This past week, we were lucky enough, as a class, to be able to visit the District Resource Centre headquartered in the basement of Kootenay Orchards Elementary School. I had no idea such an incredible resource for teachers even existed, so being able to explore freely in this space was incredible. The first thing we learned about the DRC is the incredible items that can be used by school district teachers. There were kits for outdoor activities, such as slacklining and scavenger hunt kits. There were resources for science, such as taxidermized animals and accurate models of the human brain, but my absolute favourite thing I saw at the District Resource Centre was the novel study section which housed a seemingly endless quantity of class sets of appropriate books on various topics. From books aimed to indigenize the curriculum, to classic novel studies such as Charlotte’s Web and the works of Gary Paulsen. As a huge nerd, I was so thrilled to see the possibilities that I could have with creating novel study units in my classroom. This was a resource that was right under my nose, and it being such a powerful tool, every single teacher in the district should be aware of it and utilize it.
After being given this incredible tour of the endless teaching possibilities, we were shown the digital resources available through the District Resource Centre’s website. If you have not already, I would urge you to click through and peruse the incredible classroom resources available to teachers in our district. One that I particularly find useful was Criterion On-Demand which has licensed films and film clips that are cleared to be used in classrooms. Between watching films that are adaptations of books read in class or even just finding film clips that are relevant to current units of instruction, this is an impressive resource, and it’s just one of many resources available through the DRC’s website. There is also included information about upcoming meetings in the district and an email for contact directly to the DRC. I cannot wait to use this resource practically as an educator.
Finally, we discussed the technical resources available in this facility. This is where things got incredibly exciting. Ryan McKenzie showed us the amazing world of electronics and learning through electronics. This included amazing resources such as a 3D printer, video game creation tools, a green screen, virtual reality headsets, you name it. We were given roughly an hour to explore these resources freely and I spent my time engaging with a variety of the available resources. I spent the first part of my time looking into robotics and trying to understand the key fundamentals of this process. It was incredibly cool to use a small robot and create a path for it using just a pen and paper. While simple, with time, more advanced robotics could be learned and implemented. I then discussed in great detail with Ryan and a peer the potential future of virtual reality, as I had previously done a presentation on the very subject, and even talked about how the technology could advance and how the school district could keep up with the swiftly evolving tech. Last, I engaged with members of my class who were trying video game creation tools. One of my peers created a really fun and exciting game in a matter of minutes that myself and others in our class had an absolute blast playing.
Overall, we were told that this a place that must be booked months in advance, and I hope to one day work closely with Ryan to get my students into this technological playground. The uses and ways that this could be integrated into technology education are nearly limitless. The amount of engagement you can receive from students through these resources are nearly incalculable. I personally cannot wait to find some excuse, any excuse really, you return and learn more about this amazing resource.