Major MERGE-r at MACUL!

I got to spend my morning with the great Leslie Fisher.  What. A. Morning.

Photo taken this morning while in session.

Last year at MACUL, Leslie's introduction of the Merge Cube created what has been dubbed "Merge Madness" causing hundreds of educators to flood local Walmart stores in search of a little foam cube.  See, Walmart was clearancing the little foam cube for $1.  Hence the flood of educators purchasing dozens of little foam cubes that looked cool, but that they had no idea what they could do with it.  Yet.

A year later?  WOW.

Dozens of apps.  Hundreds of lesson plans.  Hours upon hours of engagement.

Two that stand out at this moment?

HoloGLOBE.  Talk about virtual reality.  Seriously.  You get to watch weather patterns, cloud cover, any wildfires burning... there are NASA observations to make, drought risks to observe, temperature patterns.... all in the palm of your hand!  Literally!  You're holding a globe in your hand, turning it, and selecting different elements to explore.  Mind.  Blown.

The other app that stands out is one that I haven't actually played with yet, but will hopefully be downloading soon.  (It has a nominal cost.)  It's called 57 North.  Imagine a choose-your-own adventure, where you're moving through the adventure by turning the cube different directions.  It. Is. So. Cool.

All this from the first two hours at MACUL?  Bring on the rest!