Workshop Facilitation: Integrating Edtech into the Humanities
Supporting the Learning Process through Technology Engagement
Even though education technology can dramatically improve academic outcomes, many teachers don’t leverage it in their classrooms. In fact, in a study of 49 schools, Lea(R)n Trials found that 37% of purchased online literacy and math programs were never even activated, and only 5% of users fully engaged with them.
Why? Unfortunately, many school districts simply buy expensive technologies, and then give teachers no resources or trainings in how to use them, much less how to engage with students through them.
As a Moise A. Khayrallah fellow for the Carolina Center for Educational Excellence, I design and lead workshops on educational technology integration for a variety of groups. Most often, I train K-12 teachers and professors in meeting student learning needs using innovative technologies.
One of the most rewarding experiences yet was showing high school literature teachers how to leverage VR/AR games and tools in the classroom. As all had little exposure to edtech, the workshop helped them develop both confidence and actionable insights into creating more engaging educational experiences.
I caaaaan’t be the only one who thinks Oculus Go makes us look like giant Pixar bugs, right?!
Computational Humanities: VR/AR for English Classrooms
Teacher learning how to use Quiver 3D AR to teach poetry.
Overview
For this day-long workshop, the director of the CCEE and I created VR experiences of exhibits at the Ackland Art Museum, orchestrated VR conferences via ENGAGE on Oculus Go, and taught our attendees how to use various edtech products, like MergeCube and Quiver 3D Augmented Reality.
Role
Co-designed the workshop, shot and co-developed VR experiences of several Ackland Art Museum exhibits (including Yayoi Kusama: Open the Shape Called Love and Toriawase: A Special Installation of Modern Japanese Art and Ceramics), and trained teachers.
results
This workshop, given in early March, ended up becoming significantly more impactful than any of us originally thought it would be. Due to COVID-19-related school closures, our teachers were forced to quickly shift to teaching literature online. Because the workshop taught technological fluency and creative instruction, our teachers were better prepared for the transition.
