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 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
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
I am laughing out loud. Thanks for the humour.
I am sorry that you had that experience Joel. I hope the other activities worked out better for you.
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.
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:
Thank you for a great week of learning. You all did an awesome job.
Nureen
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
Before looking at this week’s presentation, I was thinking that Cloud computing will widen the gap of the digital divide. After educating myself I came to realize that actually, it doesn’t. It will help remove the digital divide. Instead of investing heavily in infrastructure and purchasing physical servers, software, data center storages, or network equipments, […]
Continue reading Week 6 Activity #9 Future Potential Posted in: Week 06:
Hi all, I was woindering if anyone knows where we are supposed to post assignment 1.
Continue reading Assignment 1 Posted in: Questions & Answers
E-mail it to the professor.
The Supreme Court of South Carolina recently ruled that webmail cannot be classified as online storage and are therefore not covered by the Stored Communications Act of 1986. The case involved a woman who hacked into her husband’s online email accounts to see if he was being unfaithful. This may have some interesting repercussions regarding the cloud […]
Continue reading interesting case regarding ‘Stored Communications Act’ Posted in: Week 06: I think that education’s adoption of cloud products is going to progress as fast as they adopt other methodologies. What I mean by this is that they will definitely consider it because of how cost effective it can make things but because of the sensitive nature of the information that will be floating around via […]
Continue reading Activity 9 Posted in: Week 06:
I think that Education’s adoption of cloud based services is inevitable. As mentioned in this week’s OER: they reduce the cost for schools, IT departments, and users. The concern that many people will continue to have is in the protection and privacy of the individual users and the intellectual property created and stored. Once people […]
Continue reading Week 6, Activity #9 Posted in: Week 06:
Group 6 did a great job for me of distinguishing between the 3 major categories of Cloud Computing – SaaS. IaaS, and PaaS (http://cloudlearning.weebly.com/what-is-cloud-learning.html). In my own school division, I’ve seen increasing use of Saas, but I know that many school divisions have really moved towards that direction, using Google Apps, Microsoft services, or other cloud tools as critical players – for example for providing all students and sometimes staff with email and other essential services. I can see this becoming more prevalent. While I’ve personally heard of few divisions using the cloud for infrastructure or platform, and my own job is on the instructional, not infrastructure side of technology, I can certainly see huge economical benefits for doing so, under the right conditions. One obstacle, I think, will be that getting over that reluctance of giving up local control (not withstanding the security and other cautions listed by Team 6).
Peggy
After reading this weeks posted information and articles it appears that “the future
is cloudy”.
This weeks group provided an excellent summary of cloud technology and identified the fundamental components to a better understand how it is integrated into the complex world of technology and the current issues related to this new market. There appears to be both advantages and disadvantages of cloud-computing. The benefits are cost and efficiency, being closely intertwined. For an organization the capital costs can be reduced with the implementation of cloud technology through buying virtual server time and storage space, IT departments transition into an operational role and the physical space and expense of housing servers no longer exists. For students cloud-computing increases accessibility, adds mobility, improves availability and integrity of software applications, research materials and storage capacity. For faculty it provides accessibility to virtual space for delivery of educational curriculum, customization of individual courses and provides department and campus unity. For administration it will provide standardization of resources and data management, reduced costs, reduce the need for IT staff, and supports greater virtualization. Of course, there are liabilities with the cloud market and its development being in the early stages. Lack of definitive standards, the concern of lock-in of data, confidentiality of data, where cloud servers reside and regulations, licensing and cost models. The implementation of could-computing in the near future will be linked to organizational decision-makers and the organization’s level of technology awareness.
Catherine
Me again. David, is there a way to add a more descriptive title for each of the weekly presentations? In the “Discussion” menu, each week is just identified by a week number. I’ll admit I haven’t really played around & explored to see if this is something we could add ourselves, but it would be […]
Continue reading Weekly Descriptions Posted in: General
On a funny note I heard that the new Mercedez-Benz will have integrated abilities to cloud compute. Really I guess it was just a matter of time. Here is link to an article describing it.
Continue reading Cars Crusin with the Cloud Posted in: Week 05:
Interesting article Jen but I am left wondering whether this is really necessary. You can pretty much access all these features off of your mobile device, why would you want it built into your car. Furthermore, how does this help in reducing the number of distracted driver accidents that take so many lives every year. There must be some sort of shut off in which you cannot access it while driving. Although I am all for technology, sometimes it can be a little too much. Then again, the auto industry is highly competitive and look for any gimmick that will give them an advantage over their competition.
Manny
Manny you bring up many good points. I also would hope there is an auto shut-off while driving. I agree it is yet another distraction that I don’t think we need.
Worth a read: http://mashable.com/2012/10/05/90-entrepreneurship-lessons-fab/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29 Written by Jason Goldberg. Here’s his profile on Crunchbase: Jason Goldberg edit Jason Goldberg is the founder and CEO of Fab.com. Prior to founding Fab, Jason was Chief Product Officer at XING AG and before then he was founder and CEO at socialmedian (sold to XING AG) and Jobster. In a prior […]
Continue reading “90 Things I Learned from Founding 4 Tech Companies” Posted in: Blog Café
Ah, just 90 things to remember about running your own successful ed tech venture, of course.
I like how persons such as Goldberg are changing the face of how businesses are run in the 21st century, vis-a-vis many traditional hierarchical and overtly conservative institutional/organizational models of the past.
Thanks for sharing 🙂
I just finished my A1 presentation and could use a little feedback. I did it as a Prezi. As it turns out, Prezi can be incredibly time-consuming–jeez! (I probably could have written the essay in half the time.) If anyone has the time to have a look and share their thoughts, I would appreciate it: […]
Continue reading feedback on A1 Posted in: Questions & Answers
Hi Ben!
I am getting an error message when I try to access your Prezi. (Something went wrong – We could not load a media file in your Prezi). I would love to take a look at it! Hopefully you can get the media issue resolved. Good luck!
~Jen
It must have been a glitch on Prezi’s end as everything appears fine now. I quite enjoyed your Prezi! Sometimes it can be a difficult medium to work with as it is time consuming, but the results are often very impressive (as they are in your case). I found your presentation focused and informative without being oversaturated with unnecessary info. Your presentation moved along smoothly and was easy to navigate, unlike some of my first experiences, both making and viewing, Prezi works. There is very little to critique here!
Thank you for creating an attention grabbing, informative presentation. (I want to try out gamesalad now!) Well done.
Hi Jen. Thanks. I’m not sure what the problem is. I just opened it with 3 different browsers just by clicking on the link and it worked for me. Are your plugins all up-to-date?
If you still can’t view it, I put a downloadable, offline version in my GDrive that you should be able to get from here:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BzIRuObfFp0EcXJkUFZmeWhkTm8
It’s about 45MB, I think.
Any feedback would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Ben
Hi Ben,
I have to agree with you. I chose to use Prezi also and it is a lot of work. I looked at your presentation and I thought it was very good. You did a good job of explaining what the ventrue is, where it stands in the market, etc. Looks like you covered all the bases. Well done.
Nureen
Hi Ben,
I don’t have a critical assessment to offer you right now.
I just wanted to say, I enjoyed going through your presentation, which I found simple to navigate through and informative. Prezi adds a feel of interactivity to presentations that I think is missing from MS Office tools. It was worth your time to learn the progam, and i think your presentation has benefited from it. Keep up the good work.
I did not get an error message, therefore I am wondering if it was something internal at Prezi which has since been resolved.
As for the presentation, I like the comprehensiveness of your thoughts, and the area’s you explored. I am wrestling with a potential market analysis paper, and found some of the topics you touched on to be very similar.
Nice work Ben,
At the end I was hoping that the last action would come out and it was going to spell Ben or salad or something cool like that.
You did well segmenting the delivery without loosing the content.
Really liked the founders bit with the pictures – nice reminder that there are real people behind these things.
Stuart
I really liked it Ben – well done.
Like any other media, really, Prezi does take a lot of work to do it well. You have a lot there, and it has a good flow and a consistent presentation, the latter which is often lacking in Prezis. You have a lot of information, too often lacking in Prezis, but I still found it easy to follow along. A nice mix of links to follow for further exploration. I loved the vertical flow within your major topics – a very nice way to connect the major sections.
I will look forward to going back to explore the details, Nicely done!
Peggy
Hi Ben,
Thanks for sharing. I really liked how you organized your information, headed by six questions. I am doing something similar using the cube as my guide. I found your Prezi answered all of the dimensions of the cube. I liked the mix of text and pictures. Thanks for sharing.
Jen
Hi Ben,
Your Prezi presentation is very effective, was helpful in helping me sort out some of my thoughts that were all over the place. Prezi is an interesting application, I find it frustrating but I am sure with repeated use it gets easier. It appears you have included all the content that is required according to the rubric, including the reflection piece and the time requirement. Really enjoyed your presentation, thanks for sharing.
Catherine
Just in case it provides an inspiration or vehicle for your emergent A3 ideas (yes, I know, you haven’t completed A1 yet!!) I’m pleased to append details of a UBC-wide contest I launched today to propose new mobile apps for dramatically enhancing the UBC experience. The contest closes January 15, 2013 – after ETEC522 completes […]
Continue reading UBC Mobile App Design Contest Posted in: Announcements Here’s a great infographic with some revealing statistics regarding cloud services and usage. http://mashable.com/2012/10/09/infographic-cloud/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29 And a funny cartoon here: http://ca.com/cloudviews
Continue reading Week 6: Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Cloud Posted in: Week 06:
Thanks for sharing. Very interesting vantage point. It is interesting to know that the technology may be present but we may not be ready for it. Things are not always what they seem.
Nureen
Yes, thank you Ben. I also think that people are scared away from unknown terms such as “the cloud”. I believe that many people use platforms such as facebook, without even realizing that they are using the cloud. Once terms are unpacked and explained, people usually are more open to change.
I fully agree Jen. I don’t think we realize how much we all use the cloud, and how difficult it would be if it were suddenly there no longer. I think the future trend will be more as Iaas and PaaS (and of course continued Saas – Software as Service). From my own school division perspective – we are getting teachers, school administrators, and division personnel quite comfortable now with Saas; the other two will require additional changes in thinking. I had not quite realized the distinctions before your presentations this week, but I am now definitely seeing the separations. And they are important distinctions. You’ve given me much food for thought this week.
Peggy
i was just thinking the other day…”what if google was gone?”
Thanks for sharing that infographic Ben. It seems as though the Cloud entails so much secrecy and unknowingness about its inner workings that people don’t know what to believe. It also has intrinsic properties built into it in that if you lose your information on a specific device and have it backed up to the cloud, you can easily restore it. My only concern with cloud technologies is how safe they are to hackers. One would think that the hacker community would be all over this and would love nothing more than bragging rights to bringing down the cloud. In terms of actual sustainability, it seems pretty reliable. Then again, only time can tell whether this will be the case.
Manny
From the research that I have been doing in this, and other, classes, combined with the information that has been presented by the BC government this year, I can actually see the potential for a massive shift in learning in the next 5 years. I imagine that cloud computing will be a big part of this […]
Continue reading Week 6: Last Activity Posted in: General, Week 06:
Hi Rebecca,
I think you make a great point about how it is often hard to make long-term projections in the future of technology because of the rapid pace at which things now develop and change. With that said though, I too think the biggest change for cloud computing and learning would be in regards to its widespread use and that we would see it become commonly used in most school districts.
I agree I think we will see a big shift in the amount of cloud computing applications that are used in the classroom. As for the technology that they will be using it is hard to predict. One prediction is that we will be using Virtual Worlds that are integrated with a LMS system. It would allow for students to learn while they look and interact within the virtual world. It also will allow for collaboration and can be done online without a need for a building. As this would allow for cost savings I can definitely see this as a possibility. That said these are all guesses and depends on so many variables that we just can’t predict.
This idea is so fitting for the research I have just completed for my project. Even though many people (educators, administration, parents) see the need for an overhaul in the education system and everyone is floating around predictions about how this might manifest itself….. it is such a huge shift in paradigm that it may take something really, really big to provide the impetus for this change to occur. And yes, the cost savings is undeniable – once it’s up and running. However, the start up costs and the funds for development and research still have to come from somewhere first…. and where does it come from? Private sector? Dismantling classrooms? Teacher layoffs?
PC
Excellent case study, and very relevant to what I do. Several years ago I wrote our division media release form – it needs revision and it’s great to have the samples you posted. I’ve also recently become my division’s LAFOIP go-to person (LAFOIP = SK version of FIPPA). Hasn’t been high on my list of tasks but […]
Continue reading Week 6: Cloud Computing – Limitations Posted in: Week 06:
That is a tough question. If the FB page was under the school’s umbrella, it would need a ton of monitoring as anyone could post something on the page. That said, I like the potential FB offers for the sharing of information. If it were me, I might assign a couple of teachers to the page and have them remove any inappropriate postings. I only use FB personally but I am wondering if there is a security setting that requires all wall postings to get approval first by the page’s owner. That would certainly make it more manageable.
I’m not so worried about new posts to the groups – but it’s easy to a link to anyone who has posted on the group board to that person’s FB page. If they don’t set up security tightly – and with FB rules often changing that’s easy to miss – it’s easy to read that person’s wall perhaps, or see their pictures, and picture comments. You can then follow those links to yet someone else. I can see that it might be pretty easy to catch photos and comments of people who intended no direct connection to a particular group.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m all for using the Cloud, but interested in several points you wisely raised on your limitations page. Just wondering how others might feel about this specific FB issue. Try it sometime – see what you can find stalking people from groups you belong to.
Peggy, you have raised a chronic issue with FB, or in particular it’s user who do not understand the security aspect, therefore, do not access the securiy option selecting various settings to limit access to others. For those that do, also have to be diligent with ensuring they update their settings as Facebook is continuouly upgrading. I only use FB on a personal level and limit who I accept as my friends, but often wonder about inactivating because so much concern is generated around privacy and what is appropriate. However, then you are not in the loop or current when you don’t engage in all this social media. Just trying to keep up with it is a challenge. I don’t have time to be curious about other people’s lives but fully aware that others certainly do.
Catherine
I don’t think a school district would adopt FB as they wouldn’t have the same types of controls to monitor for inappropriate comments or cyber bullying. Also it is so easy with existing software to just set up your own private social network. I have a private social network set up in my class and I am able to monitor all comments and can easily find anything that I would find inappropriate. I clearly state to students that I would treat any comment on the site as if they said it in class. Research also shows that students don’t want a school social networking site linked to their FB account. They prefer to have it completely separate and in fact they prefer it if teachers aren’t directly involved with the site. It is found for academic sites that peer mentors have a greater impact on an academic social networking site. I think the goal of a district wide site would be for educational purposes which I don’t believe can be realized with FB.
It’s an interesting debate, whether or not to allow FB in schools, as our Kindergarten class used FB last year for it’s mode of communication out to parents. Most parents loved it, as they were familiar with the platform and didn’t need to learn anything new. We’re a private school though, and proper channels were explored before the K’s ventured into their decision to go with FB. Now, this year, the parents aren’t as comfortable and only one K class went with FB…the others created a WordPress site/blog.
I think there is real value in FB in schools, as the social networking and collaborative potential is limitless. A lot of LMS’s now are incorporating this FB-like feel to their services. Edmodo and Schoology are two great examples of companies tapping into that potential.
In Alberta, many schools and school districts are currently utilizing Facebook as a means to communicate easily with the parents, My own district, has just started limited experiments to see how it might work best here.
For in the end, yes there is a tonne of other options out there which might be safer than facebook… But is it easier for the mountain (all the people who use facebook) to come to me (my blog), or myself to come to the mountain…
Lastly, if we do not explore, and learn how to properly utilize these and similar tools. We are not meeting our students, or even society where they are at, but forcing them to fit with what makes ourselves comfortable.
As for potential legal issues, if thought is put before practice, and modelling of expectations occur, few issues will arise, and those that do can usually be handled well…
Thoughts?
There are indeed risks of using FB, however it also has many uses. This page mentions but a few, along with some suggestions on how to protect students. (http://mashable.com/2011/04/26/facebook-for-schools/). I feel schools and other educational institutions should inform teachers and students on a regular basis as to how to use the web and social media safely; there are too many useful collaborative tools out there that it is a shame not to use in class.
More great stuff on your Advantages page! I’m curious about your decision to include so much about iPads. No doubt as to their benefits, and the video highlighting autistic and other special needs children was very powerful. But many of the apps highlighted are actually resident on the iPad once downloaded & installed I suspect, rather […]
Continue reading Week 6: Cloud Learning – Advantages Posted in: General
Hi Peggy, I agree that many of the apps that we install these days can be run locally without an internet connection. Though I do believe that cloud computing in general will be a necessity for mobile learning. Many software developers want to move to a system where you log in to their server to use an application. Students can pick up an iPad at school or log on to their computer at home an their information will be downloaded. The video didn’t do a good job of relating this aspect of Mobile learning.
Hi Peggy,
Thanks for your comments and getting the ball rolling this week. Next month my class is going to receive a set of iPads for two months. Although my students will be working on many apps that reside on the iPad itself, once their projects are complete we will be using the share button to access the cloud and transfer their digital media to blogs (which I am calling their EPortfolios). So in this respect, cloud computing becomes necessary with the iPads to save student work. I think this is going to become more common as schools tend to be sharing iPads among several students. Therein lays another privacy problem where students have access to each other’s work.
This is an excellent discussion on use of iPads for project work and then transferring, sharing it on the cloud! Students would be able to progressively develop an ePortfolio as they move on to higher classes.
Jen – Would you mind sharing how the “share” button might work?
Hi Ranvir,
The share button is located right on many apps. It allows you share the digital media that you have created to either your facebook account, twitter or email it to yourself. I plan to have my students email it to themselves and then they can move their projects onto their personal blogs.
I haven’t yet looked at the ‘limitations’ section; however, though I know security is an issue, there are clearly lots of advantages for using cloud computing. In developing countries the cost benefit factor is key, including the savings on energy bills, and making fewer trips thank to online collaboration. I can see how these factors could be of great benefit for school districts or educational boards short on resources and money. This idea of ‘pay as you go’, is also better than spending thousands of dollars on software and applications that soon become obsolete. I think more money should be spent on finding solutions for the security issue; it’s well worth it given the many benefits of cloud computing. (Ben in this group’s blog makes some useful suggestions of how to avoid having problems with security.
I understand the value of the pay-as-you go model, but are educational institutions and classrooms ready for that? As individuals we see the benefit, but a district has significant issues that may impede or hamper this or any adoption.
For example, I have been pushing Google Docs in our district for nearly 3 years, we are now just starting to explore what it might look like, and it is free. Secondly, sometimes tech budget dollars are tied to the purchasing of specific software only, which does not allow other, and maybe more beneficial software from being purchased.
Thoughts?
We hope you all have had a relaxing and enjoyable Thanksgiving weekend. We welcome you to Week 6 of ETEC 522. This week’s topic is Cloud Learning in K – 12 Education. Please visit our Emerging Market Analysis Weebly site at http://cloudlearning.weebly.com/ We have presented an overview of the content through six areas: What is […]
Continue reading Welcome to Week 6: Cloud Learning in K – 12 Education Posted in: Week 06:
Thanks guys – this page packed a lot of useful information in a nice tidy package. It was nice to have a few different videos to watch – the repetition but with slight variations helped the information sink in, plus you had the text based article – very good to cover your bases regarding different learning preferences of your audience (us!). I had a pretty good general idea of cloud computer, but it was helpful to understand the difference between SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS. One of my questions this week will be about security, and having student information resided outside Canada. I know this is an issue in my own school division. Thanks to a great start! Peggy
Hi Peggy,
Thanks for the compliments. I had a lot of questions too regarding security. Have you had a chance to view our limitations tab? Give that a read and try out the case study. I think it is going to generate an interesting discussion.
Take Care, Jen
Your presentation offers excellent resources and is well curated team – thank you.
Here is a news item and infographic, I just noticed today, that reports on workers thoughts on Cloud computing and how the IT industry may be reacting to it – along with a few good comics to inject some humor. http://mashable.com/2012/10/09/infographic-cloud/
Thanks for that Infographic. Some great truths hidden in those comics…especially how some people don’t even realize that their already using the cloud! And along with BYOD, the cloud has definitely created a few waves in our I.T. department…whether it be good, bad or ugly.
Thanks for the post!
Same in ours… I was told that when I use my own devices to access the cloud I am using up Bandwidth that was not meant for this and this is why our computer lab Wifi is slow. I have a hard time believing one little document was the cause. Maybe if everyone was accessing their Dropbox.
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tomwhyte1 1:10 pm on October 17, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
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?)
kstackhouse 12:27 pm on October 19, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
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.
tomwhyte1 7:41 pm on October 20, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
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?
visramn 9:23 pm on October 19, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
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