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Creating a Learner-Centered Classroom

Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth 2 Comments

Guest blog by Kellie Bahri @Kbahri5

As a teacher in elementary school, I’m passionate about making the classroom a fun and engaging place where students can take charge of their own learning. The Learner-Centered approach puts students in the driver’s seat and encourages them to be more involved in their own education. This type of classroom is designed to fit each student’s needs, interests, and abilities.

Student-centered learning empowers students to take control of their own education by allowing them to explore topics, generate questions, and find answers on their own. This type of learning helps students develop critical thinking skills and encourages them to take an active role in their education. When students are given the freedom to direct their own learning, they are more likely to be engaged, motivated, and develop a deeper understanding of the material.

It has been demonstrated through research that a Learner-Centered Classroom can significantly enhance the motivation, engagement, and success of students. By adopting a student-focused approach, educators are able to facilitate the development of important skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and self-reflection in their students. With this student-centered approach, students will become more confident and empowered learners.

The implementation of seven key strategies can help the transformation of a conventional classroom into a student-driven learning environment, in which students are equipped with the skills necessary to take a lead role in their education.

Student-led discussions

I encourage my students to lead discussions in class by sharing their ideas and perspectives. I use strategies such as Think-Pair-Share or Socratic Seminar discussions to facilitate student-led conversations. During these types of discussions, students are given the opportunity to share their thoughts and engage in active listening with their peers. This type of student-led discussion promotes critical thinking and helps students develop strong communication skills.

Collaborative learning

 I encourage my students to work together in small groups or pairs on projects, assignments, or activities. Collaborative learning helps students develop important skills such as communication, teamwork, and problem-solving. I use techniques such as Jigsaw or Group Concept Mapping to encourage my students to collaborate and share ideas and I use online collaboration tools such as Google Classroom or Schoology to allow my students to work together on projects from anywhere. This type of learning not only promotes social and emotional growth but also helps students understand and retain information better through shared exploration and discussion.

Choice-based learning

 I believe in offering my students a range of learning options, allowing them to choose activities that interest them and align with their learning styles and passions. Choice-based learning is a student-centered approach that empowers students to take the lead in their learning. I use centers, stations, or choice boards to provide my students with a variety of options and let them choose what they want to work on. This type of learning creates a more engaging and personalized learning experience for each student and enhances student’s’ organizational skills. 

Inquiry-based learning

 Inquiry-based learning is a student-driven approach where students are encouraged to ask questions and engage in their own investigation to increase their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. I use prompts such as “I wonder…” or “How can we find out…” to support inquiry-based learning, and provide opportunities for students to engage in hands-on activities, simulations, and experiments to support their investigations. And to make the process even more meaningful, I encourage students to keep a student inquiry journal where they can jot down all their curious questions about the world around them. This journal not only helps them keep track of their progress, but it also gives them a sense of ownership over their own learning journey.

Project-based learning

Project-based learning, a hands-on method of education where students engage in real-world projects that showcase their knowledge and skills, can lead to a deeper understanding of the material and increased engagement in the learning process. By working on challenging projects that require critical thinking, problem-solving, and application of knowledge, students can see the relevance of their education and make connections to the world around them. This approach aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as it promotes active, meaningful learning and the development of skills that are essential for success in the 21st century. Examples of project-based learning activities may include creating a podcast, designing a website, or constructing a model of a historical landmark.

Self-reflection

I encourage my students to reflect on their own learning process and to think about how they can improve. This type of self-reflection helps students to understand their strengths and weaknesses and to set goals for themselves. By regularly reflecting on their own learning, students can better understand how they learn and how they can become more effective learners.I use online journaling tools such as Flip, SeeSaw, or Kidblog for students to document and reflect on their learning experiences.

In-class projects

I assign in-class projects that allow my students to apply the concepts and skills they have learned in class in a hands-on and engaging way. These projects can involve independent or group work and can be used to reinforce the material covered in class. For example, a student might create a poster or model to demonstrate their understanding of a particular subject. In-class projects give students the opportunity to be creative and to showcase their learning in a tangible way. This type of project also helps students to develop important skills such as research, collaboration, and presentation skills.

Imagine being in a classroom where the focus is on you and your learning journey. It’s all about empowering students to make the most of their education, and helping them understand the importance of what they’re learning. That’s what makes a Learner-Centered Classroom so special. A learning space for students to actively participate and be engaged is key to inspiring students and sparking a lifelong love for learning.

Kellie Bahri is an experienced instructional specialist, teacher, and children’s book author. With over a decade of experience in education, she has successfully implemented innovative instructional strategies resulting in improved student performance and engagement. As Elementary Teacher of the Year for 2020-2022, her dedication to education and creative teaching methods are highly regarded. Kellie also uses her writing talent to inspire a love of learning in young readers through her children’s book. Her goal is to make a positive impact on children’s lives and help them reach their full potential.

About the Author

Kellie Bahri is an experienced instructional specialist, teacher, and children’s book author. With over a decade of experience in education, she has successfully implemented innovative instructional strategies resulting in improved student performance and engagement. As Elementary Teacher of the Year for 2020-2022, her dedication to education and creative teaching methods are highly regarded. Kellie also uses her writing talent to inspire a love of learning in young readers through her children’s book. Her goal is to make a positive impact on children’s lives and help them reach their full potential.

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ChatGPT for Spanish Classrooms 

Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth 2 Comments

 

¿Amigo o Enemigo?

Guest post By Nicole Biscotti, M. Ed. @BiscottiNicole

The short answer: Don’t fight progress – embrace it, learn how to better prepare kids for their future with AI, AND use it to save yourself time with a few important caveats. 

ChatGPT is free, works in English and Spanish, and generates text on any topic in seconds.  You can use it to generate readings, sample readings, explanations of grammatical concepts, lesson plans, songs, poems, narratives, and the list goes on. ChatGPT frees me up to focus more on the aspects of teaching that make a difference for my kids – building relationships, differentiation, formative assessment, instruction design, being present and less stressed out…you get the idea. 

Integrating ChatGPT also benefits students in the long term because it prepares students for success in the job market that they will enter. ChatGPT will likely become increasingly relevant because its user base, accuracy, and capabilities are increasing exponentially and rapidly. Students’ competitiveness in their careers will depend partially on their ability to be productive with this tool. Unlike most AI, ChatGPT is expected to shake up the landscape for white-collar workers in industries as varied as healthcare and computer science (Lowrey, 2023).

Personalized Learning

Back to the classroom. ChatGPT is just what the busy Spanish teacher necesita – no wasted time searching for the perfect “lectura” (text). Effective language instruction is coupled with learning about culture and now I’m able to generate texts in seconds AND I can even center them around a Latin American country, cultural point of interest, holiday, grammatical structure, etc.  Differentiation and personalized learning, those lofty teaching ideals that can feel a bit heavy when you mean well but have 35 kids in your room, have become that much easier to attain with ChatGPT.  It’s possible to generate texts about diverse aspects of culture in seconds and make adjustments for interests, length, rigor, etc. (Kuo & Lai, 2006) (Salaberry, 1999; Rost, 2002).

Flexible Texts for Creating Lessons That Address ACTFL Standards

ChatGPT effortlessly generated texts about the pre-Columbian cultures of Peru, Mexico, and Puerto Rico respectively that used the subjunctive mood for my classes.  Additionally, ChatGPT was kind enough to make comprehension questions for each reading as well.  ¡Muy buen amigo indeed! All I had to do was type in “preguntas de comprensión sobre culturas pre colombinas de Perú” and I had seven great questions for each reading. Students learned about the products and practices of indigenous cultures of Latin America directly through these readings which could be used as an integral part of an endless list of interpretive, interpersonal, or presentational activities.

The possibilities for quickly generating texts about any aspect of culture using any grammatical structure with ChatGPT to address World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages from the American Council of Foreign Language Teacher’s (ACTFL) are seemingly endless.  As an example, students could use the texts below to form comparisons between pre-Columbian cultures and identify intercultural influences in an interpretive activity.  In small groups they could engage in an interpersonal activity to support a subsequent presentational activity comparing and contrasting the indigenous cultures. Mi amigo ChatGPT kindly provided me with a list of prompts for students to use in guiding them with comparing and contrasting as well (ACTFL, 2022).

Engaging Grammar Instruction

With mi amigo ChatGPT I have access to texts and comprehension questions about almost any topic that highlights any grammatical structure in Spanish so my students have more frequent opportunities to use text to identify and explore the uses of grammar in context. Research shows that students are highly motivated to learn grammar through the tasks of reading, writing, speaking, and listening. While reading and learning about culture, students are exposed to the subtleties of the use of grammar and gain a better understanding of the nuances of the language (ACTFL, 2022). 

ChatGPT’s Limitations

Interestingly, I was not able to ask ChatGPT to create an essay comparing and contrasting pre-Columbian cultures using the subjunctive tense because each time it wanted to compare and contrast the use of the subjunctive tense in the respective cultures.  This is actually not even a valid discussion given that pre-Columbian cultures didn’t speak Spanish.  The description of why the subjunctive would be used was accurate however the premise of the ChatGPT’s essay was that the Aztecs and the Mayan spoke Spanish.

“El subjuntivo es un tiempo verbal que se utiliza para expresar acciones inciertas o deseos. En las culturas precolombinas, el subjuntivo se utilizaba a menudo en los rituales religiosos para expresar deseos o peticiones a los dioses. Por ejemplo, en la cultura azteca, se utilizaba el subjuntivo en las oraciones de ofrenda a los dioses para pedirles prosperidad y buenas cosechas.”

“Otra cultura precolombina que utilizaba ampliamente el subjuntivo era la maya. En esta cultura, el subjuntivo se utilizaba en los textos jeroglíficos para describir eventos futuros o inciertos.”

This could be user error because I may not have known how to ask mi amigo ChatGPT the right way to elicit the correct response. However I think it’s safe to say that at a minimum it’s not easy to figure out how to create a cultural comparison with the subjunctive mood in Spanish – at least for now.  

Cheating or Opportunity to Analyze Texts?

Only one kid so far tried to pass a paragraph written by ChatGPT by me and honestly I could tell even though I was not using any software to monitor his computer.  I didn’t need Edward Tian’s GPTZero app either.  I’ve been a teacher and a mom long enough to recognize vocabulary, verb conjugations, and style that is unusual for teenagers to use. Also he seemed to know a lot about the topic for someone who wrote the paragraph in about five minutes.  

In the sample texts that ChatGPT generated for me about pre-Columbian cultures you’ll notice similarities in style and depth.  First of all, the wording is very similar, as is the paragraph length, sentence structure, etc.  Another noticeable attribute is how general the information is.  

Since the likelihood of the student not using ChatGPT on another assignment again in any other class is pretty low, I decided to illustrate a point to him about the tool. I told him that the information lacked depth and sources.  We looked over it and agreed on specific places where more information would be important to the reader and which insights it would provide in the overall cultural context of his topic.

When he finished finding sources and editing his work, he presented a much more robust discussion.  We discussed the differences in the two writing pieces and he admitted to using ChatGPT for the first one.  We then talked about the differences in his experience as a learner from writing the first to the second piece and also about how ChatGPT might change writing academically and professionally given its capabilities and limitations.  As ChatGPT improves undoubtedly it will become harder to spot so easily but like everything about technology we’ll learn how to work with that as it comes.

Safety

Although there are benefits to the classroom, this tool can only be used in compliance with the law and its terms of use by teachers.  There are legal issues with minors using ChatGPT so for at least the short term it’s best used by adults for the classroom.  ChatGPT collects information such as users’ IP addresses, interactions, country, etc. that is prohibited under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 for children under the age of 13.  Although ChatGPT doesn’t allow minors to open accounts according to their terms of use; however it doesn’t verify the age of its users (Claybourn, 2023). 

Spontaneous Classroom Connection & Fun

When one of my students wondered aloud what rap in Spanish sounded like I casually offered to write a rap about the subjunctive. That definitely got their attention and quickly became a challenge that I confidently accepted knowing that I had an amigo who could help.  The rap was actually a really great explanation of the subjunctive and was pretty catchy. A comment from a student quickly turned into kids making beats and rapping about the subjunctive in Spanish. It was a great learning moment and maybe most poignantly, technology-facilitated spontaneous fun and connection in my classroom.

I’d love to hear how it’s going in your classroom with ChatGPT. Please comment below. 

American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages. (2022). Teach Grammar as a Concept in Context. ACTFL Language Connects. Retrieved January 20, 2023, from https://www.actfl.org/resources/guiding-principles-language-learning/grammar-concept-in-context 

American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages. (2022). World-readiness standards for learning languages – ACTFL. World Readiness Standards For Learning Languages. Retrieved January 20, 2023, from https://www.actfl.org/sites/default/files/publications/standards/World-ReadinessStandardsforLearningLanguages.pdf 

Claybourn, C. (2023, January 18). CHATGPT in classrooms: What to know | high schools | U.S. news. ChatGPT in Classrooms: What to Know. Retrieved January 21, 2023, from https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/articles/chatgpt-in-classrooms-what-to-know 

Kuo, M.-M., & Lai, C.-C. (2006). Linguistics across Cultures: The Impact of Culture on Second Language Learning. Journal of Foreign Language Instruction, 1(1). 

Lowrey, A. (2023). The Atlantic. How ChatGPT Will Destabilize White-Collar Work. Retrieved January 20, 2023, from https://apple.news/ArNwgCNfBRA6Y9xCCQp5G2g 

Rost, M. (2002). New Technologies in Language Education: Opportunities for Professional Growth. Retrieved October 12, 2006 from http://www.longman.com/ ae/multimedia/pdf/MikeRost_PDF.pdf

Salaberry, R. (1999). CALL in the year 2000: still developing the research agenda’. Language learning and technology 3/1: 104-107

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What is the Value of the Teacher in the AI Classroom? – I asked ChatGPT over coffee.

Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Guest post By Tiffany Wycoff

Teaching-in-the-Age-of-AI

At first glance, the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in the midst of the 2022 holiday season could hardly be counted among the items likely to be on a teacher’s wish list. It’s hard to imagine joy at such a release during my years of teaching middle and high school English, which consisted almost entirely of having students write, then grading student writing. If someone had suggested I introduce a tool that could answer an AP Lit open response question in a matter of seconds to my students, I would have contemplated quitting.

And yet, today I find myself both in awe at the dawn of this reality and curious about what it really means to be a teacher within it. As I pondered the questions – How will ChatGPT affect learning? How can teachers use it as a tool in their classrooms? How can teachers learn to both recognize and teach students the unique role and value of the human in an AI classroom and world? – I had the thought, maybe I should just ask the machine. 

So, on an ordinary day at work for me “in the cloud,” I grabbed a cup of coffee and settled into a chat with my computer. I found myself immensely curious. Would ChatGPT have some decent answers? Where would I find its limitations? Could this conversation help teachers start to understand the power of this technology as both an empowering tool and a frustrating reality? After a thrilling chat that lasted less than 5 minutes, I have to say…I think it could. Below is our coffee talk, with ChatGPT’s unedited contributions in purple.

Me: How will ChatGPT affect learning?

ChatGPT: I’m sorry, but I am not familiar with a chatbot or language model called ChatGPT. Could you provide more context or clarify your question?

(Ha! Clearly we’re not off to a good start. I refrain from asking GPT, “Are you being ironic?”)

Me (Trying again): How will generative AI affect teaching and learning in classrooms?

ChatGPT: Generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems, such as language models like GPT-3, have the potential to revolutionize education by providing new ways for students to learn and interact with educational content.

One potential application of generative AI in education is the creation of personalized learning experiences. For example, a language model could be used to generate customized learning materials or activities based on a student’s individual needs and interests. This could help students learn at their own pace and in a way that is most engaging and effective for them.

Generative AI could also be used to create simulations or virtual environments for students to interact with, providing hands-on learning experiences that would be difficult or impossible to replicate in a physical classroom.

Another potential use of generative AI in education is the creation of interactive tutoring systems that can respond to a student’s questions and provide real-time feedback and guidance.

Overall, the use of generative AI in education has the potential to make learning more personalized, interactive, and efficient. However, it is important to carefully consider the ethical implications of using AI in education and to ensure that it is used in a way that supports and enhances, rather than replaces, traditional teaching methods.

(Really? You think we should consider the ethical implications on AI in education when all this AI is out there in the “open” for free? That’s very intelligent of you! Thank you.)

Me: What other ways can teachers use AI in lesson planning?

ChatGPT: There are many potential ways that teachers can use artificial intelligence (AI) in lesson planning and teaching. Here are a few examples:

  1. Personalized learning: AI can be used to create customized learning materials and activities for individual students based on their needs, interests, and learning style. This can help students learn at their own pace and in a way that is most engaging and effective for them.
  2. Grading and feedback: AI can be used to grade assignments and provide feedback to students in real-time. This can save teachers time and allow them to focus on more high-impact tasks, such as providing one-on-one feedback and support to students who need it.
  3. Content creation: AI can be used to create educational content, such as videos, simulations, or interactive exercises. This can help teachers create engaging and interactive learning experiences for their students.
  4. Data analysis: AI can be used to analyze data on student performance and engagement, providing insights and recommendations for teachers to use in their lesson planning.
  5. Collaboration and communication: AI can be used to facilitate collaboration and communication between students, teachers, and parents. For example, AI-powered chatbots or virtual assistants can be used to answer common questions and provide support to students and parents.

It’s important to keep in mind that AI should be used as a tool to support and enhance traditional teaching methods, rather than replacing them. 

(This is actually a solid list of ideas for teachers! We may be onto something.) 

Me: What is the best use of a teacher’s time with students in a classroom with AI technology?

ChatGPT: There are many potential ways that teachers can use their time effectively with students in a classroom with artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Some potential approaches include:

  1. Personalized instruction: Teachers can use AI technology to create personalized learning experiences for students based on their individual needs, interests, and learning styles. This can involve using AI to generate customized materials or activities, or to provide real-time feedback and support to students as they work.
  2. Collaborative learning: Teachers can use AI technology to facilitate collaboration and communication between students, allowing them to work together on projects, share ideas, and learn from one another.
  3. Problem-based learning: Teachers can use AI technology to create interactive, real-world problem-solving exercises for students. This can involve using simulations, virtual environments, or other interactive tools to help students apply their knowledge and skills in meaningful ways.
  4. Project-based learning: Teachers can use AI technology to create engaging and interactive projects for students to work on, allowing them to explore their interests and learn through hands-on experiences.
  5. One-on-one support: Teachers can use their time with students to provide individualized feedback and support to those who need it most. This can involve working with students one-on-one or in small groups to provide targeted help and guidance.

Overall, the best use of a teacher’s time with students in a classroom with AI technology will depend on the specific needs and goals of the students, as well as the teacher’s teaching style and expertise. It’s important to consider how AI can be used as a tool to support and enhance traditional teaching methods, rather than replacing them.

(Ding ding ding! We’re getting so close in number 5, time for one-on-one support.)

Me: What can humans do that AI cannot?

ChatGPT: There are many things that humans can do that artificial intelligence (AI) cannot. Some examples include:

  1. Creativity: Humans have the ability to generate new and original ideas, whereas AI is limited to the knowledge and capabilities that have been programmed into it.
  2. Empathy: Humans have the ability to understand and share the feelings of others, whereas AI lacks the capacity to feel emotions.
  3. Moral reasoning: Humans have the ability to make moral and ethical judgments, whereas AI can only follow the rules and instructions it has been given.
  4. Social interactions: Humans have the ability to form complex social relationships and engage in social interactions in a nuanced and subtle way, whereas AI is limited in its ability to understand and navigate social situations.
  5. Physical tasks: Humans have the ability to perform a wide range of physical tasks, such as lifting, carrying, and manipulating objects, whereas AI is limited in its physical capabilities.

Overall, there are many things that humans can do that AI cannot, and it is likely that this will continue to be the case for the foreseeable future. While AI can perform some tasks more efficiently or accurately than humans, it is still limited in its ability to think, feel, and behave like a human.

(And this, my friends, is at the heart of what we’ve been talking about. We as humans need to be clear about what our unique value is within this reality. Machines work on algorithms…we need to level up our human-only skills. We need to be what we at LINC call “generative humans.”)

Me: GPT, what is a generative human?

ChatGPT: It’s not clear what you mean by a “generative human.” In the context of artificial intelligence (AI), the term “generative” typically refers to the ability of a system to generate new and original output, such as text, images, or music. For example, a generative AI system might be trained on a large dataset of text and then be able to generate new, coherent sentences or paragraphs based on that training.

If you are asking about the concept of a “generative human” in a broader sense, it’s possible that you might be referring to the idea of humans as creative or productive beings. In this context, a generative human might be someone who is able to generate new ideas, solutions, or products through their creativity and ingenuity.

I hope this helps to clarify things. If you have a specific question or context in mind, please let me know and I’ll do my best to assist you.

(Precisely! Yes, you have “clarified things,” meaning you have drawn the same connection I have been pondering. Thank you for seeing things my way GPT!)

Me: Applying that same logic, what is a generative teacher?

ChatGPT: The server experienced an error while processing your request. Sorry about that! You can retry your request, or contact us through our help center at help.openai.com if the error persists.

(Well, that’s embarrassing. Let’s resubmit…maybe you got lost in the logic.)

A generative teacher might be someone who is able to generate new and innovative ways of teaching and learning in the classroom. This might involve creating personalized learning experiences for students based on their needs, interests, and learning styles; using technology and other tools to facilitate collaboration and communication among students; or developing interactive, problem-based learning exercises that allow students to apply their knowledge and skills in meaningful ways.

In general, a generative teacher might be someone who is able to think creatively and adaptively, and who is always looking for ways to improve and innovate their teaching methods. They might be open to new ideas and technologies, and be willing to try out different approaches in order to find what works best for their students.

(And just like that, you’ve made my point. The value of the teacher in the reality of AI is human connection and creativity. It is generativity in living, breathing motion.)

About the Author

Tiffany Wycoff is the Chief Innovation Officer and Co-Founder of LINC. Connect with Tiffany on Twitter @teachontheedge.

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Learning about the metaverse

Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

When it comes to education, there are always new ideas, methods, and technologies. As we have seen, especially over the past two years, the number of tools available and the advances in technology are increasing tremendously. In our schools, we have to prepare our students so that they understand what these technologies are, how they are being used now, and what the impact might be on them in the future. 

For most people, topics like augmented and virtual reality and artificial intelligence may be new. Understanding the differences between AR and VR for example and how these technologies are being used in the world and in education is important, especially with the use of AR and VR in different areas of work. Now enter the term “metaverse” which may be a new concept to many, however, it has actually been around for almost three decades. Neal Stephenson, an American science fiction author introduced the concept of the metaverse in his novel, Snow Crash back in 1992.

For some people, the term metaverse may have been first heard when Mark Zuckerberg announced that he was changing the name of Facebook to Meta back in October of 2021. To help people understand what his ideas were for the metaverse, he released a short video about how the metaverse would work. I recommend sharing this video with students to spark a conversation first.

With these emerging technologies and also with things like blockchain, NFTs, and web3 for a few others, how can educators keep up so that we can prepare our students? With so many responsibilities in our daily work, how do we find time to learn more about the metaverse? What are the best resources and how can we provide opportunities for students to drive their own learning about these emerging technologies?

Understanding what the metaverse is

First, it is important to have a working definition of the metaverse. The metaverse is “a simulated digital environment that uses augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and blockchain, along with concepts from social media, to create spaces for rich user interaction mimicking the real world.” A few years ago, I read the book Ready Player One, which has been used to provide a glimpse into what the metaverse might look like. For getting started with learning about the metaverse, having a good based understanding of what the metaverse is would be the first step.

Years ago, people were using Second Life, which was a way for meeting with others in a virtual world. When I first used it in 2015, I was not sure what to think. For anyone who has not experienced it, you would create your own avatar, and communicate and interact with others in a virtual space. It was being used in place of traditional meeting tools like Google Hangouts or Zoom for example. Using this as a comparison,  the metaverse would be quite similar, except used for more than just meetings. It would be for all aspects of personal and professional life. Can you imagine spending 24 hours in the metaverse? Think about everything that you do in a typical day and what that might look like in the metaverse? What are the benefits and drawbacks? A good question to ask students and see what their responses are. Check out a video of a young woman who spent 24 hours in a VR headset and what the impact it was on her as a result. 

You can check out some of the videos available that provide a simulated metaverse experience. videos 

You may be familiar with Fortnite and Roblox, which are platforms that demonstrate the concept of the metaverse. Roblox is even providing lesson plans and activities that are aligned with the ISTE Standards. Engaging in the metaverse experience also does not require the use of headsets as the environments can be accessed through a computer and using a variety of web VR such as Engage VR for Mozilla Hubs for example. 

What else do we need to know?

More than just knowing what the metaverse is, we need to understand how it works, what devices and technology are needed, and what other concepts we need to be knowledgeable about. With life spent in the metaverse, everyday tasks like making purchases, working, going to school, socializing, and entertainment will look different. We will need to understand how to buy things and keep track of information, so we also need to understand blockchain, cryptocurrency, and NFTs.  Think about the age of the students that you teach or work with. Fast forward ten years, will students be going to school and working in the metaverse?  If so, then we have to do what we can to prepare them and ourselves.  What are the skills that students will need to interact in the metaverse?

But will the metaverse disappear?

There has been a lot of growth in the use of the metaverse since October 2021. In education, some colleges are not only thinking about holding classes in the metaverse, some have already done so.  Research is being done to explore what the benefits of learning in the metaverse might be. Stanford unveiled a metaverse learning experience for students in June of 2021. Using the platform Engage VR, more than 250 students wearing headsets participated in class in virtual reality. In total, students completed two courses and spent 3,500 hours together in the metaverse rather than the traditional classroom or virtual meeting space like Zoom or Teams.

In the spring, it was announced by Victory XR that ten “metaversities” would be launching in the fall. While there are concerns about the metaverse, there are also some anticipated benefits to these options. Considering the increasing and sometimes prohibitive cost of traditional universities, a metaversity might lead to more opportunities for students. 

Thinking about benefits, providing education via the metaverse could resolve common issues such as class sizes or lack of adequate learning materials due to tight budgets. Students would be able to immerse more in learning experiences and in some cases, may feel more connected to and included in learning. A survey found that 80% of respondents felt more included in the metaverse. With permission settings, teachers would have more control over student interactions in the metaverse. In higher education, there can be a digital twin, which is a professor who is in the physical classroom space but through an avatar, is able to engage with students in the virtual space too.  

With these emerging technologies, it is important that we all explore new ideas and ways to best prepare our students and ourselves for what these technologies will bring. 


A recent article in Forbes shared some of the potential benefits of the metaverse. In the metaverse, people can make purchases, hold meetings, own land, buy and sell real estate, and even buy clothing for their avatars. It would have its own virtual economy for these transactions, which brings up another issue, financial literacy, and understanding how the concept of money and finances would work in the metaverse. When it comes to the impact the metaverse might have on the economy, it is estimated that it could become an $800 billion market by 2024.

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Making Math Usable for Young Learners

Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Guest post by:

Sharon A. Edwards

Sai Gattupalli

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Everyone wants to improve math learning for elementary school-age children. Computation, calculation, and problem-solving skills are essential tools for young learners to have. Each builds the mathematical foundations, conceptual building blocks, for future understandings of math instruction in middle school, high school, college, and careers. But national test scores are lower than pre-pandemic as are interest and engagement of many young learners.

To develop tools to support math learning for students, teachers, and families, we and our University of Massachusetts Amherst colleague Robert Maloy, are developing a free open for use online system called Usable Math:

https://usablemath.org/

Usable Math provides a unique interactive problem-solving model of activities for youngsters learning mathematical reasoning and computation skills with word problems. Using computers, tablets, smartphones, students, and teachers can access standardized test questions from the Massachusetts MCAS tests and receive multiple learning strategies from four virtual coaches we call learning coaches. Estella Explainer, Chef Math Bear, How-to Hound, and Visual Vicuna are the characters offering words, images, pictures, charts, graphs, animations, and gifs to engage students’ thinking as they read, compute, and strategically solve word problems. The model supports estimating, comparing, understanding vocabulary, and identifying ways to be math solvers seeking right answers in different ways.

To date, we have published interactive modules about fractions, addition, rounding/estimation, geometry, money, data analysis, measurement, and more are on the way.

The name Usable Math encompasses our goals and purposes for the system design:

  • U Able meaning you (every young math learner) can be a math problem solver.
  • Us Able meaning together all of us (students, teachers, and family members in classrooms and homes) can be a team of math problem solvers.
  • Usable meaning anyone (young or older) is able to develop their math problem-solving skills with curiosity, practice, and clues for thinking from the online coaches. For this reason, the system is open and free and works on multiple digital devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.

Usable Math is designed so users control the process of what learners see and how quickly they see each problem, the coaching clues, answer choices and the answer to the problem. A click-to-see approach lets children and adults use a mouse or a tap to reveal the inner workings of the math word problems one step at a time. Each click of the mouse or return key reveals additional strategies for youngsters to use in solving math problems strategically.

Click-to-see proceeds like this. With the first click, a problem appears on the screen, some with and others without their answer choices being shown depending on what the problem is asking learners to do. In this example, seeing the answers is necessary to problem-solving it.

Click a second time and the system displays Estella Explainer’s hint, a reading strategy intended to reframe the math question in more straightforward, kid-accessible language. The math problem continues to display at the top of the screen, while each hint appears in the bottom section of the screen. The idea is to engage children in actively conversing about the problem from the lens of Estella Explainer’s scaffolding hint.

With another click, Chef Math Bear offers a computational strategy. With another click, a strategic thinking idea appears from How-to-Hound. And with another click, a hint in the form of a movie, chart, graph, or picture appears from Visual Vicuna. In each instance, students and adults have opportunities to analyze and discuss with one another what they think or know, or have learned from the coaches to help them answer the question. When all of the coaching hints are visible on the screen below the question, another click either shows the answer choices or if those are part of the question already, highlights the solution to the problem from among the answer choices. Then before continuing to the next word problem, a motivational statement (“You know parallel lines when you see them” or “You SOLVED the puzzle”) appears along with a surprising visual, a gif, or an image to elicit smiles or delight or laughter to emphasize the accomplishment and encourage viewing the next problem.

Enabling children and adults to choose how quickly or slowly they see information when analyzing problem-solving strategies from the coaches is a deliberate different practice from expectations in many classroom settings. In math, youngsters have mistakenly been taught that being “smart” with math means being the first or one of the first to answer questions correctly or to complete practice worksheets swiftly. By not taking the time needed to read and think through possible problem-solving strategies, students make mistakes, confuse key concepts, and begin to believe that math is a skill only some are competent to learn.

We want Usable Math to be different for several reasons. First, the design of the system makes it possible for children and adults to have productive collaborative problem-solving discussions before choosing an answer. They can “work” the problem, discussing what each puzzle teaches and how it might be solved using different ways. This focuses on the math concepts of the problem and the illustration instead of immediately identifying a procedure to use to find an answer.

Second, the presence of four coaches, with their own problem-solving points of view or perspectives offers choice for students. They can, and do, find a coach who becomes their math friend whose ideas help them to approach problem-solving with confidence. The use of animations and visuals allows the coaches to offer information along with surprising, engaging learning. Children keep coming back to see what the coaches have to say and do. Engagement produces learning.

Third, youngsters and adults discover how math is really about all maths. Look again at that term “maths.” Putting the “s” on math broadens its meaning and changes how it is to be taught and learned. While maths is a term used by educators throughout the world, it is not used or thought of often in classrooms in this country. Maths indicates that there is not one single subject called math, but many ways to think about mathematical topics and concepts. Maths urges children and adults to think like solvers of problems, not recallers of formulas. Maths stresses conceptual understanding with procedural knowledge.

It is our goal to have Usable Math promote maths learning for students, teachers, and families in all topics of maths. We welcome your thoughts and responses and your suggestions for how to revise this coaching system in the future.

Sharon A. Edwards is a Clinical Faculty in the College of Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Retired from public school teaching, she taught primary grades for 32 years at the Mark’s Meadow Demonstration Laboratory School, a public school in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Sai Gattupalli is a Learning Sciences doctoral student in the College of Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His research interests are broadly focused on learner culture, learning through game play, and game design.

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Take A Knee

Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

 BY BRIAN-KULAK

I beat Colin Kaepernick to the knee by a cool twenty-six years. 

Before the former 49ers quarterback literally took a knee during the national anthem to raise awareness about police brutality and social injustice, I had already begun the practice, albeit for a far less political purpose. 

As a waiter at a local Pizza Hut, I started the unorthodox practice of taking a knee when I took orders. Regardless of who was in front of me, I just thought it was easier, and more comfortable, to take a knee and write the orders on my pad while leaning against the table. For me, it was about ergonomics because standing and writing were awkward, and because I have terrible handwriting, I needed to lean on something to ensure I would be able to understand what I wrote minutes later. 

At one point, my boss called me over and asked why I took a knee. I explained, and he just looked at me and said, “But it looks weird. I’d rather you stand up.” 

Now, at 19, I wasn’t about to make a stink. He was my boss, and I needed the part-time job. Still, as I look back on it, what difference did it make? I would argue my customers appreciated me meeting them on their level instead of making them look up at me like some deranged, pizza-wielding, megalomaniac. 

A few years later, as I started my teaching career, I took a knee all the time. When I would stop by a student’s desk to offer feedback, redirect, or check in, I would take a knee. Now, in year twenty-four, I still find myself on bent knee, despite one of them being ravaged by arthritis and a torn meniscus, and I make sure to start on day one. 

Whenever I meet our new kindergarteners during summer meet-and-greets, I always take a knee when I offer my hand to introduce myself. The action has become as involuntary as a sneeze; the reaction from kids invariably features disarmed smiles and enthusiastic high-fives.

As conversations in education continue to focus on equity and access, we need to be mindful that our students first associate equity with their access to us. Providing a model of those two complex concepts ensures kids can see and feel each Immediately. 

But it’s much more powerful than that when you consider that children are forced to look up to grown ups as a matter of course, their little necks perpetually craned to get our attention. Taking a knee flips that script in such a way that balances power, something children experience rarely. 

Ultimately, we are all just grown-up versions of the children who once had to look up to people all day. Some of us still do. But no one should have to. 

Take a knee. 

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Change Your Bat Angle

Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Guest post by Brian Kulak

K-5 Principal at Tatem Elementary School in NJ

@Bkulak11

Brian’s Book: Level Up Leadership: Advance Your EduGame

Read this blog long enough and you’ll realize how obsessed I am with baseball. Inevitably there will be posts devoted to baseball, anecdotes will center around baseball, and metaphors will be drawn from baseball.

Barguments often focus on which sport is the most difficult to play, the most demanding physically and mentally, the most failure heavy. As a lover of all sports, I can appreciate that an argument can be made for each of the four major sports: baseball, basketball, football, and hockey but, to me, there’s really only one answer.

Baseball.

Because of the physics (round ball, round bat), the variables (pitcher, weather), and the psychology (streaks, slumps), there is nothing more difficult than hitting a baseball consistently. A monster game at the plate can just as easily be followed by a soul-crushing slump of weeks, or months, the time in between at-bats seeming equal parts interminable and immediate as you perseverate on what went wrong.

As a 41-year-old weekend warrior, I only get a chance to play games on Sunday mornings. While my preparation for each game often dictates some midweek tee work or live batting practice, I’m still only playing once a week. Admittedly, I take baseball too seriously, but part of me doesn’t apologize for that because I don’t understand why folks would set out to do anything poorly, so I want to play as well as I can each week.

A few years ago I suffered through my worst season ever, and I’m including my high school playing days, during which I hit a paltry .179. During that summer, getting on base was such an anomaly that I could recall when I did reach base because it was only a handful of times. That ain’t good.

Deflated but undaunted, I continued to work that offseason because I was not going to return to my team the same player. At one point, I sent a video of myself taking swings off the tee to a friend of mine who is a hitting tactician. In seconds, he responded with a diagnosis and, ultimately, saved my swing.

“Dude, look at how far you’re wrapping the bat around your head. Change the bat angle to 1 o’clock before you load, and you’ll be quicker to the ball.”

Change. Your. Bat. Angle.

No amount of work on my own would have led me to that conclusion because, though I would have been working hard, I would have been working incorrectly. There was no way for me to self-diagnose my own flaw, so I had to ask for help.

Now, I “change my bat angle” all the time.

When I’m struggling with a certain colleague, I change my bat angle.

When I’m trying to convince my five-year-old that he can, in fact, put on his own socks, I change my bat angle.

When my early morning writing process stalls, I change my bat angle.

As you approach the upcoming school year, I challenge you to change your bat angle. Reflect intentionally on that which you have done the same way each year and change it.

  • Experiment with flexible seating and let the kids help you design the classroom’s layout
  • Revolutionize your “Back to School Night” by asking parents to leave their kids a video via Flipgrid
  • Reframe your instructional walkthroughs to focus on the kids, even a specific kid, in each room, and then write those kids a note of appreciation
  • Flip and hang old posters and allow kids to recreate them using their own words and images
  • Print, laminate, and hang Tweets or blog post excerpts about which you want your staff and students to think
  • Use a mobile desk so you’re in the hallways more and in your office less
  • Take time for yourself each day, even if it’s five minutes of nothing but sitting and breathing

Baseball is a game of failure, and in many ways, so is education. In each, the best players make adjustments all the time in order to best help their team. In each, those who refuse to make adjustments all the time don’t often have teams for long.

Change your bat angle.

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Reflective Teaching and Powerful Professional Learning with LessonLoop

Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Reflective Teaching and Powerful Professional Learning with LessonLoop

Educators are always looking for new ideas to boost student engagement in the classroom. To do so, they need to understand student interests and needs and also be intentional about reflecting on their teaching practice. While teachers want to understand the impact of their instructional methods and tools on students’ learning, they often don’t have time to solicit feedback from individual students, and students are afraid to provide honest feedback when they feel saying the wrong thing could impact their grade. Yet students need to be part of the conversation, because not only is student voice a powerful tool that can be used to engage students in their learning, but student feedback surveys are better predictors of academic growth than principal observation and teacher self-ratings (Hanover Research 2013). 

As Alex Isaacs, an 8th-grade math teacher notes, “LessonLoop allows me to quickly conduct a survey with great questions built-in where I can quickly push this out to my students to better inform my practice.” 

LessonLoop instantly shows you how engaged your students are with a class lesson so you can gain immediate insights and adjust your instruction in real-time to help them learn better. As shown below, LessonLoop works through the four simple steps of:

1. Anonymously survey students, 

2. Review instant actionable lesson engagement reports, 

3. Receive personalized instructional recommendations, 

4. Discuss results with students so learners feel seen and heard. 

How LessonLoop Works

How do the surveys guide teachers about their practice?

LessonLoop measures student engagement in nine actionable categories (see below) that provide you with insight on how to calibrate your instruction to support active learning at each student’s just-right instructional level. With these categories, teachers have better ways to focus on the specific needs and interests of their students. Especially for social-emotional learning (SEL) and determining student progress in class, the categories and questions provide tremendous insight for teachers with information not easily accessible in any other way. 

With the information the surveys provide, teachers have many ways to evaluate, analyze and then act upon authentic student feedback to improve their practice. Working with LessonLoop’s instructional coaches/Tip Masters, they can explore new methods and tools to help address some of the areas indicated in the survey.

Sample Lesson Engagement Report

What can we learn about student engagement from using LessonLoop?

Through lesson embedded feedback, teachers better understand the impact of their instructional strategies and how students experience the learning environment. By reviewing the responses, especially the free responses, teachers receive feedback that promotes reflective practice. Using the survey results, Tip Masters work with each teacher to find strategies and tools that will increase active student learning.

Sample LessonLoop Student Free Responses

How does LessonLoop facilitate getting to know students? 

LessonLoop provides opportunities for every student to share their perspective on their immediate environment and how they are experiencing a lesson. Incorporating student voice allows students to experience a sense of respect and empowerment from their teacher. With LessonLoop, students can provide valuable feedback to their teacher and all feedback is provided through an anonymous survey, which promotes more honest feedback. Students feel comfortable responding to the survey, and because their opinions are heard, they feel more connected to and comfortable in their classroom community. When teachers circle back and discuss how to improve a lesson with students, students feel their voice is impactful and are empowered to take ownership of their learning. Students that feel seen and heard have greater motivation for and engagement in learning because they feel like an impactful member of the classroom community. 

How does the gamification aspect of LessonLoop lead to better and more authentic, honest feedback from students?  

LessonLoop incorporates gamification elements through our fun, animated surveys (see pictures below). According to Dr. Shawn Clybor, “These gamification elements keep students more alert, more active in engagement, and therefore more likely to read the questions and think about their answers.”  LessonLoop is designed to be a robust platform that informs instruction and involves students in their learning experiences. It is also meant to “encourage joyfulness, to be fun, to be funny,” says Clybor.  Using it becomes its own experience, building bonds between teachers and students.

LessonLoop Gamified Surveys

In addition to the gamified surveys, LessonLoop provides educators the ability to ask custom questions and generate two new games (humorous poll and secret word) with one click. These games focus on student engagement at the beginning of class, serve as a pick-me-up if attention is flagging mid-class, or are a fun way to end a student engagement survey.

What professional learning comes with LessonLoop?

LessonLoop provides personalized data-driven professional learning for teachers.  While all teachers have access to a knowledge base of free tips, with a paid tips subscription, every teacher is assigned an experienced Tip Master to help with reviewing their surveys and finding strategies and tools to try. The real-time lesson-embedded feedback helps educators better connect their instruction to students and be more reflective in their practice. Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) also benefit as all teachers receive instructional recommendations from subject-area specialists and coaches! PLCs can be organized around student-centered data for engagement and professional learning. Within the PLCs, teachers can share ideas and provide support to one another which then enhances the learning experience for all students. In addition, educators accumulate continuing education units (CEUs) based on minutes of use of the platform aligned with Learning Forward and/or Charlotte Danielson standards.

What to expect with LessonLoop

So many benefits!

Student Engagement Surveys: 

  • Amplify student voice through anonymous surveys
  • Strong predictor of academic outcomes 
  • Provide missing actionable data on why students aren’t learning 
  • Provide daily feedback on the delivery of the curriculum with a clear focus on social-emotional learning (SEL),  critical thinking and collaboration, and culturally responsive instruction.

We are offering free trials of LessonLoop to educators who provide feedback on our new gamified student surveys. Click here for a free trial!  And if you missed our webinar, here is the link!

Follow Rachelle on Twitter @Rdene915 and on Instagram @Rdene915. Rachelle has a podcast, ThriveinEDU available at https://anchor.fm/rdene915

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Turning Towards Focus in Schools

Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Guest post in collaboration with Focusable @getfocusable

Engagement is a concept that really has a hold on us, and it’s not just educators. Social media and game designers obsess about maximizing it. Enterprise software companies espouse the value of it towards team performance. Heck, our banking app tracks our session duration and tries to increase it. 

It’s likely accurate to say that the majority of educators have chosen engagement as the goal of their work. Overall, this is a good thing. It has helped move teaching methods beyond compliance and remain relevant. Engaged students are an unequivocally good thing. 

But recently we started to ask ourselves some questions about engagement. What does it really mean to be engaged? Both from the teacher’s perspective, and from the students’. Further, does it matter how engagement gets created? Or is all engagement the same? And if every experience you have across society is also aiming to maximize engagement, is it the right thing for educators to be doing? Or should educators be taking a left-hand turn…

We dug into the education literature on the topic. There are countless informative and thoughtful sources. What was most interesting to us was what our research didn’t reveal – a clear definition. Frankly, the more we dug, the more confused we got. There is a huge range of definitions. And not all of them agree. Here’s just a sampling. Engagement is paying attention. It is purposeful learning. It’s curiosity. It’s interaction (or action). It’s immersion in a task. It’s flow. It’s exhibiting a passion for learning. It’s excitement. It’s just compliance but with another name. There are scaffolds trying to integrate and make sense of all the disparate definitions. 

How does a teacher even know what engagement is and how to create it with this lack of definitional clarity? 

As we stated in our first post, our goal is to figure out how to set the conditions for an optimal learning experience, or flow, in education. We know this has the greatest potential for both academic performance and enjoyment of the experience for students. Our research into engagement was fueled by trying to understand how we can leverage the concept better towards this goal. But if we’ve learned anything about flow so far, the details matter in how you approach it. Deplete dopamine too much or avoid the struggle of balancing brain chemistry, and you simply never get there. 

The more we thought about it, the lack of clarity around engagement started to feel more like a hurdle than a concept for educators to leverage.

One early realization that we had was that engagement is an exhibited trait or behavior. This stands in contrast with flow, which speaks to inner experience. This introduces the potential for at least some disconnect. 

For example, do you look engaged when you are in flow? This must be true sometimes, but is it always true? And do the actions that set the conditions for flow look like engagement, too? Or do they look different? How do you know the difference between the two? And worse, what if what looks like engagement actually represents an internal state that interferes with flow (ie, overstimulation)? 

Our sense is that to strive for optimal, we need to work with terms that have more precise definitions, clearer look-fors, and less potential dualities. 

In our last post, we attempted to build a scaffold to help us seek this clarity. We already have some tweaks and improvements in mind based on the feedback we got that we’ll publish soon. 

In the meantime, we’ll turn our attention to the term focus. 

If you are interested in something, you will focus on it, and if you focus attention on anything, it is likely that you will become interested in it.MIHALY CSIKSZENTMIHALYI, AUTHOR OF FLOW, THE PSYCHOLOGY OF OPTIMAL EXPERIENCE

Focus is a term that we all know, or at least think we know. And it’s surely something that almost anyone would agree is essential to learning if you asked. But as we found in our last Twitter chat, it is not a hot topic with many educators (likely due to the emphasis of engagement). 

Focus is often equated with the words attention and concentration. In scientific circles, attention is the most clearly defined of this group. The neuroscientific definition of attention is a cognitive process of selectively concentrating on one thing while ignoring other things. Attention comes from a rather complicated interaction between several brain networks (the default mode and task-directed networks). Interestingly, ADHD and other attentional conditions are differences in how these two brain networks interact.

The definition of focus is more varied and less scientific. It is often described as the center of attention. But for educators, this definition isn’t as enabling as it could be. A more useful definition is to think of it as the control of attention. 

Why is control of attention a useful definition to educators? Most scientific findings support the idea that attention isn’t fixed. It varies. It varies between individuals and contexts. And importantly, it can change. You can improve it. Even those with ADHD can show progress with time, behavioral changes and yes, medication. It is both accurate and useful to think of it as a skill. Control of attention is a definition that captures this important fact. 

This means that not only is focus practically helpful towards things like managing classrooms, it is also a skill that you are developing through the learning experiences you create.

So what is the relationship between focus and flow? Flow can be defined succinctly as ordered consciousness. This is in contrast to normal consciousness which is usually disordered (distracted, out of our control, etc).  So it follows somewhat logically that control of attention is the very foundation. Some definitions for flow even use the words intense focus. But the two shouldn’t be directly conflated. Focus itself is not flow. Focus requires effort to get started. There is no loss of self, as there is with flow. Finding focus can provoke all sorts of reactions, often negative. Frankly, it’s a struggle. Flow is none of those things. Flow is what happens when your neurochemistry finds balance while struggling to focus and starts to feed further action more naturally. 

It is worth stating that you will never experience flow if you cannot control your attention.

It is also worth noting that focus is a useful skill beyond the purposes of finding flow. Most of the predictions about the future of jobs, and the skills educators should be aiming for in response, are misguided at this point. We can say this with confidence, because frankly, we have a horrible track record as a society of seeing the capabilities of technology in advance. 

But there is one aspect we are 100% confident in, and it is this: there will be more, and more sophisticated, experiences to control your attention with each passing year. It’s already a huge problem, as we all know. And it’s only going to get worse. Controlling your attention is just about the only ‘skill of the future’ we’d bet our life savings on. 

Control means you can direct, or redirect your attention at will. You can stop doing one thing, and start doing another. You are aware of where your attention is and where it isn’t. It is often a struggle, but in this case, visible struggle might be a positive sign. A sign that the skill of focus is being worked on. 

A lack of control, then, is distractibility. It is the inability to switch from one task to another. It is a lack of awareness of what you are doing. It could be a lack of struggle, or even just over-excitability. 

If you were to try to observe whether a student is focused, or not, these would be some of the things you would look for. 

While we recognize, again, that some definitions of engagement might match up – it’s really the ones that don’t that have us most concerned. They incent teachers to skip over the development of the skill of focus in the interest of more obvious interaction. And to us, this is a short-term gain for the long-term loss of the potential for flow, as well as interfering with the development of an essential skill. 

Perhaps moving away from engagement is the left-hand turn educators should consider.

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Scena 360 – The metaverse for education

Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Scena 360 – The metaverse for education

Sponsored post in collaboration with Danilo Joksimovic, Co-founder & CEO of Scena 360

Visit homepage: https://links.scena360.com/yo5zWN

Learn more about Scena 360 for Education: https://scena360.com/education/?ref=blog

view from within Scena 360

Just about when the pandemic hit, Scena 360 founders Danilo Joksimovic and Anshuman Banka realised that meeting up online is nowhere as immersive and natural as it could be. Because of their love for engineering, they decided to get their hands dirty and go on a mission to make meeting up online truly delightful for everyone.

Scena 360 is an online platform that intends to create more immersive online gatherings in 3D spaces, particularly focusing efforts on easy onboarding, realistic & professional avatars, and spatial audio. Scena 360 initially tested out their product with friends and coworkers in various settings, both professional and casual and eventually found a very appealing use case in online education. Right after their beta launch, they were approached by several professors and teachers from different grade levels around the world who wished to make online learning more engaging and productive. Danilo and Anshuman learned from these educators through dozens of interviews and collected their feedback to make Scena 360 what it is today.

How does it work?

To use Scena 360, you start by creating a private 3D space, which can be as simple as selecting one of the provided scene designs and optionally a custom name for your space. This generates a link that you can then send to invite attendees who can join your space from their desktop or mobile device.

While joining the space, attendees can either join with their video turned on or optionally create a realistic 3D avatar to appear as in the space. They can then interact with students or with other educators, somewhat similar to how they would in real-life gatherings – this includes walking around, making eye contact, forming huddles, and much more.

Solving online learning challenges with Scena 360

Through the course of the pandemic, educators have been forced to adopt various virtual meeting apps, often running into issues that have made online learning a rather dull experience; the most important issues being the following:

  • Lack of natural interactions, engagement, and co-presence
  • Forcing students into awkward breakout rooms, often making moderation and monitoring of said breakout sessions much more difficult
  • Difficulty tracking student engagement and attentiveness due to cameras being turned off

Scena 360 decidedly focuses its efforts to solve these key issues through their platform. For instance, students and teachers can face each other in 3D space, and walk in and out of different conversations by moving around the space – just as they would in real life. Educators can see everyone in the space, which allows them to monitor which students are participating in group activities/discussions – without having to jump between different breakout rooms.

Unlike most alternatives, Scena 360 provides a suite of built-in integrations available directly within spaces to help make online classes more engaging and effective, such as:

  • A more collaborative and powerful whiteboard that lets you write and draw on a whiteboard.
  • A guessing and drawing game that stimulates the imagination and agility of the brain
  • A shared instrument that lets students and educators make and play music together in real-time
  • And many more are underway!

Try Scena 360 Premium for $0 for 4 months using promo code: TEACHMETAVERSE at checkout: https://scena360.com/upgrade/?ref=education-blog

(no credit-card required, cancel at any time, offer expires in April, 2022).

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