Howdy, folks! Welcome to another in a series of biweekly ed tech news roundups. We hope you enjoy — and if you have a story you’d like to see included, let us know.
VR for Accessibility
In a recent post on designing effective learning spaces, we pointed to the ability for ed tech to improve accessibility for students with diverse learning needs. A few recent examples involving virtual reality (VR) illustrate the potential.
- In Massachusetts, a virtual tour is giving students with disabilities the chance to tour their new school in a low-stress environment. [The Hechinger Report]
- Meanwhile, in Ector County, Texas, investments in VR are being made to help students with autism. [the Odessa American]
Keeping Schools Safe
Safety at school is on everyone’s mind, including in digital spaces. In Texas and across the country, schools are looking to ed tech for solutions.
- In Corpus Christi, a combined audience of law enforcement and school administrators met to discuss school safety, including the ways in which technology might make schools safer. [KXAN Austin]
- Diving deeper, NPR has a discussion of examples of technology used for school safety, and the potential trade-offs involved. [All Things Considered]
Teaching Through Video
Video can be a powerful tool in not just preserving knowledge, but sharing it. Here are a couple of examples we’ve found recently.
- Cree elders in Canada are preserving indigenous language — through rap music videos. [CBC]
- An elementary math teacher in Georgia is flipping his classroom with his cell phone, recording helpful videos to help students with homework on YouTube. [WMAZ Macon]
… And Finally
On the day Glenda Funk retired from teaching, a former student reached out on Twitter with a moving message: “Once a teacher, always a teacher.” [The 74]
Photo: bradley