After doing many fascinating projects with embodied learning in the Netherlands, Lithuania and Scandinavia, I got the opportunity to tell my story in Long Island, New York.
It started in January at our kick-off event of the i3ALLSTARS community program, where teachers from different countries were selected to participate in an international training, exchange and community event. Read more about the event.
The event was a great inspiration for everyone, but especially for the teachers from the US. We had several online appointments with the school quickly after the event to discuss which interactive solutions were suitable for their school district.
The teachers opted for a combination of various interactive solutions, including the iMO-LEARN cubes to introduce embodied learning in their classrooms. Thanks to the great support and guidance from our US partner, Phi Services, the new technology was implemented and the teachers from Valley Stream were able to get started without any concerns!
My colleague Davy De Rijbel travelled to the school in the US for a first two-day training in March. He experienced the great enthusiasm and interest in i3LEARNHUB and iMO-LEARN and was overwhelmed by the motivation of the teachers and students.
The teachers are making great progress in creating interactive lessons and activities. They inspire other teachers and enjoy working in different ways with their students. Only 2 months later we received a new request to train the next group of teachers! And with that, we received a new order for another set of interactive solutions.
This is where my trip started. On day 1 we started working with i3LEARNHUB, one of our education software solutions. We didn’t only cover the basics, but also the specific didactic approach. We created a lesson together and saw immediate results. We used the different interactive features, as well as the collaborative learning component.
The setup in the hallway – two interactive whiteboards next to each other – naturally invites teachers and students to collaborate. It offers a great opportunity to give inspiring lessons, with the help of personal devices and an informal classroom setup. By breaking through the traditional classroom layout, the teacher will get more creative and let children collaborate in more innovative and interactive ways.
Embodied learning was the main topic on the second day. The teachers didn’t start their computer as usual. Instead they started moving. They experienced the benefits of moving in the classroom hands-on, how you can introduce it and how easy it is to implement it.
The teachers were very surprised when they saw that the iMO-LEARN could be connected to the interactive whiteboard to be used digitally. We fully covered the activity builder and built several interactive exercises together.
The interactive solutions have a positive impact on student engagement and performance. Their test results have improved significantly since the start of the project. The students started learning in a different way, and this way clearly works more efficiently. That was also the case in Oli's class in the Omnimundo school in Antwerp:
Last but certainly not least, we agreed to set up a Skype call between this school in New York and a school in Antwerp. The students got to know each other and worked together across the Atlantic. It’s amazing to see how Skype bridges the distance between countries and gives students a broader perspective of the world.
Interested to know more about implementing technology successfully? Don’t hesitate to send us your thoughts and questions!
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