As we have been promoting over the last couple of weeks, one member of the Eduporium team is currently on a country-wide road trip to see some of the best sites in the United States. Thanks to our friends at Merge VR, he has also brought with him 10 Merge Cubes to donate to some of the educators who have applied for our EdTech grant in the past and were not selected. On Wednesday, he made his first drop-off at the Orchard School in South Burlington, VT. Donna MacDonald is the school’s librarian and she has quite a nice setup in her library, but now she also has a brand-new Merge Cube to use as well, giving her some new possibilities for teaching with technology!
Donna applied for our grant last December and was not selected. She has, however, received a few other grants over the years, including one from Code.org! These grants have allowed her to outfit her library with some great STEAM tools, including robotics tools, 3D printers, and plenty of cool furniture. She even had a lot of the chairs and desks in her library paid for by Lowe’s. Her library, which is quite spacious, is filled with all sorts of neat tools and, of course, books with some of the space dedicated solely for students to make and experiment.
Donna has been working with students at the Orchard School for over 25 years with the last 24 being spent in the library. She is always looking for new ways to introduce them to innovative learning and creating with technology. She is actually in the process of finishing up a Donor’s Choose campaign, which is almost completely funded. Once it is, she is hoping to add some new Sphero BOLT robots to her library to give her kids the chance to try a new way of programming! She currently has some Dash and Cue robots in her space, but this would make a great addition to her offerings!
We are excited to have been able to present Donna with the gift of a new Merge Cube to allow her to provide a new type of learning experience for her students. Learning in augmented reality is something that can get and keep them excited as well as open up new worlds of content for them to explore. Since the cube can be used in just about any academic subject, it’s perfect for a school librarian who helps facilitate all kinds of learning experiences on a daily basis! Also, students at the Orchard School come from a variety of backgrounds and speak over 40 different languages, so we definitely see the Merge Cube being able to help Donna bring her students a little bit closer together.
Even at 3:30 in the afternoon, the school was still filled with children, who participate in various afterschool programs. Donna doesn’t leave the building until after 5:00 on most days and we very much hope that her and her students will be able to find enjoyment and educational benefits from the Merge Cube during the school day and once it’s ended. To keep up with the rest of our stops across the country, be sure to follow our blog and keep up with our posts on Twitter and Instagram! As always, a huge thank you to Merge VR for providing the cubes for donations!