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Community Corner

Summer Learning Day – Get Out and Explore with Verizon Wireless

Summer is a time for outside exploration, road trips and, of course, no school. But that doesn’t mean that children need to stop learning. With National Summer Learning fresh in our minds, smartphonesand tablets make it easier for children to get outdoors for some hands on learning and discovery. In fact,research from Columbia University shows that students learn best from hands-on activities. 

For those ready for a history lesson, try Field Trip to uncover historical tidbits and hyper-local lore at home or on the road. The app acts as a virtual tour guide with information available in 30 languages and about 80 countries, presented in both written and audio formats. It can detect when you are driving, and automatically talks about interesting places as you pass by. Rating the information enables the app to learn your preferences to hone future recommendations, and the in-app share functionality allows for easy posting via Facebook, Twitter or Google+

Junaio, an augmented-reality browser, is another app that brings a new twist to mobile learning that allows kids to easily create, explore and share information. The browser gives a 3-D view with pinpoints for local events, historical points of interest, and information.

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When done exploring, try ThingLink to turn discoveries into interactive and shareable picture logs. Add music, video and comments to further enrich your image. Upload any picture, tag it with content and media assets and share it via email or social media sites.

Making self discovery part of your child’s learning experience will help avoid the inevitable summer brain drain and give you and your family a chance to explore together.

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