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Saturday, October 31, 2020

AI can detect COVID-19 by listening to your coughs - Engadget

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The AI is highly accurate in early tests. After the team trained its model on tens of thousands of cough and dialog samples, the technology recognized 98.5 percent of coughs from people with confirmed COVID-19 cases. It identified 100 percent of people who were ostensibly asymptomatic, too.

There are clear limits. The technology isn’t meant to diagnose symptomatic people, as they might have other conditions that produce similar behavior. And while it’s quite capable, you wouldn’t want to use this for a definitive verdict on whether or not you’re infected.

This isn’t a theoretical exercise, though. The scientists are developing a “user-friendly” app that could be used as a prescreening tool for the virus. You might only have to cough into your phone each day to determine if it’s safe for you to head outside. The researchers even suggest this could put an end to pandemics if the tool was always listening in the background, although that’s a big “if” when it would likely raise privacy issues.




November 01, 2020 at 05:36AM
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AI can detect COVID-19 by listening to your coughs - Engadget

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Hands-on with iOS 14.2 RC top changes and features [Video] - 9to5Mac

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Yesterday Apple issued the iOS 14.2 Release Candidate (GM) to developers, signifying that a public-facing release is not too far behind. iOS 14.2 RC includes over 100 new emoji characters, features eight beautiful new wallpapers, Shazam music recognition CC toggle, a redesigned AirPlay 2 interface, and much more. This iOS 14.2 release also fixes the annoying “A new iOS update is now available” message that appears upon each unlock for those on the previous beta. Watch our hands-on video as we explore iOS 14.2 top changes and features.

What’s new in iOS 14.2 RC?

Note: It looks as if Apple is replacing the term “GM Seed” for near-final versions of its software with “Release Candidate,” so we will refer to this as the iOS 14.2 (RC) Release Candidate.

  • A fix for the annoying “A new iOS update is now available. Please update from the iOS 14 beta” message that occurred with each unlock.
  • Eight beautiful new wallpapers in light and dark versions
  • Hundreds of new emoji characters
  • A fix for HDR videos thumbnails exported from Final Cut Pro X
  • Redesigned AirPlay 2 interface
  • Updated now playing controls and AirPlay 2 interface on the Lock screen
  • Redesigned AirPlay 2 controls in Control Center
  • New animation lets you see if other AirPlay 2 devices are active on your network
  • Source icon indicator for music, podcasts, etc.
  • Updated AirPlay pop-over

Video: iOS 14.2 RC top changes and features

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  • Shazam music recognition CC toggle
  • Watch app with new Apple Watch Solo Loop app icon
  • ‘Reduce Loud Sounds’ is now renamed ‘Headphone Safety’ in Settings
  • Apple Card users now have ‘Yearly activity’ tab in the Wallet app
  • Ask Siri to stop playing music on HomePod
  • Intercom support in Home app and via Siri

There are many takeaways from the iOS 14.2 Release Candidate. If you’re coming from the previous iOS 14.2 beta, you’ll be happy to know that the annoying “A new iOS update is now available. Please update from the iOS 14 beta” that occurred every time you unlocked your iPhone has been fixed with this update. That alone is enough to warrant updating in my opinion.

One of the biggest new features found in iOS 14.2 is the revamped AirPlay 2 interface in Control Center. You’ll now find much bigger album artwork in Control Center for now-playing media. You’ll also find an icon in the bottom right-hand corner of the album artwork denoting the source of the media.

In addition to these changes, both Control Center and the Lock screen will now present suggested media when nothing is playing. On the Lock screen, you’ll need to have headphones connected before suggested media is presented.

There’s also a handy new AirPlay 2 pop-over for accessing other AirPlay 2-compatible devices on your network, including a brand new animation that occurs when media is currently playing on those devices. This pop-over is accessible from anywhere AirPlay 2 devices can be selected, such as the Lock screen, Control Center, Music app, etc.

There is also a brand new Shazam toggle that can be added to Control Center. This toggle allows you to inconspicuously learn details about songs playing in your environment without needing to invoke Siri.

Arguably the two biggest new features in iOS 14.2 are the eight new wallpapers, and the 100+ new emoji characters. The new wallpapers stand out, because they are full screen wallpapers that are less abstract than Apple wallpapers in the recent past. There are also darker versions of the eight new wallpapers included for when users switch to Dark mode.

The new emojis include all sorts of new additions, such as the ninja, disguise face, boomerang, and many more. I recommend using the iOS 14 emoji search feature to find new favorites.

iOS 14.2 also brings about the new Intercom functionality demonstrated alongside the unveiling of the HomePod mini at Apple’s iPhone 12 event. You’ll find a new Intercom button in the upper-right hand corner of the Home app that can be used to communicate with HomePods in the various locations of your house. Users can also use Siri to invoke the new Intercom feature as a means to communicate with household members.

9to5mac’s take

iOS 14.2 is a huge release that brings forth all of the features listed here, and many additional changes, bug fixes, and improvements. What’s your favorite new addition in iOS 14.2? Sound off in the comments with your thoughts.

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November 01, 2020 at 03:54AM
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Deals: save up to 80% on cases for your iPhone, iPad, AirPods Pro, Apple Watch - AppleInsider

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Shoppers can save up to 80% on a variety of cases for Apple devices, including an Apple Silicone Case that's $11.99 and Spigen options starting at $6.50.

Apple Silicone Case $11.99

A top contender for the best deal available, Adorama is slashing the price of the Apple Silicone Case in black for Apple's iPhone X to just $11.99, a discount of $27 off MSRP.

This exclusive deal is both link and promo code activated, so you must shop through this special pricing link and enter promo code APINSIDER in the same browsing session. Shipping is also free on the accessory.

Apple Silicone Case for iPhone X

Spigen cases on sale for AirPods, iPads, Apple Watches

Spigen cases are also discounted heavily at Amazon this weekend, with prices starting at just $6.50. From cases for your 2018 iPad Pro to Apple Watch bands, there are a variety of options to choose from. Here are some of our top picks, with plenty more Spigen deals available at Amazon.

Apple iPad cases 50% off with code R5OX75CB

  • Spigen Tough Armor case for 2018 11" iPad Pro: $8.99 (80% off)
  • Spigen Tough Armor case for 2018 12.9" iPad Pro: $6.50 (50% off)

AirPods cases 40% off with code SPIGEN40

  • Spigen Ultra Hybrid Designed for Airpods 1 & 2: $10.19 (40% off)
  • Spigen Ultra Hybrid Designed for Airpods 1 & 2: $9.59 (40% off)

Apple Watch bands on sale (no code needed)

  • Spigen Tough Armor Designed for Apple Watch Case for 44mm Series 6/SE/5/4: $8.99 (64% off)
  • Spigen Tough Armor Designed for Apple Watch Case for 44mm Series 6/SE/5/4: $7.99 (47% off)
  • Spigen Silicone Fit Designed For Apple Watch Band for 44mm/42mm Series 6/SE/5/4/3/2/1: $9.99 (23% off)
  • Spigen Silicone Fit Designed For Apple Watch Band for 40mm/38mm Series 6/SE/5/4/3/2/1: $9.99 (20% off)
Spigen case sale at Amazon

Apple hardware deals

Best Apple prices

AppleInsider and Apple authorized resellers are also running additional exclusive discounts on hardware that will not only deliver the lowest prices on many of the items, but also throw in bonus deals on protection plans, software and more. Here are some of the offers:




November 01, 2020 at 04:00AM
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Here's what iPhone 12 Pro cameras can do: Incredible Night Mode photos and more - CNET

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Shooting with the iPhone 12 Pro above Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe, California.

James Martin/CNET

For photographers, almost every new iPhone has a little something special, and one of Apple's newest devices, the iPhone 12 Pro, is no exception. It brings a few seemingly simple, but entirely effective, upgrades that I think shutterbugs are going to love. 

This week, I took the iPhone 12 Pro on a short trip to a beautiful place, Lake Tahoe, and found that the Night Mode software and ultrawide lens upgrades are pretty exciting. Let's dive into some of these updates that make the iPhone so great and gauge how it compares with Apple's previous phone, the iPhone 11 Pro.

Though Apple's most recent family of iPhones -- the iPhone 12, Pro, Pro Max and Mini -- deliver a wild amount of camera tech, it's spread across all four models. How much you want to pay will determine what kind of camera system you'll get. 

Read more: iPhone 12 drop test result are in: Ceramic shield is as tough as it sounds

Loving lidar

The iPhone 12 Pro has a triple-lens rear camera setup that's common on most current high-end phones, and it adds a depth-sensing imaging technology called lidar (it's on the Pro Max as well).  

Lidar, which stands for light detection and ranging, uses lasers to survey the environment you're shooting. By measuring how long it takes for light to bounce off objects and come back, the sensor creates a field of points that map out distances. It's not too different from how Apple's Face ID works.

Read more: iPhone 12 review: One of our highest-rated phones of all time

The technology promises to help capture image data in low-light situations by better reading the landscape and augmenting the visual data from the camera lenses. Apple says lidar also will improve low-light shots by allowing the camera to focus up to six times faster in darker conditions.

I noticed a huge difference from the improved focusing. It happened so fast and accurately while I was shooting, I quickly learned not to even worry about whether the shot was going to turn out well.

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Sunrise at Emerald Bay on Lake Tahoe, shot on the iPhone 12 Pro with the telephoto lens at 7:07.

James Martin/CNET

As with many of Apple's incremental upgrades over the past few years, lidar takes the iPhone another step closer to having shooting abilities comparable to those of a high-end professional DSLR. Fast focus just makes it feel like a "real" camera setup. And for sure, the iPhone 12 Pro is a very real camera setup. I loved using the new focus feature and the ultrawide Night Mode -- they made for excellent and instantaneous in-focus photos. 

Read more: The best phone to buy for 2020

What else will make my photos better?

Software also makes a big difference. Though the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro have the same selfie, wide and ultrawide cameras, the real photographic monster will be the coming iPhone 12 Pro Max with ProRaw enabled. 

The iPhone 12 Pro's standard 26mm lens, dubbed wide, has now been upgraded from an f/1.8 to a wider f/1.6 aperture. That'll mean marginally better low-light performance on the same 12-megapixel sensor as the previous iPhone. Then the new seven-element lens, which Apple says allows 27% more light into the sensor, has been shown to dramatically improve the clarity and sharpness around a picture's edges. Across my photos taken with the wide lens, there's a shockingly low amount of noise in the shadows, even in the smallest of details.

In these images shot with the wide lens, notice how the underwater rocks in the foreground are properly exposed and show virtually no noise, but at the same time we still haven't lost any detail in the bright sky and the distant mountain range. 

Kayakers paddle out to Bonsai Rock on Lake Tahoe's eastern shore in Nevada, shot on the iPhone 12 Pro with the new f/1.6 wide (26mm) lens.

James Martin/CNET

In the below image, shot in the clear emerald waters of Sand Harbor along Lake Tahoe's eastern shore in Nevada, the f/1.6 wide (26mm) lens captures varied tones, ranging from the shadows of the rocks underwater to the bright white splash of the paddle and the bright yellow kayak.

The clear emerald waters of Sand Harbor on Lake Tahoe's eastern shore in Nevada, shot on the iPhone 12 Pro with the new f/1.6 wide (26mm) lens.

James Martin/CNET

Low-light photos with Night Mode

Night mode is a low-light assist capture feature that's now available on the selfie, wide and ultrawide iPhone 12 Pro lenses, (on previous iPhones it was only on the standard wide lens). The feature will activate automatically when the camera detects a dark scene. When it's on, the Night Mode icon at the top of the display turns yellow. 

Overall, Night Mode is going to be one of the most aggressively awesome new features on iPhones, because it's now available on every camera in the iPhone 12 line. 

In default mode the camera will decide how long of a capture to make, but you can manually adjust the Night Mode exposure time by tapping the Night Mode icon and using the slider above the shutter button to choose a longer duration. Choosing Max will extend the capture time to its longest duration, thus letting in more light to the darker scene. For all of these images, I selected the maximum of 30 seconds.

For really the most stellar results, stabilize your phone by setting it on a surface or, even better, a tripod. I used a tripod to shoot these images. 

Night Mode images on the iPhone 12 Pro are nothing short of amazing. I found the sweet spot for taking night photos to be during the 20- to 40-minute period of twilight just after sunset or just before sunrise. Photographers call these times the "blue hour," when the sun is below the horizon and the indirect light is a beautiful soft-glowing blue. 

Emerald Bay State Park shot on the iPhone 12 Pro with a 30 second Night Mode exposure using the wide lens at 7:13, one hour after the sun had set.  

James Martin/CNET

This image is a 30-second exposure shot using my Peak Design tripod in almost total darkness. The quality is really incredible. I shot one of the images you'll see below at Sand Point, also along the Nevada shore, on the iPhone 12 Pro using a 30-second Night Mode exposure and the ultrawide lens. It was minutes before 7 p.m. PT, or about 45 minutes after sunset. 

For getting the best results using Night Mode, though, you do need some light. As the postsunset light began to fade to the dark of night, even my long exposure Night Mode images began to worsen significantly. I'd say that about an hour after sunset, things weren't looking very good anymore.

For comparison, here's a 30-second iPhone 12 Pro Night Mode shot on the left and an iPhone 11 Pro photo without Night Mode on the right. As you can see, the iPhone 11 Pro renders an almost a completely black image, with almost zero detail. Even in the blackest of the iPhone 12 Pro's tones, there's hardly any noise visible. 

An iPhone 12 Pro 30 second Night Mode exposure on the left, and the iPhone 11 Pro without Night Mode on the right.

James Martin/CNET

In addition to making basic saturation and contrast image edits in Apple's Photos mobile app, here below, I used the "Long Exposure" feature in the app to blur the choppy waters on the lake. The result is a smooth and milky nighttime image. 

Sand Point in Nevada along Lake Tahoe's east shore, shot on the iPhone 12 Pro with a 30 second Night Mode exposure using the ultrawide lens at 6:57, about 45 minutes after the sun had set. Basic edits were made in the Apple Photos mobile app.

James Martin/CNET

A half hour before sunrise, while it's still quite dark, the iPhone 12 Pro's wide lens delivered significant detail in the foreground rocks, the trees on Fannette Island, and the water in Emerald Bay.

James Martin/CNET
iphone-12-pro-ultra-emerald-bay-703am-0023

The ultrawide lens on the iPhone 12 Pro was used to take this image before sunrise, at 7:03.

James Martin/CNET

Apple's new Smart HDR 3 and its Deep Fusion processing technology, which are on all four rear cameras and the front-facing camera, are upgrades to the iPhone 12 Pro that feel like a significant part of Apple's camera success puzzle. 

Deep Fusion's advanced machine learning enables some pretty noticeable pixel-by-pixel manipulation of photos. I noticed enhancements in the ultrafine details of photos and a huge step forward in noise reduction. As you can see below, the shadows of the rocks and trees are crisp and detailed. 

With the new "sky segmentation" feature, the tones in the bright California sky are rendered differently from the rest of the shot, giving the image more detail. Though the camera is looking directly toward the sun in an extremely bright scene, the iPhone 12 Pro still manages to balance everything out, and expose the varied tonal regions in a way that renders a real true-to-the-eye image. 

The brightest light of all, the sun, doesn't overpower the exposure or the tones through the rest of the image. The white highlights from the sun are limited to the sun itself, while the forest just below also manages to be properly exposed, with visible detail in the trees.

At the same time, the extreme brightness didn't wash out the image. The contrast remains solid, with the beautiful blues of the sky, the emerald waters of Lake Tahoe, and the yellow of the Aspens in the foreground all rendered in a way that really reflects what my eye saw.

A beautiful Wednesday morning hike to Secret Cove along Lake Tahoe. 

James Martin/CNET

In another image from Secret Cove, we see a really magnificent exposure balance between the bright sky and the reflective sparkle of the sun off the lake. But still we get well-preserved shadow detail with the foreground rocks and the tree trunk.

The emerald waters of Secret Cove in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

James Martin/CNET

Wide angle photos are some of my favorite images to shoot with any camera. Up close and personal, they put the viewer right at the center of the action. Since the ultrawide lens debuted on the iPhone 11 Pro last year, I use it all the time to capture the full scene in front of me, whether it's taking in a smaller indoor space or capturing wide landscape vistas of the American West. Ultrawide lenses are always great for stunning landscape photography. 

This year, Apple had made some pretty great software enhancements to the ultrawide lens that have me loving it even more than I did before. The sharpness issues that plagued iPhone 11 Pro images anywhere outside the center of the frame are now gone with the iPhone 12 Pro software upgrades. Far less distortion and more crisp details from edge to edge really drew me in. 

You can see improvements in the below image I took from a lookout above California's Emerald Bay State Park. The edges of the iPhone 12 Pro photo, on the left, have a significant amount of additional information over the iPhone 11 Pro photo (on the right), and far, far less noise. The iPhone 11 Pro wide image on the right looks extremely muddy and lacks any definition at all.

Emerald Bay State Park in California, shot with the iPhone 12 Pro, left, and last year's iPhone 11 Pro, right

James Martin/CNET

The new iPhone 12 Pro has identical ultrawide angle hardware to last year's iPhone 11 and 11 Pro. But upgraded software on both it and the iPhone 12 Pro will now correct the lens distortion that shooting with a wider angle lens can bring. That distortion could lead to warped images at the edges and a loss of sharp detail at the fringes. 

The iPhone 12 Pro is rated for underwater, so I jumped into the (cold!) mountain waters of Lake Tahoe. Rated IP68 for water and dust-resistance, it can withstand being submerged to a depth of six meters for 30 minutes. Below, in this ultrawide lens photo taken at Sand Harbor, you can see how well the new software has corrected the distortion.

There's almost no distortion across the middle third of the image and really great detail from edge to edge. Look closely at the detail in the rocks and the trees. There are fine details without any of the muddiness we saw with the previous ultrawide lens. 

It's only at the far four corners of the image where we start to see some minor warping and softening of the details. In the upper left, you can see the details at the top of the mountain begin to fall just a little bit, losing some of their clarity. 

iphone-12-pro-ultra-east-shore-205pm-0201

Swimming with the iPhone 12 Pro at Sand Harbor in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

James Martin/CNET

I took this ultrawide lens kayaking in Lake Tahoe's crystal clear blue waters off Sand Harbor. Notice the sharp details in the ripple of the waters across the image, and the details in the distant mountains. Only at the bottom left corner can you see some detail lost due to smoothing of the image.

Kayaking Lake Tahoe's crystal clear blue waters off Sand Harbor.

James Martin/CNET

Here's another stunningly blue ultrawide lens image taken with the iPhone 12 Pro. I edited the image using the "Long Exposure" feature inside Apple's Photos app, which smooths the motion of the photo (in this case the waters of the lake) to a silky sheen.

An image taken with the iPhone 12 Pro's ultrawide lens, with editing done in Apple's Photos app using the Long Exposure feature.

James Martin/CNET

Video gets better

The iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Mini, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max can now also use the Night Mode with the time-lapse feature. Using longer interval frames, more light is collected, resulting in dramatically better low-light performance. Unlike Night Mode when shooting a photo, video Night Mode is baked in to the feature and turns on automatically, without the designated icon being shown. 

Take a look below at the sun rising over Lake Tahoe from Emerald Bay State Park in California. The dark rocks in the foreground have visible detail, and the bright skies also still have beautiful well-rendered tones. I shot this video in extremely low light about 45 minutes after sunset.

In the time-lapse below, taken during the twilight period more than half an hour after the sun had set, you can see some pretty great detail in the waters of Lake Tahoe in Nevada.

A photographic feast, with more to come

These have been some pretty significant upgrades for photography software on the iPhone 12 Pro. Though there still are a number of other phones that offer much longer zoom ranges, the iPhone 12 Pro remains one of the best phones for taking amazing pictures.

In its increasingly refined camera array, Apple continues to concoct a delectable recipe for photographic success. Rather than a single great bump in megapixels, or a massive sensor boost, this iPhone camera system is really the sum of many parts. A little Deep Fusion here, a faster processor there, some Smart HDR 3, sensor-shift stabilization and just a dash of magic make for a pretty sensational photographic feast. 

And just around the corner, we'll see the iPhone 12 Pro Max monster...

Now playing: Watch this: Our in-depth review of the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro

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October 31, 2020 at 03:00PM
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Virtual Reality: Realizing the Power of Experience, Excursion and Immersion in the Classroom - The New York Times

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In 2015, The New York Times pioneered a new form of storytelling: virtual reality journalism. In an introduction to its first V.R. video, “The Displaced,” a documentary about three children who had been forced from their homes by war and persecution, Jake Silverstein, The New York Times Magazine’s editor, wrote:

We decided to launch The Times’s virtual-reality efforts with these portraits because we recognize that this new filmmaking technology enables an uncanny feeling of connection with people whose lives are far from our own. By creating a 360-degree environment that encircles the viewer, virtual reality creates the experience of being present within distant worlds, making it uniquely suited to projects, like this one, that speak to our senses of empathy and community.

Since then, The Times has created a series of 360-degree videos that transport users from their living rooms to far-flung places — from Antarctica to Ethiopia, the depths of the ocean to Pluto, back to the beginning of the universe and through Olympic history.

Five years later, V.R. might not have taken off in the way many hoped it would, but it still has the potential to be a powerful tool for the classroom.

A Guide for Using NYT VR With Students

Virtual reality is engaging, yes — its novelty can be an excellent hook for learning — but it can also be so much more than that. With The Times’s 360 videos, students are no longer mere spectators, reading about an event or watching it unfold, but participants in it. Virtual reality can create a visceral experience, evoke memories, and foster empathy and emotional connection in a way that is rare in other mediums.

It can also make abstract concepts concrete — taking students inside a giant microscope that smashes together subatomic particles, transporting them to iconic moments in history, or introducing them to people affected by the global refugee crisis.

And V.R. can take students to places they might otherwise never get the chance to go, whether that’s the Mississippi Delta, Antarctica or Pluto.

From a practical standpoint, what’s also useful about NYT VR is that the films are typically no longer than 10 minutes, so they are easy to fit into a normal class period without overwhelming students.

In this guide, we offer you an array of examples to leverage immersive technology in your classroom using New York Times content and give you the tools to create V.R. lessons of your own.

This guide comes in two parts: (1) a framework for teaching with virtual reality and (2) a set of eight lesson plans, each based on an NYT VR video. It’s meant to be flexible based on your curricular goals and the needs of your students. Here are a few suggestions for using it in your classroom.

Teach Our Lesson Plans. We’ve included eight lesson plans suitable for STEM and humanities classes that can be taught in one to two class periods. Each one is based on an NYT VR video, or series of videos, and includes activities for before, during and after the V.R. experience.

Practice Skills. Virtual reality is ripe for practicing a number of academic skills related to STEM and the humanities. You can use the lessons in this guide or the videos on their own to teach students skills like:

  • Making predictions and observations and drawing conclusions.

  • Asking media literacy questions.

  • Having discussions and making claims grounded in text evidence.

  • Practicing descriptive writing and communicating complex concepts.

  • Using multiple literacies like reading, viewing and listening.

  • Building empathy and taking the perspectives of others.

Build Your Own Curriculum. Are you teaching about animal intelligence in biology? Reading a novel about refugees in language arts? Learning about the civil rights movement in social studies? You can use any of the lesson plans in this guide to supplement a unit you’re already teaching. Here are a few ideas:

  • Use a video as an engaging hook at the beginning of a unit.

  • Take a “virtual field trip” to build background knowledge on a culture, place, people, historical event or scientific concept you are studying.

  • Make what you’re learning relevant to the real world by inviting students to connect what they’re studying in class to a VR video.

You can also draw on the themes and learning strategies in this guide to create your own lesson plans or units around an NYT VR film of your choice. Find many more 360 videos to use in your classroom in the 360 Video stream or the New York Times YouTube channel.

We suggest a few teaching ideas to get the most out of virtual reality with your students.

Roles and Goals. Virtual reality is experiential; it asks viewers not just to watch the film, but also to participate in it. By giving students roles to play (astronauts, anthropologists, museum curators, deep-sea divers) and having focused objectives (collecting data, sharing insights, making recommendations), teachers provide students with a mission to decode their experiences.

Partners. Pairing students creates a community of trust, develops empathy and deepens experience sharing. It’s also useful if you have a limited number of viewing devices. Ensure that each partner has a role in the activity. For example, one student might view the video and share their observations verbally while another student records them.

Exploration and Inquiry. This medium is all about exploration, inquiry and play, so while students will have a learning objective, they should also have plenty of time to follow their curiosities and investigate the new worlds they find themselves in. We suggest students watch the video at least twice: once to explore and again to make specific observations related to their roles and goals.

Journaling. After students view the V.R. video, they should have an opportunity to record their observations, synthesize their ideas and reflect on their overall experience. Each of our lessons includes a journaling opportunity, such as the “If I Were There” and “Notice and Wonder” protocols. Then, students can discuss what they wrote.

From safety precautions to technology requirements, here’s what you’ll need to teach with NYT VR.

A Tool, Not a Curriculum. Virtual reality is not a technology that should replace other teaching resources; instead, it should serve as a complementary tool that can enhance learning across disciplines. As with any new technology being introduced into the classroom, success depends on expectations, an effective strategy and the practical details of how it is being used.

Safety! Safety! Safety! We always recommend sitting when participating in V.R. experiences. Partners create an additional safety measure because the partner who is observing can ensure that his or her partner is safely experiencing the VR content.

Before starting, go over a list of dos and don’ts. Some of our personal favorites include:

  • No standing up.

  • If you are starting to feel dizzy or getting a headache, take the headset off.

  • Do not flail hands or legs around to avoid causing potential accidents.

Virtual reality can sometimes be an intensely emotional experience. Remind students that if they are feeling overwhelmed, it’s OK to stop.

Technology. To get started, you’ll also need some basic technology. Here are some general requirements:

  • Internet: V.R. experiences can be downloaded or streamed. We recommend downloading the experience to the device so that streaming issues are avoided.

  • Mobile Device: Smartphones are essential to powering these experiences.

  • Headset: Choose a headset that makes the most sense for the mobile devices that you are using. There are mobile device-agnostic headsets that could work with a variety of phones. Prices start under $10 for a simple cardboard viewer and go up from there. Most headsets also come with compatibility specs, so that you can be better informed on how to pair accurately.

  • Without Headset: 360 videos can also be viewed without a headset, but the experience isn’t as immersive. When viewing 360 videos in this format, you can drag the screen while the video is playing to view the surrounding environment in 360 degrees.

  • Headphones: Headphones allow the user to be more immersed and reduce the disruption to the experience that could arise from using speakers.

  • Finding Experiences: The NYT VR app no longer exists, but you can view NYT VR experiences via your mobile device on The New York Times, or via the YouTube VR or Within apps on the Oculus. You can also find several Times 360 videos on TechRow, a subscription-based V.R. and video delivery system for the classroom.


Video
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Set foot on an alien world, three billion miles from the warmth of the sun.

The NYT VR Video: “Seeking Pluto’s Frigid Heart” (View on The New York Times or YouTube VR, 8 min.)

On July 14, 2016, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft zipped past Pluto and its moons, scanning the dwarf planet in unprecedented detail. Before this moment, the best images of Pluto were only a few fuzzy pixels wide.

In this virtual reality video, students will travel on New Horizons, gliding through space at a million miles a day. They will fly over Pluto’s rugged surface and smooth places, stand on icy mountains, and watch the moon Charon rise on the horizon and touch down on a frost-rimmed crater billions of years old.

Roles and Goals
Students have been selected to form a student space force to board the New Horizons spacecraft traveling to Pluto. As members of this elite team, their goal is to document their experience and share their insights on the dwarf planet with their peers.

Before Your Mission to Pluto
Have students write down at least five facts they know about Pluto. For example:

What is Pluto?
How big is Pluto?
Where is it located in the solar system?
What are some of its defining features?
How many moons are in Pluto’s orbit?
Can life exist on Pluto?

Compile students’ facts into a class list. They might check their facts, or find out more information, here.

Then, invite them to make a prediction based on what they already know: What do they think it would be like to visit Pluto?

During Your Mission
Now, students will experience the NYT VR video “Seeking Pluto’s Frigid Heart.” As they watch, they should pay attention to Pluto’s unique characteristics. After viewing, they should record what they observe about Pluto:

Location in the solar system
Surface features
Temperature
Gravity
Moons
Atmosphere

After Your Mission
Students should report back to the space command center to share the insights they gained on their mission. Invite them to reflect on the following questions in writing or discussion:

  • What was it like to “visit” Pluto in the V.R. film? How close were your predictions to what you experienced? Based on what saw, what do you think it would be like to actually go there?

  • What are some of the defining characteristics of Pluto? How do those compare to what you know about Earth?

  • What is one new thing we learned from the New Horizons mission to Pluto? What questions do you still have about the dwarf planet?

  • What do these insights reveal about the universe we live in?

To share what the New Horizons mission found when it flew past Pluto, The New York Times created this interactive based on images and information from NASA. Invite your students to demonstrate what they learned about Pluto by creating an original drawing or series of drawings and annotating them with key information about the dwarf planet.

Further Reading and Viewing
NASA’s New Horizons Spacecraft Sends Signal From Pluto to Earth
Images of Pluto From NASA’s New Horizons Spacecraft

Video
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Nearly 60 million people are currently displaced from their homes by war and persecution. Half are children. This virtual reality film tells the stories of three of them.CreditCredit...Lynsey Addario for The New York Times

The NYT VR Video: “The Displaced” (View on The New York Times or YouTube VR, 11 min.)

More than 70 million people are currently displaced from their homes by war and persecution. Half are children. In this V.R. documentary, viewers travel to Ukraine, Syria and Sudan to learn the stories of three of those children.

Roles and Goals
Students have been invited to form a student council to explore the impact of civil war on children, refugees and internally displaced persons in Ukraine, Syria and Sudan. As members of this council, their goal is to share insights from their experience with their peers and identify ways they can support displaced people in their community and around the world.

Before Your Trip to Ukraine, Syria and Sudan
What do your students know about the global refugee crisis? Before they take off on their trip, have them create a K/W/L chart, either individually or as a class, to record what they know and what they want to know about the crisis.

Then, have students to look up the definitions of “refugee” and “displaced person.” They can add these definitions to their chart.

Finally, show students this three-minute clip (Facing History and Ourselves) of Samantha Power, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, giving an overview of the current refugee crisis. Invite them to discuss what they learned and the questions they have, and then add those to their K/W/L chart.

During Your Trip
Now students will embark on their virtual field trip to Ukraine, Syria and Sudan by watching “The Displaced.” As they watch, they should pay attention to the moments of “connection” and “disconnection” they have with the three children profiled in the film. In what ways are their personalities, families, homes, hopes and dreams, and life experiences similar? In what ways are they different?

After students have finished watching, they can journal or make a list in a T-chart about the “connections” and “disconnections” they have with the children.

Lastly, they can add anything new they learned about the refugee crisis to their K/W/L charts.

After Your Trip
Invite students back together to discuss their insights from the visit, either in writing or together as a class:

  • Which moments in the video were particularly surprising, moving or affecting to you?

  • What are some of the causes of displacement around the world? How does displacement affect the lives of children particularly?

  • How was virtually visiting Oleg, Hana and Chuol different than learning facts about the refugee crisis? What did it feel like to “be” there?

  • What are some things you found you had in common with these children? In what ways are your lives different? What do you think it would be like to be forced from your home?

  • If you could talk to these children, what questions would you ask them? What else would you want to know about their lives?

As members of this special student council, students should come up with a proposal for how they can support refugees or people who have been displaced.

They might start by watching Ms. Power talk about small steps individuals can take to help refugees in this one-minute video (Facing History and Ourselves).

Then, they can brainstorm actions they can take on a school level, a local level, a national level and an international level. For example, if there are refugees at their school or in their community, what could they do to support them? If students themselves are refugees, they might share their experiences and what support they would want most from others.

Here are some more resources to get them started:

Students might choose one of the actions they brainstormed and develop it into a plan for supporting refugees in their school, community or country.

Further Reading
The Displaced: Introduction
The Displaced: Oleg
The Displaced: Chuol
The Displaced: Hana

Video
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The McMurdo Dry Valleys are the driest place on earth. Fly along the edge of the East Antarctic ice sheet, visit the saltiest body of water in the world, and stand on a scenic overlook where only a handful of humans have set foot before.

The NYT VR Videos: “The Antarctica Series” (View on The New York Times or YouTube VR, links below)

In this collection of four V.R. videos, viewers explore life on, above and below the Antarctic ice. They’ll dive under eight feet of ice with expert divers, fly in a helicopter through the McMurdo Dry Valleys, travel in a military plane over the Ross Ice Shelf, and join the people at McMurdo Station who make life possible on the least habitable continent.

Roles and Goals
Your school has decided to establish a student expeditionary force to Antarctica to explore life around the continent. Students’ goal is to document their experience and share it with their peers so they can better understand the Antarctic environment and landscape as a whole.

Students can choose from among these four expeditions:

  • In “Under a Cracked Sky” (10 min.), dive under eight feet of sea ice to swim with seals, explore ice caves and float above a dark seabed crawling with life.

  • In “Three Six Juliet” (11 min.), fly in a helicopter through the McMurdo Dry Valleys, one of the most extreme environments on Earth.

  • In “McMurdo Station” (9 min.), join the mechanics, cooks, drivers, firefighters, scientists and others who run a research station on the least habitable continent, thousands of miles from civilization.

  • In “A Shifting Continent” (15 min.), fly with scientists in a military cargo plane as they probe the structure of the Ross Ice Shelf, a Texas-size chunk of floating ice.

Before Your Antarctic Expedition
Have students choose the expedition they want to go on, or assign them to one, making sure each excursion has an even number of people.

Invite students to convene with the other students who are going on their expedition. In their groups, have them discuss what they already know about Antarctica. Then, based on their prior knowledge and the description of their V.R. experience, have them make a list of essentials they would likely need to take with them.

Finally, challenge them to make some predictions: What do they think they will find as they explore life on, above and below the Antarctic ice?

During Your Expedition
Now students will embark on their chosen Antarctic expedition from “The Antarctica Series.” As they watch, they should act like researchers, collecting data on their experience to report back to their classmates. They will become the “experts” on this particular piece of the continent, so it’s important they take detailed notes about their observations.

They can use the “If I Were There” journaling protocol to record what they find:

• If I were there, I would touch …
• If I were there, I would see …
• If I were there, I would hear …
• If I were there, I would smell …
• If I were there, I would taste …
• If I were there, I would feel …

After Your Expedition
Have students rejoin their small groups and synthesize the data they gathered from their expeditions before sharing it with their peers. They can discuss the following questions:

  • What was interesting or surprising about your journey?

  • What were some of the unique characteristics of the place you visited?

  • What are the conditions like for researchers there?

  • What have researchers learned from studying this specific piece of the continent? In what ways might this research contribute to our understanding of the world, the universe or ourselves?

Next, have at least one person from each group meet together in “teaching groups.” In these groups, each expert should have a chance to share what they learned on their respective expedition while the others take notes.

After everyone has had a chance to share, invite each group to discuss the following questions:

  • Could you see yourself doing any of the research jobs you observed in the V.R. videos? If so, which ones and why? If not, why not?

  • How do you think the research conducted by scientists in Antarctica might affect the world? In what ways might it affect your lives, if at all?

  • Do you think it is worthwhile for countries to spend time, money and resources studying Antarctica? Why or why not?

Further Reading
Antarctic Dispatches

The NYT VR Video: “The Modern Games” (View on YouTube VR, 9 min.)

In this virtual reality experience, created ahead of the 2016 Rio Games, The New York Times transports you to iconic Olympic moments throughout history. Viewers travel back in time to stand beside history-making track and field star Babe Didrikson, record-setting long jumper Bob Beamon, and the fastest man in the world, Usain Bolt.

Roles and Goals
The New York Times has invited your students to create a virtual reality documentary exploring Olympic history. As members of this special team, their goal is to examine how The Mill, the visual effects and content creation studio responsible for “The Modern Games” documentary, transformed archival imagery into historical settings viewers can visit. Then, students will research and design a V.R. experience of another iconic Olympic moment to add to the video.

Before Your Exploration of Olympic History
Invite students to share their memories of Olympic Games they’ve been to, watched on television, or read or heard about.

Challenge them to be as specific as possible when describing their experiences: What do they remember most about this moment? Where were they and who were they with? What sights, sounds, tastes and smells come to mind when they relive this memory? What were they feeling? What thoughts were running through their heads? What was the social, political and cultural context during the year those games took place?

Then, have them explore the birth of what are known as the “modern Games” in Athens in 1896, either via this New York Times retrospect or these artifacts from Olympic.org.

How were the modern Games different from the Greek athletic competitions from which the Olympics originated? What were some of the highlights of these first Games? How do these Games compare to the ones your students have experienced?

During Your Exploration
Now, students will travel back in time to some of the most iconic Olympic events in “The Modern Games.” As they watch, they should choose one event to focus on and use the “If I Were There” protocol to record their observations:

• If I were there, I would touch …
• If I were there, I would see …
• If I were there, I would hear …
• If I were there, I would smell …
• If I were there, I would taste …
• If I were there, I would feel …

After Your Exploration
Invite students to come back together to discuss their experience:

  • What was it like to experience iconic Olympic moments through V.R.? What can we learn from this medium that we may not get from written texts, photos and videos?

  • What role do the Olympics play in global history? What do they say about the cultural and political landscapes of the era in which they take place?

  • Can the Games be an opportunity to break through social barriers to inclusion? Give one example from the video.

Now, it is students’ turn. Assign small groups to choose one of the Olympic Games throughout history and design a V.R. experience for an important event, moment or person at those Games. They can learn more about how The Mill constructed the scenes in “The Modern Games” in this behind the scenes video.

As they put together their experience, they should consider the following questions:

  • What event, moment or person will be at the center of your experience?

  • What photo would you use as the setting for your scene?

  • Who would you interview and why?

  • What other sound effects would you use?

  • Where would you position users in the scene? What effect will this location have on their experience?

  • What experience would you want users to have as they navigate the video? What other visual or experiential aspects might you include? Why?

Students can present their designs via a mood board or story board created on Canva. Or, if they have the resources, they can produce their own V.R. videos.

The NYT VR Video: “The Click Effect” (View on Within, 7 min.)

Until recently, most research on sperm whales’ communication had been conducted from a boat. Why? For one, few scientists were brave enough to swim with the world’s largest predator. And the animals tend to be scared off by the burbling of scuba gear or submarines and robots.

The best option for studying these mammals is free diving: diving dozens, sometimes hundreds, of feet on a single breath of air.

In this V.R. video, viewers join a journalist and a marine scientist on a free dive as they capture the secret “click” communication of dolphins and sperm whales.

Roles and Goals
Students have been invited to form an elite diving team to investigate the secret language of dolphins and whales. As a member of this elite team, their goal is to document their experience and test their hypothesis on whether whales and dolphins are “intelligent.”

Before Your Dive
First, have students research the animals they will be studying during their free dive: dolphins and sperm whales. They should compile a list of basic facts about the two species.

Then, if they haven’t already brought it up, explain that both animals use echolocation, a form of sonar that allows animals to “see,” and perhaps communicate with each other, under water.

They can test this out with an echolocation activity from Education.com. You’ll need at least two students to participate. One student will stand in the center of the room, blindfolded. To test his or her ability to locate sound, the other student will move around the room, clapping twice. Each time, the blindfolded student should point to where he or she thinks the sound is coming from. (If students are not in the classroom, they can watch this short video instead.)

Ask students: What does this experiment tell you about echolocation? Why might this skill be useful to whales and dolphins? Whether echolocation is a “language” is a topic scientists have debated for decades. Do you think it can be considered a form of communication? Why or why not?

Then, invite students to develop a hypothesis based on what they’ve learned so far: Are dolphins and whales “intelligent” in the way that humans are? That is, can they communicate, learn, understand and socialize? What more information would you need to know to answer this question? How might you go about collecting data to prove or disprove your hypothesis?

During Your Dive
Now students will free dive with whales and dolphins in the V.R. video “The Click Effect.” As they watch, they should make observations of the animals’ behavior.

When they are finished, they might create a T-chart, on one side citing evidence from the video that supports the claim that dolphins and sperm whales are intelligent, and on the other, evidence that might contradict that claim.

After Your Dive
Invite students to come back together to share the insights from their dive. They can reflect on the following questions in writing or discussion:

  • What was it like to virtually free dive and swim with dolphins and whales? How was it different from reading about them in the warm up?

  • What is one important discovery about dolphins and whales’ use of echolocation that scientists made in their research?

  • Fabrice Schnöller, a marine researcher, says that other animals can “see the world in a different way.” How did you see the world in a different way through this experience?

  • James Nestor, a journalist, claims that “Tens of millions of dollars are spent every year looking for signs of intelligent life in the universe. But there’s already intelligent life in the universe, and it’s right here,” in our oceans. Do you agree? Why or why not?

Have students write a report to send back to the lab summarizing their findings. After this expedition, do they believe that dolphins and whales are intelligent in the ways we conceive of intelligence? If they do not feel like they can answer this question yet, they can make a list of questions they would need to know the answers to before reaching a determination. How might they go about researching and collecting data for these questions?

Further Reading
Opinion | A Conversation With Whales

Video

transcript

Remembering Emmett Till

In this virtual reality documentary, we explore how the Mississippi towns where Emmett Till’s murder took place more than six decades ago are trying to memorialize him.

On hot August night more than 63 years ago, Emmett Till was lynched here in the Mississippi Delta. His case was so horrific that he became an enduring symbol for racial hostility and injustice. In 1955, Emmett, a 14-year-old black boy from Chicago, was kidnapped, brutally beaten and lynched in Mississippi after he was accused of whistling at a white woman at a grocery store. His body was thrown into a river and found days later. “The body was so badly damaged that we couldn’t hardly just tell who he was, but he happened to have on a ring with his initials.” The men charged in Emmett’s killing, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, were acquitted by an all-white, all-male jury, and though they later confessed, no one served any time. His mother, Mamie Till Mobley, was thrust into the media spotlight and spoke out on national television. “Well, the whole trial was just a farce, and — but the verdict was the one that I had expected to be given.” She held an open-casket funeral, and in allowing his tortured body to be photographed, brought public attention to the case, profoundly shaping the civil rights movement. “For him to have died a hero would mean more to me than for him just to have died. And I know that his life can’t be returned, but I hope that his death will certainly start a movement.” Here in Mississippi, the name “Emmett Till” has been carried by black families generation to generation, often as a cautionary tale. But only in the last decade or so have officials formally recognized what happened to the teenager in the summer of 1955. I came to Mississippi to learn how these communities are grappling with the legacy of Emmett Till. There are still physical reminders of his death. Many of these structures are easy to miss or not fully accessible. They are off remote dirt roads, along a deserted bridge and even on an old plantation. But now there’s an effort to memorialize his story with historical markers. Here in Sumner, the Emmett Till Interpretive Center puts up some of these markers. Jessie Jaynes-Diming gives tours of these sites, including one with a sign that has been marred by vandalism. “This sign here is the replacement sign for the one that disappeared. And as you can see, it has many different bullet holes in it. We’re due to replace it with a bulletproof one. We do have another one that is up at this particular time, but it’s also shot up. I would not replace it again. I want the world to see just as Mamie did. I want the world to see how some people still feel about Emmett’s death.” Another important site in the story has escaped vandalism, but has withered under neglect. This roofless, crumbling building was once Bryant’s Grocery and Meat Market, where Emmett encountered Carolyn Bryant Donham, the shopkeeper, in 1955. You could drive right past it and not see it, save for the marker to its side. It’s currently owned by the Tribble family, whose patriarch was a juror in the murder trial. Over the years, the Till center and others have tried to buy the building and have it donated to be restored as a memorial, but so far, the negotiations have been unsuccessful. Emmett was kidnapped from his uncle’s house and brought to this barn, where he was brutally beaten and tortured. The barn’s current owner, Dr. Jeff Andrews, has maintained the structure, upgrading the exterior. He allows people to visit, but it’s unmarked. The Tallahatchie County Courthouse in front of you was the site of the murder trial. Mississippi State Senator David Jordan is one of the last living people to have witnessed the trial in 1955. He was a college freshman then, and he came with his classmates. “So when we walked inside of the courtroom, the four of us were sitting side by side. And as we looked forward — and we could look at at the courtroom like it is now, it was exactly like it was in 1955. When Mrs. Till and Congressman Charles Gage walked in, I believe they walked to their right, and they they took a seat up where the African-American reporters were.” “For 50 years, our community wanted to forget what took place here. And it wasn’t until the community finally came together across racial lines and offered the first apology that we began work on restoring our courthouse back to the way [it was in] 1955, and opening up the Emmett Till Interpretive Center across the street.” Outside the courthouse, there’s now a sign to mark the murder trial on one side, on the other side there’s a Confederate monument. It was put up in 1913, during the Jim Crow era. I came back to this bullet-riddled marker, where Emmett’s body was recovered from the river. Over and over again, the signs have been vandalized. Is there a larger message? A dark interpretation would be that some people don’t want to be reminded of his murder. But for those invested in preserving Emmett’s legacy, their hope is that such memorials help visitors walk away with an honest account of what happened to this 14-year-old boy all those years ago. I was struck by the contrast of the decay and emptiness of Bryant’s Grocery store, and its outsized role in Emmett Till’s fate — and in turn, American civil rights history. In so many ways, this embodies the push and pull of public memory — and the question of how America chooses to forget or face its history.

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In this virtual reality documentary, we explore how the Mississippi towns where Emmett Till’s murder took place more than six decades ago are trying to memorialize him.CreditCredit...Everett Collection, via Alamy

The NYT VR Video: “Remembering Emmett Till” (View on The New York Times, 8 min.)

In “Remembering Emmett Till: The Legacy of a Lynching,” Veda Shastri, Audra D.S. Burch, Tim Chaffee and Nicole Fineman write:

In August 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till of Chicago was accused of whistling at a white woman at a grocery store in Mississippi. He was later kidnapped, tortured, lynched and dumped in a river. Today, more than six decades later, the local communities in towns closely connected to Emmett’s story are grappling with the legacy of the lynching.

In this 360-degree documentary, students will travel with Audra D.S. Burch, a New York Times correspondent, to the Mississippi town where Emmett was killed. They will visit several key locations to explore the cultural reckoning happening now and examine the role that physical structures related to the Emmett Till case play in the efforts to memorialize him.

Roles and Goals
Students have been invited to form a student team of curators to help memorialize Emmett for the Emmett Till Interpretive Center. Their goal is to visit the places that make up the narrative of what happened to Emmett and make suggestions for how the center can commemorate this painful history.

Before Your Visit to the Mississippi Delta
Invite students to do a quick-write responding to the following question:

How should a community memorialize a painful history — such as a murder, a riot, a lynching or a massacre inspired by racism?

Should it create informational markers, preserve old structures and build statues? Should it try to teach future generations what happened? Or, should it do nothing in an attempt to move on to a better future?

After students have finished writing, have them discuss their response with a partner.

During Your Visit
Now, students will travel to the place where Emmett’s murder took place, in the virtual reality documentary “Remembering Emmett Till.” As they watch, they should pay attention to the various markers of Emmett’s story shared in the film, as well as their own emotional reactions.

Have students journal about what they saw and heard, and how it made them feel. They might use the following prompts:

One location that stood out to me was … because …
One quote that resonated with me was … because …
One emotion I had while watching was … because …
One question I have is …

After Your Visit
Have students come back together to discuss what they learned. They can reflect on the following questions in writing or discussion:

  • What happened to Emmet Till over 60 years ago? How are the two communities where these events happened still grappling with the legacy?

  • Should the Emmett Till Interpretive Center stop trying to replace the bullet-riddled historical markers, as a way to show the world that some people still want to erase this painful history? Or should they rededicate a new marker, to ensure that vandalism doesn’t prevent people from learning about these events? (You can read this 2019 article to get an update on this story.)

  • Do historical signs and markers matter? Do you ever read them? Are they important to maintain?

  • What do you think the Emmett Till Interpretive Center should do next to help preserve the legacy of what happened in these towns? After watching the film, what would you advise?

Have students visit the Emmett Till Interpretive Center’s website to learn more about the center’s work. Then they can use their new knowledge to provide additional insights into answering the key question: How should these two communities memorialize this painful history?

Invite them to write up a proposal or sketch a design of one way these communities could commemorate Emmett’s legacy.

Further Reading
Emmett Till’s Murder, and How America Remembers Its Darkest Moments
Emmett Till Memorial Has a New Sign. This Time, It’s Bulletproof.

Video
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In this 360-degree video, step inside the largest machine ever built. The Large Hadron Collider’s 17-mile buried ring and four enormous detectors are shutting down for two years so scientists can upgrade and prepare them to once more change our understanding of physics.CreditCredit...Photograph by Leslye Davis/The New York Times

The NYT VR Video: “Inside CERN’s Large Hadron Collider” (View on The New York Times, 6 min.)

In this virtual reality experience, viewers travel beneath the fields of Switzerland and France to tour the largest microscope ever built. They’ll explore the ins and outs of the machine, hear about its future, and study the remnants of the Higgs boson, a long-sought particle that helps explain why there is mass, diversity and life in the cosmos.

Roles and Goals
Students have been invited to form a committee to study the Large Hadron Collider, developed by physicists at CERN, the European Center for Nuclear Research, before it closes for upgrades. Their goal is to learn how the microscope works and share their findings with their peers.

Before Your Tour of the Large Hadron Collider
Have students begin by discussing these questions: Why are microscopes important? What do we use them for? What are some things we’ve learned about our world that we would not know without them?

Then, invite them to read about how CERN’s Large Hadron Collider works:

The collider is a kind of microscope that works by flinging subatomic particles around a 17-mile electromagnetic racetrack beneath the French-Swiss countryside, smashing them together 600 million times a second and sifting through the debris for new particles and forces of nature. The instrument is also a time machine, providing a glimpse of the physics that prevailed in the early moments of the universe and laid the foundation for the cosmos as we see it today.

What might scientists learn about the universe from this machine? In what ways might this knowledge be useful to us?

Finally, have them brainstorm questions they would want to ask the physicists of CERN about the collider.

During Your Tour
Now, students will travel beneath the French-Swiss countryside to tour the microscope in the V.R. video “Inside CERN’s Large Hadron Collider.” As they watch, they should pay attention to the different parts of the machine and how they work.

After the video, students should jot down what they learned about the following components of the collider and the role each plays:

• The “racetrack”
• The detectors
• Compact Muon Solenoid
• Atlas
• The computer banks

After Your Tour
Gather the students back together to share their insights with each other about CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. Students can discuss what they learned using the following prompts:

  • What was your experience like inside the collider? What are some things you discovered on your tour?

  • Why was the discovery of the Higgs boson so significant? How did the collider aid in that discovery?

  • How do you think the research conducted by physicists using the Large Hadron Collider might affect the world? How might it affect you personally?

Now, have students create a model to illustrate how a subatomic particle would travel through the Large Hadron Collider.

The model can take any form students like, but they should remember that the goal is to help their peers understand how this microscope works. They might create a drawing or a digital illustration. If they have the resources, they can build a virtual model using 3-D software or a physical one using clay or some other material. They could create a comic or a short video that follows an animated proton on its journey through the collider. All models should include labels of the key elements they portray.

They can find more information in the article “It’s Intermission Time for the Large Hadron Collider.”

Finally, invite students to reflect: What did they learn from creating their model? What are its limitations? In other words, what is the model not able to show? What questions did this assignment raise for them?

Video
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Visit the hottest place on Earth, where camel caravans move salt across the vast plains, and active geothermal zones turn into a landscape of psychedelic colors.CreditCredit...Andrea Frazzetta/Institute for The New York Times

The NYT VR Video: “The Land of Salt and Fire” (View on The New York Times or YouTube VR, 6 min.)

Tectonic shifts are disrupting the traditional way of life for people in the Afar region in Ethiopia. In this V.R. video, students will be transported to Dallol, Ethiopia, the hottest place on Earth, where they will travel with camel caravans across salt flats and active geothermal zones, to find out how the Afar people are adapting.

Roles and Goals
Students have been invited to form an anthropological expedition to document life in Dallol. As members of this team, their goal is to document their experiences and share insights with their peers to better understand Dallol’s unique geography and people.

Before Your Excursion to Dallol
Before visiting the people and places they are studying, anthropologists always conduct background research. Have students do this by first finding Dallol on a map. Next, invite them to spend a few minutes doing a Google image search of “Dallol” and “salt trade,” an important economic activity in the region.

Then, discuss what they notice and wonder about what they see. Ask them:

• How would you describe the landscape of Dallol? What is unique about it?
• Where does the salt trade predominantly take place?
• How is salt mined? What tools are used?
• What might you expect to see on a visit to Dallol?

During Your Excursion
Now students will embark on their expedition by watching the NYT VR video “The Land of Salt and Fire.” As they watch, remind them that anthropology is the study of human societies and cultures, so they should pay special attention to how the people of Dallol have developed their society and what role the environment has played in it.

After they’ve finished, they can use the “If I Were There” protocol to record their observations:

• If I were there, I would touch …
• If I were there, I would see …
• If I were there, I would hear …
• If I were there, I would smell …
• If I were there, I would taste …
• If I were there, I would feel …

After Your Excursion
Invite students to reconvene and discuss the discoveries they made. They can reflect on the following questions in writing or discussion:

  • What was interesting or surprising about their trip to Dallol? What did it feel like to “be there”?

  • What role has the salt trade played in the lives of the Afar people over generations?

  • What are the forces that are changing the Afar people’s traditional way of life? How are they adapting?

  • How can an environment influence a people’s way of life? How does the environment where you live influence how people live and work in your community?

The goal of anthropologists is to publish their findings so they can share what they’ve learned with the public. Students can create a one-pager to share their insights with their peers. They can summarize their findings with an illustration, a quote and a question they might want to ask the Afar people. Post the one-pagers around the classroom and have students do a gallery walk, or invite them to present their work in small groups.

Further Reading
Voyages: The Danakil Depression, Ethiopia

Travis Feldler is the founder of TechRow, a social enterprise that explores how to leverage immersive technology inside schools to improve learning outcomes.




October 30, 2020 at 02:40AM
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Virtual Reality: Realizing the Power of Experience, Excursion and Immersion in the Classroom - The New York Times

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