Bibliography 

How do you integrate technology into an author visit? Take the author on a trip to his own setting. Fifth graders at West Woods Elementary not only met author Roland Smith but invited him to climb Mt. Everest with them.  Students in Ms. Bachman's class were reading "Peak", one of Smith's many novels when the author himself came for an assembly to talk about the writing process. Armed with Google Cardboards and the Expeditions app, fifth graders were able to take a tour of Mt. Everest through virtual reality as the author narrated. Students were amazed at the details and facts Mr. Smith shared with them about Mt. Everest as he was looking through the Google Cardboard.  They asked him several follow-up questions about how he acquires so much information and the research that goes into his writing process.

Later in class, students participated in a full expedition to Everest with Digital Teacher Librarian, Kristen McCann.  "Watching students engage in their learning and the connections that students were able to make to the text because of the experience was phenomenal," stated Kristen.

EDPuzzle is one of our favorite tools to ensure students are learning from video content and not simply skipping through the material without doing any thinking. To get students to interact with the content, you can add voice or text comments; create multiple choice questions to make them predict possible outcomes, or short answer questions for students to summarize their learning on the topic. Questions are inserted along the video timeline and, with a check box, you can ensure students answer the questions before they proceed.

Searching for educational content within EDPuzzle is simple and intuitive; or you can upload your own videos. Students join your online class using an access code, and then you can track their progress through your video lessons.