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:
Q4:Does AR infringe on the personal privacy rights of individuals? Would you feel safe having your information accessible to anyone in public? I think whether or not AR infringes on the personal privacy rights of individuals depends on the terms of agreement users consent to when they register to become a member of the community […]
Continue reading Does AR infringe on the personal privacy rights of individuals? Posted in: Week 07:
Thanks AR group for your hard work on this, it was a fun and instructive experience to go through your ‘Just another UBC blog site’ for this assignment. I will focus on Question 1) & 4). AR definitely has potential. Specifically, I think once the bugs are worked out, it could provide great potential as […]
Continue reading Thanks AR group for your hard work on th… Posted in: Week 07:
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:
As a second experiment with AR, I downloaded and used Aurasma. I did not take it very far in terms of this particular experiment, as I only tried it in my apt and on used the ‘apple’ of my computer as backgrounds. It was very magical to see the first instance of the playback upon […]
Continue reading Aurasma Posted in: Week 07:
Hi All, I have compiled the Poll results from our inter-activities section of our project home page. There were 16 respondents for each question and we would like to thank you for your participation. 1) How would you rate your knowledge of AR before this presentation? a) Expert – 0% b) Good – 6.3% c) […]
Continue reading Augmented Reality Poll Results Posted in: Week 07:
As part of my activities this week to better understand augmented reality (AR) concepts, I used the Layar platform to create a simple AR tour of one of the audio recording rooms in my classroom. While Layar is intended as a tool for integrating AR in print magazines, I found the free iOS app to […]
Continue reading As part of my activities this week to be… Posted in: Week 07:
Hi Scott,
Thanks for sharing your demonstration of the layer app. As i have been playing around with the different types of AR apps, I found that they can really be beneficial for hands on learning activities. For instance, when I run a science lab, I usually have multiple stations set up and i’m constantly running around and providing instructions for the students on how to progress through the activities. 99% of the time is spent helping them get through the stations therefore leaving minimal time for further inquiry. I am hoping that I can perhaps set up mini tutorials for each station that students can simply point and play. This technology could also be used in P.E. class in which students can point to a specific workout machine and receive instruction on how to use it and what muscles it emphasizes.
I agree with the novelty effect that its implementation produces and think it is a great method of hooking students into a lesson.
I found both of these programs to be the most effective for me from the ones I tried, and I used both of them last week in a school setting. Zoobooks is pretty easy to imagine using in the classroom, and I made up a fun introduction to our work on adjectives, which the kids […]
Continue reading Zooburst and Aurasma Posted in: Week 07:
Hi Rebecca,
I wanted to share an application of Aurasma that I think would work great for upcoming parent teacher interviews for those of us in the education field. A fellow colleague of mine would have student work posted around his classroom with a QR code attached to the bottom corner. On parent teacher night, parents would be allowed to circle the classroom and by clicking on the QR code, they would be linked to a video narrated by their child showing how they made their project. This method emphasized the process and not the product and was received with a positive reaction from most parents.
Now that we have AR apps such as Aurasma, there is no reason that the application mentioned above couldn’t occur. Parents spend a lot of time waiting for the teacher and this could allow them to circle the class and see what happens in the classroom. It also empowers the students to take ownership of their work as they know that it will be viewed by their parents and fellow class members. Not only interesting stuff but truly innovative and cutting edge…
Manny
Hi Manny,
I think your idea of having the QR code attached to the student’s work on parent teacher night is a great example of using AR in a very meaningful way. It would lead me to think that all works of art could have this kind of narrative attached to it, for example, in a gallery, it would be great to hear the artist speaking about the work. This is very inspiring. Thank you,
Eva
Manny,
I love that idea. The only problem is that at our school, many parents wouldn’t have cell phones, let alone smart phones. We struggle often with things like this, as they are great ideas but just increase the have/have not divide that we already see at our school. We are having a serious issue right now with the BYOD policy for these reasons. It makes technology use in our school a little more complicated.
Rebecca
I can see AR being a good tool to use for objects that are abstract or very small (ie. a cell or an atom). That way, it gives the students an 3D representation. As well, having information pop-up on different items may enrich students learning. Again, as with many new technologies or ideas, it takes […]
Continue reading I can see AR being a good tool to use fo… Posted in: Week 07:
Hi Lisa,
I would agree in that I see AR being used more outside of the classroom than within it. At this time, it seems to be more of a novelty that one would see on a fieldtrip (such as museum) and not inside a typical classroom. What is exciting is that it is in its infancy and it would be interesting to see which direction it goes. For instance, some of the intangible concepts such as chemistry are difficult for students to conceptualize. The fact is that we all see the world in different ways and AR can perhaps spark some creativity in how we make intangible concepts more relatable to the real world. There are many real life phenomena that occur in the natural world and through AR, perhaps we can make connections to abstract concepts.
Manny
I am really enjoying the presentations by the teams. I never gave much thought to AR , never even considered the possibility of having an AR app on my phone. Thanks to team AR, I am now playing with it. I attempted two of the activities – Zooburst and Layar. The links to my ‘creations’ […]
Continue reading Playing with AR Posted in: Week 07:
Hi everyone, Please hop over to http://www.zooburst.com/zb_books-viewer.php?book=zb02_50827c6951e9d and play with my AR book (1 page) on ecology. Building the page was simple enough but I did not like the fact the height of an image above the book is pegged to the size of the image. A little image editing skills would go a long […]
Continue reading My AR book Posted in: Week 07:
Thanks for sharing Patason – the 1st had experiences are good to see. While it looks very neat, I don’t know whether I’ve moved yet beyond my original impression that – currently, at least – the academica AR experiences I’ve seen are simply novelties and I don’t see them adding much to real advantages for student learning. They are cool, and it’s easy to see how student’s get excited about them, but either I don’t see them as staying engaged once they’ve experienced it a few times and at best I don’t see as how it adds to their gaining more knowledge.
I’ll continue to say that it while I believe AR could have real potential, and probably already does in some areas, as a teacher I dont know if I’d invest a lot of time yet in finding AR applications for my students. However, as an investor I would probably get involved now, on the ground floor – IF I found the right company!
Peggy
Hi Peggy,
I understand ‘where you are coming from’ but in terms of these tools I see them as additional tools in our toolkit that we use to help our charges construct knowledge. We must remember that knowledge is constructed from our experience in an environment and AR can be used to enrich these experience. We must also be mindful that learning is more about the student than the teacher and not every aspect of the learning experience is measurable in a tangible way. These ‘unmeasurables’ may be just as or even more important to the student than the ‘measurables’. On this note it can be safe to say that in many cases students(i k-12 at least) are more interested in enjoying the experience while teachers are more interested in getting results. So it is not surprising that in this age that we live educators are producing researches that shows technology does not affect learning outcome which is a position that is loaded with a ‘measurable bias’. If on the other hand the focus is shifted to learner’s experience then we will see a different story.
In the case of my one page book on food chains one can argue that the same information can be gotten in a traditional or web page. To this I will ask is the experience the same with all three forms media. With theories of multiple intelligences and learning styles we have to say no because what may be a novelty to a teacher maybe that which serves as a vehicle that transports the student from ‘sitting the arena of the lesson’ to taking part to actually ‘taking part in the games’ at the cognitive level.
Patason
Hi Peggy,
You raise some good points. There is definitely a novelty and gimmick factors to AR at the moment, but nonetheless I think that there is great potential for increasing the learning of a concept. In particular, I think that Zooburst-like media might make content more accessible to the ever-growing number of struggling readers in our schools and those who are simply very visual learners. Furthermore, this may be the kind of media that could be a real breakthrough for students with more serious learning difficulties. Anyways, I agree that this may not cause some sort of revolution in learning (though, like you, I wouldn’t discount it entirely) it may ultimately find a smaller niche in the school ecosystem.
John
Just the other day I noted in a reply that a simple example of AR can be found on most computers now. PC and Mac have applications like Photo Booth (Mac) that can add AR to your pictures. My kids love taking pictures of themselves and distorting their face. I took this pictures just now […]
Continue reading Photo Booth & Action Movie Posted in: Week 07:
Great example of how we use AR and do not even realize it. Although, your kids are just playing around they are still gaining a skill. Just as you mentioned your students can use what they create and incorporate it into their projects. Therefore, it may not be a direct tool for learning but it can definitely used as an assisting tool.
Nureen
Your picture Ken really reminds me of blue screen, a technique used for quite some time in TV/Movies – the weatherman, for example, where it’s now realitively easy to put a second scene, or video, into the background. The actor stands in front of a green or blue screen – a very distincitve blue or green colour – and the computer is able to mat that colour and lay a second video layer that shows through. I’ve had my high school students create such videos with relative ease. Perhaps that what AR primarily is (but on a more high-tech level)?
Peggy
I think there is a place for AR in our schools. The potential to use AR in projects where they can bring to life places and people from the past and future is amazing. The use of AR promotes many of the 21st Century skills students need such as creativity and innovation, collaboration, communication, media literacy and ICT skills.
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:
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?
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!
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?
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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?
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.
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
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
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
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…
Imag.N.O.Tron My son loved it as well. Hope you like it and helps out at home.
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
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
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.
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
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
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!
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
Technology such as AR can certainly go a long way in enhancing the learning experience in any science class such as my integrated science class. Here it can be used to visualise abstract concepts, reinforce tangible ones, visualize real activities that are impossible to observe, go on virtual field trip and generate interest. I can […]
Continue reading Augmented reality in my classroom Posted in: Week 07:
I am of the firm opinion that educators and learners ought to be involved in the design and development of any educational technology application. Period.
I agree that the there would be limited uptake in schools if a technology is expensive or too complicated for an average faculty member to implement.
Since we all agree on this position then it may be that we needed to find out what is preventing us from getting involved at the creative phase of these technologies. The fact that these technologies are created by our students a is even more damming.
This is definitely a very relevant concern and it is a pre-existing problem that has resulted in other tools not succeeding in the past. Involvement of educators is very important because their opinions are grounded and based on evidence of what they have seen and experienced. Hence, I agree that their input is crucial.
Nureen
Thanks for the input Nureen.
Please see my response to Ranvir above since you both have the same concern
Patason
I can certainly see the advantages of implementing augmented reality into the learning environment for many reasons, the additional layers of information will improve engagement of today’s learner, address the needs of the visual learner and improve the explanation of more challenging concepts by introducing varying methodologies related to the content. The 3D application will improve the students understanding of a concept. Augmented reality used in dental health science courses like the Learn AR demo could be very effective and interactive for the learner and would be appropriate for head and neck, tooth morphology, oral assessment and diagnosis. As I navigated through the information this week there seems to be quite a bit of information about AR related to dental education.
http://www.oralhealth.ro/volumes/2011/volume-1/Paper234.pdf
http://youtu.be/fR7eafF_W9g
Catherine
Hi,
I thought that the use of AR to take classes on virtual field trips was one of the most interesting and applicable to a classroom environment. This application has the potential to solve a legitimate problem- the inability of classes to visit museums and other places frequently. Much less organization such as parent volunteers, funding, and permission slips are necessary to go on a virtual field trip. With the addition of AR to virtual field trips, these field trips can be much like the real experience.
I also wonder about the future of AR in education. I wonder if it will be a technology (such as gaming) that is viewed more as an engagement factor as opposed to a technology of high educational potential. Several of the current AR applications seem very engaging, but seem to lack a solid educational factor on their own. I would love to see further development of AR technologies that have a solid education base and that could be self-sufficient.
Jhodi
I think that educational potential most new technology is untapped and as a result they are written off as serious educational tool. Gaming as you mentioned is an example of this. As I am typing this a possible reason for this is appearing to me. It has to do with the the nature technology, the business model of gaming and the business model of education in the traditional sense.
First off the technologies are time consuming to work with so an active teacher would not have the time to develop this.
The old school game development model usually involves a company such as EA with deep pockets that can pay a to work for years on a humongous multilevel game that will eventually earn millions of dollars. This is certainly is not what we need in academia today.
At the other extreme in gaming is the independent game developer who works without support or sponsor to produce a smaller but still appealing game experience. This too is too consuming for an educator to pull off while being actively involved in teaching.
I believe an unoccupied educational technology niche exist where institutionscan hire experts to create subject specific content for their faculty. This must be done with input from the teachers. Content here need not be complicated it can be an explorable model of the pyramid or an interactive illustration (small game) of the immune response that may take half an hour to complete.
This is getting too long but you should get the picture.
Pat
Jhodi, I never thought to use AR for field trips. Good idea. This would be a way for schools and school districts to reduce costs (potentially). But I also think that the culture of museums and actually being at such places may spark or ignite students’ interest in certain areas.
Patason, I agree that educators need to be part of the process to create and design technological applications. There needs to be a pedagogical reason to using AR in the classroom.
Lisa
Hi Patason,
As a fellow science teacher, I share your enthusiasm about AR! Making the unseen visible is often the most difficult job and your examples could go a long way towards solidifying abstract concepts for all learners. I can see using layar or something similar for an ecosystem lab, to show the myriad of connections that exist between abiotic and biotic factors. I was also wondering if AR could be used for more quantitative than qualitative labs as well. I found this article about visualizing CO (http://www.sensaris.com/wp-content/uploads/old/2011/09/Columbia-CO-augmented-reality.pdf) using AR, a smartphone and very-MacGyvered CO sensor. There may be a way to use Probeware to incorporate data collection and visualization in a very powerful way. I’ll have to start playing with this one. You could definitely leverage the built-in accelerometer of smartphones for physics applications. Regardless, I think that there are many possibilities here.
One question about your concern regarding content generation… do you think that students could create the content? It could be onerous to do, or much more meaningful for students to create their own learning. Something to think about anyway. Thanks for the post… it generated some great discussion!
John
Hi Cunnian,
I think that anything that enables students to take control of their learning is great for education. Content creation as a part of our lessons should be encouraged as much as possible in any area not just for AR alone.
Pat
I played around with the Layar creator a bit and attempted to make a couple of comprehensive pages about Augmented reality. It’s quite user friendly if you’re looking to create very quick tools for use in the classroom.
Continue reading Layar Posted in: Week 07:
I found Layar a very interesting program, with huge potential. I uploaded a worksheet focusing on the Addition of Integers, and then added layers for students to email me any questions they may have, a layar allowing them to access the answer key to check their work, and another layar showing a Khan Academy video providing an explanation of adding integers.
Unfortunately, at this time, I have not quite figured out how to print off this sheet. I fear based upon the pricing information, it would be expensive.
But of all, the AR activities and resources we have explored so far, this I have found the most user friendly, and applicable to my learning environment.
Thoughts? (how might you use Layar in your class?)
I also played around with Layar. I haven’t created anything worth sharing at this time, but just adding things here and there. I was surprised by how easy it was to use. I figured something like this might be too hard to create. Tom, I think a sheet like the one you created would be very useful. To me this seems like providing an hypertext printout. Really interesting use of technology. This would conflict though at my school. We still have a no-devices policy. Hopefully this will be lifted soon, but I don’t see any signs of that this year anyway. I think this would be an interesting application to use in the corporate world. During business meetings the presenter could put as much information in the hands of their audience as possible and not rely so much on an over-head projection presentation. Have other companies started using this on business cards yet? Would this be considered the same as have a QR code on a card. I have been seeing that more and more lately.
I do not think that a QR code is the same thing as AR, however, would the QR code get me to the same video – yes. For myself, this is like math – many roads get to the same result/answer…
Thoughts?
Its always helpful when a tool is user friendly. The more complex a tool is the more likely it is that the educators will get frustrated and give up on it. It is encouraging to know that user friendly tools such as Layar exist.
Nureen
I have always been a big fan of Ted Talks, so while I was going through some of the activities for this weeks topic I happened to find these two Ted Talk videos on augmented reality and thought I would share them. The first one is with Marco Tempest, a magician and illusionist who uses […]
Continue reading Ted talks & Augmented Reality Posted in: Week 07:
Awesome presentations – thanks for sharing Julie! AR can really be used in amazing ways. We are all used to seeing AR mostly in sci-fi movies. Seeing it being used in the first video was great – it made the presentation very engaging.
Magic + Augmented Reality = Fantasy! An amazing TED talk by Marco Tempest and I really enjoyed how he was able to the audience mesmerized. The show basically redefined my understanding of Augmented Reality and I am still wondering what it is and what it is not?
These were so great, I re-posted on my facebook. The magician really took it to the next level. It exemplified form=content, which is what I think is the equation of art (good art). Thanks for this!
Thank you so much for sharing. TED talks are always great.
Nureen
Julie, thanks for the videos. I tried out Aurasma, but the TED Talk helped me see the potential of how it could be used.
Thanks Julie. This video shows a much better example of how AR can be used for better effect. It’s fun to play around with the simple things many of us have been trying, but it takes an expert to give a hint how really effective AR might be.
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:
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.
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
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
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.
Hi Ben, thanks for sharing that tidbit on .gif files. Neat little trick to know when embedding single objects without a border.
Manny
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.
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
Thanks for trying it our Paula! Can you try to set your book’s settings to public so that we can have a look?
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
Thanks for trying out the program and sharing your experience James. This a is a great way to bring literacy alive.
Nureen
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!
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.
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:
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.
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
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.
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:
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.
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!
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?
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
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!
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.
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.
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:
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
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.
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?
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
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?
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
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.
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.
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.
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?
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
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?
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
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?
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
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.
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 Turbine
http://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.
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.
Welcome to week Seven Our topic is Augmented Reality. Please click on the following link: https://blogs.ubc.ca/etec522augmentedreality/. It will direct you to this week’s activities. Please read through the directions on the homepage and follow the steps. When you have completed the readings, watched the videos and completed the activities, please answer the following questions on […]
Continue reading Welcome to week Seven Our topic is Augme… Posted in: General, Week 07:
Great work AR Group on putting together this informative module.
I wonder if weather broadcasts qualify as AR technology as the weather person is not really standing in front of a weather map but a blank wall or tarp. Somehow in the production that we see on screen, they are magically standing in front of a weather map, radar image, futurecast etc. If this is AR, then perhaps we have been informed and educated for years through AR technology and did not realize it.
Doug.
Hi Doug,
It is great to hear that the lesson has been beneficial to you.
I think you are right about weather broadcasting and in all honestly I did not even think about that till you mentioned it. What an excellent example of AR that is a part of our everyday life that we are not even aware of. Thank you so much for sharing your observation.
Nureen
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manny 9:21 am on November 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
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 6:45 pm on November 4, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Great application of the technology – thanks for sharing it Kent.