Learning & Leading Through Technology

PRODUCTS & SERVICES | February 2014 | Learning & Leading with Technology 45

Augment Your Student Art Gallery with AR The digital revolution has changed nearly every aspect of our lives, and art is no exception.

Jason Ohler shows you how to engage your students’ creativity and take your art class to a whole new level using augmented reality (AR) features on mobile devices to blend the physical art on the gallery wall with virtual reality elements.

Preparing Students for Future Careers

We may not know what careers will be available in the future, but we do know that most jobs will likely involve communicating globally with people we’ve never met face to face. Barbara Boksz explains how she is teaching middle school students to communicate virtually to an authentic audience—students from distant schools.

Online Critiques Cause Robust Discussion

Art students have long known that critiques can be valuable learning experiences. Now online critiques can offer a welcome alternative to the standard discussion forum and provide an innovative platform for collaboration across many subjects. Learn how to create critiques that foster student dialogue and build community by sharing constructive feedback.

Student Hacking: Awesome or Awful? Debate this and other controversial issues on ISTE’s LinkedIn group page at iste.org/counterpoint.

A new teacher-led website offers online games designed to support cognitive development for children in grades

3–8. Thinking Skills Club
uses a gamification approach
that allows students to earn
pieces of a six-part “brain puzzle.” Games are sorted into six
categories: executive functioning, problem solving, memory,
processing speed, social skills, and focus. Teachers can run
clubs based on lesson plans or let students explore creativity
in an unstructured way.

MORE INFO: www.thinkingskillsclub.com
Course Hero has added several new fea-
tures to its Flashcards digital learning
tool, which allows users to browse exist-
ing flash-card sets or create and custom-
ize their own. The updates include a streamlined interface
that provides users with the ability to create private sets,
control access, upload unlimited custom images, print flash-
card sets, and track study progress for group members. At
the Course Hero website, teachers can browse topics includ-
ing vocabulary, history, geography, art, languages, anatomy,
biology, science, and psychology. Additionally, Course Hero
has released an upgraded Edmodo Flashcards app that stu-
dents can access from any iOS or Android mobile device.

MORE INFO: www.coursehero.com

Super Scratch Programming

Adventure!, the best-selling guide to Scratch, has been updated to stay current with the new web-based Scratch 2. Filled with colorful graphics and descriptions that make it easy for kids to read, Superscratch Programming Adventure takes readers step by step through the process of making their own own video games. They’ll learn to create projects inspired by classic arcade games. The book was written by The Lead Project, an arm of the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups, and the English language version was published by No Starch Press.

MORE INFO: nostarch.com

The Belkin Store and Charge Station allows students and teachers to manage multiple mobile devices in the classroom. Designed to keep tablets, laptops, and e-readers organized and ready for classroom use, the station can store and charge as many as 10 devices at a time. It features integrated cable management to minimize tangle and clutter, an open setup that does not interfere with wireless syncing, and a surge-protected power supply that defends device chargers from voltage spikes.