Today's post is about my new favorite tech "gadget," Google Cardboard. I heard about Google Cardboard some time ago from Twitter and some online forums, but didn't fully get what it was. This past June, I attended the Google Geo Teacher Institute at Google LA in Venice, CA, and got to experience Google Cardboard for myself. WOW, I was instantly in love!
So, what is it, you ask? Well, Cardboard is just that - a piece of cardboard folded into a viewfinder (remember the Viewmaster from when we were kids?) with a magnet and two lenses that make a Virtual Reality (VR) device. You place your device (phone or ipod) into it, run an app (or use Google Maps if you have an Android device) and you're instantly immersed into a VR world where you can look around 360 degrees and even move forward and back, left and right through Google Map's street view of any place in the world, including underwater in places like the Great Barrier Reef! You really have to experience it for yourself!We were fortunate enough to be given on Cardboard from the GTI, and I won a second one in a game we played, so now I have two for my classroom. I haven't figured out exactly how to incorporate them into my teaching just yet, but I'm excited to see what the students think! Maybe virtual field trips to the Great Pyramid and Sphinx when we study ancient Egypt? VR walks through the remains of Pompeii and Herculaneum during our volcano unit? How might you use it?
I saw this on an Edutopia post the other day! Super cool! I didn't really understand what it was from their post but your pictures totally clarified it for me. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad the photos helped - it's so hard to explain in words! - and this was my entry for the "images" assignment, so that's good to hear. I hope you get to see a Cardboard in person sometime.
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