Empower students to be future ready with these top 5 tools

Educators are constantly looking for resources and tools to get students engaged and excited about the content they are teaching. Take it a step further by empowering your students with designing and creating, and that engagement will automatically happen.

Empowerment means you are providing your students with the future-ready skills and experiences they can take with them into the future. They can take what they have learned and apply it to other experiences such as their own passions, interests, and share them with an authentic audience. Empowered students can change the world!

Here are five tools that you can use tomorrow that will not only empower your students, but will also spark their curiosity and interests to be future ready.

My favorite 5 tools to develop future-ready skills

1. Merge VR

Merge takes augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to the next level by providing students exploration experiences as well as the ability to create AR and VR with the CoSpaces add-on. By integrating Merge apps that use the Cube and/or VR goggles, students can learn about the solar system, anatomy, cells, museum artifacts, and so much more! Get ready! Merge will soon be releasing the Merge EDU Platform which will include content-specific modules. Check out some already-created EDU Resources to get started today.

2. CoSpaces

Get ready for students to up the wow factor when they create and explore with CoSpaces. Students can import 360° images, view their creations in AR or VR, create experiences for the Merge Cube, upload and record audio and video, as well as code what happens in each scene or space. The possibilities are endless for every subject area. Check out some of their lesson plan ideas to get started.

3. Breakout EDU

Immersive learning game LOADING… Breakout EDU is that and more! Collaboration, communication, problem solving, and teamwork are all needed to race against the clock in physical and digital games. Educators do not need to reinvent the wheel to create their own game. With Breakout EDU’s extensive game library and platform, you can filter by grade level, subject area, and game type. Here’s the best part: After students have played some Breakout EDU games, kick it up a notch and have your students create the next class game! Check out the student digital game design courses available with full platform access.

4. Google Expeditions and Tour Creator

Take students to places they have never explored using VR, Chromebooks, or mobile devices. Visit historical landmarks, dive into the deep sea, experience life as a Native American, and more with Google’s AR and VR expeditions. Download the app and try some of the available expeditions. If you want your students to create their own expeditions to share with the class and the world, start with Google Tour Creator. Not only can they pull in images from Google Maps, but they can also upload their own 360° images, add audio, scene narration, points of interest, and multiple scenes. Once published, students can share to devices to view in 360° or in VR mode.

5. Book Creator

Get ready for your students to showcase their creativity with the world. Using Book Creator, students and educators can create digital books, resources, and portfolios by adding text, images, drawings, video, audio, as well as embedding content from Google Drive, CoSpaces, Tour Creator, Flipgrid, ThingLink, YouTube, and more. Get students collaborating on the same book, publish libraries to share with the world, download as an ebook, or print to share. Need some ideas on where to begin with your class? Look no further!