Bringing the Outside In
Favorite Resources for Connecting to the World
Things Have Shifted
My friend Don often refers to "bringing the outside in" when coaching teachers and schools to explore innovative practices, and I think that phrase can be applied to the situation in which we currently find ourselves. We are certainly living in a new day and age because of the coronavirus. Schools, restaurants, and cultural institutions are closing as part of social distancing measures and people are encouraged to stay at home.
Below is a list of potentially fun resources and activities for kids and adults that may help to bring the world into your home. I'll be adding to this from time to time. It's not meant to be all-inclusive, but rather, a selection of resources that I find valuable. The first section are resources for families and the second part are recommendations for adult learners.
If you are looking for more instructional resources, try the following :
30 Creative Activities for Kids from Apple
Audible Stories
Audible has made a ton of content available for free for adults and kids. Many of the stories are in various languages, too.
Check out this collection here. CILC: Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration
During a recent Daily Connect meeting, Mali Bickley mentioned
CILC and all the amazing virtual experiences that were available to learners. There normally is a fee to participate in their activities, but
starting on March 23, they will be offering free, interactive content during typical US school hours. Providers of this content include the National Archives, Texas State Aquarium, Royal Botanical Gardens, Toledo Zoo, Mote Marine Laboratory, and more.
Challenge: Combating COVID-19
Connected North
Connected North is an initiative from
Taking It Global in which live video content is provided for students who live in remote Canadian locations. Their content providers have made various opportunities open for all learners. One of their partners is CILC; see above listing.
Doodlematic Mobile Game Maker
Doodlematic is a kit that allows kids to create interactive mobile games using their own drawings and the Doodlematic app. It's very clever and potentially could keep kids of all ages occupied. Parents of younger children might want to create games in collaboration with their children. Doodlematic costs $31.99 on Amazon and I found out about it from children's media expert David Kleeman who recently visited the Toy Fair in NYC.
Follow Doodlematic on Twitter. Explore.org
Explore.org is a free live nature cam network and documentary film channel that is brought to us from the Annenberg foundation. Its mission is to: "To champion the selfless acts of others, create a portal into the soul of humanity and inspire lifelong learning." At any given time, there are dozen of livecams from various locations around the world.I particularly love the features that let you chat with other viewers and take a virtual snapshot of a webcam image.
Subscribe to the organization's newsletter and
take a look at their website handbook. Explore.org is all over social media
including on Twitter.
Exploring By the Seat of Your Pants
Exploring By the Seat of Your Pants is an educational organization that hosts Google Hangout events for students featuring mostly scientific content. The founder of this organization, Joe Grabowski, is a Canadian teacher and National Geographic Emerging Explorer and Fellow. View previously recorded content on the
EBTSOYP YouTube channel; make sure to subscribe this org's newsletter and you'll receive periodic emails that describe upcoming virtual field trip opportunities.
Follow EBTSOYP on Twitter, too. Go Noodle
Go Noodle has free, fun, and interactive content for kids that is designed to promote social-emotional learning and active screen time. Recently,
they launched a new gaming app for kids as well. The video app and the gaming app are available for a variety of platforms including iOS, Apple TV, Make sure to check out their
YouTube channel for handy playlists of content and
their Twitter feed!
Hogwarts Digital Escape Room
Mo Willems Lunch Doodles & Thank You Thursdays
Newberry Transcribe
This is a great opportunity brought to my attention by my colleague at NSCDS, David Green. The Newberry Library in Chicago has a project going on in which parents and students can perform a community service by
transcribing handwritten primary source documents into searchable digital resources for the public and researchers. Select from four collections: Family Life in the Midwest letters, Family Life in the Midwest diaries, American Indian letters and diaries, and U.S Western Expansion letters and diaries. I just took a look at a document and it may not be as easy as it sounds, but this is an absolutely fascinating project!
Outschool
Find live online classes designed just for kids ages 3-18 at
Outschool! There are sessions available at reasonable prices on a variety of subjects including the arts, life skills, world languages, health and wellness, and technology. Outschool just announced free classes for kids affected by school closure;
check out updates here.
Follow Outschool on Twitter here. Photowalks
Just because we need to practice social distancing measures right now, it doesn't mean that we cannot go outside. We just need to limit our contact with others. I've always been a fan of the
photo walking concept and of how the Michigan Avenue Apple store often hosts photo walks so that customers can practicing using phone and iPad features and photography techniques.
It turns out that there is an organization,
Virtual Photo Walks, that organizes photo walks for those who cannot experience the world themselves and this organization was
the recipient of an innovation award from Zoom, the video conferencing platform that many schools will be using for elearning purposes. Maybe families could host a virtual photo walk as a service-learning project?
Pictionary Air
Another find from the Toy Fair is
Pictionary Air, an augmented reality version of the traditional family game. You can use it solo or on with teams on Android or Apple devices and it might make for a fun family activity while you are homebound. It costs about $15 at Target or Amazon, and it's probably geared towards kids and adults ages 8 on p.
Pokemon Go
Consider playing Pokemon Go with your school-age child! My husband plays this with my teenage son on a regular basis and often it involves driving around town to catch various Pokemon characters with virtually no direct contact with others. The company behind this mobile app game has made some modifications for the coronavirus era which
you can read about here. Use this shift in our lifestyles to engage and actually PLAY with your kid!
Service Learning Projects
Storyline Online
Storyline Online is a wonderful literacy initiative from the SAG-AFTRA Foundation and it features videos of celebrities reading children's literature. Many titles are available and are accompanied by activity guides for teachers.
Follow Storyline on Twitter. WildEarth.TV
WildEarth.tv is a daily expert-hosted live safari broadcast from Africa. I follow
WildEarth.tv on Twitter and have turned on live notifications for when this org starts broadcasting. You can also follow discussions and ask questions on Twitter using the hashtag
#WildEarth. It looks like they host virtual safaris for kids; i
nformation is available here.
Wimja
Investigate
Wimja: Creative Challenges During School Closure for fun hands-on activities. I'm not sure where I found this site, but it's perfect for those interested in making! Find challenges your kids can do themselves at home around design, art, coding, and active learning.
Your Local Library
Make sure to check out your local library to see how they can help you!I love my local library. We're lucky to live in a town with an amazing facility and
Northbrook Public Library has been proactive in closing its building while still providing some services. Digital resources are still available including eBooks, eAudiobooks, streaming, homework help, and research resources. If you put items on hold at this library, a drive-up service is starting where you can pick up your order.
Zoom Life
My friend and fellow ed tech aficionado Chris Walsh is
co-hosting a Facebook group for parents and kids of all ages to create videos at home. Info posted in the group is as follows:
Create-at-home video projects for kids of all ages lead by volunteer Tour Guides who love learning and exploring.
How does it work?
- Join the launch party on Zoom.
- Create your own video over the week.
- Broadcast your video to a live audience.
Take a look at this doc for the first project. And if you join the group, you can view the kickoff meeting video here.
Why do this? - Explore your world. - Be creative. - Learn from each other.
No rubrics. No grades. No prizes. No pressure.
For Adults (and Maybe Teenagers)
Bluprint
Sarah Hanawald mentioned this site during a recent Daily Connect video conference meeting.
Bluprint offers online crafting classes on topics such as quilting, sewing, knitting, crocheting and baking. There is a free 14-day trial available and after that, it looks like their annual plan has been slashed in half to $39.99.
Brainpickings
Brainpickings is another amazing resource for adult learners. Maria Popova curates inspirational and thought-provoking content from around the world. Make sure to subscribe to her newsletters and
follow her on Twitter. Netflix Party
This came to my attention via a fellow director of educational technology, Suzan Brandt. Multiple people can watch the same movie on their browsers at the same time via a Chrome browser extension called Netflix Party. Everyone installs the extension, one person starts the movie, clicks the extension in their browser, gets a link and then sends it to their friends who then login to Netflix. All can watch and chat at the same time!
Find directions and details in this article. Occupy White Walls
Occupy White Walls has been described as
Minecraft for the art world. It is an experimental gaming platform for building virtual art spaces. I have not played with this yet and it seems very cutting edge. See the video below to get a sense of what it's all about.