Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/993074
EdTech Show Daily 2 3 Monday, June 25, 2018 Wonder Workshop's New Professional Learning Program An interview with Darri Stephens, Director, Community Marketing. ESD: What is Wonder Workshop's Teach Wonder PD program? DS: Through our in-person workshops with our Dash, Dot and now Cue robots, we have realized just how hungry teachers are for context around the need for com- puter science at all grade levels. Classroom teachers want to know how computer sci- ence and computational thinking princi- ples tie into their existing teaching prac- tices, and they want to better understand how coding and robotics play a role in their goals for students' 21st-century learning. Due to this demand, we created Teach Wonder (www.teachwonder.com), our series of online PD courses for all educa- tors. They can dive into theory and practice new concepts with creative and reflective learning activities, all while connecting with a larger community of like-minded educators from across the country. ESD: What courses does Wonder Workshop offer? DS: In March, we launched our first 12- hour asynchronous course, Introduction to Coding and Robotics with Dash & Dot, for elementary teachers. This sum- mer, we are releasing a similar introduc- tory course for middle school teachers who are interested in Cue. Each course intentionally is not product training. Rather, we created modules that are a mix of original and curated multimedia content around 21st-century teaching, leveraging expertise and opinions from the field. The online courses are chock- full of interactivity and offer multiple checkpoints for reflection. You can find our syllabi at www.teach wonder.com/syllabus. ESD: How can educators purchase a Teach Wonder course? DS: Teachers, schools and districts can purchase individual courses online or group packs via purchase orders (POs) at www.teachwonder.com or education .makewonder.com. We've even bundled the course with a robot for a true hybrid learning experience. There are also state- based discounts available through our growing list of national partners. Once a purchase is made, the educator automati- cally receives a course login to acti- vate the course (whenever he/she wants). Many educa- tors have shared that they are using the printable certificate as a way to earn PD hours or CEUs according to their district's guidelines. ESD: How has Wonder Workshop made this a collaborative effort? DS: Wonder Workshop is joining forces with state-based partners to bring mean- ingful computer science (CS) profession- al development to every classroom teacher across the country. Our partners are able to offer deeply discounted prices for the courses, plus localized support, to their communities' dedicated educators. To see the complete list of partners, check out www.teachwonder.com/part- ners. Be sure to check back regularly as new partners from all 50 states are join- ing our mission each week. ESD: How might a school or district per- sonalize this training approach? DS: While the course is designed to be completed independently, at one's own pace, we have heard of schools creating cohorts of teachers, who meet weekly in person to discuss how the approach might be applied to their classrooms. We've also worked with districts that are requiring teachers to complete this course before they attend more hands-on, in-person dis- trict workshops; conversely, some are offering the course as a follow-up to such in-person training. The beauty of such online professional learning is that there are multiple ways to make it meaningful and impactful for the individual and for the school com- munity. ESD: Where do we learn more about Teach Wonder? DS: As one elementary educator said in her feedback, "This is the first time I've seen professional learning for STEM that actually breaks away from the basic marshmallows and spaghetti challenges. This is deeply embedded with pedagogy and resources that help the participant grow professionally." Do check out our site for more information: www.teach- wonder.com. Go ahead … teach wonder! For more information, go to www.make wonder.com or stop by booth #5418. Coming Soon: W3C Standards for Virtual Reality on the Web By Dominique Hazael-Massieux, W3C Community Management Virtual Reality (VR) is the next frontier for immersive entertainment experiences that let you physically interact with con- tent on the web. As witnessed by the commercial push during this past year's holiday shopping season, the entertain- ment industry has been an early adopter of VR, with proprietary solutions offered by a number of leading brands. As the Virtual Reality ecosystem expands, so too does the demand for VR to leverage standard web technologies such as HTML5, and to provide common ways to define, build and interact with 3D content on different devices. In the same way we advanced web standards for the mobile web and web and television, the World Wide Consortium (W3C) – the global stan- dards body for web technologies – con- tinues work to enable Virtual Reality solutions to use the Open Web Platform as a full-fledged development environ- ment. With standards, there will be inter- operability to avoid fragmentation and duplicated effort, which in turn lowers development costs. At the 2016 W3C Workshop on Web and Virtual Reality, more than 70 organ- izations actively working in the VR ecosystem came together to demonstrate the benefits that the web can bring to VR development. Industry experts from companies including W3C members Apple, BBC, Dolby, Facebook/Oculus, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Mozilla, Qualcomm and Samsung, addressed some of the shortcomings needed to make the web more feature-rich and attractive for deploying innovative VR applications and services. Among the features workshop par- ticipants identified as needing standardi- zation attention were: better integration of existing web content in VR experi- ences; improved support and optimized transmission of 360° videos and audio; turning web pages into enjoyable Virtual Reality spaces; and integrating the 3D building bricks of VR content into the fabric of the Open Web Platform. In order for VR technology to be fur- ther defined and integrated into the Open Web Platform, the W3C held a 2017 workshop dedicated to bringing together WebVR stakeholders to identify unex- ploited opportunities as well as technical gaps in WebVR authoring, and will plan a broad AR workshop in 2018. We will consider the path for formal standardiza- tion based on Community Group incuba- tion after our December workshop. For more information about W3C's WebVR activities, email w3t-pr@w3.org. Focusing on Special Student Services Focus School Software understands dis- tricts need a software platform that allows them to effortlessly manage stu- dents who qualify for specially designed services and instruction. Focus' Special Student Services (SSS) module provides districts with necessary tools to support students through many facets of the spe- cial education process. The SSS module offers a customiz- able platform in which districts can design and maintain desired program workflow in a wide variety of areas, including: early identification, response to intervention and early warning track- ing, section 504 eligibility, formal and informal evaluations, individualized edu- cation plans, progress monitoring, event management, student caseload, cus- tomizable form builder technology and more. Educators and school-based profes- sionals have the ability to create and cus- tomize events under three main programs: Response to Intervention (RtI), Section 504 and Special Education (IEP, evalua- tions). The Focus SSS Student Event Management system allows districts to set requirements on each individual pro- gram event to help guide the end user through the special services process with ease. The system provides for users to receive Portal Alerts, an area for uploads and like all Focus solutions, specific user profiles for secure program access. For more information, go to www.focus schoolsoftware.com.