A Fun Augmented Reality App for Spelling Practice
My daughters really enjoy the PBS Kids show called Word World. In each episode of the show the characters build a new word. As I was recently watching Word World with them I was reminded of a fun augmented reality app called Catchy Words AR. Catchy Words AR is an augmented reality app that provides […]
Fun With Augmented Reality in Search
Thanks to where I live and the amount of time that I’ve spent hiking, camping, fly fishing I have slightly more experience seeing wildlife like bears and moose than the average person. My kids often ask me to tell a story about seeing a bear, a moose, or other animal. Unfortunately, when they ask for […]
How to Play GeoGeek AR
Last week I wrote a brief overview of a fun geography app called GeoGeek AR. The “AR” in the app’s name stands for augmented reality. The use of AR makes it possible to put a digital globe right into your classroom or anywhere else that your students are standing when holding an iPad or Android […]
Giraffes, Stories, and Bubbles – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where consistent summer weather seems to be eluding us. As I write this it’s overcast and 50F! I guess we’ll be wearing sweatshirts and fleeces to the graduation party we’re going to this afternoon. This week I took a day off to take my kids to the Franklin Park Zoo in […]
A Giraffe in Our House – More Fun With Augmented Reality
Tomorrow we’re going to the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston. My daughters have been looking forward to it for weeks! The giraffes are what they are most excited to see. This morning my youngest daughter asked to see pictures of giraffes. What she really meant was that she wanted to see augmented reality giraffes in […]
How to Create Videos of Augmented Reality Animals
During my Best of the Web webinar on Tuesday afternoon someone asked me how I made the videos of the augmented reality animals in my house and in my yard. The answer is that I simply used the augmented reality tools that are built into Google’s mobile search on Android (also available on iOS). To […]
A Platypus in My House! Fun and Learning Through Augmented Reality
My four-year-old loves Gus the Platypus in the Pete the Cat series. A couple of weeks ago that led to her asking questions like “can we get a platypus?” and “what’s a platypus sound like?” My answers were “no” and “I don’t know.” I did, however, put an augmented reality platypus in our house. Through […]
The Excitement of Augmented Reality – The Joy of a Four Year Old
This past weekend we took our daughters to Living Shores Aquarium in Glen, New Hampshire. We all enjoyed learning about marine life and watching the otters play. My youngest daughter especially loved the touch tank in which little fish nibbled on her hand. My oldest daughter didn’t like the touch tank as much as her […]
Running Free Rivers
River Runner is a neat website that shows you how a drop of water travels from anywhere in the United States to the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, or the Gulf of Mexico. To use River Runner simply go to the site and click on any location in the United States. As soon as you […]
Catchy Words – A Fun Augmented Reality App for Spelling Practice
My daughters recently became very interested in a PBS Kids show called Word World. In each episode of the show the characters build a new word. As I was watching Word World with them this morning I was reminded of a fun augmented reality app called Catchy Words AR. Catchy Words AR is an augmented […]
The Differences Between Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality
One of the ten big topics to be covered in detail during the Practical Ed Tech Virtual Summer Camp is how to use augmented reality and virtual reality in education. It’s important to note that while these topics are similar, there are some distinct differences between them. The biggest of those differences being how the […]
Wolves in My Yard and Penguins in My House! – Fun With Augmented Reality in Search
Thanks to where I live and the amount of time that I’ve spent hiking, camping, fly fishing I have slightly more experience seeing wildlife like bears and moose than the average person. Almost every night at dinner my three-year-old asks me to tell a story about seeing a bear, a moose, or other animal. But […]
Spacecraft AR – Explore NASA Spacecraft With Augmented Reality
Spacecraft AR is a free iPad and Android app offered by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The app enables students to learn about various NASA spacecraft including the Curiosity rover, Voyager, Mars Exploration Rover, and a handful of other spacecraft. Spacecraft AR includes information about each spacecraft’s development and use. With Spacecraft AR installed and open […]
Explore the Royal Academy of Arts in Google’s Arts & Culture Apps
Google’s Arts & Culture site and corresponding apps make it possible for students of all ages to virtually explore thousands of fascinating landmarks and works of art. This morning Google announced a new collection with the Arts & Culture site. That collection features the Royal Academy of Arts. The highlight of the Royal Academy of […]
The Practical Ed Tech Virtual Summer Camp
Every summer teachers from all over the world join me here in Vacationland for the Practical Ed Tech Summer Camp. This year I’ve had to suspend the in-person workshops in favor of a virtual format. The good news is that this year I’ll be able to accommodate more people than ever before. What is it? […]
Gallery AR – Augmented Reality Art on Your Walls
Gallery AR is a free iPad app and free iPhone app that anyone can use to view classic works of art in augmented reality. The app features art work that was digitized by The Art Institute of Chicago. Gallery AR digitally displays works of art on your walls when you point your phone or iPad […]
World Wildlife Fund Livestreams, Apps, and Games for Students
For years the World Wildlife Fund has offered educational games and apps for students. Now they’re also offering live educational broadcasts for students. On the WWF’s Wild Classroom page you will find a list of upcoming livestreams and he target audience for those livestreams. For example, tomorrow’s livestream about bees is intended for students in […]
Google Expeditions is Now Available on Chromebooks!
Google Expeditions is probably the most popular virtual reality app for use in classrooms today. One of the things that has kept it out of some classrooms is that it requires the use of a compatible phone or tablet. That is going to change this summer. As announced at the ISTE conference, Google is adding […]
An Update to Five Directions for AR in Education
Lately, I have been spending quite a bit of time digging into research and academic writing about the development and evolution of many of the educational technologies that are common in schools today. Last week I read through Augmented Reality: An Overview and Five Directions for AR in Education authored by Steve Chi-Yin Yuen, Gallayanee […]
AR, VR, and Bowling – The Week in Review
Good morning from Maine where the sun is shining to start this Memorial Day weekend. We’re going to Maine Wildlife Park, riding bicycles, and playing outside for as long as we can put with the black flies this weekend. I hope that wherever you are this weekend, you can get outside too. Before I head […]
Four Ways to Create Your Own VR & AR Experiences
Observing and interacting with augmented reality and virtual reality content is nice, but after a while students will get bored with the pre-made commercial content. You can combat some of that boredom by putting students in charge of picking the AR and VR experiences that are of most interest to them while also being relevant […]
7 Good Apps for Getting Started With AR & VR
One of the components of this year’s Practical Ed Tech Summer Camp (a few seats still available) is time to explore how augmented reality and virtual reality can be used in a variety of classroom settings. The following is by no means a comprehensive list of AR and VR apps that can be used in classrooms. […]
5 Tips for New Google Expeditions Users
Image copyright: Richard Byrne Google Expeditions is often the first educational virtual reality tool that I introduce to teachers who come to one of my workshops. Here are five tips that I frequently pass along to teachers who are preparing to use Google Expeditions for the first time. If you have never used Expeditions, you […]
Webinar Next Tuesday – Introduction to AR & VR in Your Classroom
Next Tuesday at 4pm ET I’m hosting a Practical Ed Tech webinar designed to introduce you to how to use some augmented reality and virtual reality tools in your classroom. The webinar, Introduction to AR & VR in Your Classroom, will show you how to use tools including Google Expeditions, VR Tour Creator, Metaverse, Merge […]
Check Out the Periodic Table of iOS 12 Apps for Education
Mark Anderson, known as ICT Evangelist on Twitter, recently published a handy guide to educational iPad apps that are updated for iOS 12. The guide is arranged in periodic table format. Rather than featuring elements, the table features iPad apps. The guide is further arranged into eight categories. The categories of apps on Mark’s Periodic […]
Introduction to AR & VR in Education
Worlds Are Colliding: Introduction to AR & VR in Education was my first presentation of the day today at the 2019 MACUL Conference. This presentation has been updated a bit since I gave it four weeks ago at a conference in Vancouver, B.C. The updates weren’t so much about the slides (although there were a […]
Metaverse Studio – Create Your Own Augmented Reality Learning Experiences
Metaverse Studio is a tool for creating your own augmented reality learning experiences. I have been using Metaverse since its launch almost two years ago. Over those two years it has evolved to make it easy for any teacher or student to create augmented reality learning experiences. With Metaverse you can create interactive, augmented reality […]
What is Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality?
Go to any educational technology conference or ed tech blog today and you are bound to encounter augmented reality and virtual reality products. They’re the hot topics of the day in the educational technology industry. Every week I answer questions from readers about AR and VR. One of the patterns I’ve discerned from answering those […]
WWF Free Rivers – An Interactive, Augmented Reality Story About Rivers
WWF Free Rivers is a free augmented reality iPad app produced by the World Wildlife Foundation. The app uses augmented reality to present a story about rivers. In the app students learn about the importance of free-flowing rivers in world. The app offers a series of sections or experiences through which students can learn about […]
Wonderscope – An Interactive Story App for Kids
Wonderscope is an iPad app that uses augmented reality featuring stories that students interact with through voice and touch. Students position animations and interact with story animations by moving their iPads and reading the lines that appear on their screens. Wonderscope doesn’t require students to have any kind of log-in to use the stories in […]
Black Friday Sale on Practical Ed Tech Webinars
One of the ways that I keep Free Technology for Teachers running is through the sales of professional development webinars on my other site, Practical Ed Tech. In the last year I hosted more than three dozen professional development webinars on that site. For Black Friday and Cyber Monday I’m offering the six most popular […]
Slides from my CECA/CASL Presentations
Yesterday and today I had the privilege to speak at the CECA/CASL conference in Connecticut. It was an honor to be invited back to speak at a conference in my home state. Thank you to everyone who came to hear me speak. It was a pleasure to meet many of you throughout the conference and […]
VR, AR, Video, and the Best of the Web – Slides from Today’s Presentations
Good evening from the Pittsburgh International Airport where I’m about to board a flight home after a great day presenting in Morgantown, West Virginia at the Archdiocese of Wheeling-Charleston’s Teachers Convention. I had the privilege to give three presentations there today and meet some fantastic teachers too. The slides from the presentations that I gave […]
Slides from ESC-20 Library Resource Roundup
Today I had the pleasure of giving four short presentations at the Texas ESC-20 Library Resource Roundup. It was a great day! Thank you to everyone who came to my presentations. And a special thank you to those who came for multiple presentations. As I always say, the best compliment that I can get is […]
Three Apps to Explore the Potential of Augmented Reality
On Friday I am giving a presentation about augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality in education. If you’re unsure of the differences between the three, take a look at my explanatory video and slideshow on the topic. As a part of the presentation that I am giving I will be demonstrating a few augmented […]
A 360° Video That Shows You How to Find the Summer Constellations
NPR’s Skunk Bear YouTube channel has recently become one of my favorite YouTube channels. The latest video published on the channel is a 360° video that explains how to find the constellations that are visible in the summer night sky over North America. Because the video is a 360° video you can pan through the […]
New Metaverse Tutorials – Build Your Own Augmented Reality Games
Over the last year Metaverse has become a popular tool for creating your own augmented reality games. Many teachers have used it to create digital breakout games. Like many other tools that quickly rise in popularity, Metaverse has made some changes to make it easier for new users to get started. To that end, this […]
Free Alternative to GooseChase
This morning I received the following email from a reader who wants to create a digital scavenger hunt for an upcoming conference. “GooseChase has the features that I want but would cost $200. That is a tough sell for a game no matter how great I think it would be. This activity is not only […]
Join Me Tomorrow for an Introduction to Using AR & VR in School
Thursday at 4pm ET I am hosting a Practical Ed Tech webinar all about using augmented reality and virtual reality in your classroom. In Introduction to VR & AR in Your Classroom you’ll learn the difference between AR and VR, how to find AR and VR experiences to use in your classroom, and how to […]
Forms, Augmented Reality, and Games – The Week in Review
Good morning from hot and humid South Paris, Maine. The warmth and rain have made our flowers bloom which is a nice sight to see to after a long winter. My toddling daughter is certainly happy about this weather as it she loves to play outside and sniff the flowers. And that’s what we’re going […]
Google Expeditions Updated With New Augmented Reality Content
Since its launch Google’s Expeditions app has been a hit in many schools. What started out as a somewhat canned teacher-led virtual reality experience has morphed into a tool that students can use to explore and discover new things on their own. Last summer Google added the option for students to explore the VR expeditions […]
A Fun App That Helps Kids Learn How Animals Adapt to Their Environments
As the weather warms students start asking, “can we have class outside today?” If you’re an elementary school teacher who has heard this recently and you’re ready to get your kids outside for a lesson, take a look at Plum’s Creaturizer. Plum’s Creaturizer from PBS Kids is a free iOS and Android app that lets students create fun […]
A Periodic Table of AR and VR Apps
At the start of the BETT Show Mark Anderson and Steve Bambury announced the release of their new Periodic Table of iOS Apps for AR and VR. The table is an interactive Thinglink image that links to AR and VR apps. The apps can be used to address topics in STEM, creativity, geography, storytelling, art, […]
Try This Fun, Free AR App for Outdoor Lessons – A 2017 Favorite
For the last five days I have featured the most popular posts of 2017. On this last day of the year, I’m going to highlight my favorite posts of the year regardless of their popularity. This post features an augmented reality app for elementary school students. Spring is here in the northern hemisphere and those […]
A Handful of Apps for Exploring the Potential of AR in Education
Earlier this week I shared a neat augmented reality app called SkyView that helps users identify constellations, planets, and satellites in the night sky. SkyView could be helpful in sparking students’ curiosity about space. SkyView shows some of the potential for augmented reality in education. There are other apps that I often share with people who […]
The Differences Between Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality
This morning I received an email from a reader who was wondering what the terms AR and VR mean. I get that question on a fairly regular basis these days. That’s why earlier this year I recorded a video and posted a short slideshow that outlines the differences between augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed […]
SkyView – An Augmented Reality App to Help Students Find Constellations
SkyView is a free augmented reality app (an Android version and an iOS version is available) that helps students identify stars and constellations. With the free app installed students can point their phones at the sky and see constellations identified on their screens. In addition to constellations the app will identify planets, satellites, and some […]
Crowdsourcing Digital Breakouts – Get Paid for Your Contributions
Earlier this week I shared Metaverse’s directions for creating digital breakout games. Yesterday, I had a conversation with Johnathan Miller, one of the founders of Metaverse, who was excited to share that they are now paying teachers for making digital breakout games. Use the free Metaverse platform to create a digital breakout game to use […]
How to Create a Digital Breakout Game
Breakout EDU has been a breakout hit in classrooms over the last couple of years. The success of the physical Breakout EDU games has spurred the creation of many digital versions built on everything from Google Forms to full-fledged online game environments. Metaverse recently published a tutorial on how to make your own digital breakout […]
The Past, Present, and Future of AR in Classrooms
Nearly two hundred of you have registered for my free webinar titled The Past, Present, and Future of Augmented Reality in Classrooms. The webinar was originally scheduled for tomorrow. I have had to reschedule the webinar for next Thursday (October 26th) instead of tomorrow. The reason is that we’re having a baby (about a week […]
Next Week is Free Webinar Week!
Next week I am hosting three free professional development webinars. I hope that you can join me for one, two, or all three of them. Help Kids Discover New Information On Tuesday at 4pm ET I am hosting 7 Ways to Help Kids Discover and Analyze New Information. In the webinar you will learn how […]
Using Augmented Reality to Learn Nouns and Verbs
Metaverse is a great platform for creating your own augmented reality games and activities. Through the Metaverse Studio anyone can program an augmented reality experience without having any prior coding or programming knowledge. With Metaverse Studio you can build and publish an augmented reality game to accomplish many learning objectives. A great example of this […]
Membit – Augmented Reality Photo Maps
Membit is a neat augmented reality app for use on iPhones. The app lets you place view images superimposed over the current backdrop that you see through your phone’s camera. For example, you could open the app, point your camera at a building, and then see an image of what the building used to look […]
What Was There? – An Augmented Reality Activity
My bicycling club has a route that goes past some neat local history landmarks. One of those landmarks that most people miss is the site of the old cattle pound. Historically, most small towns in New England had cattle pounds or livestock pounds where wayward animals were held until their rightful owners claimed their animals […]
An Augmented Reality Hackathon for Teachers
Earlier this week I shared some ideas for creating and using your own augmented reality experiences in school. Metaverse is the free platform that makes it possible for teachers and students to create their own augmented reality experiences. If you haven’t tried it yet, I highly recommend taking a crack at making your own augmented […]
DIY Augmented Reality – 3 Ways To Use It In School
Disclosure: Metaverse is a new advertiser on FreeTech4Teachers.com Metaverse is an amazing platform that brings that for the first time enables anyone to create rich augmented reality experiences. In many ways the capabilities within Metaverse remind me of the early days of Minecraft (before it was sold to Microsoft) except that instead of creating games […]
This Is Augmented Reality, This Is Virtual Reality
The difference between augmented reality and virtual reality is one of the things that I get asked to clarify on a fairly regular basis. This post has an example of each. Earlier this year I featured a fun app from PBS Kids called Plum’s Creaturizer. It’s a free augmented reality app that lets students create […]
Metaverse – Program Your Own Augmented Reality Apps
Metaverse is a free platform that lets anyone create an augmented reality app. I had the opportunity to have a guided tutorial through the Metaverse platform last week and I was so impressed that I’m now planning to include it along with the MIT App Inventor during the Practical Ed Tech BYOD Camp at the […]
Practical Ed Tech Live – Episode #11
This afternoon my daughter and I recorded the eleventh episode of my almost weekly series, Practical Ed Tech Live. In every episode I answer a handful of the questions that I’ve received from readers. The recording of the episode is embedded below. The list of questions and my recommended resources can be found in this […]
Augmented Reality vs. Virtual Reality
Yesterday, I was asked about the difference between augmented reality and virtual reality. I made the following video and short slideshow to further explain the differences between the two. Click here to learn more about the AR app that I mentioned in the video.
Try This Fun, Free AR App for Outdoor Lessons
Spring is here in the northern hemisphere and those of us in northern climates are ready to get back to playing outside without wearing seven layers of clothing. This is the time of the school year when my students always ask about having class outside. If you’re an elementary school teacher who is ready to […]
A Concise Explanation of Augmented Reality
On Friday I shared a post about an augmented reality app from PBS Kids. That app lets students take pictures of animated characters in outdoor settings. That post prompted a question from a reader who wanted an explanation of augmented reality. My recommendation was to take a look at Common Craft’s video on the topic. […]
Plum’s Creaturizer – A Neat AR App to Get Kids Exploring Outdoors
Creaturizer from PBS Kids is a free iOS and Android app that lets students create fun cartoon creatures then place them into outdoor settings through the use of augmented reality. In the app students create cartoon creatures by swiping and tapping on the features they want their creatures to have (students can have multiple creature […]
Virtual Reality in Education – A Conversation With Greg Kulowiec
Virtual reality has the potential to provide our students with great learning experiences. It is still in its early stages of adoption in schools and there are lots of questions about how it works and how it can be used in classrooms. On February 27th Greg Kulowiec from EdTechTeacher and I will host a Google […]
A Crowd-sourced List of Google Cardboard Apps & Videos
During the ISTE conference this year I met Jack Bosley who is an educational technology teacher in Kentucky. He introduced himself after the panel discussion, hosted by Samsung, about virtual reality in education. Jack shared with me a Google Form that he created to crowd-source a list of apps and videos to use in Google […]
Aurasma Studio – Create Augmented Reality In Your Web Browser
Earlier this morning I received an email from someone who is coming to the Practical Ed Tech Summer Camp for the third time. She was looking for ideas on creating augmented reality layers without using an iPad. My first thought went to Aurasma Studio. Aurasma Studio is developed by the same people that launched the […]
Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Reality Explained by Common Craft
Bit by bit artificial intelligence (AI) is working its way into our lives. If you have seen IBM’s Watson in action, you’ve seen AI at work. Some of the seating chart programs available online today include a small bit of artificial intelligence. See ClassCharts.com for an example of that. But what is AI? And where is […]
Three Mobile Apps That Can Help Students Search
Students might forget their lunches, their gym shoes, and their homework assignments when they leave their houses in the morning, but they never forget their mobile phones. We can help students put those mobile devices to good use through the use of mobile search apps. Google Goggles is a free Android app that lets students […]