In June, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced their Best Apps for Teaching and Learning 2018. The apps encourage qualities such as creativity and collaboration and encourage discovery and curiosity

The app Google Spotlight Stories is a VR storytelling app. Students are able to truly be part of the story and can even unlock mini stories by moving to different scenes.

This app puts the reader in the middle of a growing number of virtual reality stories and demonstrates new possibilities for interactive storytelling. Each of the stories is a 360 video experience to be viewed within a VR viewer or on a device or screen. Users are prompted to download a story before reading for easy repeat access. Among the elementary stories are The Windy Day, Buggy Night and Duet. The reader focuses attention on the scene, with the story adjusting and presenting a personalized experience.

Platform: iOS, Android
Grades: Upper Elementary – High School
Cost: FREE

The app is included in this list of helpful library tech tools, and is also included in this article from Teach Wire about how to incorporate VR into your classroom on a budget.

Watch this trailer for one of the Spotlight Stories, Back to the Moon: