Teach SyGlass With Bernie

🎓 Tuesday | From Learners to Lecturers

One of my favorite features in syGlass VR is that learning doesn't have to end when the lesson is over.

With the built-in Narrator tools, educators and students can become the instructor.

Imagine students creating their own avatar, importing slides they've designed, and presenting their understanding while standing inside real CT scans, MRI datasets, or microscopy images. Instead of describing a 3D structure from a textbook, they're teaching from the data itself.

Even better, those immersive lectures can be shared with other syGlass users, allowing learners anywhere to step into the presentation in first person, interact with the data, and explore concepts at their own pace.

Presentations aren't limited to VR, either. They can also be exported and shared on any screen, making it easy to use the same content in classrooms, conferences, or research meetings.

When students create, teach, and communicate scientific concepts, they move beyond memorization and begin developing the skills of researchers, educators, and science communicators.

🍓 Happy !

Today's featured animal is the Strawberry Grouper. Before you ask... no, it doesn't eat strawberries! 🍓🐟

This beautiful reef fish gets its name from the red, strawberry-like spots covering its body. Thanks to CT scanning technology, we can look beyond the colorful exterior and explore the amazing skeleton hidden inside.

A few fun facts:
🦷 Tiny teeth help grip slippery prey.
🎯 It's an ambush predator that strikes incredibly fast.
🌊 It calls warm coral reefs home.

Which fact surprised you the most? Let me know in the comments, and tell me what animal you'd like to see featured next!

SyGlass

🎓 Tuesday
What if students could pause an anatomy lecture the moment they needed more time to understand a concept?

That's exactly what makes learning in syGlass Learn so different.

In this week's feature, Dr. Derek Harmon from The Ohio State University shares one of his favorite aspects of teaching with syGlass Learn. As students move through a guided VR lecture, they can simply reach out and grab the anatomy they're learning about. The lecture pauses instantly, giving them unlimited time to rotate, explore, measure, and truly understand the structures in front of them.

When they're ready, they press play, and the lecture continues exactly where they left off.

Every classroom is filled with students who learn at different speeds. Some concepts click immediately, while others require a little more exploration. Giving students control over the pace of their learning helps build confidence and creates opportunities for deeper understanding instead of simply trying to keep up with the lecture.

🦈Happy Shark Week!

As a kid, I was completely fascinated by sharks. Every Shark Week special, every library book, every documentary... I couldn't get enough. There was something about these incredible animals that made me want to keep learning.

Now I see that same excitement in students. Shark Week rolls around, and suddenly they're checking out shark books from the library, asking questions, and wanting to learn everything they can. That's the kind of curiosity every educator hopes to spark.

Now imagine pairing that excitement with a real CT scan of a Grey Smoothhound Shark.
Instead of only reading about shark anatomy, students can investigate it. They can explore the skeleton in 3D, compare species, make observations, and discover how structure relates to function, just like scientists do.

When we connect learning to topics students are already passionate about, we give them more than engaging lessons. We give them ownership of their learning. A book can inspire curiosity, but pairing it with immersive technology gives students the opportunity to dive deeper, ask bigger questions, and explore science in ways that simply weren't possible before.

Happy Shark Week! 🦈💙

SyGlass

🚀 Tuesday
As technology continues to evolve, so do the challenges of assessing student learning.

One question I hear from educators is, "How do I know the assessment truly reflects what my students know?"

One of my favorite features in syGlass Pro and syGlass Learn is the ability to create immersive assessments using real CT and MRI scans, as well as with high-quality 3D anatomical models. Students go far beyond memorization of diagrams on a screen, exploring anatomy in true 3D form and proving their understanding in an immersive and interactive environment.

Because students remain inside the syGlass experience during assessments, outside distractions and opportunities to search for answers are greatly reduced. That allows educators to gain a more authentic picture of student understanding while keeping learners focused on the content.

Even better, assessments are automatically graded, and results are sent directly to the teacher dashboard, giving educators immediate insight into student performance and helping guide future instruction.

Technology should do more than make learning engaging. It should help teachers make confident, data-informed decisions that support student success.

💡 How are you using technology to create meaningful assessments in your classroom?

SyGlass

🪰 | The tiny fly that transformed modern science

At first glance, a fruit fly doesn't seem all that remarkable.
But for more than 100 years, Drosophila melanogaster has been one of the most important model organisms in biology. Since Thomas Hunt Morgan introduced fruit flies into genetics research in the early 1900s, they have helped scientists answer fundamental questions about heredity, development, neuroscience, aging, cancer, and disease.

As educators, I believe it's important that students encounter model organisms long before they step into a college biology lab. When K-12 students understand why scientists study organisms like fruit flies, zebrafish, or mice, they begin to see that science isn't just a collection of facts, it's a process of discovery. They learn that even the smallest organisms can help answer some of our biggest questions about life and human health.

That perspective helps students connect what they learn in the classroom to the real world of scientific research. Instead of simply memorizing anatomy or genetics, they begin to understand how these organisms continue to shape breakthroughs in medicine, neuroscience, and biotechnology.

The impact of the fruit fly on science is extraordinary. Today, there are well over 600,000 scientific publicationsrelated to Drosophila, making it one of the most extensively studied organisms on Earth. Yet there is still so much left to discover. In 2024, researchers completed the first comprehensive wiring diagram of an adult fruit fly brain, mapping more than 139,000 neurons and over 50 million synapses. Discoveries like these continue to advance our understanding of how nervous systems work and may ultimately provide insights into human neurological disorders.

This week's microCT scan lets us travel inside this incredible little insect while sharing a few of our favorite fun facts:
🧬 It shares many genes with humans.
🧠 It can learn and remember.
👣 It tastes with its feet.
❤️ Its heart pumps from the back of its body toward its head.
🏆 Research using fruit flies has contributed to multiple Nobel Prize-winning discoveries.

🪰 Imagine what today's students might discover as they grow up with immersive technologies like SyGlass , where they can investigate complex biological structures in ways that were impossible just a few years ago. The next breakthrough in science may come from a student whose curiosity began by exploring a tiny fruit fly in 3D.

I'm excited to share a different perspective for this week's .

📣This week, you'll hear from Dr. Derek Harmon from The Ohio State University, whose expertise in anatomy education shaped the lecture content in syGlass Learn. It's been a privilege to collaborate with him, and I'm excited for you to hear why he believes syGlass Learn can transform the way students learn anatomy.

One of the biggest challenges in anatomy education is making sure every student has the same view. Whether it's a cadaver, anatomical model, or classroom demonstration, students are often looking from different angles or trying to see over someone else's shoulder.

With syGlass Learn, every student gets a front-row seat.
Instead of viewing anatomy from across the lab, students can step inside the human body, explore structures from a first-person perspective, and better understand the spatial relationships that make anatomy so challenging to learn.

That's the power of immersive learning. It isn't just about using VR. It's about giving every student the opportunity to experience anatomy in a way that simply isn't possible in a traditional classroom.

❓What concepts in your classroom would benefit from giving every student the same point of view?

Today I'm highlighting one of my favorite features in syGlass Learn and the one that, for me, really sets it apart from other anatomy apps I've used: 🖌️The drawing tool.

As Dr. Derek Harmon teaches, he draws directly in the virtual space while you're immersed inside the anatomical model. It feels less like using an app and more like sitting in a live anatomy lecture with an expert guiding you through the structures.

As a former anatomy teacher, this feature immediately resonated with me.
Some of the most meaningful learning moments in my classroom happened when I grabbed a marker and started sketching. A quick arrow to show blood flow. A simple outline of a nerve pathway. A rough diagram that helped students connect the dots. Those spontaneous visual explanations often made the biggest difference.

🫀 Instead of relying only on pre-built animations, Dr. Harmon can illustrate concepts in real time as he explains them, helping learners visualize complex anatomy in a way that feels natural, interactive, and engaging.

🔍 Research consistently shows that combining words with meaningful visuals helps learners build stronger mental models and improves retention. Even more, explaining while drawing has been shown to produce better learning than explaining alone.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be highlighting more of the features that make syGlass Learn different from traditional anatomy apps and sharing why they matter from both a teacher's and learner's perspective. Sometimes it's the small design choices that have the biggest impact on student understanding, engagement, and long-term retention.

If you're curious about how syGlass Learn can support anatomy education, I'd love to connect and hear your thoughts.

SyGlass

Happy ! 🎉 Today's star is the red fox—and trust me, the real animal is even more fascinating than its fictional counterparts.

🦊What does a Pokémon have to do with biology? More than you might think.

Meet the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) , one of the most adaptable mammals on Earth!
Pokémon fans might think of Vulpix, the Fire Fox Pokémon, but another character, Nickit, is even closer to the real red fox with its pointed ears, bushy tail, and clever, resourceful personality.

And the real animal is just as fascinating as anything you’ll find in a Pokédex:
👂Ears that can rotate to pinpoint the tiniest sounds
🦷Specialized teeth and skull structures built for a varied diet
👣Lightweight bodies designed for stealth and agility
🌎The ability to thrive in environments all around the world

Viewing CT images in SyGlass , we can look beyond the fur and explore the hidden anatomy that makes this animal such a successful survivor.

One of my favorite things about science education is finding the connections that spark curiosity. A familiar character, a favorite game, or a fun fact can be the hook that gets students asking questions.
🕵️✨Once curiosity starts, learning follows.