Give Your Students Space—Through Virtual Reality
Is virtual reality part of your school’s technology arsenal? If so, you might want to connect your students to a new offering being made available by the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.
According to NASA, virtual reality technology now allows students to explore rock formations, identify damaged satellites, and discover many other features of the cosmos, all while saving both time and money.
NASA’s goal: To encourage more educators to explore the virtual reality space and to enable those who have virtual reality technology to be able to experience Goddard from the comfort of their own homes.
Colorado Considering Minimum Teacher Pay
The Colorado Department of Education may ask lawmakers in the state to establish minimum teacher salary requirements tied to the cost of living.
The aim of the request is to increase the volume of high-quality teachers in the state. Officials are finalizing a list of recommendations to address challenges to Colorado’s teacher workforce. Pressing for the legislation on teacher salaries is among dozens of recommendations included in a draft report.
Student Violence Results in Multiple Teacher Resignations
Teachers in Harrisburg, PA, are asking for support after a series of violent altercations with students has led to multiple resignations.
At least 45 teachers have resigned since July, according to Harrisburg Education Association President Jody Barksdale. The union wants a task force consisting of teachers, administrators, and parents to help students who display violent behaviors.
Virginia: First State to Mandate Computer Science Instruction
Virginia state lawmakers added a new set of computer-science standards to its long list of “required academic standards” that all districts must teach, according to Education Week.
Education Week says it has repeatedly “written about the explosion of computer science in K–12 before,” but news of Virginia’s “short but significant” move “is a major development in that evolution.” The nonprofit CodeVA pushed for the standards, and similar groups mounted an influential and successful push nationally, such as the nonprofit organization Code.org, which helped create a second AP course on computer science principles.
However, Virginia board members were somewhat hesitant about adopting the standards because of concerns that teachers were not sufficiently trained to adequately integrate such instruction across all grade levels.