No Shhing Here

This fall, I attended a local library conference and got to try out VR goggles for the first time. We've used Google Cardboard at home, but it was a very different experience to use VR on the Oculus Quest.  The workshop session was a great introduction to the educational applications of VR, and helped me decide that it was time to start exploring the technology in my district.  If you're interested in exploring VR in your library, there's a lot of different options available at a WIDE range of price points. When you start investigating VR headsets, you'll notice they come in one of three varieties:  Mobile - the VR headset is really just a viewer - some kind of box with lenses. These devices are powered by a cell phone that slides into the viewer. They aren't nearly as immersive as other types of VR because their ability to track motion is much less sophisticated. Though, these devices are the cheapest if you already own a cell phone. Prices start ...

Just a quick vent: I'm annoyed at Apple's App Store. When I'm searching for apps, I want to be able to sort by rating . I don't have time to click through thirty different Spanish translator apps to find the one that gets the best reviews. Apple --  make my life easier!!! Let me sort by rating! Okay, I'm done now.

We've spent the last month experimenting with a **BRAND NEW** iTouch cart. I forgot to take a picture, but our cart looks exactly like this ( image from Mindshift ). The cart is stocked with 20 32 GB 3rd generation iTouches and a MacBook Pro for management. I'm mostly happy with the set-up, though the cords connecting the iTouches to the hub aren't of the highest quality. We spend a lot of time wiggling and giggling to make sure they're connected for charging and syncing. In addition to the twenty iTouches on the cart, I sometimes supplement them with two library iTouches and a library iPad, bringing our device total up to 23. Whenever we roll out a new technology, it takes a while to figure out exactly how to use it with classes. Honestly, integrating the iTouches has been almost pain-free . They seem to work themselves seamlessly into our lives, and I'm not quite sure how we ever survived without them. Here's a list of the things we've used them for over ...

Our School Library System has blessed us with a free iTouch. Kids are borrowing it left and right -- so far it's been checked out 36 times in about two weeks. It's available for use in the library during studyhalls - they check it out, use, and return it before the bell rings. Our 8th and 9th graders much more into using this than a "plain old mp3 player" with audiobooks on it. I initially struggled with what to put on it. My first thought was NO GAMES, but I have games ALL OVER my library, so that didn't make sense. After a little research and some serious time exploring the iTunes store, I decided on the following downloads. I've marked games with "gaming app." The ones I picked all have some "educational" content, whether it's building vocabulary, using physics principles, or manipulating numbers. I tried to avoid games that focused on manual dexterity, like racing or shooting, as my gut instinct says they're not "education...