Teaching Video

Make Learning ‘Binge-Worthy’: Immersive Adventures in the Classroom

By Kaylee Domzalski & Sam Mallon — September 5, 2024 3:33
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When it comes to student engagement, this district leader seems to have cracked the code.

Kate Maxlow, the director of curriculum, instruction, and assessment for Hampton City Schools in Hampton, Va., has figured out how to incorporate immersive adventures into lessons to enhance student learning and engagement.

These lessons incorporate what the students are already learning into an immersive adventure in which they’re able to make decisions that shape the outcome. In one example, she incorporated Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson books and gave students the choice to follow Percy, or choose their own routes.

Here, she explains how it works, and how teachers can go about incorporating it into their classrooms.

See Also

082024 Maxlow PD BS
Laura Baker/Education Week

Kaylee Domzalski is a video producer for Education Week.
Sam Mallon is a video producer for Education Week.

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Katelyn Webster, from left, Eryn Miller, Grace Bischoff, and Hanna Pearsall take notes as Amanda Pierman teaches her upper school science class at The Benjamin School in North Palm Beach, Fla., on Feb. 10, 2025. Pierman uses AI to help teach her classes and the student’s computers mirror the main screen. They are then able to answer questions live using their computers.
Katelyn Webster, from left, Eryn Miller, Grace Bischoff, and Hanna Pearsall take notes as Amanda Pierman teaches her upper school science class at The Benjamin School in North Palm Beach, Fla., on Feb. 10, 2025. Pierman uses AI to help teach her classes and the student’s computers mirror the main screen. They are then able to answer questions live using their computers.
Josh Ritchie for Education Week