It is difficult nowadays to retain the attention of children with formulas and boring textbooks, therefore teachers are always trying to find innovative ways to deliver their content. With MEL VR Science Lab, science becomes a favorite subject at home and at school! Immersing students in a virtual reality experience with short 5-minute VR lessons, interactive labs, and simulations is an excellent way to deliver complex chemical and physical concepts through engaging visualizations.
MEL VR Science Lab is a growing series of science simulations, lessons, and labs covering chemistry and physics. Made to fit right into the school curriculum, Virtual Reality turns studying into an interactive and immersive experience, making learning entertaining!
With VR headsets on, learners will be immersed in a VR science lab where they will see chemical compounds and physical reactions inside everyday objects. They will zoom in on seemingly simple objects like a pencil or a balloon, fly between molecules and atoms, and understand the differences between solids and gaseous substances at a molecular level!
How Does this MEL VR Science Lab Work?
MEL VR Science Lessons
At present, the application contains a growing library of over 70 VR lessons, labs, and simulations that cover all the main chemistry and physics topics.
Samples of MEL VR Science Lessons
Atoms in Solids
The first lesson shows that all matter consists of atoms. It will take students inside graphite and a diamond. Students will see that both materials consist of the same carbon atoms, but have very different properties because their atomic level structure is different. Students will also learn that atoms in solids do not stay still – they vibrate.
Interactive Periodic Table
You can play with this interactive periodic table, exploring each atom and adjusting its electron orbitals and the corresponding configuration diagram.
Molecular Formula
In this interactive lab there are many different molecular compounds you can zoom into and see their molecules. You must write down their molecular formulas.
Pressure Measurement
In this lab, you can register how many particles hit the wall and how hard. You can make measurements for different areas. Use the obtained data to calculate the pressure.
Charges and Forces
The term charge is introduced, and the attraction and repelling of charges are explained. You can see how charged balls interact: the forces applied to them and their movement under these forces.
Teacher Mode
While using MEL VR Science Lab, teachers can control the lesson flow using the special teacher mode with a few touches of their tablet. They can instantly connect to all the student devices, start and pause the lesson and control the progress of each student.
Pricing and Set-Up
Download MEL VR Science Smilulations app on your tablet.
Purchase a license hereto receive an email with an activation link.
Download MEL VR Science Simulations app on your classroom devices from Apple Store or Google Playstore — they will automatically connect to the tablet.
Control the lesson flow with a few clicks.
Educational Values
Understanding, not memorizing
To understand chemistry and physics, you have to understand what is happening on the molecular and atomic level. Just memorizing formulas and facts is not enough.
What could be a better way to understand the behavior of atoms, ions, and molecules than to put yourself inside chemical reactions, to see all these particles with your own eyes.
Connecting the real world with the world of molecules
Each lesson, lab, or simulation starts in a lab and then zooms in to the molecular level.
Imagine being able to shrink a billion times, like Ant-man, allowing you to see what otherwise would remain invisible.
Chemistry and physics are difficult because you have to connect the macro and micro worlds in an overall concept and see how they are linked.
Interactive experiments with atoms and molecules
We do not mimic a classic lab, but provide interactive lessons where kids can conduct experiments on atoms and molecules that are otherwise impossible:
– Build your own atom
– Build your own molecule
– Measure bond energies
– Play with ionization energy, etc.
Focusing
VR takes students out of their surroundings. They can focus 100 percent on their lessons without distractions.
If you’ve ever tried to convince kids to focus on their studying, rather than texting, chit-chatting, etc. while they « study», you know exactly what we are talking about.
Short 3–7 minute long sessions. After 3–7 minutes, a child’s ability to keep absorbing new information drops. But during these minutes, their attention is complete and their learning is intense.
Kiddleis a web search engine for kids and an online encyclopedia that emphasizes safety for young children by pushing child-safe content higher in its search results. It’s designed to block profanity and other questionable words from search results.
After the user enters the subject, Kiddle presents search results with the first three results being deemed safe and written specifically for kids and “checked by Kiddle editors”. The next four results are safe sites not written especially for kids, but presented in kid-friendly language. The eighth result and anything else beyond are safe sites written for adults but harder to understand for kids.
If the user enters words that may not be suitable for children, a picture of a robot is displayed telling the user to try again.
How Does it Work?
How is this Tool Designed Specifically for Kids?
1) Safe Search: sites appearing in this search results satisfy family-friendly requirements, as it filters sites with explicit or deceptive content. You can read more on kids’ safe search here.
2) Kids-Oriented Results: the points below illustrate how this kids’ search engine returns results for each query (in the order shown):
Safe sites and pages are written specifically for kids. Handpicked and checked by Kiddle editors.
Typically, results 1-3.
Safe trusted sites that are not written specifically for kids but have content written in a simple way, easy for kids to understand. Handpicked and checked by Kiddle editors.
Typically, results 4-7.
Safe, famous sites that are written for adults, providing expert content, but are harder for kids to understand. Filtered by Google safe search.
Typically, results 8 onwards.
3) Big Thumbnails: most search results are illustrated with big thumbnails, which makes it easier to scan the results, differentiate between them, and click the most appropriate results to your query. Thumbnails serve as visual clues and are especially beneficial to kids as they don’t read as fast as adults.
4) Large Arial font in search results provides better readability for kids.
5) Privacy: This kids’ search engine doesn’t collect any personally identifiable information, and its logs are deleted every 24 hours. You can read their full privacy statementhere.
The upcoming academic year is going to look quite different from a typical school year where many teachers will be teaching virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to establish a small sense of normalcy for their students and add some fun to the teaching-learning process, several teachers are using the virtual bitmoji classroom. They are creatively decorating their classrooms with clickable elements that redirect students to the needed content.
Are you a teacher willing to create your own classroom and looking for ideas of what to include in it? Have a look at the below bitmoji classroom ideas beautifully created and developed by e-Tech Kits. Also, if you don’t know how to get started, check out a step-by-step tutorial hereor get a customized one here.
Bitmoji Classroom invaded the education community as several schools switched to distance learning to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Teachers across the globe are spending time creatively developing theirs!
When embedded successfully in the school’s LMS, students will definitely love this rich classroom environment containing an avatar playing the teacher’s role. They will also enjoy the interactive elements allowing them to click through to see assignments, documents, videos, and websites.
Now it’s your turn to create a virual classroom to enhance your distance learning experience!
Download the bitmoji microsoft teams template here.
How to Create a Bitmoji Classroom in Microsoft Teams?
1. Design your avatar on Bitmoji
Download the Bitmoji app from the App Store or Play Store and create your Bitmoji by selecting physical features like hair, mouth, eye color, and an outfit. When you finish creating your character, you can cast it in a huge array of activities, such as reading, singing, or even eating.
A tutorial video by Elisabeth Peacock
2. Add the Bitmoji extension to Google Chrome
Download the Bitmoji Google Chrome extension, which allows you to choose an activity for your Bitmoji (reading, laughing, saying “hello”) to copy and paste into the PowerPoint document containing your virtual classroom.
A tutorial video by Elisabeth Peacock
3. Create a Bitmoji Classroom in Microsoft PowerPoint
Follow the steps mentioned in the tutorial video below to create a virtual classroom and decorate it. Choose the needed material from the resources below and then add the interactive elements that allow your students to click through to see assignments, documents, videos, and websites.
To fight the spread of COVID-19 and maintain healthy social distancing, schools have temporarily closed and quickly transitioned from on-campus to online learning. In line with this, Unesco shared 8 useful live-video platforms for distance learning.
Below is a list of the most used live-video platforms for distance learning!
Dingtalk
Dingtalkis a communication platform that supports video conferencing, task and calendar management, attendance tracking, and instant messaging.
Lark
Larkis a collaboration suite of interconnected tools that includes chat, calendar, creation and cloud storage, in Japanese, Korean, Italian and English.
Google Meet
Google Meetis a video call platform integrated with other Google’s G-Suite tools.
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams contains chat, meetings, calls, and collaboration features integrated with Microsoft Office software.
Skype
Skypehas video and audio calls, chat, and collaboration features.
WeCom
WeComis a messaging, content sharing, and video/audio-conferencing tool with the possibility of including max. 300 participants, available in English and Chinese.
WhatsApp
WhatsAppis a mobile application with video and audio calls, messaging, and content sharing.
Zoom
Zoomis a cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, collaboration, chat, and webinars.
AstroReality’s Education solution is a technology bridge between tactile and digital to discover the space like never before!
With their Solar System Mini set, students can interact and visualize the planets through the Augmented Reality technology by pointing their devices at the 3D printed planetary models.
Working with these AR replicas, students are engaged in an immersive learning process; they will see the planets come to life their location, and their rotation speed around the sun. In addition, they will have access to information and data directly from NASA and other accredited sources at the tip of their fingers.
Each planetary model is crafted and designed to utilize the highest quality renderings of the planets. It’s also precisely made with up to 0.1millimeters per pixel precision based on NASA data.
