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New technology takes Latrobe students on virtual field trips

Jeff Himler

Greater Latrobe students soon could take virtual field trips deep below the surface of the Pacific Ocean and to the International Space Station on the far reaches of Earth's orbit, thanks to Google Expeditions technology.

Such “memorable learning moments” through the Google app are meant to fully engage students, offering them academic, cognitive and behavioral benefits, said Robin Pynos, the school district's director of technology, curriculum and instruction.

“These are journeys that you can take virtually to almost anywhere,” she said. “There are over 200 expeditions available through the app.”

Destinations and topics include historic sites, natural wonders, Penn State's Beaver Stadium and inside the human body.

Students can use the app for exploring careers, sampling a day in the life of workers ranging from a veterinarian to an airline pilot, Pynos said.

At their Tuesday meeting, school directors donned goggles linked to the app that allowed them to explore the habitats of bull sharks swimming near Fiji, a whale shark off the coast of Mexico and other finned denizens of the deep.

Pynos narrated a series of 3-D images and placed arrows to guide participants to points of interest. Goggle-wearers tilted their heads up and down and twisted in their chairs to view the 360-degree scenes from various angles.

After instructors are trained, the learning tools will be in the hands of students in about a month, Pynos said.

Greater Latrobe was selected last spring to help pilot the Expeditions app software. The district later purchased two Expeditions hardware kits, each including a teacher tablet, phones for the app and goggles for use by up to 30 students.

Coordinated by district media specialists, one kit will be shared by the senior high and junior high and the other will rotate among Greater Latrobe's three elementary schools.

To help with the $20,000 price of the kits, the district tapped $2,250 from a recent grant of more than $200,000 the Greater Latrobe Partners in Education Foundation provided to assist with technology and instructional initiatives.

In other business, the board promoted Richard Kozusko from assistant softball coach to head coach, with a $4,840 salary, after Alexa Pinto's recent resignation.

The senior high auditorium will host the Westmoreland County Music Educators Association Junior High County Band Festival at 2 p.m. Saturday.

A consultant with Pittsburgh's PERSAD Center will address issues facing LGBTQ students at the next Conversations with the Superintendent session, set for 9:30 a.m. Feb. 6 in the Center for Student Creativity.

An information night for parents of children who will enter kindergarten in August will be held from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Feb. 6 in the senior high auditorium.

Jeff Himler is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-6622 or jhimler@tribweb.com.