Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1158290
"Once an educator truly experiences this ability to reimagine learning with technology, they'll never look at lesson design the same way again!" —Kasey Canale, Westminster Teachers Association environment, allowing any student to present to the entire class in a fraction of the time it would have taken to "plug in" at the front of the room. It's a step forward from previous tools and approaches that limited experiences to one student at a time. "is modern version of show-and-tell opens many doors for student interactivity during lessons," says Harmon, a member of the Oak Grove Educators Association. "e learning community is one click away." An ever-smaller world EdTech continues to shrink our world. Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) let students take virtual field trips to Mt. Everest or the International Space Station without leaving the comfort and safety of the classroom. Many museums also have virtual and augmented reality experiences that offer the sights and sounds of historic moments and artistic masterpieces, such as the Museum of Modern Art and the National Archives. "One of our world history teachers just partici- pated in the 75th anniversary of D-Day electronic field trip hosted through the National World War II Museum with great success," says Andy Mitchell, teacher in Sonoma Val- ley Unified School District and member of the Valley of the Moon Teachers Association. Virtual field trips let students visit the beaches of Normandy and the Amazon rainforest, without leaving the classroom. Trending tech boosts interactivity, engagement Interactivity, shared experiences and immersive "reality" are at the forefront of current instructional technologies. Using EdTech to foster collaboration allows for differentiated instruction and opportunities for students to teach as well as learn. With all the world's knowledge at their disposal, education has become less about the information itself and more about how to use it to solve problems. This is a big part of why educators are utilizing devices like iPads and Chromebooks in conjunc- tion with software, apps and other digital tools to increase student collaboration, help make class time more efficient, and allow students to grow in ways best suited to their learning styles. "As an EdTech department, we have been focus- ing on the learning goals and how technology can help enhance, differentiate, level the playing field for all students, and provide that 'voice and choice' for students," Canale says. "Teachers have been doing a great job using tech purposefully with 'learning first, technology second.' " Steve Harmon, an education technology specialist with Oak Grove School District in San Jose, says screen-sharing appli- cations like Google Cast create a more interactive learning 21 A U G U S T / S E P T E M B E R 2 019 Kasey Canale