School doors are shut, but the doors to Ocean School are wide open.
An immersive, interactive 360-degree learning resource is easily accessible to anyone with a device. And parents take note: it’s learning for kids which doesn’t require constant supervision.
Ocean School was originally developed by the National Film Board of Canada, Ocean Frontier Institute and Dalhousie University, as an online tool for Grades 6-9, but is easily adaptable for younger and older kids.
Before this week, teachers or parents needed to set up an account (for free) and learn about the platform before introducing it to kids. But Janet Stalker, program director of Ocean School at Dal, said they recently pulled out some of the content and created direct links so it’s easily accessible by parents from home.
“What we’ve done in light of the COVID crisis and the high demand from parents, especially parents that have very little time to go in and orient themselves to our platform … we’re finding some of them have asked for direct links.”
It’s bilingual and designed for students to lead the way in a choose-your-own adventure kind of way, so parents don’t need to hover over their shoulders.
“We’re really hoping this will be a helpful resource for parents, in particular, and teachers in this crisis as they’re trying to teach their students remotely during this difficult time.”
The technology is very cool.
The four modules are built around themes like the plight of North Atlantic right whales in the Bay of Fundy and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, or on sustainable fisheries and cod recovery around Newfoundland.
“And we just last week launched our fourth module — which is our first international module — which was filmed outside of Cocos Island, about 500 miles off the coast of Costa Rica.”
Students are dropped into a 360-degree video which feels like they’re underwater, watching sharks swim by. There are virtual reality elements, interactive activities and digital games.
“We’ve got an augmented reality right whale where students can create a right whale in their living room if they want to, which is pretty exciting,” Stalker said.
Kids can also dissect a digital cod.
Ocean School, which was first envisioned in 2015 and launched its first module in 2018, was meant to teach kids about the ocean as part of our culture, society, economy, heritage and recreation, Stalker said.
“We wanted a way we could digitally transport them to the ocean and help them understand the compelling stories and connection between Canadians and the ocean.”
Encouraging kids to feel a connection to the ocean is so important, Stalker said, for getting them to make informed decisions about their behaviors and decisions.
But as students everywhere are at home for the next several weeks at least, Ocean School also offers the side benefit of feeling like they’re underwater. Or outside, at least.
“For me, the ocean is my happy place and if I’m under stress, I go to the ocean and I go snorkeling or I go diving or surfing,” Stalker said. “Right now I obviously can’t do that so I find I’m going into the 360 content and using that as a way to de-stress. Hopefully it will have a similar impact for our learners.”
Another online classroom:
The Royal Canadian Geographical Society recently launched a new online classroom. The society will also be hosting Google hangouts where experts will answer questions. There will also be trivia challenges and mapping exercises.
