innovations with open-source programming and 3-D printers. These adventures are possible right now with educational technology (EdTech), which is allowing students and educators to go further and explore their imaginations in the pursuit of knowledge more than ever before. And whether you're just get- ting comfortable using Google Forms to create multiple-choice assessments or your students are learning coding in Scratch, the future is at your fingertips. "Technology has the capability to reimagine learning," says Kasey Canale, an EdTech coach at Westminster School District and member of the Westminster Teachers Association. "We can use technology to increase student engagement; to differentiate instruction and allow students to apply their learning in a vari- ety of ways; and to provide students with opportunities to learn outside the four walls of the classroom. Once an educator truly experiences this ability to reimagine learning with technology, they'll never look at lesson design the same way again!" An ever-shrinking world and universe allows students to query astronauts in space. EdTech lets students create, share and engage without boundaries By Julian Peeples W o r l d s o f W o n d e r 20 cta.org