The month of May presented two opportunities for area educators, administrators, and IU1 curriculum specialists to immerse themselves in technology that is now playing a major role in education.
Prisms of Reality, a new world spatial learning platform, came to IU1 on May 11th for a presentation on Virtual Reality and how it can be integrated into science and math classes. The virtual reality goggles enable learners to immerse themselves in real world scenarios and problems, and while they are having fun, unbeknownst to them, they are using advanced concepts like Geometry and Algebra I and II. Educators from around the region, as well as IU1 curriculum coordinators and specialists got to try the goggles on and have a turn working through two modules. At the conclusion of the virtual lessons, the presenters questioned the teachers, asking what they saw, what they did, and what they learned, and how if implemented into their own classrooms, how they could further engage their students in meaningful conversations.
On May 12th, IU1 Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction Ron Gallagher, IU1 Supervisor of Technology Services Marisa Brown, and IU1 Assistant to the Executive Director for Educational Programs Jenny Lent, led a presentation on Artificial Intelligence, and its role in our everyday lives as well as the classroom. The room was full of teachers, administrators, technology coordinators and more, who along with the presenters, engaged in conversations about AI, how and where it is already present, how students are using it in school, and where it might be headed in the future. The group was able to express their own opinions, good or bad, and listen to the different ways in which their colleagues are integrating the technology into their classrooms.
Both days, the presentation attendees left IU1 with a better understanding of the topics at hand, and a plethora of information about how they can implement these new, advanced technological devices and practices into their schools and classrooms.
