Make Virtual Reality a Reality for YOUR Students!

Looking for ways to use virtual reality in the classroom?  If so, we’ve got you covered!  Cherry Creek Schools has several kits that are available for checkout through District Library. If you reserved a kit, make sure you block out time to pick up and drop off the kits in person back at SARC. A big thank you goes to Denise Wendl and Carla Kinsella for all of their help and support! There is a folder inside each kit that contains essential information.  You are responsible for all materials. Make sure you read and understand all content in the folder before using with students.  


So, what kits are available?

• Kit #1: 12 Cardboard viewers and 12 iPhones
• Kit #2: 12 Cardboard viewers and 12 Androids
• Kit #3: 12 Cardboard viewers and 6 iPhones
• Kit #4: 12 Cardboard viewers and 6 Androids
• Kit #5: 12 Cardboard viewers (no phones)
• Kit #6: 12 Cardboard viewers (no phones)

How does this work?	Explore VR and Cardboard compatible apps.  Checkout recommendations in our Schoology Resource Group. Download and open your app. *If you are using CCSD devices (in kits) you will not be able to add additional apps. Insert your device into Google Cardboard. View your virtual reality experience. It’s awesome!
Safety	Participants must be 7 years old or older. Make sure students stay in their seats or stay seated on the floor while viewing. Students should hold the cardboard set with two hands (to avoid phone dropping from sides). If students experience eye strain or motion sickness they should put the viewer down for a little bit and join in the activity when they feel better. Blurry?  Try cleaning the lenses or moving the device to the left or right to make it centered.
Awesome VR Apps	Check out our blog post on Google Cardboard and VR Apps that Rock Google Expeditions is great place to start!  Check out the list of available Expeditions. This app has connected to all grade levels and all content areas!
Instructional Considerations	Share expectations with students: Handle cardboard with care.   Do not change settings in device. Collect all devices and cardboard viewers before class is dismissed. Learning stations, small groups and pairs works great!
Schoology Group	Check out updates and use resources from the CCSD VR Resources Schoology Group. The code to join the is: 4SQPP-H32TQ You will find content about Google Cardboard, how to create your own VR and 360 experience, and purchasing ideas.
Office of Blended Learning and Instructional Technology	Looking for support? District Technology and Learning Coaches are available to help you get started! They can help you explore possible apps, co-plan, or teach with you. All you need to do if fill out the request form by going to: My.CherryCreek > My Tech > TLC Request Form
Packaging to Send back to District Library	Make sure you completely charge phones. Shut down each phone. Put the kit together the way it was received: Cardboard in pairs - 12 in a kit (hugging in pairs) Folder on top Phones in bags (if available) Chargers in bags (if available) Double check inventory and deliver in person back to SARC. Something broken or not right?  Contact Amber Paynter at apaynter@cherrycreekschools.org

We hope you have a blast bringing your students to places the schoolbus can't go by making virtual reality an actual reality!

Tuesday Tech Tip: Going Places the School Bus Can't Go with YouVisit

Take your students on an immersive learning adventure using YouVisit!  This site is great for touring college campuses, career interests, historical locations throughout the world and so much more!  Plus, you are able to create your own virtual field trips!  Students can experience a 360 tour by using their web browser or a VR viewer like Google Cardboard. For a fuller experience, view from the web and the app!  Search for the YouVisit VR app.


Check out the content below to see how YouVisit could inspire your students:




Special thank you to Brian Aldridge for his contribution to the classroom stop of the virtual tour of a Day in the Life of A Teacher. 

Tuesday Tech Tip: Google Cardboard and VR Apps that ROCK!

Virtual reality engages students in learning experiences that have never been possible until now! It is the "first step in a grand adventure into the landscape of imagination" (Biocca). Take your students on a virtual field trip to visit college campuses, tour museums, travel to ancient ruins, explore the solar system and truly walk in someone else's shoes all within the four walls of your classroom.  

Google Cardboard has the potential to transform learning by providing opportunities for students to participate, see, hear, discover and engage in the world around them.  Cardboard makes it possible to interact in a global society, explore artifacts, historical landmarks, experience a new dimension of journalistic storytelling and so much more!  

APPS:  Below are some of the apps that are compatible with Google Cardboard. Please keep in mind that this is a growing technology and available apps are increasing rapidly.

Google Cardboard	This is the main Google Cardboard app.  It is a tutorial on how to use Cardboard and provides learning opportunities like: urban hike (including Paris, Tokyo, museum gallery (Endeavor Space Shuttle & Mars Rover) Gallery Exhibit
Street View	Street view allows users to “travel” anywhere around the world to by taking virtual field trips.  Users are also able to contribute images or save to a personal library.  Students can go to places of geographic interests, visit ancient ruins or places of historical interest.
Google Expeditions	With Expeditions, teachers can take their classes on immersive virtual journeys to bring their lessons to life.  Made specifically for education.  Teachers will be able to guide and point out content.  The app allows for synchronized experiences.   This will include over 100 journeys such as: Frontiers of Flight Ancient American Ruins: Machu Picchu Video here
Discovery VR	Discovery VR takes learning to new worlds like never before, immersing you in time, space and story with topics such as: Mythbusters (Sharks and shipwrecks) Racing Extinction (Ecotourism, Elephants, Rhinos) Survival (Swamps, Clean Water) Space
Thinglink VR Editor	ThingLink has an app to view content as well as a VR editor web version.  The 360 Editor will allow users to add contextual layers of information like text, photos, maps, video and additional tags to 360 images and video, making it possible for schools to create an interactive learning environment.
You Visit VR	You Visit has a gallery of options to visit including: Check out college campuses Explore cities and landmarks Investigate business and industry Participate in  live events Check out our BLOG post!
New York Times VR	The New York Times is changing the method of journalistic storytelling through the use of VR. An example includes: The Displaced: NYT Article on Hana (Syrian refugee in Lebanon) NYT VR Video (Syrian and Sudanese refugees included)
RYOT	Mission is to inform, entertain and activate using next-generation storytelling.  RYOT includes short films in collaboration with organization such as: The Sierra Club: Act in Paris Bono’s ONE Campaign: Growing Up Girl Huffington Post: The Crossing (Refugee crisis)
YouTube #360	YouTube has a 360 collection of videos from many of the apps listed & more: Eye Witness Accounts such as The Wall Street Journal: Japan is Changing How We’ll Grow Old Today Show with Matt Lauer and Adele
Nearpod VR	This is an awesome site to check out for all grade levels!  The VR lessons range from being FREE to costing up to $3.99. Examples include: Ghosts of the Coliseum ($3.99) Native American Housing and Culture (Free) Mars: Tour the Red Planet (Free)
EON Experience	EON Reality has paired Augmented and Virtual Reality with subject matter experts to provide the world’s largest library for Virtual learning and immersive applications for Industry, Education, and Edutainment. Content Includes: Human Anatomy: The Eye The Mayan Temples
Round Me	Using a public gallery or your own panoramic images, create and share 360 experience with hot spots by embedding, linking or using the Round Me app.  To view with Cardboard, tilt your phone sideways and click on the cardboard icon. Luxor Temple, Egypt Milky Way Over Arco Iris Amazon Region, Columbia
Within VR	“Storytelling for Virtual Reality” - Vrse has a collection of stories connected to NYT and other partners including works like: TOMS Virtual Giving Trip Waves of Grace - Liberia and Ebola outbreak and aftermath
Ascape	Become a virtual reality traveler with Ascape. Teleport yourself to a new location accompanied with music to help feel totally immersed in locations such as: Walking with Elephants in Botswana Game Drive in Uganda Buddhas Monastery in Hong Kong
Titans of Space or VR Planetarium	Travel through space in this short guided tour of our planets and a few stars in virtual reality.  As you explore the Solar System, informational text will be displayed at tour stops. There are sometimes additional pages of information with extra detail.
InMind VR	InMind allows the player to experience the journey into the patient's brains in search of the neurons that cause mental disorder. Submerge into the microworld and experience the miracles of the human mind.
Cool Tour	Take a tour of Italy visiting ancient ruins, exploring the Coliseum and more. Sites include: San Pietro Coliseum Piazza Navona
Explain VR: Virtual Zoo	Currently only available in the Apple Store. The virtual zoo features ten animals in virtual reality. Some of the animals featured in the app include giraffes, elephants, tigers, and bears. Each animal appears individually and students can see them move in virtual reality. Audio in the app provides students with some basic information about each animal.
Google Spotlight Stories	Immerse yourself in a world of 360° storytelling made uniquely for mobile. Engineers and critically-acclaimed filmmakers are bringing stories to life using the latest advances in mobile technology. Look anywhere, follow individual characters, watch it again and again on your phone. Or in Cardboard.
Orbulus (mojo vr)	Travel the world, stand on Mars, experience the magic of King Arthur's Glastonbury Tor, get married, visit the Salt Flats, experience New Year’s Fireworks on Hong Kong Harbour or chill looking at the Northern Lights. Many more delights await.
VR Egypt Safari	Start an exciting journey throughout ancient Egypt. You will meet with the mystery of the pyramids and visit amazing temples. You can even look inside these temples and ancient houses.  Just look where you want to go. You can open the doors also by just looking in that direction.
Northampton Castle	Take a tour around the historic Great Hall of Northampton Castle, scene of the trial of Thomas Beckett, among other important moments in English History. It is St. Stephen's Day, 1216, and you visit a feast being held by King Henry III. You will meet a large cast of characters and educate yourselves about Northampton Castle's illustrious past, as well as various other elements of medieval Christmas traditions.
Polar Sea 360	Immerse yourself in the world's first 360° documentary film that explores the drastically changing Arctic landscape as seen through the eyes of the Inuit.
VR Stories by USA TODAY	Experience virtual reality news with updated stories including: Cuba Selma Presidential Soapbox

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