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Eva Ziemsen
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Eva Ziemsen
Week 12: INTERACTIVITY 1B: VIRTUAL WORLD AS AN OLE
(Interactivity Question) As an educator, what does or does not appeal to you about virtual worlds?
Continue reading Week 12: INTERACTIVITY 1B: VIRTUAL WORLD AS AN OLE Posted in: General, Week 12:-
kstackhouse
As someone that has not participated in Second Life or other virtual worlds I am not that interested in this type of environment. I see the benefits of collaboration, interaction, and user control as being great for certain users. I have found that most of my students (grades10-12) are resistant to using technology beyond FB and messaging. Most of them do not use or want to use Twitter and other features. I have successfully integrated Edmodo but I think virtual space would be a stretch for them. I do realize that many in the gaming world are already comfortable and use these environments. The issues of lag and technology device requirements seem to be big issues for me as well. I have many students that live in rural areas and they do not have access to high-speed connections when at home. This would create a divide between the ones that do have access and those that do not. Of course I could provide them with high-speed access at school but that still limits the amount of time that they would be able to participate.
Also, I am not sure how to establish environments and resources situated in the virtual environment. How does this work? How much time would be involved in creating resources and collaboration sites? I would want to evaluate this based on something like Bates & Poole (2003) SECTIONS model before moving ahead and implementing this resource for my students.
Here is a link to a UBC PDF that I was able to find by searching the SECTIONS model: http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CC8QFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwiki.ubc.ca%2Fimages%2F1%2F19%2FSECTIONS_Framework.pdf&ei=LXiqUN39DbK60AGJ_4E4&usg=AFQjCNFed6LkgRfIPJHeylq2sJR4i1HLGA&cad=rja
Bates,A.W. & Poole,G. (2003) Effective Teaching With Technology in Higher Education: Foundations For Success. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. 79-80
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sophiabb
Hi Ken,
You make some valid points and points that many teachers grapple with. I agree, teachers should assess technology to identify best fit re many factors including student readiness and ease of use. The Bates and Poole tool is an excellent one; one that I have used just recently in developing an evaluation instrument for an online pilot project. I have found this article: Creating a Virtual World Mindset: A Guide for First Time Second Life Teachers (http://www.jofde.ca/index.php/jde/article/view/696/1156) useful in answering some of the questions you posited. I hope that you will continue to explore with us and continue to provide your frank and insightful feedback.
Sophia-
kstackhouse
Thanks for the guide. I am not opposed to the idea of the Virtual World approach…as I mentioned I just don’t know where to begin and how my students would buy into it. I am sure that this guide will answer some of those questions. Thanks for replying.
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Peggy Lawson
My thinking is much like yours Ken. While I see a small subset of students (my K12 world), I really don’t see most students as finding virtual worlds such as 2nd Life (which I’ve briefly experienced) a great bonus to learning, or even that engaging once the “cool” factor has worn off. Several of the videos pointed to how virtual worlds promote collaboration, but I would have to see research demonstrating this – having avatars flying around doesn’t offer any obvious benefits to me over other tools such as shared Google docs, wikis, blogs, synchronous webinars, skype. I actually found some of the avatar movement to be more distracting than useful.
However I can see some cases where virtual simulations would be ideal for learning – flying simulations for pilots and virtual dissections, trying out different musical instruments, and sports are a few easy examples.
So I see some real value in virtual world, as an everyday classroom experience or for basic collaboration – I’m not yet sold.
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sophiabb
Hi Peggy,
Thanks for sharing what appeals and does not appeal. Yes, virtual simulations are great for demonstrations or modelling.
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Paula Poodwan
Hi Peggy,
Last semester, I had an opportunity to pair up for a peer review in ETEC 532 with a fellow course mate who wrote a final project titled “The Question of an Educational Second Life” Through her experimental research and literature review, Crawford ( 2012) interestingly conclude that based on the articles within her review, it is difficult to consider utilizing Second Life in an educational setting with students below post-secondary age due to the difficulties in using the virtual world and the risks once within the world. Although benefits are visible, the risks seem to overwhelm the authors and researchers and leave those studying who follow to question whether the risks of the virtual world outweigh the chances to improve learning. However she suggested that with successful examples being pointed out and praised for their depth of engagement, social elements, and student-centered learning the desire to create such a dynamic learning environment remains, but, as this literature reveals, that desire must be tempered by caution, support and awareness throughout the process of development and use.
Personally I think Second Life in education is like any new technology that teachers are scared of; if there are fairly minor problems we’ll see it dropped instantly. I think if we can keep it around for a year or two then we can start taking a few more risks.
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Peggy Lawson
Hi Paula –
When I 1st heard of and tried 2nd Life probably 5 years ago I was pretty excited about the possiblilities. As you said, I thought that like any new technology it would take awhile to take off, but then have great potential. I remember there was a 2nd Life just for Teens – a very good idea. ISTE purchased their own island. But from my own admitedly minor experiences with it, I can’t see it as being any more than having a niche role for the super-geeky among us. I can see myself giving it a real trial – when I have lots of time to play – but I think it’s had enough time to prove itself that for general use – it’s not likely to ever be the next FaceBook.
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Colin
I am presently in the process of introducing my own Virtual Worlds into my classrooms and so far the response I have seen has been very positive. Some students who were never engaged suddenly became very engaged at just the idea of using it. I don’t believe this will be the reaction of all students but I do think that a certain group of students do really relate well to a Virtual 3d world representation of the course material. Like with all technology it is a matter of how you use it that makes it effective or not. For me they will be designing their virtual stores for Entrepreneurship class and then designing displays for Marketing class and learning to create 3d objects individually and collaboratively for media arts. These are just a few of the ideas that I am working with at the moment. However I also want to integrate my Moodle together with the Virtual World where they go in the 3d world and answer quizzes, complete assignments, read virtual materials and much more. Eventually I can have a visual representation of most of the course material and they will have an option of going in world or using Moodle. What I like about virtual 3D worlds is that it is really only limited by your imagination and technical abilities.
I also noticed a growing trend to using these 3D worlds in business and scientific communities as it allows for collaboration of employees from many different locations. Even schools are adopting this idea with Forsyth County Schools which represents 38,000 students offering a 3-D virtual world environment to every classroom teacher.
http://www.hypergridbusiness.com/2012/03/atlanta-puts-opensim-in-every-classroom/-
Peggy Lawson
Hi Colin – I’m interested in how you see virtual worlds enhancing communication over other tools such as skype, wikis, blogs, google docs, Adobe Connect – many of these allow video via webcam and/or screen sharing, synchronous and asynchronous communication. Do you feel that avatars interacting in a virtual world adds something that can’t be equally achieved through these other tools?
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Colin
Hi Peggy, yes I absolutely believe that virtual 3D worlds offer more promise than the other solutions you mentioned. I do admit that 3D worlds are still in the infancy stage but I do see this changing over the next 5 – 10 years as it gains more popularity.
The first key difference is the ability to create accurate simulations.
“Numerical simulations are playing an increasingly important role in solving complex engineering problems, and have the potential to revolutionize medical decision making and treatment design.” ( https://simtk.org/home/opensim_matlab). This is just one example, you can look at the US department of defense and their use of opensim (similar to Second Life) in training their soldiers or here is another example http://www.hypergridbusiness.com/2012/09/asia-pharma-group-looks-to-protosphere-for-virtual-training/ . Virtual Worlds are being used by some major Fast Food business to train new employees or by nursing programs to train nurses. You can look at Universities that are recruiting students via 3D worlds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ehj9QVP_L8 . I can keep giving more examples and if you are interested you can look at my prezi for the first assignment http://prezi.com/f9v5qdzkoiq4/designing-digitally/ . It is on one specific company in that field but it does give additional videos and even a virtual 3D seminar. The point is that a 3D virtual world allows student to experience replications of the world without actually having to be there. In some cases being there might not be possible (like walking inside a replica of the human body), or unsafe, or just too far to travel (example: replication of the Eiffel Tower).
Second reason is that a 3D world allows for more people to interact at the same time and that is why they are often used for conferences and other company meetings.Third it is more fun and intuitive walking around a Virtual World rather than looking for a command in a program. There is a sense of being able to explore and also having a physical sense of progress as a student goes through completing a course. They are working at integrating Kinect https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tl2gLw-GJws with OpenSim to make it even easier to use.
Fourth – Online identity is an important part of online learning and Avatars allow for much more customization and expression than what is possible on those other programs.
Though all of the above is only possible with good content and design and without that I don’t see 3D worlds as a better option.
Hope this helps clarify my point of view. Thanks Peggy for the question.
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Peggy Lawson
Thanks Colin. I have no doubt that virtual worlds and simulations are very powerful tools that have many great applications and uses. I was more focused just on the often mentioned benefits such a world has on collaboration. Your 2nd reason, for example – do virtual worlds really allow many people to interact – effectively? – at the same time? Does seeing multiple avatars roaming about really provide a better collaboration? It’s this one small aspect of virtual worlds that seems to be oft-touted that I’m not sure of. It often seems that people simply toss in this benefit of enhanced collaboration without providing any proof or examples. Virtual training is not the same as collaboration. I don’t doubt there are some examples, however.
Peggy
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Colin
Hi Peggy, you bring up a valid point and I think that collaboration has more to do with the learner’s willingness to work with others instead of any kind of program or environment. I saw some research showing that scripted environments where students are made to work together does work better at improving collaboration. From my experience some students are more engaged in a virtual world and as a result they are more willing to collaborate. One article that had some interesting points on this subject is. http://chiproject.googlecode.com/files/sdarticle.pdf . I still would argue that virtual worlds are slightly more effective for some students than the programs you mentioned in promoting collaboration or at least on par.
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teacherben
If you are building your own virtual worlds using OpenSim, you can integrate them with Moodle using a project called SLoodle:
(http://www.sloodle.org/moodle/)
Your students experience the lessons in the virtual world, but you can grade everything from within Moodle. I never got a chance to test it out because I was running Moodle 2.0 and it wasn’t supported. I just noticed that the new beta version now does so it should be a fun project to try out. Are you blogging about your experience, or documenting it someplace? I am always interested in seeing how other teachers are using vworlds in their classes.
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Colin
Hi Ben, yes I am planning on using Sloodle to integrate OpenSim with my Moodle. Right now the server is up and running in the school and I am loading in several free oar’s to get started. I am trying to create or find a school appropriate skin template and install that over the stock picture. Then I will look at importing in inventory and items for each of the students to complete their assignment. This will be a real learning curve but once I feel that is working I will move on to adding more regions and integrate in Sloodle if it proves reliable. If that works then I will be looking at integrating Opensim and Joomla which handles the social media, forums, chats blogs and project management system. This will be a long process I am sure as I need to do most of the work at school as I can’t access it outside the school. I am not running a blog yet as I don’t have the time but I am considering it later.
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teacherben
Fantastic project. At my previous school I had a similar, ambitious play to get a Moodle/SLoodle/Joomdle integration going but after too many arguments with the tech managers about server permissions and firewall stuff, the whole thing just sat on the shelf. I left at the end of the year and my current school won’t let me anywhere near the servers. Good luck to you. I would love to hear more about it as you go. Where are you teaching by the way? There aren’t a lot of schools out there will let a maverick teacher do his own thing like this. Good for you for getting them on board.
Funny about the skin. I remember setting up OpenSim for the first time and the default avatar is a naked woman (who is apparently called ‘Ruth’). Better idea to replace that before you get your kids in there.
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Colin
I understand your frustration as I ran into those same problems. I wasn’t allowed anywhere near our school server so I was able to find a computer in our school that was damaged during a break-in and not being used. The damage was to the video port on the back which I didn’t need if I used remote access. I was going to build my own computer out of spare parts at home but I found out I can only use a district computer on the network. With an upgrade to the RAM to allow for Opensim I finally was able to get a working server. Really none of this wouldn’t have been possible if I wasn’t the tech facilitator and I had the help of a fellow staff member who was very knowledgeable about the system. Setting up hosting outside of the school is also not a possibility due to firewall restrictions.
We installed OpenSim in the Window’s environment and Moodle/Joomla using Xampp. Then I needed to load viewers on the student’s computers. The point is that I needed to come up with my own solution in order to make this happen so I am not surprised that you didn’t have any luck implementing this.
The biggest problem implementing new technology in the classroom has to be the district itself and their restrictions.
The courses I teach are Business Education as well as Planning 10 and Media Arts.
I am in the process of trying to get rid of Ruth for the very reason you mentioned.
I had one “test” student go in-world today to complete a quick assignment on how to create items in-world. Overall he quickly caught on and he was having a lot of fun creating different items.
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sophiabb
Hi Colin,
Like Ben, I think this is a fantastic project. Kudos to you and your school for this. Great combination of OLE tools you are looking to integrate.
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teacherben
I hate to be the devil’s advocate here, but you say “as someone who has not participated…you are not that interested…” Perhaps you should give it a try. You may change your mind and see some potential after trying it out for yourself.
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kstackhouse
You are right. As I mentioned in another reply above, I am not opposed to the idea. I am just not sure where to begin. I am impressed by the work you (and Colin) are putting into it. As you say, if I gain more experience in it I might become more comfortable with the concept of a virtual world as an extension of our classroom. Thanks for the insight on the subject that you have provided.
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Doug Connery
I must admit that I have trouble getting my head around how virtual worlds can be used in a post-secondary polytechnic setting. Most of our training and education is hands-on real life based, thus I don’t see how using a virtual world would benefit. I would prefer that the accountant I hire, the carpenter who builds my house, the paramedic who arrives after a 911 call or the chef who prepares my meal at a restaurant has been trained using real life hands-on scenarios rather then trained through virtual worlds. There maybe some benefits to using virtual worlds as a tool while moving from theory to practice, however I am not convinced that cost-benefit is worth it. Nothing beats the EMT practicing in a simulation lab with automated manikins and real people, the student chef preparing food in a program run kitchen and the carpentry students building a house on campus.
I am also not convinced that students could transfer the skills and knowledge they acquired in a virtual world to the real world as they are hopefully are not transferring the skills and experiences from gaming to reality (car racing, violence and killing for example). I wonder if the norm of the gaming culture as purely fantasy and entertainment could be modified to allow students to take working in a virtual world seriously in an educational setting.
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sophiabb
Hi Doug,
I totally get your reservations. From personal experience (many years in a tech/voc organization in Jamaica), hands-on real life based training is great and what we encourage within technical and vocational training/education. I have also seen the positive impact of such 3D programs as AutoCad.
Sara Lawrence Lightfoot (quoted in Kafai 1995: 314) says that “Learning is at its best when it is deadly serious and very playful at the same time.” Check out what she shares in Serious Play (http://www.yorku.ca/jjenson/4303/readings/gaming/seriousplay.pdf). Also check out Brian Burton’s research findings the impact of virtual learning on student collaboration and knowledge creation (http://www.academia.edu/1658831/The_Use_of_Three_Dimensional_Interface_within_a_Virtual_Learning_Environment_and_the_impact_on_Student_Collaboration_and_Knowledge_Creation).
Ok, that was a very long link. By the way, like you I prefer the carpenter to is building my house to have real world experience, but is there a place for blending?
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teacherben
This video might change your mind. Here is a group of professional architects collaborating on a building project in SecondLife. They are working from real plans.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7bXu2ozXo0
Here’s another one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtUzvwG7O-w
I have a friend who does a lot of this sort of work with his high school students. He has done it with a hosted solution on ReactionGrid and on his own server using OpenSim. Students collaborated in real time on building projects. Pretty amazing.
I did something similar with my students except that we were using OpenWonderland. It doesn’t include the inworld building tools, but anything that you build in Google SketchUp can be dragged and dropped from your desktop directly into your virtual world. I build a full size 3D model of our school and my students made all the fixtures and furniture. They could communicate in real time using audio, text messages and even leave audio recordings for one another (that looked like an old tape recorder that they would leave sitting on the ground.) The cool thing with the audio was that when your two avatars are close to one another, they can hear each other talk, but if you walk away, then your voice trails off.
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Doug Connery
Thanks Sophia and Ben for your suggestions. I am still not convinced how these virtual world methods would benefit or could replace the hands-on real world experience that our students currently receive. We are driven by industry demand for skills and training, so unless the graduates will be using these virtual tools in the work place, the cost/benefit is hard to justify.
However I am open to suggestions of how virtual worlds can help. Below is a link to a video that shows a sampling of what our programs are. Perhaps you could provide me with some suggestions on how virtual worlds could help deliver the training and skills shown in this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSCsZcdOUEo
Doug.
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Shaun Pepper
I think this virtual world can be a great way to engage students who are kinaesthetic or visual learners. These students do not want to write down information, they want to get the hands dirty and test out their ideas. This testing and modelling method is becoming more prevalent in 21st century planning with better software and technology rendering programs (google sketchup, autocad etc..). By creating an avatar, like seen in the video, it gives students the impression or visual information that this would be done by people not computers. I agree with Doug it does not replace hands on learning, but I think it can introduce students to working on projects that are far beyond the scale of what could be affordable to do hands-on.
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adi
Hi Doug,
I understand what you mean; at first sight it is difficult to imagine how SL could be used to enhance learning, or in a practical way. However, there are some interesting projects out there. I watched the SAIT video; it’s impressive. SAIT looks like a great place to study and very hands on and practical. I can see why so many of your graduates obtain employment so quickly after graduating. You are right that students won’t need to know how to use SL for many of these jobs, but the objective of using SL is not so much about learning to use the tool, but rather using this tool for creating ‘enabling context’ that will lead to learning in context. Some of the examples I found, rather than imply a huge cost, I feel actually allow for an ‘almost authentic’ learning experience at virtually no cost. I once had the chance to teach in a Video and Film school, and I remember that making a short video implied a huge cost (equipment, location permits, transportation of staff etc., meals and more). With SL and Machinima a film student can go through the process of filming something, from making the story board, Call sheet etc. , and then actually filming on SL; like we did for this week’s presentation. Anyways, here are some examples below I hope will help; the SAIT course is on the left, and on the right the link to a SL example.
1. Environmental Technology – http://secondlife.com/destination/the-frontier-project
2. Information Technology – http://secondlife.com/destination/capella-next-generation-learning
3. Architectural Technologies – http://secondlife.com/destination/archi21
4. New Media Production and Design – http://secondlife.com/destination/depaul-university-college-of-cdm , plus how we used it in our project using Machinama.
5. Healthcare sector courses – http://secondlife.com/destination/diabetes-guidance-center
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Pat A Son
Hi Doug,
A the end of the day virtual worlds are just one option that are available to educators today. As appealing as it may seem it may be applicable to all learning situations and it may even boil down personal preference as far as the selection is concerned. Also
I do not think that virtual worlds were meant to replace reality in the classroom but to enhance the learning experience. In addition your contribution seem to be limited to the acquisition of motor skills however so your position that transfer is not possible may be justified. For cognitive skills transfer is not only possible but desirable.-
rebeccaharrison
I think that the fact that these are “just one option” is critical in this discussion for me. I, too, have serious reservations about using virtual worlds (or the real benefit that can come from them), not to mention my concerns about what other skills could be lost through the use of them. Despite lots of videos and information, I still feel that they are a good strategy for certain situations and certain types of learners, but that they are just one piece, and one piece whose implications we still don’t necessarily understand.
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Pat A Son
Yes Rebecca we have to be careful with the technology overload that we are faced with or else we can make the wrong decisions when it comes to their use.
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Doug Connery
Thanks everyone for your comments and examples; however I am still not convinced. In fact after reading comments in the avatar experience section I am even more of a cynic. We have wonderful hands-on labs, classrooms, reality based simulation labs and real life practicum placements that I don’t see a role for virtual based, especially second life environments. Besides our curriculum for the most part is to full to use something that is not applicable for graduates when they hit the job market. If virtual worlds become main stream in industry and employers start asking for our graduates to have experience in this area, then we will adopt it.
As virtual environments are still in the early experimental stages of education, most post-secondary’s will probably wait to see what falls out to see which ones will be the flavours of the month and which ones will show promise to stick around before they become mainstream. Take this course and others in the MET program, do you see much virtual world applications occurring here. Perhaps virtual worlds and gaming offer too much play and distractions and not enough focused learning to get the job done. I am probably showing my age here. Besides we can’t all agree on everything; it is more productive for some people to take the opposing view from the majority.
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Lisa Nevoral
Hey Doug,
I also don’t know if I am sold on virtual worlds in a classroom. I would have to really immerse myself into one to see if there are any benefits. I think that hands on is very important and in some areas I really don’t see how a virtual world will help. As Patason has mentioned, getting students to grasp abstract ideas in science and math may be one use for virtual worlds.
It’s always good to have an opposing voice. It give different perspectives and hopefully we learn from that. Your opposition did provide a lot of comments and examples.
Lisa
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Pat A Son
As a science teacher and a fan of learning by doing I am really excited by the possibilities virtual worlds can bring to the learning experience.
For starters science can often be an abstract affair that can be challenging for students to grasp mentally and virtual worlds can provide the only means by which students can visualise and interact with these abstract concepts in an almost realistic manner.
Then even for those activities and that objects that are possible in the real world the virtual brings the affordances of infinite repetition without using up or destroying a resource and experimentation without exposure to danger thus enabling learner more opportunities for constructing knowledge than in a real world scenario.
Finally the ‘play’ factor shifts the learning experience from being a tedious task to a pleasurable endeavor therefore serving as a source of motivation for students who are struggling with a difficult problem.
On the minus side these worlds demand some background knowledge to master and not everyone would be given to them. Also the technology comes with a cost that some would not be able to afford.-
sophiabb
Hi Pat A Son,
I agree, from personal experience, science can be very abstract. Thank you for highlighting some of the educational affordances that virtual worlds present as well as possible constraints.
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Pat A Son
You’re welcome Sophia
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Jonathan
Patason —
I’m very intrigued by virtual worlds. I spent some time on Second Life (because of this group.. thanks for the opportunity) and found myself making the connection to Minecraft. Minecraft came up again when I read that you were a Science teacher. I always think about the “process” when I am teaching my primary students. It doesn’t matter how they get there as long as the “journey” is there.
Joel Levin — “Minecraft Teacher” — has been developing a program to allow teachers to easily teach using the Minecraft program. In his demonstrations he has demonstrated how he has been able to show many different concepts and processes — such as demonstrating how synapses work in the body and chemical reactions occurred.
I haven’t been so brave as to try these in my own classroom yet as the background knowledge that I currently have on the game isn’t strong enough. I doubt it’d be ever as strong as my students — but to learn in virtual environments provide a perfect disguise for learning.
These virtual environments make learning fun. They take a step away from the typical and allow students to engage in lessons to reinforce and teach ideas. Even if it is just a novelty factor — the novelty is powerful to use periodically.
These are all ideas that you mentioned in your post and got me thinking more about pushing through and spending some more time with Minecraft.
Thanks!
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Lisa Nevoral
Patason,
I haven’t played around enough in virtual worlds, but the idea that you bring up about “abstract affair that can be challenging for students to grasp mentally and virtual worlds can provide the only means by which students can visualise and interact with these abstract concepts in an almost realistic manner” does seem like a good option for students to learn this information. As I was immersed in Second Life, I thought that virtual worlds would be good for such things as taking students into a museum in Paris without actually going there.
I’m not sure if I will incorporate virtual worlds into my lesson plans quite yet, but I am interested to explore them a bit more before saying I never will.
Lisa
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avninder
A couple of examples in the videos did spike my interest in using virtual worlds for learning (i.e.: traveling to another country without leaving your desk or being inside of a computer). However I think that this may be accomplished through video simulations without the need for an avatar. I believe avid gamers would love using second life for learning but I doubt others would be willing to learn and use the virtual world in place of traditional learning methods. Another concern I would have in addition to the potentially steep learning curve and cost would be the time that students could waste navigating through the simulations without focussing on learning. When I did play video games, many many years ago I could spend hours in front of the television which is not the best use of time.
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sophiabb
Hi Avninder,
I appreciate your point of view. I believe like you that virtual worlds hold a certain appeal for gamers. I do believe however that it is not only avid gamers who would love using second life for learning. According to statistics provided in March 2007 by Pathfinder Linden, there are over 200 universities or academic institutions already involved in SL (Kelton, 2007). Last week I visited the University of Cambridge’s campus in SL. Universities are now offering courses in SL. The cost of time /steep learning curve can indeed be a barrier.
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Peggy Lawson
I can see a real benefit for a virtual world for some students – the shy & misfit students who can be whatever they want to be in a virtual world. Discussion boards, as was discussed in an earlier week, can often allow the quieter students to have a voice that they don’t normally have in a F2F classroom. An avatar in a virtual world can be an even greater liberator for some students.
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sophiabb
Great point about the potential benefit of anonymity for students, especially quieter/shy students.
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joeltremblay
As an educator the idea of virtual worlds can be an extremely treacherous double edged sword with huge benefits and detriments on either side. How many of you know current or former students who stay up too late playing video games and can’t bring themselves to get out of class or work in the morning? How many of us know students who are way more comfortable in virtual worlds and as such don’t spend nearly enough time in the real one? There is definitely a positive draw to them with the opportunities to make the impossible possible. One example is software that I reviewed awhile back that allows the user to do dissections in a virtual space as opposed to having the actual specimens etc. but I think that we as educators need to be aware of the seduction that entertainment software posing as educational can provide. I suppose with this, like most things in life, that we need to take from it what we need and leave it behind when it is no longer of any benefit. Beware the siren song:
http://insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/index.php/kellogg/article/beware_the_sirens_song
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sophiabb
Hi Joel,
Virtual worlds can be a double edged sword – many arguments can be/are being posited, for the pros and cons. Yes, we need to ascertain the costs/benefits t and pitfalls to inform our decisions. Interesting turn of phrase “entertainment software posing as educational”. Are they really posing ?
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jenbarker
I echo your concerns Joel. One the one hand I bear witness daily to my son who loves playing X-box and wonder how he might react to learning in a virtual world. My initial thoughts are that he would love it, be completely engaged and motivated to learn. But then I begin to wonder if he might get addicted. Would learning in this particular way have an effect on his brain? I think I would want to examine this area more before I would advocate for it. I like the appeal of the creative, collaborative, engaging, personalized, active nature of the virtual environments. I wonder though, similar to other classmates comments how much time would be involved in creating learning in this way. Speaking from experience, elementary teachers never have enough time in their day and from an outsider it appears like it would take a great deal of time to become proficient with the terminology to feel at ease to navigate and teach from this environment. I am not opposed to virtual learning environments and think they deserve merit but for me personally I plan to wait until they are further developed and researched before I engage with them.
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Doug Connery
Jen and Joel I echo your concerns about virtual worlds: addiction, distraction, entertainment posed as educational, too much time in the virtual vs real world…… We also need to consider that learning is not always fun, sometimes it is a lot of hard work and to be proficient in some areas, you need to practice, practice and practice. This should be done in the real world because in the end, you need to apply this knowledge and these skills in the real world.
We have identified how virtual worlds are used for entertainment and we are now exploring how they can be used in education. However we also need to examine how much virtual worlds are used in the workplace and if they are not used in the workplace then I would reduce the value of them in education. I don’t know of too many employers that operate in the virtual world. Maybe I am being too practical here.
So I see where virtual worlds can have a place in education, however we really need to think about them as one tool in a large toolbox, and only use them where it is beneficial and not because it is fun for the students or the teacher.
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sophiabb
Appreciate your practical point of view Doug. Great discussion.
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sophiabb
Hi Jen,
Interesting question about the impact of this mode of learning on the brain. You’ve got me thinking about this. I did a quick Google and found this article on Brain Development in a Hyper-Tech World (https://www.dana.org/media/detail.aspx?id=13126).
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jenbarker
Sophia,
First off, thank you so much for searching for this article and bringing it back to the group. When I first made my post I had wanted to search and quote and article on the topic but didn’t have time.
So it would appear that data on effects on the brain is still quite sparse. But the researchers did suggestion caution. Below are a couple of quotes that as a mother of two technologically connected kids, I find worrisome.
“Fast is not equated with deliberation. So I think they can produce a tendency toward shallow thinking. It’s not going to turn off the brain to thinking deeply and thoughtfully about things, but it is going to make that a little bit more difficult to do.”
Several independent research groups have reported evidence that, at the level of neural systems, multitasking actually entails rapid switching from one task to another. Each switch exacts a toll, at least doubling the time it takes to complete a task and decreasing both the level of performance and the ability to recall what you were doing later on. Study after study has found that multitasking degrades the quality of learning.
Friedlander also wonders if over-reliance on electronic interactions, which are so often marked by unnatural delays, even minute ones as in cell-phone conversations, might wire developing brains to a different baseline set-point for temporal processing–how time is interpreted.
“We don’t really know how that will affect kids or if it will have long-term effects, but I think it supports the notion that one needs to be careful to not become totally immersed in the cyber world, because it may be a little more awkward interacting with real living people in real situations where those timing delays are somewhat different,” Freidlander said.
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Mike Rae
Interesting reading about the activities being attempted in classes using virtual worlds. I, like Ken, find it hard to picture myself teaching this way, but one day, you never know. I have my reservations a teacher I just met at my new school told me that he spends more time in second life than his real one, he was saying it kinda jokingly, but it freaked me out a little bit.
I agree that it could give students that are reserved in class an opportunity to come out of their shell in a virtual world, which could be very beneficial to them. It could, however, turn off students that don’t have the interest, knowledge or skill to be successful in a virtual world.
I think there is opportunity for students who are not in the same geographical space to engage with each other and this is important given the growth of virtual schools education.
MIKE
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sophiabb
Hi Mike,
I have heard of people who mortgage their homes in the real world to purchase homes in SL. Now those are true residents.
I am not encouraging students to become residents; so I agree with many of the posts about being cautious. Virtual worlds do provide an opportunity to engage with each other. My group mates and I met many times in SL to discuss our project; we are all in different time zones.
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manny
Virtual worlds of course have many pro’s and con’s as was mentioned in the Posey et. Al article. Most of the disadvantages seemed to be on the professor/teacher end as it is not always easy to adapt material for online environments. In a virtual world, the problem of synchronism can also be a problem. For a truly collaborative experience, one would think that participants have to be online at around the same time. Sloodle seems to have addressed this problem by allowing students to navigate their virtual environment while completing individual tasks assigned by their teacher. Another downside is the lack of face-to-face interaction that is essential in certain disciplines. For example, music courses require immediate teacher feedback and scaffolding for students to advance their skills.
On the other hand, there are many pro’s to virtual worlds and simply put, they are just more fun. The anonymity of avatars allows those students who usually wouldn’t speak up in a class to voice their opinion. Furthermore, the game play aspect that virtual worlds afford capitalizes on a playing field that students are already familiar with.
There was a line in one of the videos in which the speaker stated that the distinction between gaming and virtual worlds is getting blurred. I personally think that this is a good thing as there is no doubt that gaming is a HUGE INDUSTRY worldwide. To put it into context, a game called Call of Duty, Black Ops 2; just came out two weeks ago and broke a record in first day sales of over 500 million dollars. My students came in to class and this game was all they could talk about, many of them hadn’t slept in days. I wondered how neat it would be if we could harness this same energy in education and have students playing while learning at the same time. I have provided a link below that shows some mind-blowing stats on this phenomenon.
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sophiabb
Hi Manny,
Harnessing the power of play for serious/educational ‘play’ would be neat. Thanks for link. Those stats are mind-blowing.
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pcollins
Virtual World Dangers….
Okay, as a bit of a tech geek and a member of a MMOG household I get pretty fired up about how great it would be to integrate a virtual world into my f-f classroom. Just reading some of the advances many of you are making in this arena is enough to get me slightly woozy at how it’s going to play out. Coolness factor aside – I can’t help but feel that their are so many “teachable moments” available from helping students to become digital citizens and learning about being involved in this context: gaming or educationally.But then I start to go to the dark side
And think about the issues that are emerging with youth right now and cyberbullying….gaming addictions…over active peer networks….digital marginalizations & divides etc..etc.. I really need to ask myself, not if I am ready and willing, but are the students that I work with ready and willing. And how would the parents and the school boards react to such changes? And should I incorporate their feedback?
I have recently come from a very reserved technological district. And I think that it’s made me hyperaware of some of the issues that may arise given a virtual world teaching concept. For example, how would I instill digital citizenship in the students that I teach? Would this be something that I had to introduce and moderate, on top of designing the VW classroom and implementing the curriculum?
As impressed as I am by what I see from everyone else’s adventure into this arena, and as excitied as I would be to get involved as a part of a team, I do find it hard to imagine effectively creating such a venue as a lone-wolf in a big system.
PC
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sophiabb
Hi PC,
Thanks for your contribution. Yes, going it alone can be a daunting task. How about test driving by incorporating a small, well defined/structured activity?
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pcollins
That’s a fabulous idea – I probably tend to get ahead of myself because I can see the merit of really going all the way with incorporating VLC’s. Baby steps right?
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tomwhyte1
As a reflect on the idea of a virtualized component within my classroom and my current thinking on education, I truly believe that this tool has its use. It is not the answer, nor the solution, but another method to meet some students where they are at. For just like with all other tools, it is not a one size fits all, and this is where I have some concerns (which I think are resolvable, but still need to be in for the for front of our thinking).
– What students, type of students, learning styles would work best within a virtual learning environment?
– What structures would I have to put in place within my classroom, for this approach to be effectively implemented for those students? And what might the other students be doing, while those students are within the virtual world?
– What types of activities/challenges work best in this environment?
– What level of technology is needed, does my IT department support this?
– How much time will need to be invested, and does the investment provide a sufficient payout at the end?Thoughts?
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sophiabb
Hi Tom,
Great questions. While I don’t have all the answers – as you’ve stated, it’s not a one size fits all – these questions are good at guiding our decision making process. I find these articles provide some interesting ideas on setting up and use: http://www.jofde.ca/index.php/jde/article/view/696/1156 and http://www.academia.edu/1658831/The_Use_of_Three_Dimensional_Interface_within_a_Virtual_Learning_Environment_and_the_impact_on_Student_Collaboration_and_Knowledge_Creation.
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tomwhyte1
Thank you for the share.
For recently, at school I have been pushing research/evidence based practices.. not – this is what my gut tells me to do…
Tom
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visramn
Virtual world
Pros:
-Learning becomes more flexible
-Learners are more confident and have time to process their thoughts before sharing them
-Learners have multiple ways in which they can interact with their peers and teachers
-Build in tools such as calender, reminders, task list, help with accountability
– Feedback procedure is more efficient
-Everyone has a voice (less domination of conversation or of students being lost int he crowd)
-Teachers can track progress
-Resources that are created can be reused
-Content can be more visual and auditory. Hence, more learning needs and styles can be accommodated
-More potential for differentiation
-Students can relate to the online learning environment because it is similar to other social interfaces they use such as facebook
Cons:
– Face-to- face interactions are lacking
-Conversations lack emotion
– Teachers have to monitor everything posted carefully to ensure their is nothing inappropriate shared
-Students lose out on tactile interactions
-Some students may be distracted by other non-educational capabilities on their laptops or tablets
-Written comments can be misunderstood or taken out of content
-Students may be tempted to use the internet and not their own ideas due the easy access they have at their fingertips
-Students who lack technological background may struggle with navigating through the OLE
-Devices to access the OLE may be limited
-Some students may be left out because they do not own their own device or some may have better devices than others
I am sure I missed some. Feel free to add to my list.
Nureen
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sophiabb
Hi Nureen,
Nice list of pros and cons.
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Scott
I am certainly intrigued by the concept of virtual learning using tools like Sloodle, however like a number of my colleagues, I’m not certain if I’m ready, or if my school is ready, for this level of change.
The opportunities for increased ‘engagement’, (Tom’s favorite term!) seem profound, but engagement does not always equate to learning (as I’m sure Tom would rightly be quick to point out as well). Based only on the video samples provided and without trying any of these environments myself, the curriculum being presented looked like print documents/slides hung on virtual billboards or white boards. While this is novel and visually impactful, at the end of the day, it’s still simply a document or a video. I’m reminded of teachers who just scan a document and display it on a Smartboard and then claim they are technologically savvy – when they could really just stick with an overhead machine. In short, the curriculum design required to make these environments effective will be essential and likely time consuming to produce.
For online learning, such as our MET program, being offered by higher education instutions with appropriate budgets for technology and curriculum design, I can see these virtual environments being highly applicable. For myself at the secondary level, my guess is we will have some way to go before we are ready to venture into these environments. For example, the network infrastructure at my school has difficulty some days just streaming a simple YouTube video!
Then there is the concern around virtual classroom management, including teachers being able to monitor students virtual interactions and cyberbullying. Just today, Mashable published a story around this very issue: http://mashable.com/2012/11/23/virtual-lessons-real-world/. On the upside, the article highlights the opportunities adults will have in elementary and secondary education, to teach students about digital citizenship and appropriate online behaviour. “These worlds are truly THEIR worlds –- and the good news is that the lessons learned online can, and should, be applied in the real world… Here’s a news flash: your child is most likely going to online places he or she shouldn’t… don’t assume that because these situations happen in 2D candy colored worlds created out of code that they don’t have the same implications for a child’s social maturation and emotional health. Instead, it’s important to treat the virtual world play as an opportunity to discuss and hash out issues that can easily translate into their real life.”
Bottom line for me; virtual OLEs seem intriguing, but there are many questions which will need to be addressed before I would implement one in my classroom.
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sophiabb
Hi Scot,
Excellent points from both points of view. I agree, before we implement any learning technology, including virtual OLES that we should do our ascertain best fit for our students/learning environments.
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Ranvir
Very interesting discussion indeed, one that I have been a part of for the last 2 years or so. To provide some context from my part of the world, medical schools have been exploring virtual worlds such as Second Life for few years in order to provide real life clinical experience to medical students where they can ‘practice’ clinical diagnosis in a ‘safe environment’. It is a fantastic concept and medical many schools such as St. George (London) have been able to make sophisticated virtual patients. However, the truth of the matter is that it is still TBD whether and how much do these simulation environments contribute to learning vis a vis a low-tech approach that aims to solve the problem with less resources and time?
I agree with Scott that further research is required to determine the cognitive impact and contribution to attainment of learning objectives before one can plan a potential implementation. Recently, I was speaking at a Game Based Learning session we organized at UBC and one of the questions that was raised by a faculty member was exactly this – “Do you have any research information that supports that game based learning contributes to superior learning and achievement of learning competencies? The answer unfortunately is no, there isn’t any concrete evidence available although there is information that GBL contributes to greater collaboration and richer learning experience.
Thus, I echo what Scott mentioned in the bottom line statement.
Thoughts on the contrary?
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sophiabb
Hi Ranvir,
Thanks for adding to the discussion. Yes, the educational affordances of virtual learning environments seem great for the medical sciences.
My question is not whether it contributes to “superior learning” but: how does it contribute to learning and what ways can we use this in a constructivist manner?
I agree, that we are still in the earrly days of research/evaluation.
Not to dispute Scott’s bottom line, but to contribute to your research, I have included links to the following research:
The Evolution of Constructivist Learning Environments: Immersion in Distributed, Virtual Worlds
http://www.virtual.gmu.edu/ss_pdf/constr.pdfPresence Pedagogy: Teaching and Learning in a 3D Virtual Immersive World
http://www.isetl.org/ijtlhe/pdf/IJTLHE453.pdfThe Use of Three Dimensional Interface within a Virtual Learning Environment and the impact on Student Collaboration and Knowledge Creation
http://www.academia.edu/1658831/The_Use_of_Three_Dimensional_Interface_within_a_Virtual_Learning_Environment_and_the_impact_on_Student_Collaboration_and_Knowledge_Creation
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jhodi
Virtual worlds allow students to immerse their learning in an online learning environment that provides them with potentially life-like designs. Virtual worlds can be intuitive for students and encourage students to interact online as they would in person. However, students can also be creative and create their own avatar representative of what they want to be or something totally different that what they can be in real life (ie. have wings). Students can feel a connection to their avatar and form online collaborative relationships with peers that they may or may not interact with in person. However, this also can provide students with a ‘screen’ of sorts that the teacher must monitor to ensure that students are behaving respectfully. The other major negative could be the reliance on modern technologies that can support virtual worlds and interactions at a quick rate.
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sophiabb
Hi Jhodi,
Great contribution to the discussion.
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jameschen
As an educator, one of the things that make me want to embrace the adoption of learning in a virtual environment is the chance to help students see how the rules applied in reality also apply to virtual environments. Many students are unable to make this connection, which results in kids becoming cyberbullies or victims of cyberbullying. A sad example of this the suicide of Amanda Todd.
Our students are establishing themselves online, mostly without the guidance and support of their parents and teachers. I believe that with parental involvement and teacher guidance, virtual learning environments can help students become more conscious about how their actions online have real world consequences. Only when students make the connection can tragedies be avoided.
James
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Eva Ziemsen
Week 12: INTERACTIVITY 1A: OLE IN THE CLASSROOM
Post your answer to the questions regarding the two videos here. To what extent are the teachers in these two videos using the components of their OLE? Are they adhering to the values and principles of open learning?
Continue reading Week 12: INTERACTIVITY 1A: OLE IN THE CLASSROOM Posted in: General, Week 12:-
kstackhouse
Having personally used Twiducate (stopped using because it was too slow to load), Edmodo, and to a limited extent wikis I think that the teachers in this example were using the tools as OLEs. They were using constructivist and connectivist principles in their use of allowing students to work, collaborate, and engage with the materials. One boy mentioned being able to get his quiz results right away so he knew how he was doing. I used the same feature in Edmodo and students could check their score and they could try again if they felt like they had a better handle on the material later on. I also loved the badge feature in Edmodo and we had fun creating badges and how they would earn them. I used this as a way to help them decide what would be considered milestones in the course. I also loved being away from school and having students ask me questions on Edmodo that I was able to answer for them while waiting in the Dentist’s office. Parents loved the fact that their students were so engaged with the course materials and connecting with their peers in relation to the topics and activities. Text notifications and the mobile app made Edmodo a great choice in my high school setting.
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adi
I agree, these platforms are great for keeping communication channels open and immediate, and I can see how parents and teachers love them. It’s also interesting that you’ve used these OLEs; you can give us a hand-on opinion. Do you feel one or the other is better suited for creating an OLE in all the sense of the word? In other words, using it not only as a means of communication or for uploading material, which one teacher mentioned, but to provide enabling context, resources and tools to enhance learning?
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kstackhouse
I am not sure I could speak on one being more suitable for OLE than the other. I think that each one could be used in the sense described by the group’s presentation. I think it depends on the teacher and how they have approached using the resources. I think each one has its merits, and would recommend Edmodo for class use. One of my students said it was like having FB in the classroom. He was excited to be using it…and Macbeth was not his favourite unit, so having Edmodo in place was something that encouraged him to participate when he might not have otherwise.
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adi
I found that interesting, too; that students say it reminds them of FB. I’ve taught English Lit, too. How did you use Edmodo for ‘Macbeth’ that you think made it more fun for your students?
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kstackhouse
We had links to external sites (videos, virtual tours, recordings, etc…) available in their resources that they were able to follow. Each asked them to respond to certain points in the play. For the biggest part the ability to check with their peers was the most engaging part. Shakespeare should be seen and heard, so reading it at home by yourself is tough for many students.
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Peggy Lawson
Some of the comments that struck me while watching the videos was how the teacher used the sites to engage the students in various ways. Posting student photos in , for example, Edmodo helped draw the students to the site, which then held all relevant materials – notes, self-test quizzes (great for automatic feedback for students), calendar (to help develop time-management skills), etc.
Collaboration was another key point – how the students posted questions that other students helped answer, and the wiki annotations that promoted constructivist learning.
I’ll add one more, regarding how the online discussions and wiki annotating gave students time to think before they posted, unlike live classroom discussions. To me that is a huge plus of LMS systems and other online discussions, like our course blog here. Everyone can have a voice, not just those who can sometimes dominate all classroom discussions.
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adi
It’s interesting you used the term LMS. Different web sites you look at will refer to these online platforms as either an LMS , CMS or even as Social Netwroks. Then I came across the following PPT that explains the difference between an LMS and a CMS http://www.slideshare.net/ebloomsie/lms-vs-cms-a-summary#btnNext, and what stuck out was that in their opinion, an LMS manages learners while a CMS manages content, and the latter lends itself for greater content creation. Would you agree? Could this be the success of platforms like Edmodo and Schoology vs LMS like Blackboard, Connect or Vistas? Are LMS the best option for creating an OLE?
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Peggy Lawson
Thanks for the link Adrianna. I don’t know if the slideshare convinced me of significant differences between an LMS and CMS, but I’ll admint my own personal experience is much more on the LMS side (Blackboard & Moodle); from the video glimpses of Edmodo and Schoology I didn’t notice much difference in functionality than what I can accomplish in Blackboard with it’s discussion boards, grouping functionality, calendar, wikis (in the newer Blackboard), blogs, etc.
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adi
I’m also not totally sure of the difference, as I have also only had experience with LMS. However, my impression is that a LMS is considered more on the administrative side and a lot more fixed in terms of content creation than an LMS. However, I agree with you in terms of functionality. If anything, when I first watched the first video, if felt that more the teacher was using it a repository tool. This alone is not adhering to the principles of an OLE, it’s simply uploading and depositing materials but not necessarily enhancing learning. Thoughts?
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avninder
I think both teachers used their respective OLEs appropriately as many of the acitivities were rooted in constructivism. There were also opportunities for the students to start new discussions and reflect which demonstrates the “open”ness of an open learning environment. However, it seemed as though the instructor using Edmodo used many other features availble such as the calendar and posting videos. I’m not sure that this means she used the OLE more appropriately but I think it may have resulted in students being more engaged in the site itself not just the subject matter.
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adi
I personally felt the first teacher used the tool as repository, while the second teacher had students constructing knowledge together. Effectively, we do not get to see exactly how the first teacher actually used the tools and what the content of what she uploaded consisted of. For example, what exactly did they do with the videos she posted? Engagement, however, is indeed important, and she does appear to achieved that.
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Scott
I’m working to compare the two videos, however I remain unclear about the definition of enabling contexts, as referred to in the interactivity question and the Slideshare slides.
The Slideshare presentation notes that enabling contexts can be externally imposed (which I understand); however, both externally induced and individually generated contexts, involve the learner generating the problem – so what is the difference between the two then? Can anyone clarify these definitions with an example perhaps?
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Patrick Pichette
Hi Scott,
With externally induced contexts, students are provided with a relevant problem space without being given any particular problem to solve. It is clear from the problem space that there are issues to work but students are encouraged to describe and delimit the problems while working towards solving them afterwards.
For individually generated contexts, students identify their own context based on particular needs and circumstances for the subject matter that they are currently involved with.
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Patrick Pichette
In other words, the difference is strictly in whether the problem space has been pre-defined by the instructor (externally induced) or if the student is the one defining the problem space (individually generated).
The similarity lies in the fact that for both externally induced and individually generated contexts, students are the ones defining the processes and tasks to solve the issue. With externally imposed contexts, the student is given both the problem space as well as the processes and tasks.
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Scott
Thanks for your explanations Patrick.
I’m afraid however, I’m still just not clear on the subtleties of the distinction here. Any chance you can offer a real world example of each?
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adi
Probably the best way to describe the three types of enabling context is in terms of how much learning is controlled, and how teacher or learner centered they are. In the case of externally imposed enabling contexts, the instructor/domain provides both the problem and the means for solving it; in externally induced enabling contexts, the instructor generates the context, but the learner generates the problem to be addressed; finally, in individually generated enabling contexts, the learner generates both the context ad problem.
An example of externally imposed enabling contexts are simulation learning games where students adopt a role within the environment and the problem and/or performance needs are explicitly delineated. A good example of this is “The Great Solar System Rescue” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj0Plod9YjY .
In externally induced enabling contexts may consist of scenarios, problems or cases where the learner generates the situation to be solved and the means to do it. An example of this is “The Adventures of Jasper Woodbury” http://mmcisaac.faculty.asu.edu/disted/week1/5focustc.html.
In the case of individually generated enabling contexts, the specific context cannot be provided in advance because the instructor cannot know what it will be; the learner establishes the enabling context based on needs. Personal interests, issues or problems guide the strategies employed, be it a graduate student’s research interest, or a person wishing to solve a personal problem, e.g. planning a 3 day hiking trip.
Hope this helps.
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Scott
Indeed, these explanations and examples have helped me a great deal – thank you 🙂
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teacherben
it seems to me that most of the people using Edmodo were doing much the same thing online that they already did in the classroom. It was being used as a productivity tool more than anything else, but most of the functionality that has highlighted by the users could just as easily be done using more traditional tools. Students commented on how much they like the calendar features. Teachers liked being able to post assignments and give quizzes. This is nothing really new.
On the other hand, the wikis afforded the possibility of the collective construction of knowledge that is central to Constructivist pedagogy. Students shared their own original thoughts and feelings about poetry, they contributed their own research through social bookmarks. This teacher was essentially crowdsourcing the unit and students were given much more ownership over how the unit evolved over time.
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adi
My impression was similar. What’s more, I came across lost of examples where teachers use Edmodo as a repository platform and tool for communicating with students, but do not exploit its full potential. On the other hand, I found an example where a Social Studies teacher creates enabling context that promotes divergent and mediated learning, amongst other things. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7scmRQkTaU&feature=plcp
Thought from people on other ways these platforms could be used as more than just repository platforms?
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Mike Rae
I agree with Ben that the wiki was more constructive than the edmodo, but I think that both would qualify as OLEs. Both platforms encouraged students to work together and ‘off’ of each other. By the teacher in the wiki giving instruction to annotate the poem, we saw how ‘friends’ in the class were able to communicate with each other about the line, building on each others comments.
I thought that it was cool that two friends in the class would never call each other up at night to discuss what the last line of homework meant to them, but through this OLE, it gave them the opportunity to discuss it.
The similarity to Facebook is a huge advantage of these environments to make students comfortable and familiar with the idea of logging in and posting, checking notifications, messages, and interacting with each other. I thought the teacher’s idea of posting pictures was an interesting hook to get students coming back to the edmodo, but where does the line get drawn of it becoming a social networking site or an educational site? maybe it HAS to be both?Thoughts?
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adi
Interesting point. In this blog http://www.edmodo.com/public/wazmac-demo/group_id/1224665 , they mention that edmodo is marketed as ‘Social Networking for Schools’ and that Schoology leans more towards LMS with a social network feel to it. As to where the line is drawn, I feel depends on the teacher; both can co-exist. Aside from the social studies example role play I mentioned in a rely to Ben, there’s this one http://www.edmodo.com/public/wazmac-demo/group_id/1224665 where admittedly the teacher has used it a repository platform, but carefully put together to create externally imposed enabling context with a specific problem for students to work on, and aside from the video provided, this teacher also provides additional resources http://www.edmodo.com/folder/456542 . So I guess if properly used, you can combine its uses.
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teacherben
No question, Edmodo qualifies and I’m confident that many teachers are using it effectively. It even allows students and teachers to communicate across different schools, if enabled. There’s a lot of potential there. I just didn’t see that in the video.
I had a particularly positive experience many years ago when I set up something called Elgg on my own server. It is a social network that looks a lot like Facebook did back in the early days. Nice, simple, clean. I just threw it at my students with no real idea how they would use it. On their own, they started to meet up in the evenings to discuss homework assignments. Another teacher and I ended up joining in for 20 minute blocks each evening to answer questions and offer support, but it was the kids that originally set things up (grade 5 kids, if you ca believe it.) They created their own groups based on their own interests and some of those did take off. In some cases, a group was created, people joined and within a week, it was dead, but others remained active. This is not unlike what we find on any social network. They used it to meet up on weekends and used it to share music and pictures and all sorts of stuff. At the end of the year, I set up a new system with a new database for the next class and forgot about it. But a few months later, logged in to find out that these kids were still using it–even some kids who had moved away to other schools were using it as a way to stay in touch. I think this was very empowering for the students and really did highlight the power of student-centered teaching tools. These days, all of my kids use Facebook, so anything I introduce would come off as artificial. At the same time though, I don’t want to use Facebook to engage with them since I have my own, private life on there. I know that many of them use it as a tool to share their learning and support one another though.
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jenbarker
After reviewing the videos, I am in agreement with both Mike and Ben. I found the first video (Edmodo) did NOT demonstrate very many OLE values. The features of the calendar, ability to view grades, and see homework is simply organization and may assist in increasing students self-regulated learning skills. All of these features were imposed by the teacher and didn’t allow for personal inquiry or divergent thinking. Never was it mentioned that students were using Edmodo create or generate content. Although I liked that the teacher mentioned that she was sharing photos/celebrating the learning happening in the classroom on Edmodo I think should she have provided the students the ability to post similar photos, it would have represented learner autonomy and self-directed learning as the students would be able to pick and choose what they would like to share and evaluate the learning by discussing why they chose the photos they shared. Overall the first video didn’t represent to me meaningful values characteristic of OLEs.
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jenbarker
I believe the second video is far more representative of the values of OLE. The teacher mediated the learning but by encouraging the students to make their own annotations she encouraged divergent thinking. The students had autonomy to choose which part of the poems they wanted to respond to. It allowed for communication between members of the class and allowed for all the voices of the classroom to be heard. The activity had the students generating content through a concrete experience.
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adi
Your observations are very good. If you look at the slide, and the differences between ‘directed’ and ‘open elarning’, then it would appear the teacher in video one does appear to be ‘carefully engineering external conditions’, while the teacher in the second video provides opportunities for ‘manipulation and experimenting’. In the end, it’s like any tool; it’s how you use it. Before it was blackboards and textbooks, now this. Are there better tools than others? Some argue, for example, that an LMS structure is too rigid for creating an OLE and has to many restrictions for plug ins etc. What do you think given your experience with the different platforms MET uses?
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frank
I think we are seeing the evolution of some interesting tools in this course, though we may not be using them directly because switching back and forth between them might add confusion given our constraint that we only communicate online. I would love to see our postings get upvotes & downvotes by the class, so that we can each get some sort of feedback on our work, for example.
I think you are right to juxtapose the differences between (very) directed learning in video one vs. open learning in video two Adelpaso. In that regard, it seems to me that the tool being used does matter. In the Second video, we see much greater application of OLE principles and values as Jen has pointed out, whereas in video one, we pretty much see a typical class do things they would otherwise do, with online tools. If OLE’s have the potential to facilitate an evolution in learning towards say social constructivism, then how they are engineered and designed matters.
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Scott
I have quickly summarize the OLE values of each video presented as follows:
Video 1 – Edmodo
Resources: Handouts, Weblinks
Tools: Quizes, Calendars, Polls, Discussions, Notepad, Grading, Blogs, Help Forums, Notifications
Scaffolds: Help forums, Quiz Feedback, Notifications
Enabling Context: Teachers provided some problems and the Edmodo platform encouraged externally induced contexts, allowing the students to generate problems to be addressed using the peer directed forums.Video 2 – WiKi
Resources: Weblinks, Handouts
Tools: Collaborative text editing and used external social bookmark tool called Digo.
Scaffolds: Structured Units and Collaborative Emphasis
Enabling Context: Highly teacher generated problems, leading to externally imposed contexts, facilitated by Digo tool.Based on the information presented in the videos, in my opinion the Edmodo platform is richer in its OLE tools and affordances to learners than the Wiki platform. I was already familiar with both OLEs, however I was to unaware of the Digo social markup and bookmarking tool used in the Wiki video. It seemed easy to use, engaging and effective. It’s a site that I have added to my own toolbox of online resources and one I’d recommend to colleagues. It also reminded me, that sometimes the simplest tools work the best.
As a final comment, while I appreciate that the Edmodo platform was agreeable to students due its similarity to Facebook, I’m not entirely convinced that a Facebook style environment is what I really want in my classroom. It also raises questions about who is going to moderate and be responsible for all the social oriented content that will be generated while students are logging it outside of class.
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manny
Hi Scott,
You hit a great point in terms of the similarities between such as edmodo/schoology to facebook. The obvious advantage is the hope that the learning curve wont be too much for students and it is something that is comfortable and inviting for them to use. I have tried Wiki’s and WordPress in the classroom and they didn’t quite work to the same effect. The point about discussion moderation is a BIG issue that seems to arise whenever one considers using these platforms. A lot of teachers are against utilizing such platforms as they don’t want the headache or responsibility of moderating discussions outside the classroom. Personal discussions on such sites is definitely a concern and the parameters of usage would have to be clearly laid out before jumping into such platforms headfirst. -
adi
Great summary Scott; you’ve really grasped the concept. I only just recently started using Diigo http://www.diigo.com/ (changed over from Delicious), and it is indeed an amazing tool. Here’s an example of what someone from ETEC 540 did with Diigo http://slides.diigo.com/list/mrspen/collective-wisdom-teaching-blogs-for-elementary
And adding to your summary, I thought I’d share a mind map I made of what an OLE is; I also find summaries useful http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/254/openlearningenvironment.jpg/
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Scott
Thanks for the feedback and mind map – it’s terrific!
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manny
The Edmodo and Wiki examples given in this activity strongly emphasize the collaborative features that OLE’s afford. When comparing this style of teaching to direct instruction, it is evident that there is much more interaction occurring between peers than in the traditional learning environment. According to the definition “OLEs aim to provide learners with opportunities to learn by solving both well and ill-defined problems, by interacting with resources, tools and peers, and by collaborating with others. The videos presented showcase students interacting with the resources and each other but the problems presented seem defined. I have seen examples of moodle, edmodo, and schoology used in instructional practice and noticed that it is usually a compilation of teacher activities presented on an online platform. This is still a step ahead of direct instruction but I think the true power of these tools lies in the ability of students to collaborate in inquiry based learning through the presentation of ill-defined problems.
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adi
I agree, it is ‘a step ahead’ , but we do have a long way to go. Some believe the problem resides in the fact that constructivism (an underlying learning theory of OLEs) is a learning theory, but not an Instructional Design Model. It comes back to applying theory to practice, or teaching as you preach. It’s not easy and often involves a lot more work on the part of the teacher.
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jhodi
You are correct in that we still have some work to do in moving away from direct instruction. I try as much as possible to create activities for my own students that require groups of students working together to solve a problem. I encourage students to use eachother as learning tools as well as their own math base to learn how others view a problem and how they can learn from their peers. I have noticed however, when the math concepts get more and more difficult, it can be harder to develop genuine activities that fit into the time constraints of a class. Developing these activities can also be quite time-consuming compared to direct instruction, but very worth it!
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rebeccaharrison
I agree with most that both sites showcase some OLE values, however the second video presented a model I would be more interested in using in my classroom because it allows students to be more collaborative and invested in the process of creating a learning environment. Each individual in the class is then responsible for the content and flow of the site. In addition to concerns noted above with moderation, I would also be somewhat concerned with accessibility for students and also requiring students to have more “screen time” outside of the classroom to be able to keep up with expectations in the classroom.
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adi
You point out something important: ‘time’. These tools are great, but they do often require a longer time commitment on the part of the student. I don’t know about you, but I have never dedicated so much time to any f2f course I’ve taken as I have with MET. Keeping up with posts, readings, assignments, evaluations; it’s often quite overwhelming!
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Jonathan
Rebecca and Adel —
From what I’ve observed of the two videos Edmodo is being used as a repository but it isn’t clear how she is further bringing out constructivist aspects. What is exciting in all of this is that she has them engaged. The second step to bring out the constructivism wouldn’t be too far away. While she never explicitly states what types of projects she is engaging in like the Wiki video — she can easily implement the constructivist aspects into her Edmodo. I haven’t personally used it, but I have viewed classrooms that do use it.
I do, however, have Wiki experience and I do initially use it as a repository and build out from it. As the students get more familiar with it — the projects become more complex (to a certain extent as they are only Grade 2). The important point is to draw upon the engagement because after that having them work in it is simply taking the next step.
Having used the Wiki, I can say that it is difficult to maintain a dialogue. It is good when students are able to meet F2F and discuss what is happening on a page/project and move forward. I can see many benefits coming out of Edmodo as it provides a more streamlined conversation. These sites merely becoming a launching point for students to engage in more constructivist learning. It isn’t about just using these tools but mashing them all up!
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adi
Good point about sometimes needing to meet f2f; blended learning and complete online learning are not the same. A blended learning OLE is probably easier to achieve than one that is solely online.
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tomwhyte1
For myself, both of these tools Edmodo/Wikis(Other Embedded Tools) provide the technology to potentially allow a teacher to create a Open Learning Environment, however it is important that neither of these tools on their own are Open Learning Environments. For it is how the tool is used, that creates the environment, not the tool itself. For a hammer is not a home, but a hammer provides the ability to create a home.
Contexts – both can be a repository for assignments that have internal – external – or even student directed contexts. However, I do believe that the Wiki environment does provide a better OLE – in that students can use this environment for all forms of the work, where Edmodo at best, would be a delivery mechanism for assignments students completed elsewhere.
Resources/Tools: Both are web based, and therefore all various internal and external resources to be utilized to assist learning. However, again I believe the inherent functionality of Wiki’s provide more flexibility in this regard.
Scaffolds – for myself, this is based again on the teacher and the assignments they provide, not the resource itself. Therefore, I feel the judgement on this area should be focused on the classroom teacher, not the resource delivering their pedagogical approach.
Thoughts?
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adi
Excellent observation regarding judging the teacher rather than the resource. While putting together material for this project I came across some very creative uses of all these tools, adhering very much to the values and principles of OLEs. So I guess you won’t achieve the values of an OLE unless you use its components accordingly. However, all the marketing out there sell you LMS and CMS as if alone they can enhance learning. Not so, as you rightly point out. Thanks.
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visramn
I believe these teacher did a good job of using all the different components of their OLE’s to engage their learners. Both of these online learning environments included tools that allowed for students to collaborate and to have a voice. They both allowed for students to work at their own pace. Students could relate to the OLE’s because they saw them as being similar to social interfaces they use in everyday life, such as Facebook. Therefore, drawing the students in and making them more interested in the information and tasks presented. The teachers posted videos and other interactive and visual tools that helped reach out to different types of learners with different learning styles. The calender feature was a great way of helping students with accountability and with insuring they completed their assignments ( this method sure beats having to run after students and repeatedly reminding them to hand in assignment). I think the teachers did a great job of using the OLE functioning capabilities to set up an effective learning environment. Their efforts and proper use of the OLE was evident from their students success and positive outlook on learning The thing that stuck out to me the most was the comment one of the girls made in the Wiki video about being able to think about what they are writing and post more thoughtful comment. I think this is one major benefits of online leaning environment. A lot of students who may not voice their opinions in traditional learning environment may do so online because they have time to compose their thoughts and they do not feel like they are being watched by their peers or being judged.
Nureen
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adi
Good observation; time to reflect is important. You probably would not get so much participation in a f2f class; especially with the shy students.
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jenniferschubertubc
One word that jumped out at me in the discussion of these tools was “community.” When I reflect upon my experience as a student in the classroom, I can remember feeling like I was part of a social community but not necessarily a learning one. I feel like, in those days, assignments were handed out and completed. In my case, being a very young perfectionist, there was always a healthy dose of competition involved. I can remember some teachers posting top ten lists of who achieved the best scores on tests. It was meant as a motivational tool, but I can now see where it created a separation, or a type of “every man for himself” feel to our success in the classroom.
What I enjoy most about hearing about the use of OLEs in the classroom is the excitement from the students in regards to their use. In both videos, students extolled the virtues of collaboration and learning not only from the one teacher standing at the front of the classroom, but from each other. I think, regrettably, that many students of my generation find this a foreign concept. It wasn’t until I started my studies in the MET program that I began to see the value in sharing ideas, experiences and knowledge. Gone was the competition, leaving more room for scaffolding knowledge from that of others.
One of my main motivations for enrolling in MET studies was to ignite a fire in teachers who are scared/tentative to use new technologies in the classroom. It surprised and saddened me to find so many of my colleagues against continued learning in this realm, relegated and comfortable in their long term teaching routines. Whether we like it or not, the times are changing; students are becoming more and more comfortable with technology and spend a large amount of their free time using it to connect with friends and live their lives. If we can successfully pair social technology with educational technology in OLEs, it will be much easier to reach even the more reluctant students as we’ll be meeting them on common ground and in their comfort zone, so to speak.
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Lisa Nevoral
Hi Jennifer,
I too see the value in sharing ideas, experiences, and knowledge online and think there are some students that may feel more comfortable sharing their ideas or thoughts online than a f2f class. It gives them a chance to think about their responses, search out answers, and reflect upon what others have written. I have found in the MET program that I do all three, as well as learn from others. What I would like to see more of is how OLEs can be used for student-directed learning. I guess what I’m searching for is more “concrete” examples.
Lisa
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jhodi
It seems that these teachers are using these learning tools as OLE’s. These teachers are creating an atmosphere for students to collaborate and that encourage participation and interest from the students. The students seem to enjoy having all of the material outlined for them, but take responsibility for their own learning and ensure that they are using the tools provided to them by their teachers to the best of their abilities. The social networking atmosphere of Edmodo really creates a positive collaborative community space for students to engage with their material and peers. These tools rely on the use of consistent routines for the students that help support each learner to succeed. The online nature allows students the freedom to work from anywhere, but holds them accountable for keeping up to date in the class.
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jameschen
One of the things I noticed in both of the videos is the increased level of engagement for all the students interviewed. By making good use of the affordances offered by the tools they had, the teachers framed lessons so that students found themselves using the platforms to track their learning progress and collaborate with each other even when they were away from school. This shows that the teachers were able to go beyond the principles of OLE.
James
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Lisa Nevoral
Hey All,
In video #1, the school used Edmodo. I think the teachers were adhering to many of the OLE principles. They included resources, such as links to websites and videos or posted their own notes for absent students. They used tools to gauge student levels such as quizzes and polls. The calendar allowed students to see what was coming up, what their assignments were, and when their assignments were due. Students were able to post questions to the teacher or whole class for help or clarification; therefore, collaboration was occurring. What I was unsure of was how much self-discovery was actually occurring or if it was mostly teacher driven.
In video #2, the teacher used a wiki site. Her example was using collaborative skills where students could post their own ideas or respond to others. Students were interacting and discussing online which allowed them to maybe pick up on new ideas or information that they hadn’t thought about before.
It appeared to me that there was lots of student engagement and the teachers used the sites in slightly different ways. As well, I think some students may feel more comfortable to participate or answer questions than they do in a f2f classroom.
Lisa
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Eva Ziemsen
Week 12 Introduction – Open Learning Environments
Welcome to week 12, and this week’s topic Open Learning Environments (OLEs), prepared by Eva Ziemsen, Julie Kotler, Sophia Barton-Bucknor and Adriana del Paso. One of the principles of an Open Learning Environment is to provide hands-on, concrete experiences with opportunities to manipulate and experiment. Hence, as the topic of OLEs is so broad, we […]
Continue reading Week 12 Introduction – Open Learning Environments Posted in: General, Week 12:-
teacherben
Congratulations on having one of the most engaging presentations of the term. Without having specifically measured the lengths of entries, I would guess that you also had some of the most lively discussions. A lot of people felt compelled to return over and over to keep the conversation going. Well done folks!
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melissaayers
A $20 tablet
I came across this article this morning and thought I would share it. I wonder what implications it could have on education in Northern America if we ever decided to issue a low cost tablet device such as this for all students. How a $20 tablet from India could blindside PC makers, educate billions and transform computing as we […]
Continue reading A $20 tablet Posted in: General-
Suhayl Patel
I think this is a great initiative, especially for countries where affordable educational technology is only available to the upper class. I also came across an article this morning in Canadian Business about a tablet that’s 35 dollars, also in India. The idea of providing technology for students in less fortunate coutries/communiteis has been a focus for EdTech companies for a while (eg. 100 laptop/netbook in some areas in Africa). Now although this would provide for access to a “computer”, there is still the issue around the infrastructure (within organizations or at home) to support enhanced learning by leveraging that device (wifi, apps, maintenance, etc). I’m assuming that students would purchase these netbooks and use them as a BYOT device. In our organization we have some infrastructure in place to allow for BYOT devices to be used in the classroom but experience enormous difficulties to make effective use of it. But this is an amazing start and I look forward to seeing how they manage this, and hope to learn from their work.
Thoughts?
Thanks for sharing this Melissa,
Suhayl
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visramn
Thanks for sharing this article Melissa. I agree with Suhayl. The idea of this tablet is great but the infrastructure in many of the countries it could be used it may not be conducive. I taught in Africa for a year. The school I worked in did not have much technology but the technology that was present was not useful most of the time due to other issues that limited access and capabilities of the technology. Internet connection, lack of electricity, etc, are major issues in countries that are on the other side of the digital divide. Any technology that is presented in these setting can not be used to its full potential until these issues are addressed. The article you posted reminded me about a project with a similar intent that I had learned about in a previous MET course (http://one.laptop.org/ ).This organization wants computers to be made cheaply so that more kids can have access and they also look at making these computers in a manner that addresses the power issues faced in communities it will be used in.
Thanks for sharing the article about the $20 tablet. It defiantly got the wheels turning in my head.
Nureen
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frank
Good afternoon,
One of Touch screen’s revolutionary advantages is that its direct and intuitive interface, which makes computer use and access readily available to everyone.
One barrier to achieving this goal however has been cost, and countries such as India have realized that to empower their populations with 21st century skills and know-how, getting them access to the technology that can drive them there is critical. I’m excited to see how the $20 tablet will evolve. -
Ranvir
The invention of low cost computer such as the Ubislate can bring enormous change and revolution in developing countries by bringing the internet to the masses. With education becoming becoming more available and in many cases even free (MOOCs and the Khan Academy’s..), the low cost hardware will make education easily access to the poor and significantly help in spreading literacy an enlightening the impoverished.
My sincere thanks to Mr. Suneet Tulli for trying to make this dream become a reality and for inspiring others to innovate and use technology for the betterment on humankind.
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teacherben
I think it is unlikely that this sort of tablet would ever appear in North American schools. We have been seeing pretty good low-cost tablets in Asia for a long time and even the ones that could get into Canada without a lawsuit from Apple would be unlikely to get much traction in the market. Canadians are pretty cautious about new technologies. Things that take off in other parts of the world, such as mini-discs and VCD’s, never made a blip. People seem to want trusted name brands and are willing to pay. And as far as schools go, the boards are so strict about what you can buy and who you can buy it from that again, I think it would be unlikely we would see them. I remember when I taught grade 1 in Peel, there was a shortage of computers in the school and we couldn’t choose our own distributor. We had to buy the machines from the the authorised Peel company for 2500 bucks a machine, even though I was able to buy a better one at College and Spadina for 500 bucks. The 2500 dollars got us a service plan, but they always took over 2 months to come to repair them in any case, so it wasn’t much help. At any given time, there were several machines in the lab with sticky notes on the screen saying it didn’t work.
Here’s a fun website where you can see the newest Chinese brands and various knock-off devices and read reviews of them:
http://www.gizchina.com/
In many cases these days, their specs are as good as the big names but the prices are less than half.And remember, that Indian machine is subsidised by the government. It costs 80 dollars to buy one yourself.
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Scott
Good point Ben, about the tablet being government subsidized. Do we really want the Canadian government involved in underwriting technology purchases? As you say, the cost to bring one of these low cost tablets to North America would be at least quadruple the price, to cover shipping, duties, taxes, distribution, marketing, service, support, language naturalization and bilingual packaging… the list of fees goes on and on. It makes us realize once again, the enormous coast barriers we place on entrepreneurs, trying to bring new technology to market. As you also note , there are bound to be features which infringe on at least one patent held by Apple, Samsung, Google or some other manufacturer – which will only add to its cost.
So, I see these devices as solutions only for the country which subsidizes them. Which begs the question – who is going to develop apps for it? It might be ok for online activity, but with such a limited market, I imagine its app ecosystem will be hard to develop.
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Jonathan
Ahh enabling technology.
These devices are outstanding. The focus should be about enabling technology and by that I mean allowing students to have access to a computer. The most important aspect of having a computer is access to the internet through a web browser.
Technology access to more people means more access to information. The applications that surround it are great to extend ideas but if a simple internet connection can be established then the opportunities are endless. Many great programs work through the web browser as well.
This got me thinking of the Sugata Mitra TED Talk where he ran “Hole in the Wall” experiments. Essentially Mitra told students what they needed to learn, left some computers, told them he had to leave and that he would be back in a few weeks with a test. It’s fascinating to see the results as students self taught themselves the material they needed to know for the test.
The computer is a resource/tool in this case that the students taught themselves with.
These low cost tablets are awesome for increasing the distribution to more people. I’m with @teacherben on the idea that they wouldn’t make it to North America. There tend to be many problems with these types of devices. In North America we tend to have a highly curated selection that needs to pass many regulations before they can be sold here.
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Jonathan
Forgot to include the Sugata Mitra link TED talk link:
http://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_the_child_driven_education.html -
Jonathan
Oops! How embarrassing. I just realized that of course the group linked Sugata Mitra – in the next phase (Touch, I just finished putting in my responses for Voice 😉 My apologies for the redundant link.
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joeltremblay
Week 11: Beyond
After watching the videos in the beyond section, post your cross curricular outlines below.
Posted in: General, Week 11:-
teacherben
You are also welcome to use this space to respond with your thoughts to any of the content that you saw on the Beyond page.
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Doug Connery
The Weeks Fly by.
As I was reading through the postings here in Voice, Touch and Gesture, I started to wonder how these technologies compare to the other six modules we have been exposed to and played with since October 1. Yes the weeks fly by. So here is what we have seen recently:
Week 5: Apps
Week 6: The Cloud
Week 7: Augmented Reality
Week 8: Personalized Learning
Week 9: BYOD
Week 10: Digital textbooks
Week 11: Voice, Touch and Gesture
1. From an educational perspective, which do you see as having the most promise in the short term and long term for your teaching practice?
2. From an investor’s perspective, which would you buy into?
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visramn
I think a lot of these overlap so it would be difficult to choose one. However, I would have to say BYOD is one that is currently very relevant in many schools. I personally can see how the adoption of BOYD in schools is changing the dynamic of schools because this is an initiative that has been taken on in the school district I work in.
As for the near future, I would have to say voice, touch and gesture is going to become a huge part of learning and education. So many learners respond better when their learning interactions are visual and tactile. Not to mention, learners of today are drawn to technology so it is inevitable that learning is going to move towards newer innovations such as these.
Nureen
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Jenny Brown
Great questions to pose Doug. I will focus on Question 2. All of these have investor opportunities (although I am not sure how to approach BYOD) and obviously all have risks but also potentially high payoffs.
• For apps there is a lot of competition and it seems like popularity spreads mostly through word of mouth. Look at Angry Birds, which is wildly popular. It may be difficult to predict what apps will really take off.
• The cloud, in my opinion, is the future but I think only a few large initiatives will make it to the top and you have to convince the public to buy your product or solicit really good advertising.
• Really amazing application of Augmented Reality is still a ways off and I would see this as a high risk investment but one with potentially huge payoffs. Because the technology still has a ways to go there are potentially good investment opportunities out there.
• Personalized Learning I think has more limited investor opportunities than some of the other technologies but educators with the inside scoop of the pain point and if the product addresses it well might have an advantage investing in personalized learning technologies.
• For digital textbooks, I think the players are already in place and it might be difficult to penetrate the market.
• For Voice, Touch and Gesture, I think the opportunity is similar to that of apps. You could invest in a great technology that just doesn’t pick up or if you are savvy enough (and lucky enough) you invest in one that really makes a presence in the market.
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lullings
Hey Jenny,
I though I would weigh in there with some trends that I have noticed here in Ireland in relation to apps.
I am not sure if it is due to our shattered economy or to a general trend world wide but apps are now not carrying the strength they had. A lot of companies including one of the national broadcasters are abandoning their apps and are choosing in favor of putting a link on the app store. This allows an icon to be downloaded but it actually just links back to their site.
In the majority this is really only being done when the companies website is adaptive. This means that it actually responds to the size of the screen that is requesting the information. So if an ipad is requesting the site it then sizes itself dynamically for that screen.
This allows for easy updates of the site which will filter down to the ‘app’ as its not really an app in the traditional sense. The biggest company to do this was google. Since IOS6 Apple have ditched the google maps in favor of their own which are really bad. So google had a choice to go out and design, build and submit their own app or create a link app download to their site. They chose the latter.
As a result it could mean less of a app driven market and more of an integration between the app style market and the rest of the web experience.
Does anyone else have experience with this?
Stuart
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Jenny Brown
Hi Stuart,
I don’t have first hand knowledge on the possible decline of the apps market but just some thoughts:
If information is non interactive, a link to the site that formats to the type of device is a good choice. When you write a website, someone can see the page on different devices with very little development effort.
An app is a better choice when information is highly interactive because it needs to be optimized to work smoothly on the device.
Apps require more development effort as different devices require different programming languages and apps require more maintenance to keep them updated for the operating system.For example, talking about Google, if we look at Google Docs (a website running in a browser) – it works really well on a larger screen (doesn’t matter if it is a PC or a Mac) but it not optimized for smaller devices. Microsoft Word, on the other hand, is an app that has a lot more functionality that needs to be optimized for the device it is being used on (PC, Mac and coming soon official Microsoft Office apps for smart phones).
So I think that both web-based and app based information will prevail as there are specific uses and advantages to both.
Doing a short search about the Google Maps App, it looks like it will be making a comeback to the iPhone: A new report from The Wall Street Journal suggests that Google has already distributed a version of Google Maps for Apple’s iOS for testing. The insider that spoke to the paper explained that Google is trying to make sure that the native Maps app will be ready for prime time before submitting it to the iTunes store – though the exact timeline hasn’t been given.
Apple aficionados can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that help is definitely heading their direction, as it’s now only just a matter of when. If there’s still any doubt, Google did say that its goal is “to make Google Maps available to everyone who wants to use it, regardless of the device, browser, or operating system”. http://www.androidauthority.com/google-maps-app-inches-closer-release-apple-ios-132034/
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Patrick Pichette
From the topics that were explored, I think that Voice, Touch, and Gesture has the highest investor and educational potential in the short term. The technology is still has yet to make its way in classrooms on a widespread basis but its ability to equalize learning opportunities across all age, geographical, socio-economical, and racial ranges gives it the greatest chance to give education a facelift. As the technology is can also be interlinked with apps, the cloud, augmented reality, personalized learning, BYOD, and digital textbooks, it also gives it a higher level of penetration into education from many different angles. I see the greatest potential in personalized learning tools and will be exploring ideas in this field making use of voice, text, and gesture technology.
As for long term potential, I think augmented reality may have a chance in this area as it isn’t quite ready for adoption in an educational market but should likely heavily penetrate the consumer markets in the next few years. My fear is that this technology will likely be boom or bust in many cases so it’s difficult to gauge the area to invest in that could lead to a successful venture. From an investor’s perspective, this could definitely be a high risk, high reward area to explore.
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lullings
Personally from an investor’s perpective voice, touch and gesture would be the most appealing (hope I am not just favoring this week!)
The main reasons for this is that its new, adaptive and most of all it can be brought into a multiple of different environments (games, education, health etc). This would be essential for creating a large customer base and allow for cross learning which would continue to improve the product/service.
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visramn
I have to say I was blown away by the different technologies out there. It is amazing how everyday objects that are in our home such as mirrors and windows can be turned into a technologically functioning devices. I found all the videos so interesting and am excited to see the surfacing of these technologies all around me. I personally think this era of innovation is amazing and way beyond my imagination.
Nureen-
teacherben
If you have a chance and live in a big city, look out for any tech exhibitions. They are always a lot of fun. I went to one in Hong Kong a month ago with something like 10,000 vendors showcasing all sorts of crazy stuff. I pretended that i had my own company selling educational hardware and software and discussed purchases in the thousands of units and got estimates for shipping and all sorts of things. i was a laugh and definitely an educational experience. (If you are prepared to purchase a minimum of 1000 units, you can buy a Chinese-made tablet with specs similar to the new Nexus 7 for under $70USD per unit.)
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kstackhouse
A few thoughts on each of the topics….While many of the videos showed cool and neat things I kept thinking…How lazy are we going to become? We complain now about having to get up to change the channel, then we complain about not being able to find the remote, so we create a voice activated system or a gesture system…Next we will have eye scanners so the TV can respond to our eye movement…Just Kidding, unless someone thinks this is a good idea and we can make some money from it…If that is the case, let’s talk. 🙂
I just wonder where does it stop, maybe it doesn’t. I personally would not want the interactive goggles to look around. I like looking at nature and taking it in without seeing it through a screen or having AR info floating around.
I can see that the windows or table top monitors could be something that people will really go after. From an educational standpoint I think that these systems will be great collaborating and sharing tools. I think there are some exciting potentials here. I also think the DIY movement is the best way to take advantage of Connectivism and Constructivism learning approaches. I could see a cross curricular project where the Environmental Science, Biology, and Computing courses work together to solve issues like energy and create systems and models to try to develop understanding and solutions for the issues tackled.
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teacherben
Surprise! We already have TV’s that you control with your eyes:
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teacherben
My dream is to have glasses that can zoom in. My eyesight is pretty poor and I live in cities where I am always surrounded by things that I just can’t make out. If I could just make a little gesture and my glasses would zoom in so I could make it out, that would be awesome.
Apparently DARPA is already working on such a thing. Funny how so many of these ideas start with the military:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/12/23/darpa_computational_cameras/
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kstackhouse
Thanks for the links. That is hilarious…I guess I will have to think of another scheme to get rich. 🙂
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sophiabb
Yes, that would be great. Mine is very poor and getting worse by the second from all this computer usage. No need for progressives that seem to be hit and miss.
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jenbarker
Ken ~ I laughed when I read your post. I am one of those lazy people that would love to be able to command any light switch in my house to turn off with my voice. I don’t consider myself a lazy person by nature but I think that when I choose to sit down and relax, technology such as this affords me an ability to truly relax. In a house with five people our remote continually disappears. I think being able to control the television with our voice would solve an ongoing problem. I am not sure this makes us more lazy or if simply solves a problem.
We built our house three years ago and remote technology such as this existed for light switches, thermostats, and stereos but they were very expensive at the time. I see an environmental benefit to these technologies. One example would be that I could control the heat of my home while on vacation. 24 hours before arriving home I could turn the heat in my house up and keep it down for the week prior. This would save energy and money.
Thanks Ben for opening my eyes to all the great possibilities arising. You appear to be on the cutting edge of what is available in technology.
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melissaayers
Ken, I like to think of it as me being efficient not lazy when I see how cool many of these technologies are and I want to integrate into my daily life 🙂
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jhodi
I would love to see an app used to create generative art, such as what was seen in one of the videos, that could then be used in a math class to explore scale drawings and how you could use a phone to zoom in and out and explore the scale used each time.
Jhodi
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teacherben
There are tons and tons. Processing (that was used in the video) is a language that is frequently used to create generative art and there are sites where people have uploaded their projects so you can have a play. Try openprocessing.org or studio sketchpad.
Here’s an amazing on the a guy I know created:
http://www.openprocessing.org/sketch/64760(He has created over 100 tutorial videos to get you started: funprogramming.org)
If you have an Android phone or tablet, then you can create your own apps from other people’s work and run it on your device. Here’s how:
Install Processing on your computer. Install the Android SDK on your computer. Find a Processing sketch that you like on one of those sites and copy/paste the code into Processing on your computer. Plug in your Android device. Click the button that says ‘Android’ then ‘run on device’ and it will install. Presto!
Processing is a great way to teach about generative art since it is so easy to learn. You could have kids creating awesome visuals in a couple of lessons.
Have fun!
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cunnian
I must say that I was incredibly impressed with the Makey Makey toolkit. I hadn’t seen this before and initially had difficulty thinking of how I could apply this in my classroom largely because what it affords is so new to me. After some consideration, I came up with an idea to use this in my IB technology 8 class for students to design and create a new video game controller for the video games that they will already be creating using Scratch. The advantage is that they can create an input device that best suits the game that they will create. This will require them to think more deeply during the design cycle about the game that they create and how the user will interact with it. Fun idea, but not cross-curricular.
Another idea that would be cross-curricular (but completely impractical) is to use voice-activated robotics in my French class as a means of improving pronunciation. Students could identify, practice and input terms that they find hard to pronounce and then determine if a francophone could operate their robot. This I would be a more engaging way of having students practice and apply their learning in a way that gives them feedback in a novel way.
A final and, admittedly, still somewhat impractical use of this would be with my student rowing club. The blades (oars) could be rigged up as input devices and interface with a drawing program on a mobile device. As they row in, a pattern should emerge on the screen which they could then interpret to determine if they are pulling in the most efficient way.
At any rate, these are some ideas that immediately came to mind. This is definitely a cool technology that I will have to get my hands on!
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teacherben
Your MaKey MaKey/Scratch idea is great and totally do-able. You could also do it with a Scratch Board/PicoBoard which was designed specifically to work with Scratch or with the MaKey MaKey. I bet that your kids would surprise you with how many ingenious ways they come up with the use it to input a ‘key press’. I would love to see the rowing one. It would be a bit trickier, but could be done. I went to a workshop a couple weeks ago with one of the guys from the original Scratch development team and we played with MaKey MaKeys for a while. That was my first time using one. Another teacher and I built a system that attached to his glasses so we could see how long he had been wearing them. We used Scratch as well, and I figure that your blades in the water would be measured the same way–it just counts up so long as the key is pressed and stores that in a variable. Cool. Thanks for sharing. Both the MaKey MaKey and the Scratch board cost about 50 bucks a pop though which is a bit steep, although I’m sure you can get your money’s worth out of it. Apparently the newest Arduino model, called the Leonardo, can also be recognized as a keyboard when you connect it, so it can do basically the same thing (and a whole lot more) and those only go for 25 bucks apiece. If you want to give it a try, keep in touch. i have a grade 7 class doing Scratch projects right now and will probably try to do something similar.
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sophiabb
Whew! I am really impressed by all the technologies presented. Why am I feeling obsolete – both as an educator and a parent?
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teacherben
I just found a cool project. A group of hackers have been working together to help a well-known graffiti artist who has ALS and is now completely paralysed from head to toe. All that he can move is his eyes. So they hacked a Sony playstation 3 and used parts to make something they call Eyewriter (http://www.eyewriter.org/) that allows him to paint with his eyes. Amazing what people can do.
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joeltremblay
Week 11: Gesture
Activities: 1. Record your experiences with Flutter below. 2. Present any examples or links that you have seen or ideas you may have generated where education could benefit from this quickly emerging technology.
Continue reading Week 11: Gesture Posted in: General, Week 11:-
manny
1. My initial experience with Flutter was a positive one. Upon downloading the software, it is really user friendly and easy to use. However, when I used it with my music library in iTunes, I realized that it does take a while to learn all the commands. Furthermore, you have to frequently repeat the gestures as the camera doesn’t always pick them up (this could be a result of camera angle). Another limitation is that you need to be within 1 to 6 feet of your computer and I am beginning to wonder whether this will truly take off given this limitation. There seems to be a few wrinkles that need to be ironed out and I guess this is why the NMC Horizon report has suggested a few years before its successful inception.
2. Upon my initial experimentation with this technology, I could see it being used in education in a myriad of ways. Apart from simply using gestures for controlling your PC/Mac, I think the gesture recognition aspect of the software could prove to be very helpful in education. It would be great to teach sign language in which it could perhaps decipher whether the students are learning the correct methods. I also think it could have a place in courses such as Drama and Physical Education in which body movement represents a huge portion of the curriculum. Although I don’t have specifics right now, I look forward to seeing what our cohort comes up with and adding more specific examples throughout our discussion this week.
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Suhayl Patel
I totally agree with everything you said Manny, but what instantaneously came to mind for me was the idea of collaboartion in a classroom with a large output. Students would be able to contribute to class learning more actively and everyone could see the contributions as they’re recognized and displayed. Students don’t have to come to the IWB to write.
While helping specific individuals/groups, the teacher could show the entire class soemthing that is worth mentioning, from their present location instead of from the front of the class.
The possibilities are really endless, and it’s innovative technology like this that makes me miss that I’m not in a classroom anymore.
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jkotler
Hi Suhayl,
Like you and Manny, I too believe gesture technology can be used for a variety of subjects and collaboration among students. Building on those ideas though, I also think it could be a great way to make a classroom that much more inclusive wherein students with physical or learning disabilities can use it to participate alongside their classmates.
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tomwhyte1
I myself did not have such great luck with this program, however that is besides the point. I like many of you, envision this technology to help many students, either at home or at school learning various activities. The original idea presented was sign language, however, imagine a coaching program embedded with Gesture Technology for Dance Classes, Hockey Practices, etc. Yes I realize that major sports utilize similar technologies, but would not Gesture Technology allow an affordable option for schools and potentially the home.
As well, if we extrapolate this technology say inside of a pencil. I could imagine the new Pencil 2.0 (combination of gesture technology, and maybe a light signal mechanism) as being a great resource learning how to print for young students, to even handwriting for older students.
In a traditional learning environment, I believe some thinking would have to occur. In regards to the physical layout of the class, line of sights to students, proximity between students (for I would not want someone gesturing and accidentally hitting a fellow classmate).
Lastly, I would be interested in how this technology could be used on a regular basis to combat health problems, such as excess weight and the issues associated with that.
Thoughts?
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Doug Connery
Hi Manny:
Great points that you have made about Flutter and gesture. I wonder though with the 1-6 foot distances that you mention as limitations to Flutter, if they are reasonable for an App on a mobile device. How often would you be more than 6 feet from your iPhone? I can see six feet as a limitation for larger applications such as were given as examples by the larger players.
Doug.
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joeltremblay
I think possibly, the 1-6 foot limitation coule be an issue for people who want to sit on their couch and use the computer to watch movies etc. I have a friend who uses his TV as the screen and sits on the couch with a wireless keyboard and mouse and flutter seems to be the next evolution in that direction.
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Pat A Son
Even before trying flutter I am so impressed by the potential of this technology I will like to share my thoughts here.
I believe that this along with voice have the greatest potential of enriching the learners experience as far as NUIs are concerned. I consider gesture based computing a form of “extended reality” in that the learner is able to interact with a computer based environment in an almost tactile way. As such the only thing between the user and the environment is the display screen however it “transparent” to the experience and the user for all useful purposes is a part of the environment in the computer. A learner is in fact in the matrix 😉 and just like Neo in the hit movie series is now empowered to do thing that is not possible and that has limitless potential as far as education is concerned. The keystone of this technology is the new level interactivity it brings to the teaching/learning experience. This can enable one to passively explore a CG environment by walking and navigating the landscapes and architecture there. This could be anything from an ancient world to an alien civilization, through the body of an organism or some man made technology. Like Neo the power of this technology is that is that one can not only see but they are now able to affect the world in such a way that the world in turn is able to affect them in a profound way. In other words their interaction with the environment provides learning opportunities that is not possible by any other means.
BTW why is it that game developers are some of the first ones to exploit this technology?
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Jonathan
Flutter was a lot of fun! Totally enjoyed the experience. I’ve been eagerly looking around for people to show this to. The only problem with this great program is that it has just a few gestures. Doesn’t it give you a craving for more gestures?
To answer/add on to Patason’s response: I think game developers are putting a lot of research and development into this technology because their is a financial reward to it. Their only requirement is that it has to be entertaining. This is much different than education sector which is responsible for making the technology engaging and educational. Two hurdles compared to the video game industry.
I remember a while back when there was a video game that first had this technology in a Street Fighter/Mortal Kombat type of a game that allowed players to kick and punch and the character would respond to their physical actions.
Now we are into the later stages where the Kinect is doing this in homes.
Kinect’s obvious implications is the promise of teaching dance in a natural way. Of course you are relying on the input device of the camera to read when you are a successful and unsuccessful dancer which may not be the greatest judge but it still has an opportunity to flourish.
In the classroom — i see the physical nature being great for students that need to move and interact to learn. Amazing to think of a great big display that students can gesture and interact with for information.
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Pat A Son
Yes Jonathan I agree that that game developers are prepared to invest in their game because of the financial rewards it can bring. However don’t you think that the kid who is willing to plunk out ????$ for a video game will be willing to do the same for a lesson, unit or module that leverages video game technology. As and example to this I remember downloading and playing wolf quest (http://www.wolfquest.org/) for another MET course. In this game you are wolf who has to survive, find a mate and raise a family in a semi-realistic real world environment that essentially teaches ecology from gaming standpoint. All of my children(3) and nieces and nephews were all hooked on the game before that summer was out. They saw this game in the light as any other video game and am sure they would prefer learning about ecology this way as against the traditional textbook mode.
That being said I agree with you that the video game industry is different to that of education but I believe the difference the education is not seen as a for profit endeavor by educators. The textbook industry is the biggest exception to this. In addition in my opinion we are still grappling with how to leverage new affordances such as gesture in our ‘game’ while gamers are light years ahead of us in this respect. In essence we educators have to start to see education as more than just a prerequisite for the members of a society but as money making enterprise in its own right.
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teacherben
For those people with an interest in programming, i just discovered a library called OpenCV that works with Processing (and most major languages and platforms) that allows you to use input from your camera in your programs. It focuses on what is called ‘real time image processing’ which uses live input through a camera to do stuff. It can do things like compare one frame to the next. So, for example, if it sees the same background (no one there) for a long time, then suddenly sees a big change in the colour of the pixels (because someone walks into the frame) then this could be used to trigger an event, like music playing, or a message being put on a screen or power being turned on for some other device. Hopefully I will get a chance to play around with it this week but it looks promising for yet another option for some DIY gesture fun.
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avninder
Using Flutter was interesting but as it has already been mentioned, it takes awhile to learn all of the functions. I have used Kinect before and unfortunately the gesture commands were different. In Kinect the ‘go left’ function can be completed by a swipe not a thumb pointing in the direction like in Flutter.
If gesture software were to become mainstream I think it would be important that some standards are followed, similar to how ‘x’ always means exit in a window.
Like most touch/gesture technology I think there is a huge opportunity to leverage this capability for visually impaired or otherwise challenged students. To use on a large scale in a regular classroom however, one would have to consider design and the value that is added. I think gesture based technology will make certain tasks easier but not necessarily better for learning on a large scale. So once again it comes back to cost.-
teacherben
I think there’s no question that it will become mainstream and costs are already coming down. As you saw with Flutter, it can already be done with a single webcam, although it uses a fairly rudimentary system of what is called ‘blob tracking’ which is based on the computer recognizing ‘blobs’, blocks of darker pixels on the screen, and then compares one frame with the next to see if the blob moved. But to do more advanced tracking of movements, you just need two cameras. The cameras on our laptops, when purchased in bulk, cost about two dollars (can you believe it?) So it won’t be a big deal for the to install two of them on a laptop. Look out for the upcoming Microsoft Xbox Surface gaming tablet that will certainly set a new trend with gesture-based input. (We will probably see a proliferation of gaming tablets for a while, so companies can try to make money on two fronts, but then sooner or later, there will be a convergence and all tablets will be equipped with this sort of stuff.)
In the meantime, you can pre-order the Leap, which has similar functionality to the Kinect, but is supposedly 200 times more sensitive, works on multiple platforms and will only cost $70USD. It comes out in a couple of months:
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Pat A Son
I could not use flutter because it doesn’t work with AMD processors
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visramn
I also found this to be a very interesting program but struggled with it initially. Like any new technological feature, it took me some time to learn now to use it properly. I actually could not even get it to work on my computer initially and I began to become very frustrated because it looked so easy in the videos.
I think this type of tool could creates many opportunities in an educational setting. The very first thing that came to my mind was special needs students who do not have the manual dexterity to work with keyboards and touch screens. This type of tool can open up so many doors for individuals who have such disabilities. Thus, allowing for them to become more active in their learning. I also think this type of tool is great for group work and collaboration.
One concern I had with this is that gestures have different meaning in different cultures. Hence, a technology like this may have different gestures in different areas and my not be able to be applied cross culturally. For example, some cultures may find certain gestures to be rude or they may have an inappropriate meaning or some cultures may use a gesture for a different purpose in everyday life and may find it difficult to adapt to the one used in software such as this. Thus, resulting in gestures having to be changed for different societies.
Nureen-
Peggy Lawson
Late to the discussion party, and not much new I have to offer but agree that gesture has great potential in computing – for special needs students, phys ed, etc. Flutter was a neat little experiment that gave a simple taste of the great potential.
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kstackhouse
As others mentioned it take a few minutes to get used to using Flutter. I did not get a chance yet to try it with Quicktime or Keynote. I think those might be areas that would be great for everyday use and in presentations.
One area that I think this type of technology could really have an impact is in coaching. It would be great to have a player take a slap shot, pitch a curve ball, or shoot a 3-pointer with a system monitoring their movements. It could then be used to analyze their form, offer suggestions for maximum efficiency and correct technique. I could see golfers to be the first to really adapt to this since there are already so many golf simulation games and places to “drive” a ball indoors. As a coach I would love to be able to use this technology.
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jhodi
One area where gesture-based computing could provide educational benefits is in the realm of virtual field trips. Some virtual field trips such as those set up with a museum are designed to feel like walking through a museum. It would help with the immersive feeling for students to be able to use their body to navigate around the museum like they would if they were actually there. Using an app such as LookBackMaps could allow students to intuitively navigate around Google maps and locate historical sites and research information.
Jhodi
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jenbarker
I tried out Flutter and really enjoyed it. Not a gamer myself, I think I found its novelty more exciting than anything else. I also found it took awhile to learn the gestures and don’t really find it any easier to use than clicking the mouse. The fact that you need to be within a short distance range from the computer is a limitation when using Flutter with iTunes. Thinking of the scenario of a party, I personally would find an remote easier to use to switch songs than I would gestures. I like the affordances it provides for people with unique needs such as the woman who had the stroke. In terms of use in an educational environment, I think it there is great possibility here. I have never liked that the Smartboard allows only one child/person at a time to move or change the screen. Gesturing might improve this technology to engage more learning in action.
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rebeccaharrison
I also couldn’t get it to work with my “at home” systems (and I have no music/videos on my computer). Alas! However, I get the gist of it. I like the point of it being useful for teachers who could access the board from any point in the room. Also, allowing for mulitple contributions would give some great opportunities. What if students could use it to collaboratively build models from different eras? Like a really educational/interactive version of Age of Empires. I can see this eliminating a lot of technology as well (which is more to the landfill), but if I’m correct, this could move us towards less “stuff”? Is there any information in this field for environmental impacts?
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C. Ranson
I downloaded flutter and currently using it with my iTunes library. I am having no difficulty with the hand gestures, you just have to ensure your hand is being captured by the camera and not moving too fast.
The videos capturing how gesture applications can be utilized for communication with stroke victims, individuals with syndromes and the elderly are brillant and I would anticipate that this area will continue to advance in the future.
Thanks of the Learning.
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Lisa Nevoral
Hey All,
I wasn’t able to use Flutter, but I have used Kinect to play games such as bowling and target shooting practice. Gesture technology is truly amazing. I can see the benefits of this technology in an entertainment aspect (such as gaming or turning on your TV and browsing through the channels), to helping people with disabilities. On the educational front, not only do I see the benefit of being able to project or move things around without having to physically use a computer or mouse, but also the ability gesture technology has for teachers to create interactive assignments for students. I think it would be relevant in science classes where students would be able to use gesture-based computing to do experiments or dissections. Students would be able to do the actual procedures of cutting into or opening up a specimen (if having a real specimen was not possible). They could also rotate the object around to see the specimen from all angles. I could also see this technology being used in a physics class.
This technology allows students to be actively involved in their learning, instead of passively receiving information. It lends itself towards student-centered activities, therefore taking the focus off of the teacher and onto what is trying to be taught and learned. Students can explore, simulate situations, find answers, and collaborate with others. But as with always, if this technology is introduced into a classroom, teachers must make a shift on how they teach that leads their students to this type of active learning.
Lisa
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jenniferschubertubc
I do not have access to a computer that I can try out Flutter on, but I did want to mention some advantages I have come across with gesture technology. In both my elementary Life Skills classroom and my Profound Mentally Handicapped High School classroom, we often used the Nintendo Wii system for adaptive Physical Education. Regardless of mental ability to understand the game or physical capability (most PMH students needed hand over hand assistance), all students were exposed to the idea of cause and effect. (Their own physical actions were creating something “fun” to happen on the screen.) As I discussed in the touch screen forum, it was hard to determine if the PMH students actually made this connection, but the life skills students certainly did and had a ball. (It also helped that we created Mii avatars for each one of them. They were so excited to see cartoons of themselves and took such pride in making themselves to things on the screen.) Since a big part of our Life Skills curriculum was working on gross motor skills, Wii “play” fit in perfectly. Now with advancements, like the Kinect system, making remotes obsolete, this technology will only continue to enhance students’ experiences and access to interactive activities.
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Doug Connery
Thanks everyone for contributing with your experiences with flutter and for your ideas of how gesture based technology can be used in education. Here is a summary of your observations and comments to date. Fell free to keep commenting to end of day Sunday.
In summary, flutter was a great introductory experience using gesture technology. According to the gesture poll, five of you have at least one gesture based app on a device and 14 have none. In general, your observations were positive that the program worked and has potential. some of the problems were: recognition of limited gestures, it takes time to learn functions and sometimes it did not recognize gestures. Also, several people mentioned that they did not have the technology to support the App. Advisability is always an issue with newer technology.
Here is a list of suggestions you provided where you think gesture could be used in education: sign language, drama, physical education, science – biology, dance, coaching and sports – hockey, golf, ect, health education, ecology, and computer programming, printing and writing. I am sure I missed a few. Several mentioned how gesture could be used to improve education by increasing collaboration and interaction, virtual field trips, improved interactivity of SMART Boards.
Many of you saw a real need to use gesture based computing to help students, adults and the elderly with disabilities (mental, physical visual), syndromes by allowing them to be included in classroom and everyday activities.
For me, I learned tons about gesture, voice and touch while working on this module with my mentors Ben, Stuart, Frank and Joel. It was almost embarrassing how little I knew about these technologies when I started this project. Now like after going through the other modules in this course I am much more knowledgeable and a little wiser.
Doug.
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Eva Ziemsen
I was unable to use Flutter due to (once again) my OS being out of date and still not having an update. However, after reading more about it, I was completely sold by this technology. I believe it would be highly useful, as many have mentioned, for those with special needs and also the elderly. I started to envision what would happen if you combine gesture technology with virtual reality. I believe York University has a lab wherein you exist and gesture and you are also in a virtual reality, however, I do not have details on this. I am sure gesture will become part of the norm and will eventually replace many input devices (such as a mouse).
One other idea I had related to gesture and my field, filmmaking, is that it would be great to incorporate gesture recognition into cameras. For example, when filming a documentary, most often the subject moves in ways you cannot predict. Of course there are already things like auto focus or exposure, but perhaps cameras will be able to respond to the director’s hand while the filming is taking place. What is often done is that the director and camera operator have a code (similar to baseball) and 1 means, close up, 2 means medium shot and 3 means wide shot. They have a silent secret code, because they do not want to interrupt the flow of the interview. If the director could gesture this with their hand, and a device near the director’s hand could read this, it would result in a more streamlined mode of working. Of course, it will also lead to machine errors, but it should be interesting where this takes us.
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teacherben
Here’s a cool new thing.. This company has found a way to use acoustic sensors to recognize the different sound signatures of different touches–so your cell phone would know the different if you were touching the screen by sliding a finger or sliding a knuckle across the screen. It could tell the different between different paterials, so you could have a stylus with a ‘pen’ end and an ‘eraser’ end.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/18/qeexos-fingersense-lets-touchscreens-listen/
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melissaayers
Like others mentioned I also find the best application of gesture is for students with disabilities. I like flutter and think its great on a PC/laptop for finding and/or closing applications, increasing/decreasing volume and iterating though music tracks etc.
I echo the concerns of others about the cultural and usability significance of gestures. I agree with their being a need to come up with a set of standard gestures and their meanings. This will make applications much easier to use as does it now when web designers adhere to defacto standards such as using blue for hyperlinks etc, search box placement and home buttons/links on websites.
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joeltremblay
Week 11: Touch
After reading the Touch page and watching the videos, please answer the following 3 questions: 1. In your experience, how have you witnessed touch improve technological and educational access across age groups, as well as geographical and socio-economic barriers? 2. What do you think this innovation might lead to (opportunities) in how we provide and […]
Continue reading Week 11: Touch Posted in: General, Week 11:-
tomwhyte1
1. Professionally no – as a school just beginning to explore BYOD technology, and before that having little to no technology inside of the classroom, this reality has never existed yet. Personally, I have watched my now 4 and 6 year old navigate extremely well throughout my iPad to play various games and participate in multiple learning activities. (Which on a side note, I do not believe my children are naturally gifted at technology, as many people do… what I do believe is that the people who invented the interface has made it so natural and easy to figure out, that age is almost now a non-factor). Lastly, due to my location in the world, I have not experienced geographical nor socio-economic improvements due to touch technology, I have heard of the extremely inexpensive tablet computer before, and I am interested. However, I am concerned about the longevity of the device, which may lead to more disposable tech… Thoughts?
2/3. For myself, these questions are very similar, for myself, it is very similar to the touch screen desk that appeared in one of the TED Talk videos. For I envision, desks such as these for each student, containing textbooks, audio files, etc… Which would allow the promise of interactive education to occur for each individual student… Thoughts?
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tomwhyte1
Secondly, even though Apple made Touch technology common for the consumer market and profitable for themselves, it is important to remember the many milestones that have occurred before:
http://www.npr.org/2011/12/23/144185699/timeline-a-history-of-touch-screen-technology
I myself remember some of these… 🙂
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Peggy Lawson
Thanks Week 11 for a great start on some interesting topics – I’ve just started experimenting with some of the voice apps but want to jump to Touch technology.
Interesting timeline Tom. It’s always important to remember that even with the rapid leaps in technology, there are still small steps along the way. I found one key step absent in the timeline link you posted – interactive white boards (e.g. smartboards). While these companies likely didn’t create many new touch technologies, they certainly made huge inroads into education. But it took many years – I remember seeing SMART Board vendors trying to sell their wares many many years before they have just suddenly become very common in my own school division. Alas, most schools spent thousands on single touch boards, and now of course multi-touch is the standard.
While I think IWB (Interactive White Boards) have great potential, I’ve seen too much money spent recently on them just because schools see them as a “must have” to demonstrate they have “integrated” technology. Already, many of them are almost obsolete due to multi-touch. And iPads.
My point I guess – by the time many schools are ready to really invest in a technology, it is already being surpassed by something better. For expensive technology – this is a major consideration. Schools need to invest – but is big and expensive the best option if you are late to join the game?
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lullings
Hey Peggy, thanks for the post.
I am getting the feeling from your post that that a school is a large entity that is slow to change and adopt new technology. When it does change it has to go for proven technology that might be already surpassed due to accountability and costs.
Do you think that a school should be broken up into classes and let teachers decide their use of technology. This would allow for early adopters and trials of the newest digital resources due to the reduced volume and faster adaptability?
Stuart
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tomwhyte1
Personally, I think that would be a great idea. However, I am unsure a district would allow such approaches, as volume purchasing reduces prices, and consistent technology reduces IT time and subsequent costs.
However, as a classroom teacher, I would fully endorse such an approach.
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manny
Thanks for sharing some of your reservations regarding white boards Peggy. Unfortunately, when technology (or anything new for that matter) is introduced in the classroom it usually undergoes a pilot phase for a period of about 2 years. I am currently part of a pilot project integrating iPads within our school district. However, according to Moores Law, by the time it is ready for full implementation, it would probably already become obsolete. Sort of a catch 22 but something that we must live with. I guess the alternative is to do nothing at all and i’m sure we would all agree in that avenue is not an option if we want to remain on the cutting edge of innovation.
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Peggy Lawson
Thanks for the extended discussion. For a large division such as mine, where tech support can be an issue, allowing every teacher, or even every school, to go in their own direction, with their own technologies, is a poor option these days, as desirable as it might initially seem for individual schools.
I agree pilot projects are likely the best approach, but as you suggest Manny & others, by the time to pilot is done technology has moved on (iPad 1 > 2 >3). But iPad versions, in the end, are less critical than the iPad itself.
To me the lesson is then …
(1) Make sure the technology is not just a flash-in-the-pan that will be totally obsolute within a year or 2; thus it needs to have some established life span already;
(2) realize that having the most recent version (e.g. iPads) is not the important critical factor. Tailor instructional technology implementation for the lesser version of the technology, once the technology itself has been determined to be worth the investment.
I’m sure there are more points to add – suggestions? Alterations to points 1 & 2?
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Colin
I think it would be ideal to let teachers choose what technologies they implement in a classroom. I understand the disadvantage to servicing and purchasing of equipment but it would allow for a lot more innovation. When a teacher has a choice in what technology they are using it makes them feel empowered and they are more likely to be effective using it instead of just being assigned a smart-board. Different styles of teaching does lend itself well to different kinds of technology. Technology is just a tool that needs to be wielded correctly by the user for a specific purpose.
The other point is that educational technology is dependent on teachers to evaluate their usefulness. If teachers or other users of educational technologies don’t find that it is useful then they just don’t use it. The result is that technological advances will focus only on what is successful. This evaluation process gives direction and focus to further research. That is why I think the decision should lie with the teacher and not the school district. I often find that the people buying the technology often buy into the marketing pitch instead of what is really needed.
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Suhayl Patel
If I may, I think that’s a great question. All too often, we are so stringent on rule and bureaucratic guidelines and processes that by the time we get what we want, or a decision it’s too late and the technology is obsolete. I have experienced this first hand with many forms of technology, and recently with the iPad. By the time the decision was made to go ahead and allow for the purchase for the iPad2, the iPad three was already out. But, there were lessons learned for our organization. We are less strict on what can be purchased. We try to focus now on how the technology requested will meet the school development plans (SDP), whether it’s hardware or software. If there is a need for a specific form of technology and it meets the SDP, then a simple Privacy Impact Assessment form is filled out, and it’s approved rather quickly. I think this will allow for more time with the current technology instead of being technological laggards.
Thoughts?
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lullings
Thats great Patel, so you are saying that schools can act independently according to their own SDP?
Does this mean the district has no control over what the school spends as long as they are in their SDP?
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frank
Hi Tom, thanks for sharing.
Though Apple has become the corporate faceplate of Touch in recent times, you are certainly right to point out that its history goes back way deeper, and in that regard, Apple has just been a good entrepreneur of bringing this technology to mainstream market.
Perhaps a contemporary version of the Electronic Sackbut that first incorporated touch might be the Hydraulophone – a touch operated acoustic instrument that operates hydraulically.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgU0OZkGhGII agree with you that with cheaper versions, longevity will likely certainly be an issue as, with any replica type manufactured product. But I think if we take a long view on this, then through iteration, those cheaper manufacturers of tablets will also learn how to improve the quality of their products, just as anyone else would. The goal of a creating a $20 tablet is a noble one, but no one said it would be an one to achieve, and certainly, not a static one across time.
As for the future of touch, I wanted to focus more on the fundamentals of what I see to be the most important attributes of Touch. However, take a look at this video of MS LABS’ Vision for 2019, in which Touch: Touch helps us improve cross-cultural communication, learn visually in ways previously not possible, manage and navigate our lives in smarter, simpler and more convenient ways, and even shift our perspectives across space and time. The future of touch is ripe with opportunity; where do you think these opportunities lie for the field of learning and education?-
tomwhyte1
First off, thank you for sharing this video, it shows what I currently believe, in that Touch technology is most likely the next evolution of the interface with technology. much like the mouse was before it. In that, like you said, it allows us to potentially navigate our lives, in smarter, simpler ways. For like the video you shared, touch technology is only as powerful as the accompanying gestures provided, and this is where I myself have some difficulties imagining the future.
For you mention, that touch technology (which must include gestures to utilize the technology), will improve cross-cultural communication. But whose culture are we developing the touch/gesture combo’s on? Will all gestures be western in origin? Take this website for example:
http://westsidetoastmasters.com/resources/book_of_body_language/chap5.html
It is vital, that we consider that the entire world does not view our gestures the same way we do, nor is it our right to force our Western gestures to the rest of the world. Something, I know you are not saying, nor implying, but it is something that we sometimes forget – as was evidenced in the One Laptop Per Child Program – heavy western influence and assumptions, led to issues with the program.
Lastly, I will focus on the point you made in regards to using touch to learn visually. While at first glance, this may seem opposite, upon reflection I was reminded of the Minority Report Scene:
And yes, like you, I believe this technology, with consideration and careful thought could enhance areas of education. I wonder though… Even if it may help, could anyone in the near future afford classrooms full of touch desks?
Thoughts?
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teacherben
I am not sure who the ‘we’ is that is forcing anything on anyone. As noted above, there are a few big names in the game such as Apple and Google, but this is not the 1990’s. There is hardware being developed in India by Indian companies and hardware being developed in China by Chinese companies. if you are willing to spend a weekend learning how to do it, you can produce your own interactive hardware in your garage for a few dollars. The tools are easily available for anyone to learn to write their own software that leverages these technologies. The process has been democratised in a big way. I can write software to share with just my own classes with no intention of ever sharing it with the outside world and i can do this without even having to write a single line of code. And the tools I can use to do this are free.
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tomwhyte1
While agree that the world of technology is opening up, and the examples you provide for hardware being developed is becoming and will continue to become a more global venture. And lastly, I also agree that it is not the 1990’s.
My concern is fundamentally the operating system in which the hardware runs, more specifically, the large companies you mentioned like Apple, Google, and even Microsoft etc… is “What are they basing their touch/gesture technology on?” Are they going to create an industry standard like the WHMIS system? Which is the same around the world, regardless of language or cultural norms. If they do that, what touch/gestures are they going to base it on? For in my above post, I showed how even common gestures have multiple messages around the world. My guess is, the default would be western, as these are primarily Western Companies entrenched in western values and norms. I myself have an issue with that.
Or, it could be approached like you mentioned, with various individuals and companies creating what they want, how they want. The benefit here would be the customization of products to local areas, the downside is the cost to mass produce this. And yes I am not talking about the hobbyist in his garage, I am talking about large multinational corporations who like to earn profits. For it is these companies that for at least the near future will drive the majority of this industry.
Regardless of this concern, I do see an overall educational benefit of this technology, especially for the young and elderly who have either developing or deteriorating manual dexterity.
Thoughts?
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teacherben
I understand your concerns and I think there’s no question that western sentiments seem to dominate the industry but I still think that you may be underestimating the ease with which companies can and will be able to customize the experience for their own users. With Android, Google provides a core which is itself based on a lot of other people’s technologies (the kernel is Linux-based, for example) but the user interface is highly customizable as evidenced by the many variations that we see with Sense on the HTC phones (a Taiwanese company), Touchwiz (Motorola) and more. Here is a list of 42 launchers that have been created to replace the stock Android one, each one replete with its own library of gestures:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Android_Launchers
A couple of years ago, there was a group of Chinese hackers (white hat) that had been mucking around customizing their own Android rom (custom firmware) for their own purposes. They borrowed ideas from a bunch of different phones and added a lot of their own stuff. They made this custom ROM available for download, so other people could replace the operating system on their phone with this modified Android one. It uses a lot of unique gestures to control it and has a lot of unique characteristics. It became very popular in the Android community and since they made their code open source, a lot of other people started customizing it for their own market/language as well. Their ROM is called MIUI. Their company is called Xiaomi. They managed to get some backers and scraped up enough money to get started making their own phone. A year later, they had sold half a million phones. Then they made a deal with China Unicom and sold another million phones.
If you picked up one of these phones, you might not recognize it as Android at all. They replaced the existing voice recognition software on it with one made by a Chinese company that works better with the Chinese languages. They included software so that you can draw Chinese characters with your finger to launch applications. Not bad for a few guys that started in the garage.
The programming involved to replace one gesture with a different one is not a whole lot more difficult than mapping a different combination of keys on a keyboard.
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adi
Thanks for the link to body language. I agree not everyone uses the same gestures, and I also feel there’s a certain westernization of education. For example, though I found Sugata Mitra’s experiment ‘Hole in the Wall’ interesting, I did not approve of when he responded that the programs did not need to be translated into Hindi, because children learned how to use them intuitively. Since the end of the British colonies, English imposed itself as ‘the’ language to communicate in, and myths emerged about learning in an ‘English Only’ environment and preferably with ‘native speakers’; all imperialistic notions. Unfortunately, this is now the case with technology and the WWW; most is in English. So though these technologies afford many things when it comes to education, I also think we should question their effect on minorities, cultures and other language systems.
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frank
Oops.
Here’s the Microsoft Office Labs vision 2019:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ff7SzP4gfg -
manny
1) Through my experience, I have to look no further than my 3 year old daughter and her interaction with touch technologies to see its overwhelming impact. An important observation that I made is similar to Sugata Mitras observation on people living in remote areas. In this instance, if you observe an infant utilizing touch technology, an interesting phenomenon occurs. They begin to understand the cause and effect relationship and similar to the boy experimenting with “the hole in the wall,” they realize that their hand gestures can control the occurrences on a screen. What became fascinating to me is how this technology aided in my child’s verbal communication. Of course as parents we model the language for them but coupling it with technology takes it to another level of comprehension. An important note to be taken away is that touch technologies don’t discriminate in the users ability to use them.
2) The beauty of the NUI technology to its GUI and CLI counterparts is the ease at which it can be learned. For this style of touch technology, the learning curve is quick as was demonstrated in the Sugata Mitra video. In essence, this provides an even playing field as students can concentrate on the content and not the procedure of operating a computer.
3) The primary way for districts to facilitate the innovations provided through touch technologies is simply to embrace the hardware that affords it. Tablets are making their way into mainstream education and the hardware seems to be popping up more frequently. When implementing new innovations such as this one, cost usually becomes one of the main counter arguments/concerns. I believe that this is where the BYOD initiative comes into play and helps offset some of the fiscal concerns around integrating touch technologies.
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avninder
Like others who have posted, I have witnessed touch screens being used by small children who seem to quickly learn and master have to navigate various platforms as they become intuitive. I like the point made in the OER that we have been making learners adapt to fit with technology instead of having technology fit with learners. I would hope that the future of education would include the use of more intuitive technology with gentle learning curves to provide ease of use to everyone regardless of their experience or background. Will we ever get there? I believe so. In my lifetime? Maybe with higher education and organizations, but in the public education system and remote areas of the world, it will be very difficult. The MET video mentioned that it would be ideal to use technology in less fortunate areas before well-developed ones. Of course there are many issues with this, the big ones being funding and access.
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teacherben
Haven’t we always had to adapt to technology? From pencils to spears, there has only been so much that we could do to customise our user experience. I would venture that the purpose of education is a combination of teaching students both how to adapt technology to suit their needs and to adapt themselves to suit the technology available.
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Jenny Brown
1. I think one of the huge advantages to touch is the improvement of learning and communication opportunities of mentally and/or physically challenged children and adults. I thought this article: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/sep/05/news/la-heb-ipod-touch-autism-20120904 provided a good example of how an iPod touch really helped an adult with Down syndrome, who could not read, tell time or understand a calendar, keep her job. Another article showed how a young autistic student is now able to write for the first time using iPad’s touch-screen and how a school is using iPod Touch for each of their autistic students. http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/01/apple_ipad_itouch_may_help_peo.html
2. Children are not as assimilated as adults and therefore are better explorers. Touch would (and already does) lead to more learning opportunities for even younger children. As many of you have probably experienced (and some have already mentioned), even two year olds can become pretty good at using touch pads; it was my friend’s 2 year old daughter who showed me how to change the views on the Magic Piano app.
3. I think touch technology will greatly impact the types of tools purchased by schools – more iPads/tablets and less PCs. Schools need to stay ahead of the technologies (taking this course, reading the Horizon reports and being part of Ed tech communities) so that they can lead and facilitate the innovations that touch can provide by hopefully getting the tools in place while they are still current.
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Scott
I think Jenny has touched on, pardon the obvious pun, what is undoubtedly one of the truly important benefits of using touch and gesture based NUIs – it’s affordances for mentally and physically challenged learners.
To highlight this point, just last night on CBC Radio’s As It Happens, they interviewed two teachers from the Toronto area, that worked with a researcher from OISE/UT, to investigate the effectiveness of iPads as a communication and instructional aid for students with Autism. The gesture based NUI of the iPad proved to be an effective method of ‘reaching’ the students, which allowed for more sustained opportunities for academic and social instruction in the classroom. The efforts of the two teachers earned them both Prime Minister’s Awards for Teaching Excellence. To learn more about this research, you may want to listen to the complete interview on CBC’s podcast found here: http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/podcasts/asithappens_20121113_25689.mp3
I believe many of us feel we have lived long enough with input technologies from centuries past. Heck, the clumsy QWERTY keyboard layout we all use today, was invented in the 1800’s with the goal of avoiding jamming manual typewriters when adjacent letters were struck! Touch technology in general is a much more intuitive way to interface with digital devices and when combined with the emerging technology of haptic* feedback, touch based interfaces will continue to revolutionize how we interact with technology.
Personally, I can’t wait for a touch screen iMac, which by all accounts is already sitting on a desk in Sir ‘Jony’ Ive’s design lab in Cupertino!
* For more information on the emergence of haptic technology in education, check out these links:
http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2012/03/haptic-tablet/
http://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2012/8821.html
http://tinyurl.com/a8nf768-
teacherben
As we were beginning to research this area this was an area that stood out for us too. We thought it was so important that, for a while, we were considering focusing the entire week’s discussion on Accessibility. At last year’s Hong Kong Electronics Expo, I met a Canadian guy from Calgary that runs a company that is entirely dedicated to creating alternative input systems for people with disabilities and with special needs. He had devices that could go in your mouth so you could control your computer using your tongue and by blowing air through a tube. He had eye-tracking technologies. All sorts of cool stuff. The prices were through the roof though. No individual could afford these things on their own. They would need support from a school board or some government institution. I think a lot of the more recent developments that we have posted about here show that there is a convergence happening where a lot of these technologies that were previously targeted at the disabled are also able to help all sorts of people to be more productive.
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rebeccaharrison
That’s a very valid point. Often times technology that is useful to address one type of learner is useful for all learners, in the same way that a teaching strategy that you implement for a student might be applicable for all.
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Jonathan
1) Absolutely technology has improved. Has access to these devices improved as well? I think you only need to look around at how the prices for these devices have gone down and how many people are looking at them as a replacement device at home. I think that people are quickly finding that they can’t be a replacement but do many of the similar things. While I haven’t observed these devices transcend across socio-economic barriers — the mere fact that they can be purchased for sub $200 makes me think that they are. The lower end tablets and devices are also making their way into 3rd World countries as well as Melissa mentioned in a post about $20 tablets and the group’s references to $35 ones as well.
2)I think the innovation has lead to and will continue to drive the way for students to more intuitively engage with material. On one hand the student is looking at a computer to access information but the interactivity and one on one intimacy that a child can have — can allow for mistakes to occur more fluidly and have the child continue practicing and learning a concept. For children with different learning needs the ability to have touch software interpret their writing strokes can be powerful.
3) Manny nailed it with his reference to the “Moore’s Law”, it is difficult for schools to lead because they often want to be certain about technology they are placing in the classrooms because of the enormous costs involved. However, the most positive change that we can bring as educators is to embrace what is given and use it to its fullest. The applications can often become overwhelming and cost prohibitive. Finding alternative solutions (and developers often know this) — and finding a way to bring the skills to our children is ultimately what is most important. Schools need to be educated as do the teachers on what these devices can bring to the classroom.
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jkotler
In reflecting on my own experience, I have seen how the element of touch has greatly improved technology and education across age groups via the Smart Board. In considering why this is the case, I believe one of the most significant reasons, among other things, is that it inherently offers some form of interactivity which then captures the learners interest thereby encouraging them to engage with the device and the learning material itself.
In regards to geographic and socioeconomic barriers, I cannot speak much to its improvement from a personal standpoint, but I can say that after watching the Ted Talk with Sugatra Mitra, I was very much impressed with the results from his experiments with young learners in India and believe that it can be used as a key example of how touch technology can be similarly and highly effective for children across a range of socioeconomic and geographic locations if they are given access. As such, I think that embedding touch technology within education can lead to more valuable learning and higher academic achievement among learners and so while it may come at a considerable cost to the school and would require teacher dedication, it would be worth it.
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frank
Thanks for your thoughts.
Some things I’m reading/hearing:
Touch’s intuitive and direct interface may empower individuals with autism and other learning disabilities to become more fully participating members of society.
– Agreed. In the same manner that Touch enables 2-year olds access to using a computer like never before, Touch technology and haptics research are developing numerous ways to assist individuals with disabilities and special needs live fuller lives. So far, much of the evidence of the success of these efforts is anecdotal. And it is easy for the non-scientist – such as myself – to downplay the heterogeneity and complexity involved in creating effective technological solutions to such long standing problems. However, I do believe that NUI is a game changer and that its convergence with voice and gesture will significantly alter what is possible for the disabled and special needs in our lifetime. Agree/Disagree?We can infer from Moore’s Law that the rate of technological change will outpace the rate by which schools can evolve and adapt to useful technologies in a timely manner.
Some solutions proposed:
1) try to keep up by staying informed and educating educators on developments in this area – i.e. dedicate more time and resources to education technology (oh.. I see where you are going with this 😉
2) you can’t keep up with it all, so focus your efforts around your School’s Development Plan (SDP), and what you need to adopt to achieve its goals.
3) promote more project based initiatives and empower teachers to carry them out as a way of experimenting with what works, before investing heavily into it – some have pointed out that such a pilot mechanism already exists, but it does not help address Moore’s Law.
4) the issue of technology cost is prohibitive. How do we increase access to technology without having more funding to facilitate it?– These are all good analytical points in their own right. And I don’t mean to pull a Tyler Durden on you guys, but why don’t you all just come out and say it?
We are witnessing the end of the Industrial Revolution, and the system we have built for this era – be it our education system, or other hierarchical models of business/governance – are grossly inadequate to tackle the challenges we face in the future of the digital economy. An economy whose success will not be driven on compliance, or Command-and-Control as with the Industrial model, but with letting go of control to make way for co-creation and social intelligence mechanisms, to which perhaps this course can serve as a contemporary reference.
Fact is, in the information age, no matter how hard you try, you will always be too late.
And that fact is not inconsequential.According to McKinsey & Company’s research paper entitled “An Inconvenient truth about change management: Why it isn’t working and what to do about it,” 70% of organizational change initiatives fail.
They fail because in the direction we are heading, wisdom lies in crowds, and not in the heads of a handful of executives and their SDP.
They fail because SDPs do not embody a program or an ecosystem that is needed to sustain change in the long-haul.
Finally, they fail because in the 21st century, if your focus is on a project and not building a community of knowledge needed to leverage learning experiences (the NMC or our course for example), then you have failed to leverage and access the knowledge you possess as an organizational whole.As for cost, that too was a big impediment in the industrial era. But as Ben has pointed out, in the digital age the means of production are available to anyone – and concurrently, their costs are relatively minimal.
For example, Sugata Mitra did not need millions to show that those who were poor and in remote locations could learn through technological access. And the Khan Academy started with just Khan sitting at his pc and video recording tutorials for his cousins youtube; now, they these videos reach millions because the net makes them scalable.
If we look into the future, the issue is not a crisis of cost or the way to achieve our goals and objectives. At stake is a crisis of vision in modern education; one that has yet to fully realize that the technology we’re building is completely redefining the challenges we face and what is possible.
The Nobel Laureate Paul Samuelson once remarked “when events change, I change my mind. What do you do?“ In the 21st century, technologies such as touch, voice and gesture are changing the world in which we live. We can no longer afford to let our romantic attachments to the educational pedagogies we once grew up determine the way forward. If it is to be pertinent for the future, our education model must reflect the new realities of the digital economy. And I would argue that to achieve this, our education needs a new raison d’être. Perhaps that is why we are here. -
visramn
1. In your experience, how have you witnessed touch improve technological and educational access across age groups, as well as geographical and socio-economic barriers?
A few year back I had a student in my class who could not speak or hear and was in a wheelchair because she could not move most of her body. She had a system that was touch based that consisted of different pictures that she could click on to form sentences that would be orally relayed by the machine. This was a great tool for helping her communicate with her peers and teacher. Later on in the year, her parent purchased a Ipad for her that she started bringing to school. The Ipad allowed her to pick up on many skills due to the various apps she could use. I got to see her knowledge base, confidence and communication ability/skills grow a lot in a year and was impressed by the power of touch technology and how it improved her leaning capabilities.
I have also noticed that touch technology has allowed for very young children to learn how to navigate and use tools that might not have been possible in the past. I have seen children as young as one years old click on a screen and try to manipulate what is happening on the screen. I have also seen how they pick up on these skills quickly and can be using the device and doing something productive by the time they are around three years old. It is amazing to see what these children are capable of and how easily they learn tasks. They can not read what is on the screen but the simple process of looking at objects, touching them and manipulating them allows them to gain knowledge. This is very similar to what Sugata Mitra observed in India. Children may not have the language skills but the simple ability to see and touch allows them to learn when using technological devices.
2. What do you think this innovation might lead to (opportunities) in how we provide and access education in the future?
I definitely think this innovation will open many doors in the educational realm. I think that touch devices will allow for a lot more personalization of learning and for more collaboration amongst students. It will also open a lot of doors for students with special needs.
3. What are some ways schools might need to change, in order to lead and facilitate the innovations that touch can provide in educational technology and access?
The main way would be updating of hardware and software to allow for capabilities such as touch screens to be present. In some parts this could also be accomplished through allowing of BYOD. I also think this will result in a restructuring of curriculum design and implementation. Learning will become more personal,each individual will be in charge of their learning and will be able to expand on their learning in the way that is most conducive to them self. Thus, this would require a restructuring of the age old parameters of knowledge delivery and reception.
Nureen
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frank
Thanks for sharing Nureen.
I agree that a solution to this problem might be BYOD and getting students to become greater participants and drivers of their learning. If we move forward with this aim in mind, what will students need to succeed and how will this change the roles of schools and teachers for students?
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adi
I think question # 3 is key, “What are some ways schools might need to change, in order to lead and facilitate the innovations that touch can provide in educational technology and access?” The Horizon Report on Singapore, in the ‘Top Ten challenges’ (pp 19-20), mentions several important things, like the challenge to get teachers to adopt technology; integrating 21st century technology in schools that still function as if they were in a 19th century setting; adapting assessment to portray the kind of learning these new technologies afford, among others. However, perhaps the answer to these and other problems should be left to a group of kids to solve. Judging by Sugata Mitra’s experiment ‘Hole in the Wall’, I’m sure kids would come up with a lot of useful and practical solutions for the sake of having access to these new technologies.
(Thank you to this week’s team for introducing us to this very interesting experiment. If anyone wants to read up more about this, here is the site http://www.hole-in-the-wall.com/ .)
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jhodi
Hi,
You bring up an interesting point. I wonder how our perspective as educators form our view of these technologies compared to the perspectives of the students. We look at a technology and think ‘how can I use this to help students learn’, whereas students look at a technology and genuinely explore it, find entertainment with it, and can learn as a result, sometimes by accident. I think that it would be very useful for us as educators to just sit back and watch these students to see what type of learning is occurring as a byproduct.
Jhodi
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kstackhouse
1. I have not witnessed large changes to accessibility and change for large groups of students in my region. I do see that SMART boards as a touch technology is being used to impact how teachers and students interact with the material on the screen. On a smaller scale though I have witnessed how the iPod and iPad are being used with students with accessibility issues while using various apps. Some of the gesture controls that are available through both products have proven to be beneficial for many students. These are easy to change and adapt to the needs of the user. This allows them to control the device when vision or fine motor issues might normally cause problems.
2. I also think that the features mentioned in number one will continue to improve and will provide more opportunities for others. Some of the touch features in unison with the voice features we have looked at will continue to change the way people interact with their devices. Opening more doors for participation and collaboration for a wider group of learners. The best feature as presented on the Touch page comes with the ability to participate with these complex features without needing to be specialized or trained to use them.
3. Schools need to change, period. The system is not set-up to allow for innovative use of technologies in large school districts that follow centralized decision making practices. Decentralization will be the only way that schools and teachers will really be able to benefit from innovative products. Applications for grants for faculty is another way to motivate teachers to apply and become creative and strategic in their use of innovative technologies.
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Paula Poodwan
1. In your experience, how have you witnessed touch improve technological and educational access across age groups, as well as geographical and socio-economic barriers?
I have no personal experience using touch technology; however, through my search over the internet, I have come across lots of research that agreed that one positive result of using touch technology in the classroom is to promote collaborative learning interactions. For example this research “ Are multiple-touch surfaces better than single-touch for children’s collaborative interactions?” http://oro.open.ac.uk/19510/1/os-cscl2009.pdf interestingly concluded that the single-touch condition allowed only one child to interact with the digital content at a time, whereas with the multiple-touch condition, the children could interact with the digital content simultaneously. Results also showed that touch condition did not affect the frequency or equity of interactions, but did influence the nature of children’s discussion. In the multiple-touch condition, children talked more about the task; in the single-touch condition, they talked more about turn taking.
2. What do you think this innovation might lead to (opportunities) in how we provide and access education in the future?
Collaborative learning is important for 21st century learners; it helps students to become critical thinkers. Therefore any devices that can help promote this type of learning should be incorporated in the classroom.
In my opinion, touch technology will have more opportunity to thrive in a global classroom. Compared to voice and gesture technology, touch technology has a more international concept. People around the world tend to interpret and receive the meaning and benefit of touch in the same way. For example, babies that come from different cultures can benefit the same from a loving touch of other human beings.
3. What are some ways schools might need to change, in order to lead and facilitate the innovations that touch can provide in educational technology and access?
In order for schools to implement touch technologies, they must firstly see the benefits of using it.
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frank
Hi Paula,
I agree that a stronger case needs to made for the value proposition of having technology integrated into our education programs.
I would also suggest that we consider whose roles and interests would be threatened by pursuing such an approach and get them involved in the change process by finding ways that they too might benefit.
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Lisa Nevoral
Hey All,
1. I have not witnessed an improvement in technological and educational access across geographical or socio-economic barriers, but I have seen a bit across age groups. My friend’s son is almost 3. The other day, he was showing me pictures of their trip to Edmonton that were on her IPhone and was able to enlarge himself and flip through the pictures. Although it was pretty cool that he could do that, I was more fascinated when he hit the home button, scrolled through several screens, found the game he liked, and started playing it. As someone else has mentioned, the makers of touch technology make it fairly easy to navigate from screen to screen, but that he understood how to hit the home key and find the game was still pretty fascinating.
2. I think that in the next 10 years we may go towards multi-touch desks or tables in the classrooms. Interactive whiteboards have some capacity of multiple people touching the screen, but it is fairly limited. With multi-touch desks, more people can interact with the table or desk and with the people around it at the same time. A multi-touch desk is not controlled using a mouse or keyboard, so it provides a way for everyone to interact with the system. We can already see this trend of touch screens with IPads (or similar devices) and with many cell phones.
Here are some of the concerns I have with interactive or multi-touch desks:
a) The cost – how much will it cost to have these desks placed into one classroom, let alone into a whole school?
b) Vandalism or destruction of these desks – students at my school like to change the keys on our laptops or write on their desks. How would we prevent damage to the interactive desks from occurring?
c) Does interactivity with technology actually improve students’ achievement? I think this heavily depends on how the teacher structures the lessons around the use of these interactive desks.
d) Further teacher training – teachers will need PD opportunities to come up with good lesson plans to use these desks.Lisa
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frank
Lisa,
You mention some very real and legitimate concerns about cost and vandalism. I wonder if as an education provider, you might have some suggestions as to how we might mitigate these risks – perhaps based on what we’ve learned from integrating some technology into schools already.
As for PD for teachers, are there different ways we can go about this? For example, by having math teachers share their experiments and success stories with others like them? Also do teachers necessarily have to be the experts or can they some in ways let technology do the heavy lifting, while they become better facilitators of student learning and exploration?
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jhodi
I have noticed the change in technology to shift towards intuitive touch technologies. For example, a computer mouse has advanced from an independent object connected to the computer via a cord that moved a pointer on the screen in the same direction as you moved it on the table, to a trackpad for your finger moving a pointer on the screen on a laptop, to a tablet where your finger literally is the mouse and controls the pointer. Other technologies are becoming intuitive as well, such as the arrow on an iPhone that says ‘slide to unlock’. Technologies such as this could be used without the words; one could probably gather that they need to slide the flashing arrow in the direction that it is pointing without any words attached to it. Some of the best applications of touch technologies that I have seen have been used with students with special needs. I have seen great apps on the iPad that allow students to use their fingers to navigate and move things around. Students that could not use a mouse with a computer screen have been able to use their fingers to touch what they need to on a tablet. I think that one of the largest benefits of touch technology is it’s ability to communicate the same message across all languages using symbols, sounds, and intuitive gestures.
Jhodi
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jenbarker
I tried to use Vocaroo this morning but after ten times I gave up. I am not sure if it was due to a setting I had on my computers (I tried both my laptop and iMac) but my voice sounded mottled and was almost inaudible. So instead I used a screencast program called Jing that I love. It records a portion of your screen and allows you to talk to it. I use it when responding to student’s papers and/or lesson plans as you can scroll through the document on the screen and use your cursor/arrow to point things out and talk to them simultaneously.
On my Jing I gave a review of Siri. Here is the link to my Jing. http://screencast.com/t/Alj9CGtd
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jenbarker
Ok I am very embarrassed as I posted on the wrong thread. The above post should have been on the voice thread. I went into the dashboard to try to edit my post and couldn’t find it. When I click on my posts it only shows 11 of them and I have made way contributions than that. If anyone knows how to help me, I would greatly appreciate it. Sorry for incorrectly posting.
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rebeccaharrison
1. In your experience, how have you witnessed touch improve technological and educational access across age groups, as well as geographical and socio-economic barriers?
I haven’t seen this myself. What I’ve found, mostly, is that those who don’t have geographical or socio-economic barriers are the ones who are able to afford/access technology. As was mentioned in the website, it is these people who would benefit most from this kind of technology that are often unable to use it.2. What do you think this innovation might lead to (opportunities) in how we provide and access education in the future?
I would hope in the future that it would be able to reach those people who need it. I see technology as a leveller, except that, as it is so expensive to acquire, these levelling possibilities are often unrealized. Touch could provide (as mentioned in previous posts) a whole host of opportunities for students who have physical limitations.
3. What are some ways schools might need to change, in order to lead and facilitate the innovations that touch can provide in educational technology and access?
Perhaps, as Peggy mentioned, we need to look at separating funding. If you wait for the bureaucracy in a district to play its course everything will be outdated. Perhaps the way we fund and “administer” education needs to change? Traditional classrooms might not be the way our students are going to be most successful. Who drives that change though? Students? Teachers? Administrators? Technology experts?-
frank
Rebecca,
You are right to point out that technology, like education itself, is a great leveller.
If we recognize this, then bringing technological access to the remote – be it because of georgraphy, socio-economic or mental and physical barriers – will empower them to become valuable participants in our societies; and that is something that benefits all of us.
To do this however requires leadership. And in collaborative leadership, each and every one of us has a role to play, be it as a student, teacher, administrator or technology. Would you not agree?
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jenbarker
1) In your experience, how have you witnessed touch improve technological and educational access across age groups, as well as geographical and socio-economic barriers?
Definitely I have seen touch improve technological access across age groups as similarly mentioned by both Scott and Jenny who discuss how it has been of great assistance to students with special needs. Additionally, as Manny discussed the intuitive nature of touch technology allows people of all ages to interact. I have just begun using iPads in my classroom and I am surprised at how few questions the students as of me as compared to when we are using iMacs in the lab. They seem to be able to figure things out on their own.
2) What do you think this innovation might lead to (opportunities) in how we provide and access education in the future? AND 3) What are some ways schools might need to change, in order to lead and facilitate the innovations that touch can provide in educational technology and access?
What I find most captivating is the discussion brought forth by Sugata Mitra showing how without teachers students demonstrated the ability to learn through technology. It connects to another theorist Seymour Papert who argues against learning by being told and instead believes learning should be acquired through exploration. Papert and others such as Ivan Illich believe that technology will not improve school but eventually replace them in the future. There is a great video of a discussion that took place between Paulo Friere and Papert on this topic. Here is the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V-0KfBdWao&feature=share&list=PL4UARNpBiEHpGbm7Vs4RbIgVTkKJ1HO5k
I find myself leaning more towards Friere’s hopes for the future of education. Although I see the need to incorporate technology in education, I hope that it doesn’t replace teachers. In the future I hope the system of education (our current model) goes through massive changes to reflect a paradigm… one that focusses less on covering content and more on understanding it. One that encourages personalized knowledge, collaboration, and critical thinking. I see the need for teachers to help guide and facilitate this process.-
sophiabb
Question 1:
I understand the fascination with touch devices. I am, my children certainly are, and even my husband is as well. Papert makes in point in Mindstorm that we should leverage an active engagement with computer cultures to “develop new ways to think about thinking” and not as is done “in most contemporary educational situations where children come into contact with computers the computer is used to put children through their paces, to provide exercises of an appropriate level of difficulty” (http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/mindstorms.pdf). Touch devices seem intuitive and lends themselves to users doing more – they have the potential to facilitate active engagement with the computers/devices. I have witnessed this with my daughter who is dyslexic bit has been activity engaging with the computer for meaningful learning. By not focusing on spelling errors, etc, she has been better able to search, find, make the linkages, and process and produce in her own way, using technology. Touch devices are a great tool for learners and in particular for special needs learners.
Questions 2 and 3:
I think touch devices lend themselves to “learning that happens deliberately without teaching” and “without curriculum” (Papert, 1980) – a classroom of one kind of approach. While this approach holds some appeal to me however I wonder about its practical merit. Planners/decision makers grapple with the constraints that limited financial resources have on the expansion of schools, adequacy of materials, hiring of staff, including teachers and purchase of or upgrade of current technological resources. Given the fast rate of technology obsolescence; a wholesale adoption/incorporation of this device might not be fiscally prudent. I like to think the use of computers in the constructivist sense is growing; more educators are seeking to use educational computer programs and – devices to incorporate affordances such as scaffolding, organizing, reflection, visualization and problem-solving into their lessons. While I think touch devices are great and could really facilitate many of these, I think that this can be achieved by incorporating many of the Web 2.0 GUI technologies/resources as that are available.
Sophia-
sophiabb
jennbarker, please ignore this post. I meant to post as a response to the question in general and so I have re-posted in the correct area.
Sophia
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Patrick Pichette
1. In your experience, how have you witnessed touch improve technological and educational access across age groups, as well as geographical and socio-economic barriers?
The biggest impact that touch technology has had on education is in its intuitive adoptive nature. Touch technology provides a means to communicate by using a very natural gesture as opposed to mice and keyboards. In doing so, it allows the young, the old, the physically and mentally challenged to communicate using an interface that does not require much learning at all. The biggest hurdle at this point is making this technology available to all in an affordable way.
2. What do you think this innovation might lead to (opportunities) in how we provide and access education in the future?
We’ve already seen how the interactive nature of touch technology can motivate students to participate in their education. If the technology becomes widespread and affordable, it should provide equal opportunities for students requiring a more hands-on approach to learning. Touch based learning allows students to explore a greater amount of content that becomes available just at their fingertips.
3. What are some ways schools might need to change, in order to lead and facilitate the innovations that touch can provide in educational technology and access?
As for how schools need to change, it is mainly in the delivery of education. Schools will need to focus on a student-centred learning approach as opposed to the more common teacher-centred approach. Teachers need to learn that they must not be masters of content but rather become facilitators of content, resource guides, mentors, and support pillars for students. The student will need to take more responsibility for the learning and knowledge construction and actively participate in the journey. One major change for schools would be the introduction of technology resource department that constantly searches and analyzes new content, applications, and approaches to education in order to facilitate and support teachers’ adoption of these resources in class. It is becoming impossible to keep on top of educational technology and available resources as many companies are trying to capitalize on the booming market. Schools will need to assist teachers in finding the right tools for their students, for the curriculum, and for assisting teachers in providing the richest educational experience possible.
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sophiabb
Question 1:
I understand the fascination with touch devices. I am, my children certainly are, and even my husband is as well. Papert makes in point in Mindstorm that we should leverage an active engagement with computer cultures to “develop new ways to think about thinking” and not as is done “in most contemporary educational situations where children come into contact with computers the computer is used to put children through their paces, to provide exercises of an appropriate level of difficulty” (http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/mindstorms.pdf). Touch devices seem intuitive and lends themselves to users doing more – they have the potential to facilitate active engagement with the computers/devices. I have witnessed this with my daughter who is dyslexic bit has been activity engaging with the computer for meaningful learning. By not focussing on spelling errors, etc, she has been better able to search, find, make the linkages, and process and produce in her own way, using technology. Touch devices are a tool for learners and in particular for special needs learners.
Questions 2 and 3:
I think touch devices lend themselves to “learning that happens deliberately without teaching” and “without curriculum” (Papert, 1980) – a classroom of one kind of approach. While this approach holds some appeal to me however I wonder about its practical merit. Planners/decision makers grapple with the constraints that limited financial resources have on the expansion of schools, adequacy of materials, hiring of staff, including teachers and purchase of or upgrade of current technological resources. Given the fast rate of technology obsolescence; a wholesale adoption/incorporation of this device might not be fiscally prudent.
I like to think the use of computers in the constructivist sense is growing; more educators are seeking to use educational computer programs and – devices to incorporate affordances such as scaffolding, organizing, reflection, visualization and problem-solving into their lessons. While I think touch devices are great and could really facilitate many of these, I think that this can be achieved by incorporating many of the Web 2.0 GUI technologies/resources as that are available.
Sophia-
frank
Sophie, you make well researched and articulated points.
I think you hit the nail on the head with your argument that technological advance frees us up from previously labour intensive constraints such as teaching, and allows us to think more about thinking (meta-cognition) i.e. what it is we value about learning and how to use new technologies to better achieve them?
While fiscal elements are very much an operational reality, I don’t think that you mean to argue that special needs children should have their access to enabling technologies such as touch limited by this constraint. And I would argue the same logic holds for the geographically and socio-economically remote. Surely tradeoffs have to be made, but the end goal should be to give everyone access to the technologies that best allow them achieve their greatest potential along Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. And just as Touch requires us to challenge our beliefs about the role of education, I would argue that is will also require us to challenge our thinking about how to finance it, or at least, how to spend the money we have allotted to it already.
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C. Ranson
Touch technology is everywhere, and across all age groups. Outside of every Apple store you can witness the lifecycle sitting at tables participating in the Apple Learning classes. I personally have made the transition with several of my devices and the “Beyond” section for this week’s presentation is fascinating. I now have downloaded Dragon Dictation to my iPhone, using Flutter gestures on my iTunes music and have been exposed to some new ideas to include in my curriculum for teaching the delievery of care of the special needs patient.
In my experience (adult education) I have not witnessed how touch technology has improved technological and educational access across students, nor do I witness geographical and socio-economic barriers to accessing technology in the college environment. The student population is diverse both geographically and socio-economically – they have access to technology on campus both touch and non-touch and most appear to be suited up with BYOD – tablets, laptops and mobile devices. Similar student activity occurred prior to the launch of touch technology devices. I don’t see it as just touch technology improving access but the advances in technology addressing access and improvements, technology and pedagogy together is impacting the transformation of education. Digital learning is promoting interactive ways of learning, constructivist learning that is facilitated and self-directed, and touch technology has provided improved applications and methods for users to access and deliver information and perhaps this has impacted the way curriculum is delivered and addresses various learning styles such as touch, visual, interactivities, engagement. Touch has replaced the mouse and offers advances for the user, making it easier to navigate through information. Voice and gesture applications are advancements that are promoting interactive ways of communicating, teaching and learning. Gesture creates fundamental advances in teaching and learning for healthcare programs to offer ways to communicate and learn for groups of people such as those physically & mental disabled, and the elderly. Post- secondary education has transformed into a business venture offering education, the student is the customer and resources such as technology are in place to service the student who is the customer. Educational institutions that offer current resources and methods of learning are also creating a competitive edge in attracting future customers. In my educational institution technology/research and innovation is part of the 2020 strategy.
Catherine
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jenniferschubertubc
1. In your experience, how have you witnessed touch improve technological and educational access across age groups, as well as geographical and socio-economic barriers?
I have been fortunate enough to have worked in a few classrooms that have incorporated touch technology to increase accessibility to the curriculum for special needs students. My older students (ages 14-22) were classified as Profound Mentally Handicapped with capacities determined to be those of infants. With hand over hand assistance, these students were presented with lessons in cause and effect that corresponded directly to their own actions. Though it was virtually impossible to determine whether or not the students actually fully understood the relationship between their actions and results, some did progress to activating touch technology on their own, with and without prompting.
My younger students were enrolled in a life skills class where we focused on simple literacy and mathematic skills as well as working on fine and gross motor skills. By utilising a removable touch screen on the existing school computers, students with lesser dexterity who may not have been able to move a mouse, could still access reading programs like Starfall. This school was on the lower end of the socio-economic scale of the district, but due to the efforts of the teachers in the program, the administration knew of the benefits and made budget allowances for such technology that could contribute to student success.
2. What do you think this innovation might lead to (opportunities) in how we provide and access education in the future?
I do think that children are going to be exposed to and start using this type of technology earlier and earlier. The Christmas adverts I am seeing here in the UK advertise many lower end, toy-like, child-friendly substitutes for iPads and e-Readers. I do think that the availability of such toys will be largely determined by socio-economic status, thus possibly contributing to the digital divide. In education, I have witnessed pilot programs (in the US) to provide every child within a school with a laptop. One school in particular was extremely successful, but the program was stopped when district funding ran out and other schools complained that they did not get the same opportunities.
3. What are some ways schools might need to change, in order to lead and facilitate the innovations that touch can provide in educational technology and access?
I think that administration needs to look at the budget very carefully, taking all costs into consideration and weighing the advantages of adaptable technology. (New books versus an update of existing technology, etc.) In this vein, I would hate to see schools adopting technology but not keeping up with it. I would compare this to using very out of date textbooks, which still occurs, especially when budgetary constraints become tighter.
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Eva Ziemsen
1. In your experience, how have you witnessed touch improve technological and educational access across age groups, as well as geographical and socio-economic barriers?
No, I personally have not witnessed touch improve technological and educational across age groups. I have traveled a great deal, in the context of education, and I have not yet seen the impact of touch impact in other parts of the world. For example, I was recently in Bhutan, where i was teaching a screenwriting workshop. Most people in Bhutan have some kind of access to a computer at home, but I would estimate that less than 1% of people own a tablet. I would be surprised that even the King of Bhutan (who is actually now the Prime Minister/ democratic leader of Bhutan) would even have an iPad. I was also in Rwanda about 6 years ago. Of course the touch revolution only happened more recently, but again, I would argue that most people in Rwanda do not have an touch device, as many do not have power or running water.
Obviously the touch revolution has impacted the developed world heavily, however, I have not been involved with classes that have made use of this technology.
2. What do you think this innovation might lead to (opportunities) in how we provide and access education in the future?
I think initiatives such as the one by Mitra is truly inspirational and one way innovation in this type of technology will help impact the future of education in the world. I heard of Mitra’s Cloud Grannies a while ago and was very moved, as I believe more of these experiments should be undertaken. This coincided with the time that I started my PhD in Online Film Education. From my own perspective, I believe innovation will allow the developed world help the developing world. However, this very much depends on Internet availability.3. What are some ways schools might need to change, in order to lead and facilitate the innovations that touch can provide in educational technology and access? I think BYOD will come into effect very quickly in order to accommodate touch technology, without causing major budgetary disasters. We recently had a coordinator’s meeting at my institution, where the topic of discussion was, taking computers out of the labs (because our students prefer to bring their own) and reinvesting into other kinds of technology that is not affordable by students.
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Eva Ziemsen
One last thing, I wanted to mention. A friend of mine, made the film MADE IN CHINA. It premiered at Hot Docs this past spring. It is about the city in China where most things are made, including Apple products.
http://www.hotdocs.ca/film/title/made_in_chinaUnfortunately, the conditions where these people work are not good at all, and the hours or these assembly factories are inhumane and many workers commit suicide. I feel obligated to relay this information in this context, as I was very disturbed to know that the world’s consumption of tablets (and most other things) is having such a detrimental impact.
Furthermore, the environmental damage by the waste or technological devices is also something we must consider, as the waste is only increasing exponentially. There are many relevant films and youtube clips on this subject matter as well.
Food for thought.
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jameschen
1. In your experience, how have you witnessed touch improve technological and educational access across age groups, as well as geographical and socio-economic barriers?
The only experience I have regarding touch in education is the SMARTBoard. I am not sure if it helped improve educational access because my experience with the SB is somewhat limited. One thing I knew it did was to help students interact with content without the restraints of a mouse and keyboard. I cannot say it helps students see content on a different level because the projections were 2D and the SB I tried was limited to single touch. From this experience I cannot say that touch has improved technological and educational access across age groups/geographical/socio-economic barriers.
2. What do you think this innovation might lead to (opportunities) in how we provide and access education in the future?
With multi-touch and 3D displays, I think education can be accessed on a different level. Perhaps it would enable learners to read, write, interact with the content (i.e. do science experiments) more “naturally” as they would using concrete learning objects but with the added support of multimedia and internet access. Being able to use one’s fingers to rotate, zoom in/out, and flip 3D objects would help tactile learners interact with the content more effectively and enhance the learning experience.
3. What are some ways schools might need to change, in order to lead and facilitate the innovations that touch can provide in educational technology and access?
In order to achieve this, schools would need to have access to the hardware that supports touch. This can be achieved by fundraising or partnering up with companies such as Apple/Microsoft. The former would require large sums of money and the latter might not provide enough hardware to the majority of students. These matters need to be discussed with the School Board and their respective PACs.
James
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joeltremblay
Welcome to Week 11: Voice, Touch and Gesture
Throughout this unit we attempted to push the boundaries of emerging and existing technologies existing within the expanding contexts of voice, touch and gesture concluding with a section on the future possibilities being discussed now. All pages contain links at the top in the toolbar and buttons at the bottom, to help you progress through […]
Continue reading Welcome to Week 11: Voice, Touch and Gesture Posted in: General, Week 11:-
Scott
I simply wanted to take a brief moment to thank all of you for creating such a well designed Weebly website. Your carefully curated content, attention to details including easy navigation, clean use of type and page layout, along with CC sourced images, have resulted in a website which is full of useful content wrapped in an effective presentation. Kudos for your effort!
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jenbarker
I echo Scott. You website looked extremely professional. I also liked the way you chose to set up each page with the headings voice, gesture, and touch. The videos you chose expanded what I already knew and opened my eyes to many future possibilities. Thank you for all your hard work.
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visramn
I agree with Scott. It is a very good site and the examples on there are great. I really enjoyed watching all the videos and I feel like I have learned so much from your site. Thanks.
Nureen
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lullings
Thanks Scott and Nureen,
Creating the site my main goal was that it was clean and simple. I wanted the content to be unrestricted by technology and visual trash – from your feedback I think I have succeeded with you both anyway. As for the content it was a collaborative effort of the team and your positive feedback is appreciated.
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joeltremblay
Week 11: Voice
Most of us are aware that some form of voice recognition software exists. However, not a lot of us have actually tried it, so this section is designed to get you to interact with some form of voice recognition software during a regular daily activity, and then record your experiences, (both positive and negative), with […]
Continue reading Week 11: Voice Posted in: General, Week 11:-
manny
Hi all,
I decided to briefly discuss some of the pros and cons to using the Dragon Dictation app. The Vocaroo software asks for access to the camera too but I don’t believe it makes a recording, just wondering if anyone else experienced that. Anyways, enjoy……-
joeltremblay
Hi Manny,
I actually use the PC software to do essays and film reviews. It definitely works better than the app because it has the chance to learn from your voice and the accents therein. I’m curious if you think it changes accuracy due to accents etc. because I’ve found the Iphone app to be less accurate when I drop into Canadian drawl.-
rebeccaharrison
I believe my hyperspeed drawl is also unappreciated. Here’s my take on it. I could see it being really fun to do with friends. For instance: who can come up with the most wildly inaccurate dictation. I’m really interested in what it does for education in the future though….
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Mike Rae
I had a similar experience Rebecca. Not perfect, and I found myself trying to do a recording that was perfect. My school is all ESL, so I doubt too that I would be able to use it in my teaching right now.
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joeltremblay
Interesting that it came up with curse words Rebecca and Mike, especially since it pulls from your phones current dictionary (The one that you constantly update when you send texts etc.) 😀 Sorry it wasn’t more useful for you. Do you think the tone of voice rather than the speed had anything to do with it?
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visramn
Hi,
I used the app Vling. Click on the link to hear my views on this app. http://vocaroo.com/i/s1qXtWcNco2p.
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Thanks,
Nureen-
joeltremblay
Hi Nureen,
I’ve found that Vlingo is definitely accurate and is quite useful for hands free control of your phone. What were you using it for specifically? (feel free to reply via vocaroo if that’s easier for you).-
visramn
I used it for emails, texts, to navigate on the internet, etc. I found that it could not understand names and kept pulling up different names. But that could be because many of the names in my address book might not be in the word bank they use.
Nureen
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Jenny Brown
I uploaded Vlingo to my iPhone and found it easy to use but not accurate. For more of my thoughts click on the link: http://vocaroo.com/i/s1Cj45Ri7g8C
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joeltremblay
Hi Jenny,
I use Dragon on my Iphone over Vlingo usually although I have both. I’ve found that the accuracy is a little bit better as far as sentence structure goes but it doesn’t have the hands free functionality that Vlingo does unfortunately. Thanks for trying it!
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teacherben
I recently had a pretty good experience using gesture and voice with my android phone. There is a keyboard called Swype that everyone should try. It is fantastic. Instead of typing on individual keys, you put your finger down on the first key of the word, then slide to the next letter and the next without lifting your finger. After just a few minutes of playing with it, I was typing about 20 words a minute on my cell phone. I have now been using it for a couple of years, but it was recently acquired by Nuance, the same company that makes Dragon, Naturally Speaking software. Between the two options, I was able to take an idea that I had in my head for a picture book, and get the whole thing written, page by page, with just a cell phone.
One thing I did find however is that different writing mediums seem to promote a very different flow of ideas. The research seems to bear this out. For example, here’s an article that discusses how handwriting seems to stimulate the brain much more than typing:
http://www.nhs.uk/news/2011/01January/Pages/writing-versus-typing-for-learning.aspx
As someone who once aspired to be a writer, I definitely found that stuff I typed and stuff I hand wrote was very different in style. Now, with this sort of sliding, gesture-based keyboard and voice dictation on the table, it will be interesting to see what new research reveals.
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joeltremblay
Hi Ben,
Isn’t that similar to what Samsung has done recently with their smartphones? Interesting that they have tried to apply to keyboards as well.-
teacherben
They just included the Swype keyboard by default instead of the stock Android one. Same keyboard.
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Jonathan
Quick review on Siri (Iphone), Siri (Mac) and Google (iPhone). I don’t usually use voice commands through my phone so it was nice to have an opportunity to play around with it again. I’ve created a Vocaroo (thanks for introducing us to it — super neat) about my thoughts:
http://vocaroo.com/i/s01JsQakIitT
The surprise find for me was the Google one in the end. I found it was able to predict my speech fairly accurately and quickly. I did a bit more research and found that indeed it was fast. Take a look at this one video where the person races Siri against Google!
http://gizmodo.com/5956433/google-voice-search-vs-siri-whos-the-best-iphone-assistant
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joeltremblay
Hi Jonathan,
One of the benefits of any google software tends to be the accessibility of it and how much more the developers listen to the community so I’m really not that surprised by the gizmodo article although I wasn’t aware of that in the first place. Thanks for thinking outside of the box and using Google voice as I completely forgot to include it 🙂 -
Scott
I concur with Jonathan on this one, internet searches on my iPhone 4 are a pleasure with the most recent voice enable search app from Google. The speed in particular is simply remarkable.
While I have found Dragon Dictation and Search convenient at times in the past, the lack of full integration with iOS, limits its overall usefulness I think. Which highlights an annoying problem many people have recognized, with technology of all sorts today, namely that because tech giants, such as Google and Apple, have ‘issues’ with each other on a bushiness or IP level, we the customers often suffer as as result.
Google’s voice technology appears to be superior to Apple’s at present, or at least for internet searching, yet Apple’s on going patent disputes with Google and other manufactures, mean that in some cases Apple customers are being forced to use an inferior product. This very situation recently played out with the whole map fiasco in iOS 6, which has left Apple customers with a poorly implemented map app compared to Google. Similarly, I believe my iPhone 4 has the hardware capability to use Siri, however software licensing constraints with Nuance, prevent the phone from being able to use this innovative new feature.
As a form of NUI, voice control is very exciting and still in its infancy really. I only hope that there can be more ‘democratic’ implementations of the technology in future.
BTW, I wrote this entire comment quite efficiently using Apple’s built-in voice dictation function, one of the stand out features in its latest desktop operating system, Mountain Lion.
Happy dictating all.
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joeltremblay
Interesting the complexity of the speech above. Especially abbreviations I’ve found that voice recognition software has big issues with. I’m curious if you were doing a lot of editing or was it just really accurate?
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kstackhouse
Great points Scott. I have not upgraded to Mountain Lion yet. When I was researching the Lion speech commands info it seemed pretty basic. It reminded me of those functions available to my iPhone 4. I think for many of these features time and resources will only make this technology better. As you mentioned they are still young.
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joeltremblay
I’m interested in just how different the functionality of the two operating systems are. I wonder if there are net comparisons out there as all I was able to find were comparisons between dragon and Mountain Lion or someone talking about the benefits of it:
http://www.gottabemobile.com/2012/07/29/osx-mountain-lion-review-dictation/
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avninder
My vlingo review
http://vocaroo.com/i/s1IAQzWBrzEU-
joeltremblay
How was Vlingo as far as commands etc.? What worked for you and what didn’t?
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avninder
A humorous clip showing how voice activation is far from glitch free:
http://www.complex.com/tech/2011/10/video-jack-donaghy-predicts-the-future-of-television-sets-
Mike Rae
love it…Jack is great, and I agree with him, not a big fan of the remote getting lost. I always thought that a page button like on a cordless phone would be nice if it was built in.
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sophiabb
My Vocaroo review
http://vocaroo.com/i/s0WuSHJyHCu1
I tested this voice software for podcast possibilities. I found it to be very clear. I liked that I was able to download as an MP3 and was able to open in Media Player as well as Quick Time. I was also able to edit it.
Sophia-
joeltremblay
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA… I was trying to figure out exactly what the hell this was!!! Too funny 😀 I’m guessing vocaroo was useful for you if you’re using for something other than this course 🙂
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sophiabb
Here is the correct link: http://vocaroo.com/i/s11GVVOnlOM6
Sophia
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joeltremblay
I’ve actually started using vocaroo for a lot of activities in the class including film reviews etc. Something else you can do is when you go to the link you right click on the player and save as an MP3 as well if you accidentally click the wrong thing.
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sophiabb
Thanks for the tip.
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Pat A Son
My Voice talk review
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joeltremblay
It’s a little strange talking to the computer sometimes. My students always look at me funny when i’m doing it.
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Pat A Son
That’s because the technology is new to us and we haven’t gotten used to it yet. Most people I am sure would prefer to control the computer by talking to it that typing or using a mouse because for us talking comes more naturally. Furthermore with the push by some software maker to have the user personalize their software at the interface level in a way makes the user experience a personal one. This fits in with the idea of personal learning that we looked at here before and all the option that we looked at this week voice has the potential to make computer usage almost like communicating with another person. Maybe this can make the difference for learners who are technologically challenged in one way or another.
As I said on vocaroo the current offerings are all dead and robotic when the day comes that CG generated voice sounds more natural and is more customizable it serve as the pathway by which a learner may be able to grasp a difficult concept.
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Mike Rae
dragon dictation review:
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joeltremblay
Thanks for the participation Mike,
Interesting that you had some problems with the exclamation and the curse word censorship. My wife and I tend to use it for shopping lists etc. and have ceased using pen and paper and instead just speaking at Dragon and texting the list to each other. -
jhodi
Hi Mike,
I quite enjoyed listening to your experience. I also tried to get punctuation and I found that some things worked such as saying ‘period’ or ‘exclamation mark’, but that does make me wonder what if I meant period in the sense of a hockey game or something and not the punctuation? I found some issues with the app’s accuracy. I was frustrated with the app in that I would have to read over what I said and make corrections to the words because it would have totally different words than what I said. I do wonder how this app would work with different accents?
Jhodi
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kstackhouse
Here is my recorded reflection on using Siri. http://vocaroo.com/i/s0WQybGWkDuy
Thanks for providing this activity. It gave me an excuse to spend some time trying to use Siri, which I have not done before.
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joeltremblay
The issue about quick responses seems to be wide standing which is really interesting considering that apple always pushes the response time during their commercials. False advertising maybe?
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kstackhouse
I’m not sure if it is false advertising or optimistic that one will have a good signal all the time. When it comes to simple things, like playing a song or dialing a number the response time was fine. It was when I asked for more detailed things like the movie listings or directions that there seemed to be more pauses. I think we have gotten spoiled with the immediacy of Google, Bing, and Yahoo searches that if something takes 4 seconds we start to think it is broken.
This reminds me of comedian Louis C.K.’s talk when on the Conan O’Brien Show on technology and how it is wasted on us. The bit was called “Everything is Amazing and Nobody is Happy”. It seems as though the original has been removed from youtube, but you can watch his stand-up version but it is not censored.
He also does a great bit on Twitter, social networking, and smart phones. He talks about how we are living our lives through the little screen on the camera. This is similar to the point I was making about the AR goggles in another thread.
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jenbarker
After reading Scott’s post I was really excited to try dictation on my iMac but unfortunately although I have upgraded to Mountain Lion, it doesn’t appear that I have the dictation feature. In my system preferences I only have “Speech” as an option. Scott, I am surprised that your text was written with correct punctuation. Did you have to edit it?
I am going to try Siri on my husband’s iphone tonight and will post my Vocaroo later. In the meantime, what is the name of the Google app everyone seemed to like? Do you download it from the app store and does it cost anything?
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teacherben
You enable voice commands in your Mac in the Accessibility section in the system preferences. It’s the last item on the list–“Speakable Items”. (I am on Mountain Lion too–btw, have you noticed a loss of battery life since you upgraded? My Mac was only a year old and my batter went from 6 or 7 hours down to about 3 after the upgrade, and it’s sluggish and awful. i wish I stuck with Snow Leopard.)
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jenbarker
Yes Ben I have noticed the same thing. I don’t go anywhere without my charger. BTW I don’t have an Accessibility section. I went to system preferences, and under the section system, I have a microphone labelled Speech. I clicked this and was able to turn speakable items on and off but it won’t allow me to convert voice to text. It only answers a couple of questions.
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teacherben
In my system preferences, in the system section, I have an icon for Accessibility and I also have an icon for Dictation and Speech. Once enabled, I just have to click on fn twice to turn it on.
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adi
Hi,
As a language teacher I have always been interested to see what voice recognition machines do when you speak with an accent. I downloaded Assistant Personal Secretary for my phone and said: “Hello mate, got a light? Oh, and could I have a glass of water, please?”, but it clearly did not understand my ‘cockney accent’ (http://vocaroo.com/i/s0rCj0CL38QM). This voice recognition programs that transcribe what they hear still have a long way to go, particularly if you take into consideration that there are more speakers of English as a Second Language than native speakers. Still, it was a lot of fun. Vocaroo, on the otehr hand, I have used in my classes and think it’s a great tool.-
teacherben
As the technology gets cheaper and more accessible, I think we will see this change. While it is possible to ‘train’ these programs to better recognize your voice, we are likely to start seeing add-on packs and so on for more regional accents in the same way that we already do for different languages. Many of these programs are already modular and allow users to add additional functionality by downloading extra bits.
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teacherben
Here is an interesting overview of accents research and voice recognition software. It was an interesting read and outlines some of the challenges in terms of getting it to work:
http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/mark/accent/
As he explains, an accent mismatch between the speakers used to ‘train’ the software as it was developed and the user can lead to up to a 30% error rate. And it would appear that the solution is not going to be a one-size-fits-all program but rather by leveraging the modular nature of the software and including ‘language packs’ that may be based on specific accents rather than different languages.
I am willing to bet that once some open source players get in on the game, then individual groups will be able to create their own language packs based on a very specific regional accent. For example, as this technology is integrated into the browser, as happens with most technologies sooner or later, a company like Mozilla or Google may use an open architecture that will allow these sorts of plugins.
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joeltremblay
Hahaha… I like the translation that it provided for you. I wonder if the accuracy is representative of the entire population or if it is just localized to the Cockney accent? Also, Dragon for your home computer actually learns your accent and builds up a dictionary the more you use it so as you use it, it trains itself to your voice.
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Lisa Nevoral
Hey All,
Here is my Vocaroo: http://vocaroo.com/i/s0Tc6DOwnwOj. Note-I have a cold and did not use a microphone, so quality not so good.
I have recently purchased a Galaxy S3 and of course there is voice recognition program with the phone. I have two options – one that is like Siri in Apple (S Voice or Galaxy) or a Google Option. The S Voice gives me options to use voice recognition to do things with the phone, while the Google Option allows me to search things on the Internet. The S Voice is pretty finicky. It doesn’t always do what I want, but maybe I need to pronounce my words better. I can see where voice recognition could come in handy (such as using it for a “To-Do list, texting a message to someone, etc.). I think I just need to play around with it a bit more.
Lisa
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joeltremblay
Interesting the difficulties you had with it. I wonder if that’s only on the G3 model since most people have reported google phones being superior as far as voice recog goes with reference to the comparitive apple products?
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Lisa Nevoral
Hey Joel,
S Voice is a personal assistant and knowledge navigator for Samsung Galaxy SIII and Samsung Galaxy Note II. Apparently, it can help with opening apps, setting my alarm, updating Facebook, telling me the temperature, help send texts or place calls. I just find that it doesn’t always recognize the words I say very well. The Google option on my Android seems to understand what I’m saying much better and is quite fast finding me information.
Lisa
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teacherben
A company called Maluuba, that makes a voice recognition app for Android that is apparently better than Siri, just released their API so that other apps can tap into its functionality. So if you were working on an app, say an ebook, you could make it so that if the user has maluuba installed and running, they could interact with the book, turn the pages, whatever, using voice. Nice.
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C. Ranson
I downloaded both Vliingo and Dragon Dictation to my iphone through the itune store, took seconds. I had difficulty accessing my contacts through Vlingo, the voice recorded messaging worked well. I then downloaded Dragon Dictation and this application works fabulous. The voice recording of message is very accurate, with each pause a comma was added and you had to indicate a period. http://vocaroo.com/i/s0ZD6FuHKvrI
Catherine
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joeltremblay
Hi there Catherine,
Good to hear that you spent the time to actually compare the two services and that you were able to ascertain which was more compatible with your understanding and abilities.
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jhodi
I downloaded the Dragon Dictation app on my iPhone and found some positives and negatives to the app. I also noticed afterwards that this same program is on my work computer (I had seen the logo before, but had never tried opening it), and tried it on there as well. Here is the link to my Vocaroo recording:
http://vocaroo.com/i/s1w5koO8gXIPJhodi
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joeltremblay
Thanks for the reply Jhodi. Good to hear that you attempted a couple different options and didn’t get frustrated and walk away from it the way I might have done in your situation.
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jenbarker
I tried to use Vocaroo this morning but after ten times I gave up. I am not sure if it was due to a setting I had on my computers (I tried both my laptop and iMac) but my voice sounded mottled and was almost inaudible. So instead I used a screencast program called Jing that I love. It records a portion of your screen and allows you to talk to it. I use it when responding to student’s papers and/or lesson plans as you can scroll through the document on the screen and use your cursor/arrow to point things out and talk to them simultaneously.
On my Jing I gave a review of Siri. Here is the link to my Jing. http://screencast.com/t/Alj9CGtd
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joeltremblay
Hi there Jen,
I was having problems with it yesterday and the day before at the school but I believe that was due to the internet connection and more importantly, the uploading ability of your line. It could also be due to Vocaroo itself having issues but who knows. Thanks for adapting and posting the alternative Jing though as I’m sure other people have had this issue. -
jameschen
My Vocaroo recording on my voice recognition software experience is at http://vocaroo.com/i/s0zSG8gFEUqy.
I think voice recognition technology would benefit students with a disability who are unable to write/type using their hands. Another educational benefit could be to help English Language Learners improve their spoken English by trying to train the software to recognize their voice. Other than this I wouldn’t recommend educators to make use of the technology – unless they have extraordinary patience.
James
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joeltremblay
Hi James,
Because of the quality of the vocaroo recording, you have a somewhat Siri esque quality to your Vocaroo recording. It’s interesting as it sounds like you typed it and a software speak it for you. Sorry it didn’t work out well for you, but we appreciate the perseverance.
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joeltremblay
Alright everyone,
As your guide through the mystical lands of futuristic and sometimes prehistoric voice command software, I bid you adeau and thank you for participating in our activities. Thanks you for your insight, ideas and professionalism. Cheers! -
melissaayers
Thanks to the group for introducing this activity, as well as introducing us to the Vocaroo tool.
I have been interested in voice recognition for many years (since I started my computer science degree in fact) but have been disappointed by how slowly it had evolved over the years. However it look likes significant improvements have been made thanks to the introduction of competing mobile devices I think.
I tried Siri a while ago but like many others have reported here the experience was not too fantastic and I gave up not long after I started. I found it made too many errors.
In contrast I have recently been playing around with the Google Voice and find it amazing, the advancements in this technology are clear and I am sure the improvements will keep coming for both this product as well as in Siri and Samsung’s version. It’s something I will definitely consider using in both in a classroom and daily life.
Just for fun I tried Dragon Diction with the language set as French (Canadian) and it was a complete disaster, I know my accent in French is not that great but it was really nothing like what I said – not even a word. Once I switched it back to English it was a lot better but still made quite a few mistakes. I think I would need to get used to it a bit before I find it completely useful.
Overall I found that google voice was the best product for my dictating (and searching) needs.
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joeltremblay
The best part about the desktop version of Dragon Dictation is that it keeps track of the different nuances and tendencies that you have within your diction. The mobile app is somewhat limited in that capacity unfortunately and because of that you get the mistakes you talk about. Just last night I was using it for something, but was quite tired because of a particularly gruelling schedule of late and it was making all kinds of mistakes.
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David Vogt
A3 Advice
Pursuant to Peggy’s recent A3 post, and some other queries via email, I’m posting this general announcement to welcome any questions about Assignment 3 that might not be answered or sufficiently clear in the instructions and rubric in the course requirements. As per the course schedule, your A3 is due at the end of Week […]
Continue reading A3 Advice Posted in: Announcements, General-
joeltremblay
Thank you David,
This explanation is MUCH appreciated. -
Doug Connery
Hi David, thanks for the info.
As the November 25 due date draws near, I have some questions.
Will you create a Venture Forum Category for us to link our submissions to?
Just to be clear, we create a new post here and upload our elevator pitch (video) and venture pitch (video or written) and embed them in the post. This is where Kaltura comes in, automatically I assume.
Then we wait for you to assign each of us 10 ventures to review. We comment briefly on 7 and in more detail on our top 3 and then choose and justify one or more of the top three to fund. This needs to be done by the last day of classes on Friday November 30.
Thanks David.
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jkotler
World Reader
Instead of responding to the discussion on the articles given in the Newsstand, I wanted to provide another link to a video about an amazing organization I recently learned about, World Reader. Since they began they have sent more than 200,000 e-readers to children (and schools) in Ghana, Kenya and Uganda, and their mission is […]
Continue reading World Reader Posted in: General-
Peggy Lawson
Thanks Jkotler. That’s a nice story. If I watch from a more unbiased view, I might wonder how much the eReader itself played in increasing reading fluency – maybe it was just good teaching? Are the students more likely to carry around an eReader more than a regular book? Is the eReader more economical than physical books, and how do they keep them powered? I like hearing good stories, but would be interested in some of these underlying questions, too. So I further explored the site and found some answers.
We’ve had discussions along these lines in some of my other classes. As MET students we obviously all have strong feelings about the power of technology in the classroom. But in some specific cases there are other factors that need to be addressed. I think the eReader project shown in your video is a great project – I don’t know if the video did full justice to the program.
Peggy
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pcollins
I appreciate the link. The idea behind this is fabulous. It really makes the impact from open-source learning visible. I agree with Peggy that the program seems much more influential then what the clip shows.
PC
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Peggy Lawson
Assignment 3
Hi David – Can you remind us of the timeline for Assignment 3? When should we have our materials all ready to present. The end of Week 12, which is ….. ?
Continue reading Assignment 3 Posted in: General -
Peggy Lawson
Week 10: The Newstand
Respond to and/or join in the discussion of one of the following articles: B.C. to lead Canada in offering students free, open textbooks Ebook Publisher Inkling Launches Its Own Online Store: An Amazon For Illustrated Learning Content 7 Questions for McGraw-Hill’s Brian Kibby
Continue reading Week 10: The Newstand Posted in: General, Week 10:-
tomwhyte1
B.C. OER Textbooks:
First let me begin by saying, for myself, and my experiences within the MET course and my professional experiences, at exploring a reality with no textbooks, that I believe the traditional textbook is dead, however, that is only my opinion, and I realize I am in the minority.
Therefore, after having read this article, I felt, it is about time that a service like this was provided to both faculty members, and students. For this free’s up significant resources for students, for some faculties (such as engineering, textbooks can easily cost several hundred dollars), allowing students, in some cases, to use that money for much needed food. I wonder however, what the technology requirement or continual requirements might be to support this?
As for faculty members, this is where I am a little concerned. For in my undergrad experience, I purchased a lot of books written by the prof. I am unaware if they made money on this, or how much money, but I am going to assume that money was made. Therefore, might they be a little reluctant to give up this extra and continual revenue stream?
Thoughts?
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kstackhouse
Hi Tom,
I agree with your statements. I think the old textbook form will not be able to compete in a digital environment if it plans to stay the same. On a side note I always hated it when I saw that the Prof. was also the author of the text. I can think of at least 5 courses over my university career where this happened and in one course in particular the text wasn’t even referenced once. I was pretty annoyed and felt at the time that it was both an ego booster for the Prof. and a money grab. I could be wrong, but that is how I felt.I see your concern about the technology requirements in relation to the costs of accessing books. In my first year of a B.Sc. I spent over a $1000 in new text books. (Of course as a Freshman you never think of buying used…). At this time in the market that could buy you a top end tablet with money left over.
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Eva Ziemsen
I think this is interesting, as I’ve often struggled with the idea of making a text of mine mandatory. Not that I have written a book yet, but I have 50% of it. I thought about a blog that is monetized with ads as another dilemma. What about having students buy and app that you have created? I feel less torn about asking them to do this.
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tomwhyte1
Inkling:
After reading the article which focussed on Inkling, one specific quote made me very intrigued:
“The average price of the titles is about $9.99, with the option to purchase chapters for $0.99 and up.” (Empson, 2012)
For when I read this, I think great for the consumer. Instead of myself purchasing an entire book for the one or two chapters that the prof is going to use, I can just select those portions.
However, this sounds very similar to iTunes, and people’s belief that the ability to purchase individual songs, instead of entire albums, has wrecked the album for the music industry. I do not believe this, for before iTunes, most albums were simply a way to sell one or two songs if a group was lucky.
Regardless, might this piecemeal approach be another nail into the coffin of textbooks?
Thoughts?
References:
Empson, R. (2012). Ebook Publisher Inkling Launches Its Own Online Store: An Amazon For Illustrated Learning Content. Retrieved from http://techcrunch.com/2012/11/01/ebook-publisher-inkling-launches-its-own-online-store-an-amazon-for-illustrated-learning-content/
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rebeccaharrison
Hey Tom,
As usual, very good points ;). Although I like the analogy between chapters/songs vs. books/albums. I, however, do feel that the “piecemeal” approach looses something in the transmission. Without the context of the other songs on an album, you do not get the clear picture of the artist (like seeing one corner of the Mona Lisa).
Books, I feel, are similar to this. If this is the way that we value purchasing, then will people begin to write or compose in this way? I absolutely “get” the idea behind it, and don’t discount that (particularly with textbooks) I would be tempted to buy this way. Here is a concern though: I, personally, have read a “non-required” opening, or chapter, paragraph, section, etc. from every single textbook I have ever purchased. If I were to purchase only chapters, I can almost guarantee that I would never have spent additional money to browse non-required information. Does cost-saving strip students of that important opportunity to understand information within its context, or be exposed to information they would not normally have sought out. Are we then setting up a situation where we provide a financial incentive to limit the amount of information students seek?
I certainly see the positives. Do these concerns outweigh them, or can they be addressed somehow?
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pcollins
Hi Rebecca,
And to further your idea – what does this mean for the author? Are they consenting to this dissection of their material? Do they even get a choice – or does the publishing company get to decide?I can see the affordances of this practice with certain academic texts that I have purchased which have numerous chapters authored by seperate people and simply edited together in a book.
However, in other situations segregating a chapter out would certainly devalue the author’s message. Does the author lose control of their academic property once they sign it over to a publisher?
PC
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tomwhyte1
Disagree-agreeably regarding Songs versus Albums. Yes many artists claim, that their collection of mismatched tunes, is a collective statement. I believe that they think this, and in a small amount of cases, this may actually be true. But the music landscape is not filled with artists anymore, it is filled with corporate money-making machines. Therefore, is it more important to Sony Music have a hit single, or an entire album speaking to a generation?
As for the using of a textbook to have students understand the entire picture, that thought does have merit, but that would then require courses to be built specifically to the application of an entire textbook. With that amount of time devoted to a specific task, it would leave students such as ourselves, spending more and more time, reading a book, and less time, working with the information, discussing the information, and most importantly reflecting on the information.
Thoughts?
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Peggy Lawson
I may be misunderstanding your meaning, Tom, but I don’t know if I’d agree that courses are built around textbooks, as opposed to courses using textbooks. Rarely, if ever, have I ever been taught, or taught, based on an entire textbook. Usually it’s fairly selective use of the text (but that varies considerably). However, a textbook often has a flow, and builds upon it’s content and direction. You can’t always just pick up a textbook and jump around. Sometimes you do need to complete Chapter 1 before Chapter 2 has any meaning.
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tomwhyte1
Have you taken ETEC 531…
Great course, built around 1 book…
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tomwhyte1
As for my comment about the entire course to be built around a textbook, I myself have rarely seen it, other than the class I am just taking. However, what I was getting at, was I would purchase select chapters from a book – the ones I need. The ones I do not, I would never read unless personally interested, or if the instructor built the entire course around a textbook – forcing us to read and use the entire book… ugghh….
Thoughts?
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jenniferschubertubc
I can see the rationale between both Tom and Peggy’s responses. I cannot recall a single incident where a professor has used an entire textbook over the entirety of a course. In fact, I have found it common practice that chapters are addressed out of the order in which they originally appear. That said, I find it very helpful to have the “extra” material at hand and easily referenced through an index just in case I need further clarification of points which may not have been addressed in the required readings/assignments.
I do find it hard to take an active part in an extremely text heavy class. Of course, that may because I am a kinesthetic as opposed to a visual learner. That is one aspect of digital textbooks, especially interactive ones, that I am most interested in. I think they open up brand new avenues to learning for those students who may get frustrated with large amounts of reading without other activity.
P.S. I totally agree on your points about the music industry today, Tom! In fact, there is a musical (“We Will Rock You”) which addresses this very subject. Funny enough, it is based on the songs of Queen and talks of the music of the future, or Corporate Remixed Autotuned Pop… you can work out what that boils down to. 😉
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Pat A Son
Tom the ‘what you need is what you buy (WYNIWYB) ;-)’ model has certainly given the consumer a lot of power and authors would just have to get with the program. At the end of the day despite the concern expressed by the music industry about the demise about albums the industry is benefiting greatly from online sales (Jones.2011). The problem is that the digital format has changed the way business is done and the world is now getting used to it as both consumer and producer. For example I came across an article on how the in game purchasing can be abused by game producers to make customers pay much more than they would have if they had simply purchased the game. This goes to show as educators we need to know what is happening around us and how we can best leverage the opportunities that are available to us.
Reference
Editorial: Eternity Warriors 2 takes in-game purchases way too far. (2012, August 24). DroidGamers. Retrieved November 7, 2012, from http://www.droidgamers.com/index.php/game-news/site-news-rants/4474-eternity-warriors-2-takes-in-game-purchases-way-too-farJones, S. (2011, June 7). Music industry’s sales are up, up, up this year – USATODAY.com. USA TODAY: Latest World and US News – USATODAY.com. Retrieved November 7, 2012, from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2011-07-06-music-sales-jump-this-year_n.htm
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tomwhyte1
A reason why Apple has removed many apps that require purchasing extras within the program that was originally advertised as free – one of the reasons why you cannot purchase ebooks through the Kobo app anymore.
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Pat A Son
It just goes to show how new technologies brings new issues that we have to cope with. I applaud Apple for the position they have take. On this note I have become wary of commercially produced free product. If it does not have an open source license I try to stay away from it but this is easier said than done with penetration that “free” has had on the internet. For example my free android yahoo mail reader on my smartphone has advertisements on it which is something I never anticipated.
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jenniferschubertubc
It’s a prime case of “nothing in life is truly free,” I’m afraid. Many parents, and even adults for that matter, do not have the money to constantly be buying apps. The availability of free versions is fantastic… until they become so ad heavy that they actually become hard to use! It is frustrating, to be sure, but corporations also cannot afford to give away product. It’s when a fine balance is struck where everyone wins. Unfortunately, I don’t think we are fully there just yet.
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Pat A Son
B.C. OER Textbooks:
I have always been a fan of the open source movement because of the potential it has for changing education in ways that no other model of distributing software based technologies can. I have also come to realize the limitless capacity e-books have in terms of enhancing the learning process. So to “marry” them in the way that is done here is a win win situation. The fact that one can be modified to suit ones needs makes e-books appealing. This in conjunction with the savings in cost to students and trees should encourage anyone in to look in this direction.
By publicly funding this effort shows that the people in BC that are involved in charting the course for education are in tune with times. Efforts like these coupled with open course ware will certainly go a long way in changing the face of education by making a more level playing field.
I just wish that it was done at the k-12 level also.
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jhodi
I have also been a large fan of open source content and I think that it has huge potential when combined with e-texts. Not only is this a cost-efficient alternative for many schools and teachers, but it also opens the potential door to the best teachers and experts in a field collaborating on one project!
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Mike Rae
Hey Pat, I agree that it would be nice to see the OER textbooks make the jump from higher education to K-12, but I think it will be a while before that happens.
It looks like the ‘families first’ initiative is a large part of the motivation for the OER textbooks. Saving a student or his/her parents around 1000 dollars a year is pretty great, and because of that, there will be a lot of public support.
In K-12 though, the printed textbooks are not purchased (directly) by the students or parents. They are borrowed and re-used year after year until they become out of date (and often times used after that) or are falling apart. K-12 books get a lot more miles out of them than the average college textbook. The savings of the OER textbooks isn’t as direct in this setting, however I totally agree that it would be great in the long run to save schools money, allowing them to allocate those funds elsewhere (perhaps into a BYOD program, ensuring the students had devices to use the eTextbooks).I liked your comparison Tom of textbooks/chapters to albums/songs. I would love it if I could purchase a chapter for 99 cents rather than buy a whole book and I think most people would as well. I agree that the printed textbook is on its way to becoming extinct, but I don’t think it will kill the textbook industry. Forward thinking companies, like Mcgraw-Hill, will have to jump out in front of this movement to create other revenue streams. People will always want/need textbooks, music and movies, its just a matter of how they are delivered to us that is changing (changed).
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pcollins
And what about the School Board’s role in all of this? Do they sign some kind of exclusivity contract with publishing companies that determine the textbooks that are put on our resources list? I did try once to get an additional resource for my Geology 12 class put on the list and it was refused – with no response as to why.
I can’t help but feel that most first year proffs will gravitate towards whichever free digital text is being offered to them in BC because they know that the savings to the student will be significant. But is this imposing upon their ability to choose resources that they feel would be best for their class?
PC
PC
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rebeccaharrison
Interesting point, PC. Another prospect within your example: If teachers use the “free” resource and give the option of having another, perhaps better, “paid” resource, we create “haves” and “have nots” with respect to information.
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Pat A Son
I think the power of choice is the most important tool you can give anyone in our position and this is where I have an affinity to the open source model of doing things. From experience I have found that the exclusivity that PC spoke about comes from commercial vendors. However since it is unlikely that any one resource will meet all our needs then then it is necessary to allow teachers and students alike to choose their material with the open textbooks being an option. I think in the long run free open source anything will not replace their commercial counterparts because after all is said and done they are just new alternatives that brings afordances that were not available before.
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melissaayers
Just looking at the pros & cons from an environmental perspective I find the statement/fact you highlight “The carbon emissions needed to create one e-book reader equal the carbon emissions from generating 40-50 textbooks “ quite amazing & significant.
I am not sure what others think about this but personally I think only a minority of eReader owners are likely to read 40-50 books before they end up upgrading their eReaders. New products and hardware and better screen technology is currently being released each year. I would imagine only a very few hard working/reading individuals would get an environmental benefit from switching to using an eReader from actual real books.
For the purpose of this point of course I am choosing to ignore all the other benefits brought about by using eReaders such as portability, books price reductions etc and looking at it purely as an environmental impact.
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melissaayers
sorry this was meant to be posted to the reading circle post!
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teacherben
Dan Meyer, former math teacher, now phd candidate, blogs regularly about the future of the math textbook. He have come up with some pretty innovative ideas to change the way we teach math and he is regularly invited to speak at various workshops and conferences. He was hired by a major textbook publisher to help them supposedly reinvent the math textbook (I think it may have been McGraw Hill, which is why I thought of it here). he wrote in his blog that it was a frustrating experience and after a conflict of opinion, they parted ways. He recently posted some new ideas he had about leveraging the potential for interactivity in digital textbooks and another math blogger with some programming skills decided to help make his idea a reality. It’s pretty cool.
Here the post:
http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=15536Here’s one of the activities:
http://testing.davemajor.net/tacocart/
(try to click and drag the dots and you will see how it works)Here’s another one:
http://testing.davemajor.net/triangles/It certainly isn’t revolutionary and the programming isn’t that tricky, but to try to imagine a textbook where this sort of manipulation of objects is possible is pretty exciting. Most of the big textbook publishers that are doing a lot of talking these days about the future of electronic textbooks have, for the most part, only offered their existing, boring books as pdf’s with a little bit of click here to go there functionality. I certainly haven’t seen anything like what this fellow has done in the above examples and we probably should have by now if they were truly committed to the idea rather than being dragged, kicking and screaming, into the future.
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jenniferschubertubc
This is exactly what I was talking about above! The promise of truly interactive textbooks on the horizon makes me truly excited to be a part of this industry. I think of all the students out there who have a really tough time in school for the simple reason that the written word does not reach them as experience does, and I cannot help but see more success on the horizon for differentiated learners as a whole. The use of more and varied modalities can only work to enhance the learning experience for a larger population; watching students make connections and use their learning to move along in life is what makes teaching exciting… for me anyway!
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ETEC BYOD
Having toyed with the Apple iBooks Author App a bit myself, I’d say this level of interactivity has arrived.
I couldn’t agree more with the notion that a PDF on its own, is not an electronic textbook. This fits with the logic that an LCD projection of a scanned overhead is nothing more than a plain old overhead, in a new disguise.
What etextbooks really need now, is top notch content and design to make the most of the technology.
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ETEC BYOD
In general, there are a few features of Inklings technology, which I feel are steps in the right direction for etextbooks.
– It’s platform independent, which is critical for BYOD models and ultimately more flexible, though a likely a nightmare for content developers
– The curation component of its Library store is very wise and will likely become more important as an increasing numbers of textbooks become available
– Fractional book purchases of select chapters makes complete sense
– I think its a shame that their Habitat publishing environment is focused on professional developers, which denies small or individual publishers access to their quality publishing toolsMost encouraging is their desire to move etextbooks beyond simple text-to-digital ports.
As much as I love Apple, it seems Inkling has a compelling product here.
Ebook Publisher Inkling Launches Its Own Online Store: An Amazon For Illustrated Learning Content
http://techcrunch.com/2012/11/01/ebook-publisher-inkling-launches-its-own-online-store-an-amazon-for-illustrated-learning-content/ -
visramn
I thought the article “7 Questions for McGraw-Hill’s Brian Kibby” was interesting. Kibby defiantly has a very optimistic perspective about the adoption of digital textbooks. He has some very good points about why digital textbooks are beneficial and makes digital textbooks sound appealing. Althought I free that digital textbooks are going to be the main means of textbooks in the future I do not think that this evolution will occur so quickly and I also do not think that print textbooks will be replaced totally. In the article they mentioned that some people simply do not like reading on a screen and prefer paper. Kibby retorted by saying that technology will evolve some more and this will combat the problem. I disagree. No matter how much technology evolves it can not replicate a piece of paper. Hence ,those who do not like reading on a digital screen may have to do so even thought they do not want to but that does not mean the issue is solved that just means they had to adapt against their will. I think issues such as these will result in paper textbooks remaining in print.
Nureen -
sophiabb
Re: B.C. OER textbooks
I think the idea of OER textbooks has a lot of merit. Easy access for students, costs savings for the students (families) and definitely for the B.C. government – no printing cost and no need to purchase thousand of hard copies of books. Of course consideration must be given to cost spent to purchase devices (families and the government) and to upgrade same the ecological impact of this decision.
I am an avid reader. I love nothing better than to curl up with a book (hard copy) and read to my heart’s and mind’s content. I am the owner of a kindle and have downloaded the kindle, kobo and nook apps to my laptop. I have purchased many ebooks. Yet, I still prefer to interact with the hard copy. However, I am now curling up with my kindle. However, my sight is taking a beating: at work I am almost always using the computer; and at home its MET work on the computer. Okay, it could be due to the natural aging process but I think this has hastened it along. Reports already indicate that there is a direct correlation between sight and computer usage [including ereader] http://www.aoa.org/documents/EffectsComputerUse.pdf . What will be medical impact of this decision?
Sophia
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Kent Jamieson
Out of this world AR app – Spacecraft 3D
I recently found this AR beauty. Nasa’s Spacecraft 3D is an augmented reality application that lets you learn and interact with NASA’s spacecrafts and other technology. By printing out the AR target sheet that comes with the app you simply use your iPhone or iPad video camera to make these cool space tools come to life! I […]
Continue reading Out of this world AR app – Spacecraft 3D Posted in: General, Week 07:-
manny
Hi Kent,
Thanks for sharing that app with the cohort. I currently teach Earth and Ocean Sciences 11 and can’t wait to integrate it into the space unit of this class. I like the fact that the printed marker can be embedded into course readings through which students can access the 3d augmented reality experience. I hope the designers are considering AR apps for biology and chemistry courses as this would truly make the experience more tangible and engaging.
Thanks,
Manny -
ETEC BYOD
Great application of the technology – thanks for sharing it Kent.
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melissaayers
One Laptop Per Child (OLPC)
This morning I can across the an article on how the OLPC initiative is going 6 years after it was launched. Unfortunately does not seem to be bringing the benefits and advancements they hoped it would initially. DeathWatch: One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) I was lucky enough to briefly meet one of the founders of the […]
Continue reading One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Posted in: General-
ETEC522grp8
Thanks for sharing the link. The report provides an interesting perspective on whether or not OLPC has been able to deliver the proposed results. I had thought that providing a child with a laptop would open doors to learning on a whole new level. But what you’ve said made me realize that in order for programs such as the OLPC to be successful a child would still need to be able to do well on tests. The sad reality seems to be the fact that success ultimately depends on test results…
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melissaayers
Yes, I have to agree its not great that its test based for the assessment as I am sure the students gain many valuable skills from having the devices that they would not have gained previously.
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Patrick Pichette
I remember participating in a local program that encouraged students to create applications that would be used by the OLPC group. Unfortunately, not much was known on their education system and the program had many issues that prevented our students from truly creating the experience that should have been achieved. Additionally, I recall reading issues about the lack of infrastructure to provide students with the connectivity that would be required to make the OLPC initiative successful. All this leads to an investment that seemed doomed to fail from the onset. I almost wonder if there was someone who cashed in on this by securing certain distribution rights while the whole thing was on wobbly legs to begin with.
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teacherben
Patrick, I would be interested to know more about the group that was making applications for the OLPC–what languages/tools were they working with? While I was at first really excited to see the OLPC loaded with with a Linux distribution, what they came up with was so vastly different from anything used in the real world that it may not have been all that helpful. While Windows machines with Excel on them may not quite be the ‘machines to think with’ that they imagined at MIT, they might give kids a chance to get into school or get a job.
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Patrick Pichette
We were using machines called the XO. You can see a model that is likely the same or a derivative of it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OLPC_XO-1
As for the languages and tools, most were using either Java or Scratch to create the games. This was for an introductory level programming course for grade 10 students. Most had no idea how to program while a few had been doing it on their own for the past 2 or 3 years. As the machines had limited functionality, these were the recommended tools for the students to create their mini-games.
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Patrick Pichette
Odd timing.. I just heard a radio announcement this morning about the OLPC initiative. They were discussing how much of a success it had been in a small African community with no schools, teachers, or Internet. I’m a little unsure about electricity but I’ll assume there was some otherwise it will be difficult to get these recharged. 🙂 Anyhow, apparently they dropped off some boxes of these little machines loaded with a bunch of apps pre-installed and were researching how the children would adapt to them. According to the radio announcement, within just a few minutes, some of the children had opened the boxes and within the hour they had begun turning on the machines and seeing what they could do. Over the course of a few weeks and months, they gradually learned to use the computers and started teaching themselves things by looking through the applications. Needless to say that I’m in total shock now.. I’m unsure as to whether the OLPC initiative has turned into a success or if this is an isolated case. I’ll have to see if I can find out more as it looks like it may have turned out for the better in the long run if this isn’t an isolated case.
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visramn
Bringing Week Seven to a Close
Bringing week seven to a close Group seven would like to thank all of you for taking part in the discussions and activities this week. We hope this week has allowed for you to enhance you understanding of Augmented Reality and has introduced you to some new educational tools. We appreciate your active participation and […]
Continue reading Bringing Week Seven to a Close Posted in: Announcements, General, Week 07: -
Kent Jamieson
AR in 4J
In my class – 4J – we’re experimenting a little with AR and an app I found that links to a great book. If you have 5 minutes, and instead of me explaining everything, just have a look. The kids loved it! (.99 cent app) http://youtu.be/uYGweNHdnOM
Continue reading AR in 4J Posted in: General, Week 07:-
Jenny Brown
Thanks for sharing Kent, it was a good example to show how engaged the students became. With carrying out this exploration with AR, I have been left wondering if all of the cool hidden videos/features etc discourage student imagination or augment it?
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stammik
The kids love it is right. I’m guessing most teachers and administrators would be rather impressed by the level of engagement offered by this implementation of AR – thanks for sharing it Kent, I’m going to ask my daughter if the book is available in her library!
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tomwhyte1
Interesting video, and yes a great book. My kids have the app version on my iPad right now.
However, I only see one student engaged – the one holding the iPad. The students around her are watching, but they are nothing more than spectators, and the poor child holding the book is not receiving any educational value.
Yes I agree, that AR can increase engagement. But increased engagement of new technology has a very limited shelf life, and does not replace good instruction, and engagement does not ensure that actual learning takes place. But, when we see students, sitting, behaved, with smiles, we assume they are learning… when in most cases they are having fun. Do not get me wrong, I think learning should be fun, but I try not to mistake all smiling kids as learners, and those not smiling as not learning…
I think AR has potential to enhance the learning environment, and right now we are seeing flash and bang, with little substance. Therefore, I ask, what would pedagogically sound AR learning look like…
I myself will give this one application a bonus over the others, in that it allowed the girl holding the iPad to interact with some of the virtual objects presented.
Thoughts?
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tomwhyte1
In addition, I applaud you as a classroom teacher for exploring how technology might enhance the learning environment, therefore, please do not take my opinions on AR as a reflection of the efforts you are putting forth, and the obvious dedication you have to your students and school.
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Kent Jamieson
No worries Tom, I too am quite sceptical of the overall value of this type of technology. I just wanted to try it out. I’m sure if all my students bought the app the experience would bemore individualised, but still…is the learning any better? To tell you the truth, I found the experience distracting from what the book’s actual message was. In some parts I could tell the kids weren’t even listening to the narration, but waiting for the next virtual action to take place.
The kids were definitely interested and engaged, but substance-wise, it seemed pretty skin deep.-
tomwhyte1
Did the book app you used, have the characters be able to exchange hats like in the strictly app version… that section is my children’s favorite.
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Peggy Lawson
I’ll have to try that one. Just finished with Aura. Made my own Aura – not really impressed, but I’ll spend more time with it, and try your suggestion Kent. I’m pretty much in tune with Tom I think. Currently a neat little novely item – I could see kids becoming engaged, but not for a long spell in it’s current state (speaking only for those I’ve tried so far). And as Tom said, engagement does not guarentee learning. Neat new things pop up so frequently these days that any one thing is not likely to hold a student’s attention for too long. It’s got to have more than just a “WOW!” factor to have any real impact.
Peggy
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Jonathan
Peggy —
You’ve got some good points with it needing to have more than just a “WOW!” factor. Then I think about embracing the “WOW!” and running with it. If you think about how we can use technology to capture the attention of our students — using WOW doesn’t seem so bad.
For example, say we are teaching some math concepts and we use AR to make some of the numbers jump out of the page to teach a concept (let’s say for the sake of argument how to add numbers), this could be really engaging. Sure it’d like watching a movie (by the way, I’m against the edutainment stuff) but if the student is engaged even for that split second the concept could be transferred in that moment. Perhaps even watching more of these AR demos could possibly help? Embracing the ‘WOW” would’ve achieved the purpose.
Again, it doesn’t seem pedagogically sound in the long run — but for a temporary burst? Do you think that it could/would possibly work?
Just some thoughts 🙂
— Jonathan
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tomwhyte1
My concern with what you are proposing is the simple fact that in a short period of time, we become desensitized to the event. When I grew up it was the Rodney King beatings, the students I have taught recently was 9/11. Research has shown that repeated exposure to an event, lessens the impact of the event… Something in the drug community known as Chasing the Dragon – trying to get that initial excitement back (had a presentation recently).
For myself, what educational value does AR bring to the classroom? If it is being simply used to briefly engage students, tell them a story, make the information relevant to their real world experiences. But do I feel it is a tool we should ignore? No, I think it has a time and a place, but not all the time, and not in all the places.
Thoughts?
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Kent Jamieson
I think your comment, “it has a time and a place” is true, but i’m sure that could be said for many many things. My experience with AR in the class was a once off thing, to engage the students, but to also share with them that this sort of thing is possible nowadays.
I always look at my Grade 4’s as the future leaders – or at least ‘the future’ – and by sharing these tools with them it might inspire them to think about new ways of doing things. They seemed excited about the AR demo, but some of them weren’t impressed and could tell most of the images “looked fake”. Maybe one day they’ll be the ones programming educational technology apps…watch out for that day.
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Peggy Lawson
Sorry Jonathan, but I think that brief WOW that gets kids briefly engaged isn’t enough. As Kent said, WOW often gets students to be engaged with the wrong thing – the technology – and miss the real point of thes lesson. I think it’s very easy for us, as teachers, to also get distracted. We do run a real risk I think when we feel we have to always find a new WOW factor, when really it’s the excitement of the content that should engage students, and an effective teacher can do this without whiz-bang effects.
I think the real benefits to AR are to be able to show things (as others have said in other threads) that cannot otherwise be easily visualize – an atom is a great example someone else had mentioned. Or the structure of a bridge in full 3-D.
Simply having books flying around in a storybook don’t seem to add much in the way of real knowledge formation and can be more distracting than useful.
Peggy
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Colin
Hi Jonathan, I have to agree with most what is said. I don’t think that any technology, which are just tools, cause engagement on their own. It is a teacher that causes engagement whether they use technology or not it all depends on how they use the various tools they have access to. I have had very engaging teachers who just talked at the front of the class and never used any technology. However I do think that educating students to the various technologies that exist in the world is useful and for that reason I would use AR.
Colin
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Jonathan
Kent —
I have this book in my classroom and I just bought the app. Amazing. Thanks for making the video, i’m using it tomorrow (oh no! Pro-D tomorrow) — Monday it is! 🙂
Thanks,
Jonathan
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Ranvir
This app is awesome Kent! I would love to use it with my kids at home to make home reading more engaging for them, its quite a challenge for me. BTW – would you mind sharing the name of this app, could not find it on iTunes…
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Kent Jamieson
Imag.N.O.Tron My son loved it as well. Hope you like it and helps out at home.
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visramn
Great example. Thank you so much for sharing. It is amazing how many tools there are out there that we can tap into as educators.
Nureen -
sophiabb
Thanks for sharing. Love the possibilities that the app presents. I agree that there is a ‘time and a place for everything”. The challenge for us educators is to use learning technologies in a constructivist way. Sometimes, engaging/hooking our learners’ interest is a start that we can build on.
~Sophia -
jenniferschubertubc
This kind of reminds me of what I first thought Pottermore would be after anxiously awaiting and watching J.K. Rowling’s announcement video on youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5DOKOt7ZF4). My niece and I earned highly coveted spots as beta users, gaining access to the site months before it was open to the general public. We did have to wait a while though… longer than we had originally expected. When we finally received our owls with welcome letters, we logged on right away. We couldn’t wait to officially get sorted into our house by the Sorting Hat and experience all of the enriched content. There was only one problem. Even in beta testing, the user count was so high that the site was forever crashing, leaving us high and dry. We’d try to mix a potion, only to be kicked off and asked to try again at a less busy time.
As a result of these initial hangups and unforeseen technical failures, I think Pottermore quickly became somewhat of a joke. Whereas millions of readers were initially fighting for thousands of beta testing slots, shortly into the experience, most of them gave up. When friends finally got their welcome owls, it was more of a “have fun with that” attitude than a “I can’t wait for you to get sorted to see if we’re in the same house” feeling. As with anything new, especially if it is an “add-on” to something that has a rather large existing fanbase or original following, there are bound to be some growing pains. Pottermore held a lot of promise, but the failure to deliver in a timely and reliable manner marred it a bit in the end.
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Peggy Lawson
Jennifer – something like this suggests/reminds me that I’m sure there are a lot of companies that rush to put out a product or service too quickly. We are now all use to beta products that cause much frustration. I’d guess there are benefits to selling a product/service if you can be one of the 1st out of the starting blocks – but does that do more harm than good by causing ill-will with users? Maybe it’s better to wait just a little longer until a more refined product is ready to be released, and be ahead of the competition in quality rather than just being the 1st out.
Peggy
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pcollins
Thank you so much for sharing the video Kent. It really goes along ways to showing how the AR incorporates into the classroom….. here’s the thing. Are we limiting our children by so heavily directing the outcome of their play/activities/reading? Is this type of technology minimizing whatever normal contributions their little minds might have come up with? A good friend of mine, an early childhood consultant, has made me aware of this recently. She makes dolls that are felted and they do not have faces. At first I thought it was strange, and then we were laughing because as kids we made dolls out of wooden spools and chicken feathers- and they never had faces. It’s so that the children can superimpose any relevant thoughts and feelings without the doll directing the play.
I remember my imagination creating the world for Lords of the Ring as I read the book. Now young people are foregoing the challenge of these books for the movies/lego/cartoon/etc. What is the true outcome of such heavily augmented experiences? Do they limit our youth?
PC
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melissaayers
Love it – that’s really cool, thanks for sharing that Kent. It really does add extra dimensions to a book.
I see it as great for entertainment and perhaps encouraging kid’s imagination and exploration however I am not sure how effective it is for helping students learn to read. As it seems the story gets read to them by the app, more like a movie, than them reading it themselves.
One way I think the app could be improved (educationally speaking) is if voice recognition software was added (and advanced enough) the book could then be viewed in reading or listening mode. For reading the voice recognition software could help the student along, correcting them when they went wrong or providing hints or help when they were stuck.
Still aside from this I think a couple of my nieces will be getting a copy of this!
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manny
Thanks for sharing that short video Kent, i don’t think anyone can argue the interactive properties and increase in engagement that augmented reality affords. What was neat about your specific example was that you could also touch different images on the iPad itself. It also let you transition away from the picture while the augmented reality experience continued. These are two neat features that Aurasma cannot do at the moment. Thanks for sharing…
Manny
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Eva Ziemsen
I tried my hand at Layar, as part of this week’s activities. I found that it had a very streamlined interface, and the idea of ‘tagging’ or creating these layers was intriguing. I actually imported one of my handouts for Internships, thinking I would create layers on it, so that the students immediately start to […]
Continue reading I tried my hand at Layar, as part of thi… Posted in: General-
Eva Ziemsen
Sorry, I meant to categorize this in Week 7, but now I can’t go back it seems.
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visramn
Eva I think as you mentioned ‘revolutionary” is key. The whole idea of AR is definitely a means of changing learning by changing the way we view things and interact with our surroundings.
Nureen
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joeltremblay
Zooburst
I went to use Zooburst as the first activity of the AR unit but in infuriated me by demanding a nickname and not allowing me to use just my email address. As such I did the mature and very intelligent thing and put a profane one instead of a normal and am now stuck with […]
Continue reading Zooburst Posted in: General-
Peggy Lawson
I’m afraid I have to break the course rules and give a reply that isn’t meant to forward our group conversation – but thanks Joel! This has to win the vote for one of the best comments of the course! (in a non-academic way of course)
Peggy
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jenbarker
I am laughing out loud. Thanks for the humour.
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visramn
I am sorry that you had that experience Joel. I hope the other activities worked out better for you.
Nureen
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Kent Jamieson
Wrapping up the Cloud
Thank you to everyone who participated and added to our weekly cloud activities and discussions. We hope we helped facilitate a deeper understanding about the exciting opportunities and services – as well as the controversial issues – surrounding cloud learning in K-12. The cloud has already been instrumental in cutting costs for businesses and creating […]
Continue reading Wrapping up the Cloud Posted in: General, Week 06:-
visramn
Thank you for a great week of learning. You all did an awesome job.
Nureen
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visramn
Zooburst Activity Discussion Forum This is a space to showcase your experience creating a 3D pop up book using Zooburst. Please feel free to post a link to your book; thoughts about the potential use and/or limitation of these tool in a K-12 classroom and links to other similar tools.
Continue reading Zooburst Activity Discussion Forum This … Posted in: General, Week 07:-
teacherben
Here’s a Zooburst book that I started so I could show some teachers what it’s all about. I did it couple of years ago so it’s sort of cheating, but I thought I would share it since it highlights how you can use .gif files with transparent backgrounds so that your pop-ups are not all boring rectangls but can instead be shaped like whatever you want.
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jenbarker
Hi Ben,
Thanks for sharing your book. I was able to get your voice over on the second page but couldn’t get the dog on page 2 to bark. Does the dog bark? Sound is something that definitely would enhance this program.
Best, Jen -
jkotler
Hi Ben,
Thank you for posting the link to your book. I tried to play around with the program and like Jen didn’t find it to be so straightforward in guiding a new user. However, seeing some of the different elements and features that can be used from your book reinforced by interest in using it with students either to create a book to share with them or attempting to have them create your own.
On that note, since you said that you had made that book a few years ago, I am curious if you or the teachers you introduced it to tried using it in the classroom? If so in what capacity and what was the response from the students?
Julie
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teacherben
I made that book a few years ago, while Zooburst was still a closed beta product (can’t remember how I got in on that.) The support I got was great by the way–immediate responses from the developers, and thorough. When I later registered for a paid version of the product, the school was dragging their heels in getting around to writing the cheque, but the zooburst people gave me the paid version as soon as I asked for it and didn’t give me any grief when it took them 3 months to get their money.
I used it pretty extensively when I worked in elementary. I was able to do a 5-minute intro to a grade 4 class and they ran with it and figured everything else out on their own–including a few features that I hadn’t discovered! There is a pretty extensive library of images and sounds that you can download from, for example.
In the high school, I have recently found it to be a great tool to support foreign-language classes. I have introduced it to the Spanish, French and Chinese teachers and they are pretty enthusiastic about it. I haven’t really shown it to any other secondary classes yet.
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manny
Hi Ben, thanks for sharing that tidbit on .gif files. Neat little trick to know when embedding single objects without a border.
Manny -
jenbarker
I went to Zooburst. I tried creating a book but was frustrated with the program. I didn’t find it very intuitive. I am sure if I had of read the manual which they do offer, it would have been much easier. So I also cheated and went and viewed a few of the pre-made books. I like this idea but don’t find it as engaging as an app called Toontastic. Yes, the images are 3-D but they don’t move… or at least I didn’t see any that move. As a teacher of Language Arts I also would prefer a bit more structure or graphic organizers for primary students. Toontastic provides the “StoryArc” which walks students through the creation of the various elements of a story. That said, I could see how some students would prefer the very open nature of this program.
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Paula Poodwan
ZooBurst is a digital storytelling tool and as an EFL teacher I can see myself using this tool in the classroom to promote writing and dialogue skills. I think this is a great tool for a group of small children up to middle school ages. From the examples provided in the ZooBurst webpage, I can probably use this tool with adult EFL when they want to show their pictures and share their experience in a fun way.
I have tested how to use it and have to agree with Jen that it is not that user friendly because after I created my mini book. I was unable to find the button to publish or preview the book and I had to go to YouTube to watch the tutorial.
http://www.zooburst.com/zb_books-viewer.php?book=zb03_508080d005cf5
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Jenny Brown
Thanks for trying it our Paula! Can you try to set your book’s settings to public so that we can have a look?
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jameschen
I tried creating a couple of pages. Here’s the sample: http://www.zooburst.com/zb_books-viewer.php?book=zb04_5081fae0e2d2c
I found Zooburst to be a interesting AR software which would allow students to learn about some of the basics in creating 3D objects (rotating, angle, etc.). Even though I did not try the AR feature which allows the storybook to pop out in a projected environment, I think the students would have a chance to experience AR and become immersed in the story on a different level. Neat!
I could see how Zooburst can be applied in language arts lessons, which would provide students a good opportunity to learn both literacy and 21st century skills at the same time.
James
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visramn
Thanks for trying out the program and sharing your experience James. This a is a great way to bring literacy alive.
Nureen
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jenniferschubertubc
I enjoyed using Zooburst to create a personalised story about a toddler becoming a big brother. (http://www.zooburst.com/book/zb03_50832a12b3b8e) I think the simple clip art, though limited, provides familiar visual images for even the youngest of readers. Being able to assign dialogue to characters/specific graphics really brings the story more “to life” (as adding audio would surely work to go one step further). I like the idea of using it with more of a personalised slant (provided that clip art is available that allow children to see a bit of themselves in the story) to explain feelings or milestone moments such as using the potty, cleaning up, rewards systems, going to school for the first time, etc. This would not only be helpful and appropriate for the youngest of students, but also for students who are learning life skills in the classroom. (I used to teach general special education (K-5) and profound mentally handicapped students (ages 14-22).) I could see myself using this software to not only make applicable books for students but to help them create their own tales as well.
I think the program is easy enough, with enough coaching/tutorial time in the beginning, for younger students to use, though admittedly, I did go through a bit of my own trial and error. I think kids are learning to use technology tools, such as Zooburst, at an earlier and earlier age, and often can show us a thing or two!
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melissaayers
I think this is another great creative tool for students to use to create stories or projects themselves as well as being a great tool for teachers to present stories, lessons, content to students in a fun & interactive way.
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visramn
Layar Creator Activity Discussion Forum This is a space to showcase your experience creating an augmented reality print campaign using Layar Creator. Please feel free to post a screenshot/video of your experience; thoughts about the potential use and/or limitations of augmented reality print campaigns in a K-12 classroom and links to other similar tools.
Continue reading Layar Creator Activity Discussion Forum … Posted in: General, Week 07:-
jkotler
This is a great application tool that I think can easily be integrated into many classrooms and through many subjects. For example, students can create posters or magazine covers in a social studies course about travel and learning about other countries, in relation to the environment or even about science experiments. The limitations I would see in this is that it is not a free tool and that the user must have the required device to even see it.
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visramn
I have come across the same problem with other technological learning tools. They have so much to offer but due to conditions outside my control as a teacher, I am not able to use them. Unfortunately, it always comes down to money and lack of resources in a lot of teaching environments.
Nureen -
melissaayers
While my initial thoughts on this tool were that its a great marketing platform and eCommerce tool I can also see how it can be used creatively in many other domains such as education, medicine and entertainment.
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visramn
Aura Activity Discussion Forum This is a space to showcase your experience creating an Aura. Please feel free to share your experience here; thoughts about the potential use and/or limitations of Auras in a K-12 classroom and links to other similar tools. Due to the limitation of sharing your Aura with a large group, feel […]
Continue reading Aura Activity Discussion Forum This is a… Posted in: General, Week 07:-
jkotler
I really liked this application and had a lot of fun creating my own aura. I wanted to share it here or on the Facebook page but had trouble figuring out how to attach or upload it.
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Jenny Brown
Hi Julie,
I agree that right now it is a bit difficult to attach an Aura unless you email or text it to someone directly and that person has access to that picture/paper/ etc. Sharing through the Facebook page at least gives us a glimpse of each others auras, another option is to take a picture and post it. So what you can do is:
1. Join the ETEC 522 Augmented Reality Group (you should now be added Julie)
2. Receive confirmation that you are part of the group
4. Share your Aura to your own facebook page.
5. Then click on Share on your facebook page and then on the dropdown choose share in a group (and pick the ETEC 522 Augemented Reality Group)Not the most straight forward unfortunately. Something definitely that I learned using Aurasma is that it work best for people in the same location or those with access to the same print materials/books/papers etc.
I will update the instructions so that hopefully it is a little more straightforward. Thanks for the great Ted talks video too!
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tomwhyte1
I have successfully added a post to the facebook group (great idea).
I will summarize my thoughts here though, great app potential. Add items, like help video’s to assignment sheets, to help students understand the concepts easily. Only concern, is the app working across multiple platforms.
Thoughts?
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visramn
Thanks for sharing your experience with this program Tom. I think the multiple platforms issue is definitely a valid one because a lot of times what a person creates on on platform can not be accessed from another and then the whole process becomes frustrating. Thus, defeating the purpose of using such tools.
Nureen -
jenniferschubertubc
I created an aura but could not share it with the facebook group. (Now that I’m reading further, I see that I have to be confirmed. I will wait!) It is a bit of a silly one, but it was nice to have a new “toy” to play with. I can see where kids would get a kick out of making simple things in their everyday environments come to life with fun animations.
I am a bit intrigued with the concept of location sharing. It would be neat if Aurasma could become a sort of virtual geocaching of a local area!
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melissaayers
This activity was really fun and the aura software/technology was easy to use. I can imagine this would be a great tool to use for student projects. I am sure they would come up with some really creative applications we would not think of.
Outside of education I can also see how this product has great marketing potential for advertising companies.
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jenbarker
This was a fun activity. I created a Coke can aura that made music. I wish there were a way to share your aura on computers and not just smart devices. I could see children loving this activity. You could set up scavenger hunts and such. It reminds me of when we stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge. Kids can purchase wands at the gift shop and then they wander throughout the hotel in search of things they can bring to life with their wands on various levels of quests.
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visramn
Augmented Reality Marker Activity Discussion Forum This is a space to showcase your experience with augmented reality markers. Please feel free to post a screenshot/video of your experience; thoughts about the potential use and/or limitations of markers in a K-12 classroom and links to other similar tools.
Continue reading Augmented Reality Marker Activity Discus… Posted in: General, Week 07:-
jenbarker
This is a link to my screencast showing my experience. http://screencast.com/t/L93Kt1kMnDn
My son and I had so much fun with this program. From the way he reacted I can tell you there is definitely a market here for kids. I can’t wait to try out the rest of your activities. I am so thrilled I took this course as this is exactly the type of of technology I hoped to be exposed to. Thanks for providing such interactive activities.
Kudos, Jen-
jkotler
Hi Jen,
Unfortunately I wasn’t able to try using this since I didn’t have all the required resources, but even just from reading about it I automatically felt that it has the potential to be a great tool and so am happy (but not surprised) to see that your son really enjoyed it.I have always believed that whenever a student has the opportunity to learn in a more interactive, dynamic and hands-on manner, they are much more likely to be engaged because it increases their excitement and curiosity among other things. As such, I think having the concepts being learned come to life like with the solar/wind and organs augmented reality markers, not only plays into that perspective perfectly but offers great learning potential.
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tomwhyte1
I agree that this has the potential to be a game changer, however what I have seen so far has limited applications for both students and teachers.
For students, they have that initial novelty effect and subsequent excitement. My question is, when this wears off… what learning is happening? So far, AR has limited to no interactivity, and the development of these items require significant time. Yes there are pre-developed resources, but unless they directly fit with your curriculum, they are simply being used because they are cool.
For myself, while I see potential benefit, if objects can be manipulated either physically, hand gestures, or on the computer. Such as, adding variable to show eating, or disease in the organ AR would be beneficial. However, the technology is still very young, and I will wait until it matures a little further.
Thoughts?
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jhodi
Hi,
When we were researching AR for this week’s presentation, I noticed that there were a lot of applications that I thought would be useful and engaging for young students. I think that AR adds a potentially interactive nature to something that is typically thought of as ‘simple’ (ie. Augmented books).
Jhodi
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tomwhyte1
This is my link to my screencast showing what I guess are my organs…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns32ToI8SXs
For myself, I found the organ one more useful. For I have taught Bio 20/30, and this might provide students a slightly better understanding of our insides than what we currently utilize.
As for the solar/wind AR, it was cool… but other than that – I found it simply to be a proof-of-concept, with some novelty which will wear off shortly.
Other than that, I at this time find little educational value, and yes I realize that this is relatively new technology, however adding an interactive component would make the experience more meaningful and engaging.
However, I did notice the type of book series called popar, which may change my mind, after I explore it better.
Thoughts?
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jenbarker
Hi Tom,
I know the Grades 5 and 6 class at my school always do a science study of the body. I think they would love this. Which link was it that you tried? I want to share this with the teacher. Thanks, Jen -
jenbarker
Hi Tom,
Ignore my last question. I found the link right below the solar/wind AR. Which screencast program did you use to video yourself. I used Jing and it took forever to upload.-
tomwhyte1
I think I used screencast-o-matic… directly uploaded into youtube as well… with free version, get one screencast at a time… relatively quick as well.
Hope this helps.
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avninder
I used the General Electric marker to view an example of augmented reality. It was a great experience and very user friendly.
Tom – I would also be concerned about the novelty wearing off. Also, as with the application of all technology it is important that the use of AR is pedagogically sound. I think the organ marker you used may have a lot of potential for use in the classroom.
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tomwhyte1
For myself, the novelty was about 10 seconds… then I said… what I am learning from this? If I was in a class, and this was the objective to build an AR object, it would be an excellent example of what could be done – proof of concept – but as a learning object for Solar or Wind power… felt very underwhelmed…
Thoughts?
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Peggy Lawson
I’m with Tom on this one. I tried the LearnAR Biology one with the organs, and after spending some time hunting found another by PBS Kids (Lunch Rush! http://pbskids.org/fetch/games/hollywood/lunchrush.html).
I will keep looking as I am very intrigued about the possibilies and, importantly believer there are significant possibilities, but what I’ve found so far is very cool…..but mostly for the novelty. The biology organs – my first experience – was neat!! But I didn’t find it any more useful than existing quality resources.
The PBS Kids Lunch Rush!! (I downloaded & tried the iPhone version – http://pbskids.org/fetch/games/hollywood/lunchrush.html) was very weird in content (addition problems to 10 – markers were used to identify the correct number of sushi (sushii????) ordered by members of a movie crew. How many grade 1 students can relate to that scenario??). And the AR experience were virtualized suschi skewers. Clearly a disconnect I think between the person they hired to develop the math game and educational consultants who might actually have some sense of actual real-life interests of 6 year old students.
I was underwhelmed by the virtual reality and from my brief samples felt it was very gimicky but of little added educational value to existing technology. However I do believe their is great potential, and my experiences were just very early, and low-level, not-quite-ready-for-prime-time examples.
I strongly suspect, however, that within a few years the technology will mature and there will be great uses in many academic areas. Being able to visualize a concentration camp in 3-D, for example, may have much greater effect than a 2-D photo.
Peggy
Peggy
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tomwhyte1
I was going to mention this specific app, and I forgot, thank you very much.
I agree that there is big disconnect between the activity and the work, and probably a misunderstanding for the students. However, I have had my 6 year old and 4 year old run around the house for the last couple of weeks (because I move the markers all around the house for extra physical activity), and even thought they may not get the reason for the sushi, they are understanding the math.
The only issue that arises, is when they get to basic algebra – 6 + X = 8… this is where I need to provide a little more assistance.
As well, I also believe that advanced hardware will further propel the ability of this platform, developing more pedagogically sound applications.
Thoughts?
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Peggy Lawson
I would seriously doubt that the Lunch Rush activity is actually helping your kids learn math, or even reinforcing it much. From my admitedly brief exposure to it, this game is like many educational “games” that might provide some entertainment value, which isn’t bad, but I really didn’t see how it would actually improve student learning. And for a supposedly educational product, I’d say that’s a critical feature.
Peggy
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tomwhyte1
From my experience, with my two children (ages 6 and 4), this program provides a quick and fun assessment to help them gauge their understanding of the concepts they have worked with, through more traditional means. They do this activity with limited supervision, which in my opinion tells me that they have understood the basic math concepts I have provided them, however I could be wrong.
Thoughts?
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jhodi
Hi,
I also wonder about the novelty of AR. As I was exploring AR this week, I found several examples of what AR does, but so many times, I found myself thinking ‘how can I use this in a class?’. Several times my response was for ‘nothing more than a supplementary resource’ such as objects. As I further explored, I found some applications that were very intricate and applicable, although the minority of examples. I hope that this technology is further pursued and more resources are created that are directly applicable to learning and teaching.
Jhodi
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Doug Connery
Like jkotler, I don’t seem to have the resources to play with the AR resources.
I must admit I was taken in by the wow factor by the videos, especially the Magician/story teller. And like many others, I question the value to education once one gets around the wow factor. I am sure there will be a place in the future for AR applications in education when this new technology matures. We can help it mature by playing around with it, and perhaps find some gaps in education that it can fill rather than using it to duplicate some existing simpler resource.
Doug.
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Paula Poodwan
AR is fun when you first try it out. It gives you a new experience of what technology can do.
Here is what I made with GE Wind Turbinehttp://screencast.com/t/jwZn0AUQG
Using AR in the classroom will definitely promote collaborative learning when students as a group view three-dimensional models and have their discussion about the object, which will make learning fun and an interactive process.
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melissaayers
While I see AR as really cool technology and something both kids and adults alike would enjoy, personally I also think what they are implementing with the AR technologies from this interactivity might be easier if they had a 3D image on the screen to manipulate. This way it would be easier to zoom in & out and rotate around the object using the mouse or touch screen. My opinion on this might be partly as I have a laptop with and inbuilt camera, if I had a camera I could move around it would have been easier to use I believe.
When I was printing out the Markers it reminded me of QR codes which seem somewhat similar to how AR is implemented by GE and LearnAR Biology. While QR codes do not augment reality they link images, or web links to a type of barcode/marker that can be read by a smart phone or tablet with camera.
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kstackhouse 8:06 am on November 20, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I have created my initial Avatar and have changed the look but I am unable to load my pics here. Any ideas on how to do that? Is there a way to link them from SL so people can go look there? If you want to look for me I am Stack 33. My original avatar was the Male Student. Now I have chosen a Vehitar (the black car). If you want I can create a new post on the main page, but it will cause a lot of traffic there if everyone does that. Let me know what you would like.
sophiabb 11:01 am on November 20, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Ken,
Thanks for pointing this out. I do not know how as well. I have created a page within our site to do this. Please post your avatar here http://etec522openlearningenvironments.weebly.com/post-your-avatars-here.html.
sophiabb 11:21 am on November 20, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Ken, please ignore. This is true OLE in action. We will get back to you ASAP on this.
sophiabb 11:04 am on November 20, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Please post your avatars here: http://etec522openlearningenvironments.weebly.com/post-your-avatars-here.html.
Thanks.
sophiabb 11:22 am on November 20, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Please ignore, we will get back to you ASAP on this.
adi 11:41 am on November 20, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Testing
adi 11:49 am on November 20, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Everyone,
To post your avatar, you have to go to the Dashboard, choose ad a post, and embed the picture of your avatar. Please Tag it to Week 12.
Sorry about the inconvenience, we did not realize you could not upload pictures to replies.
Good luck,
Eva, Sophia, Julie & Adriana
adi 12:26 pm on November 20, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Here’s a quick slideshare to help http://www.slideshare.net/pasoadriana/how-to-upload-avatar-photo. We will post it on our site, too.
teacherben 7:34 pm on November 20, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
When I did my application for the ADE (Apple Distinguished Educator) program, we had to make a video about ourselves that showcased what we could do (and said lots of nice things about Apple, of course) and so I did mine as a machinima, using a 3D avatar in a virtual world. At the time, you could use a product from evolver.com where you just uploaded a picture of yourself, picked the clothes and stuff and it made an avatar for you. Then, autodesk bought the company and shut down the free site. Here’s the video, if anyone wants to see it. The whole thing takes place in a Teletubbie’s tummy. It was a lot of fun to make:
http://teacherben.com/?p=160
Eva Ziemsen 11:42 pm on November 22, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Great image! ? I was unable to find a video on the main page. Not sure if it is on my end, but it was blank. Would definitely like to see it.
teacherben 5:57 am on November 24, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
For some reason it is no longer working as an embedded video and even the link it a bit wonky. I will have to try to work out what went wrong in my wordpress after I updated it. But if you still want to see my silly little video, this should work:
http://teacherben.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Ben_Cooperman_ADE.mov
🙂
avninder 5:16 pm on November 23, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I haven’t been able to create an avatar because I receive a message saying that my “video card drivers did not install properly, are out of date, or are for unsupported hardware”.