Carson City students celebrate Digital Learning Days this week
Submitted by Jeff Munson on Mon, 02/22/2021 - 11:12am
CARSON CITY — In celebration of National Digital Learning Day this coming Thursday, Feb. 25, students throughout the Carson City School District are showcasing their 21st century skills and advocating for the state’s continued support of technology in schools across the state. In particularly, students with the Carson High School orienteering class spent some time to learn the Catching Features software that enables them to navigate virtually as well as physically over land.
“My orienteering class has not been able to take what they learn out into the field due to COVID and no field trips,” said Carson High School’s NJROTC Instructor Chief Dan Ingram, US Navy Retired. “Orienteering is a sport that uses land navigation and map reading skills, but when we could not get the students out into the field, I had to find another way to keep the students learning using technology.”
Chief Ingram was able to introduce his students to several virtual-meet programs that allowed them to navigate using similar orienteering skills in a virtual world. The virtual orienteering courses incorporated land features and the use of a compass and maps. Students were able guide their avatar over terrain and around lakes in a timed race.
“A lot has happened since the last Digital Learning Day in February 2020,” said Raymond Medeiros, director of Innovation and Technology with the Carson City School District. “We have had to overcome some of the most complex and difficult challenges that we have faced in our professional careers. We have had to rethink and redefine how we deliver instruction and support student learning. We have had to learn how to use new technology, how to use old technology in new and creative ways, how to digitize analog processes and how to deliver an equitable learning experience for all students while complying with COVID guidelines.”
Digital Learning Day started in 2012 as a grassroots effort and quickly blossomed into a world-wide celebration of learning with technology. Today, the event promotes the effective use of technology to enhance the student learning experience.
The term ‘digital learning’ is a broad and encompassing ideal that includes various technology implementations, including EdTech tools, applications, Project Based Learning and blended learning instructional models. The goal is to engage students, personalize their learning experience and enable anywhere, anytime learning opportunities to ensure all students reach their full potential.
In the Photos: CHS's NJROTC Instructor Chief Dan Ingram helps Sophomore Student Luke Syndergaard learn to navigate through a virtual orienteering course using an avatar to use a compass and climb topographic maps to reach pre-determined checkpoints and destinations.
