Simulations Take Many Forms in Education. Mission.io Presents at the Utah Coalition of Education Technology Conference. Volunteers Train for Staff Positions. Imaginairum Theater.

 

The Map as of Last Thursday

I started using my own simulations during my student teaching experience with Mr. Thompson during the 1982-1983 school year.  That was the year the spaceship simulations came to be, which led to where we are today with Utah Valley's Christa McAuliffe Space Center, The Space Place, The Lion's Gate Space Center, the Discovery Space Center at American Heritage School, and the Telos Discovery Space Center.  There is also the Mission.io program at Canyon Grove Academy and Mission.io itself.  Not to mention the simulators in the east, which are affiliated with Dream Flight Adventures.  But did you also know that I also ran a four-month-long history simulation covering World War I and the rise of fascism and communism? 

Those historical simulations ran from 1983 to 1990 and stopped when I became the Space Center's full-time director.  However, after retiring from the Alpine School District in 2013, I brought them back when I started teaching 6th grade at Renaissance Academy.  

If running a spaceship simulator for a 2.5 or 5-hour mission is difficult, try running a 4-month-long historical simulation of your own design for 94 sixth graders spread out over 4 classes.  That is what I'm doing this year.  

The German Class Discusses the War and Strategy (2024-2025)

I've never run this historical simulation for so many students simultaneously.  One class plays Germany, another Austria-Hungary, another France, and yet another Great Britain.  I have smaller subgroups of students playing Russia and the United States.  I've increased the difficulty of the simulation this year along with added modules to increase the cooperative and thinking aspects of the program.  It is proving to be the best simulation to date. The one downside is the amount of daily prep it takes to keep this running, involving updating the war map (above), reading and answering government letters - all handwritten by students (no emails in 1914)- and printing and antiforging the official simulation currency used by students to finance the war. The currency is earned by taxation. The students pay the taxes from the class money they earn for grades and citizenship.  It is all beautifully complicated yet rewarding for the students. 

As I said in 1983 and have kept saying for 42 years, learning through simulations should be the foundation of education.  The space centers run on that philosophy, which is one reason they've succeeded for so many years.  

Mr. Williamson 

Volunteers Train to Become Supervisors and Flight Directors      

Community involvement through volunteering opportunities is alive and well in the local space centers. Yesterday, I visited the Space Center's Starships Cassini and Magellan control rooms to see how our volunteer trainees were doing.  

I found Rachel sitting next to Hyrum in the Cassini. She had the Cassini's microphone in hand, ready to play her role in the "Midnight Rescue" mission.  Rachel is training to be a Cassini Flight Director.  

Jack was on the Magellan's bridge working as a Supervisor Trainee.  He wants to be both a supervisor and a flight director.  Rylan was in the Magellan's Control Room evaluating Jack with a clipboard for notes.  

Tabitha and Mitch have created a fantastic training program for our volunteers wanting to move into paid positions.  Mr. Porter, Space Center Director, has given across-the-board directives to improve the Center's training programs. These new directives have resulted in improvements in staffing and missions.  The Space Center is constantly evolving to meet the needs of the school district and our many patrons.    

Mission.io Presented at the UCET Conference

in Salt Lake 

UCET (Utah Coalition of Education Technology) is one of Skyler Carr's favorite yearly events. It is Utah's most significant education technology conference, and for Skyler, it always feels like a reunion when the leaders in the state's educational technology get together to share ideas. "Do you know everyone here?" Skyler was asked by an exhibitor next to the Mission.io booth

Besides the people, Skyler reported that this year's highlight was seeing so many sessions centered around Missions and the technology Mission.io has been developing. He and the Mission.io team got to premiere a brand new digital citizenship Mission recently created in partnership with Jordan School District. Skyler got to sit in on multiple sessions showing educators how to best use the technology in different settings (kindergarten, rural, etc; all were incredible). Skyler said that he was grateful for all the support he always gets from the UCET community!

Imaginairum Theater

The Week's Best Videos From Around the World, Edited for a Gentler Audience.