An algebra and geometry teacher at Central High School has been honored as a “Google for Education Innovator.”
Mandi Tolen has been using Google virtual reality goggles to take students on virtual field trips for some innovative math lessons.
One lesson is now being used by the National Park Service in its own education program. It involves the use of functions during a virtual tour of El Capitan, a mountain in Yosemite National Park.
“I’ve had a couple students demo it for me, and they love it,” Tolen says in a news release. “It’s really a virtual reality – it’s 360; you can look up and down. I think it gives more relevance to the lesson.”
Her second lesson features a trip to Tanzania and manure farming, with the math lesson focusing on how to rearrange equations. For example, sometimes equations are solved for one variable, but they actually need to be solved for another variable, so you have to rearrange the equation to make it useful for your needs.
The next project will relate to geometry, potentially using parallel lines and angles, and Tolen would like to do a future project involving area and volume.
In order to become a Google Innovator, Tolen first became Google Certified. She took the online competency exams for Google products. Being Google Certified means that she will be able to share her Google expertise with others in the St. Joseph School District and the surrounding areas. Once she took the level two test, she was qualified to apply as an innovator. She already knew a few other innovators, and she was excited about collaborating with other innovators and spreading the word about her ideas.
As a Google Innovator, Tolen has been assigned a mentor to help her work through the process of creating her projects, collaborating with other innovators, and spreading the word. “One of Google’s founding concepts is collaboration,” said Tolen, “They think people work better together, and I happen to agree with them.”
“A lot of the big people in education that you know about are Google Innovators,” she said, “and that’s kind of where it got started. I’m excited about having their help promoting my projects. If Mandi Tolen creates a project, a few people are going to pick it up. If Google is promoting it, a lot of people are going to pick it up.”
Tolen was surprised to be chosen as an Innovator the first time she applied to Google, as many people submit multiple applications before being chosen. Being an Innovator will be a year-long commitment. She will have monthly meetings through Google Hangout, and she will attend Google Academies. The next one of these will be in Toronto in October, where she will spend three days working there with other innovators and mentors on the Google campus.
The commitment is not limited to one year, however. “Once you are an innovator,” she said, “You will always have Google support. If you have an idea, they work with you and help you. Depending on what your project is depends how they will support you. In my case, I’ll need people to help me get a data storage facility for our projects, where a teacher can come and find them and use them.”
Tolen currently has a single virtual reality device and has been able to borrow equipment from others. She has enough for three students to do the lesson, but she would like to eventually have a classroom set. She is currently applying for grants to procure the additional technology.
