Cisco WebEx | A New Virtual Classroom Tool

"This technology allows teachers to bridge the gap between school and community without the time, safety issues and expense of a field trip.  [It] allows us to increase the number of stakeholders in the education process which provides students with a much more diverse education.  Students can be face to face with someone in their desired field which can increase the buy in by students to their own education."

- Lisa Tomlin | Teacher NCWHS 

"I think this tech has incredible potential for educational use.  First it allows instructors to visit the class room without having to travel to school therefore increasing the number of hours available to teach.  Second, it allows recording so the seminar can be saved for rewatching or viewing by other classes.  [WebEx] also allows for multimedia presentation using videos, webpages, computer coding, graphical displays and any number of file formats.  The audio and video into the room allows for [the outside party to view] the classes."

- Dr. Andrew Bland | MD Nephrology 

These two quotes, the first from Lisa Tomlin (Science teacher at Normal West) and the second from Dr. Andrew Bland, MD Nephrology, demonstrate the vast potential found within our new Cisco WebEx system.  This system is made up of multiple parts.

NASA Comes to Normal

What do an Oceanographer, Business Manager, and Education Specialist have in common?  They all work for the Jet Propulsion Laboratories (JPL) at NASA and recently participated in a video conference session with a class of fifth graders at Sugar Creek Elementary!  The NASA professionals shared their experiences on the Mars rover program and fielded questions filled with excitement from eleven year olds for almost a full hour.  The experience was a demonstration of the immense educational potential when solid pedagogy and technology combine forces!

Google Lit Trips and Tour Builder

Tour Builder is all about telling a story.  With this resource you can build a clickable, interactive story that guides students to different places around the world.  Watch how Bobby Lake, a high school history teacher, talk about the stories he creates for his students using Tour Builder.

make sure to read the whole post for more!

Google Cultural Institute

 The aim of the Cultural Institute is to preserve and promote culture online

If you have not had a chance to browse the Google Cultural Institute, I highly recommend it.  Outside of simply navigating the art museums and  wonders of the world, you can examine primary source material on major historical events in history.

Finally, if access through our district Google accounts, you can create your own personal lists of personal collections that you value, curate your own galleries, and even push all of this material to your Google Classroom courses!

This is a powerful tool, and one that can be incorporated in to a wide variety of curricula.  Check out the YouTube Channel dedicated to the Institute.  Go explore today, and make sure to share your experience with your peers!

Sean Mullins | Instructional Technology Coach