Who Needs Augmented Reality?

I have written about augmented reality (AR) before when I talked about the Layar app almost 2 years ago. I like Layar. Even though it is a glorified QR code, what you can do with Layar is take an everyday object and make it "clickable". That is pretty cool.

But I don't know if I would consider Layar real augmented reality. In real AR, when you look at an object through a device (iPad/iPhone camera, Google Glass etc) then it actually changes. So for example here is a neat app called Elements 4D that gives you templates of 6 different cubes each with 6 elements on them and when you create those cubes and view them through the app, you see directly the effects of AR. Take a look below.

So that is a pretty good app that really shows some possibilities with AR. A the very least in a "Wow" factor for students. That app was created by a company called Daqri and they have other AR apps like Anatomy 4D. Can you guess what that is about? In both the Elements 4D app and the Anatomy 4D app, you will need to download an image of a template to use in the app. The cubes for Elements can be generated from within the app and the body template is here for Anatomy.

Another chemistry based app is called Chemistry 101. This is made by a company called Zientia (when you go to their site you will note that it is entirely in Spanish. You can click on the English button if you don't want the challenge of reading in that language). Right now the Chemistry app is all they have but it is still pretty good (and they have more on the way). Take a look at the video below to see a brief view of how that app works.

Now these apps are pretty cool but my question is: "Are they needed?". That is, do they provide something that otherwise couldn't be done without the AR. I think in the case of the Elements 4D app, the answer might be yes. The fact that you can hold those cubes in your hand and rotate them to see different views of those elements is something that you may not be able to do in a real class (unless of course you actually had some real samples - which is not out of the realm of possibility)

With the Chemistry 101 app, I am not so sure the AR actually adds to the use of the app. I think most of the stuff that can be done in the app could be done with out the AR focus and still be effective. Don't get me wrong, I really love the testing feature in the app and think that is one of its great strengths. However, as I was using the app, it physically got tiring to continue to hold the iPad above the printouts to see the AR and quickly found that the AR was a novelty and not necessary for the actual function of the app. Maybe I am missing something but that's the way I saw it.

What's the lesson here? "you get what you pay for?" or "AR apps are cool". Maybe "not all AR apps are created equal". Either way, you have some interesting and different ways to introduce topics to students. So why do things the traditional way when instead you can do things the tra-digital way? See what I did there?

Are you using any of these AR apps in your classroom? Do you have some suggestions for good AR apps? If so, please tell us about it in the comment section.

Stop Using the ONTARIO EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE BANK

The Ontario Educational Resource Bank, OERB, provides Ontario students and teachers with thousands of resources from K-12, including entire course units, lessons, and interactive learning objects. The OERB has been integrated with the Provincial Learning Management System, or LMS. So, teachers and students may access these resources without having to login. Further, with this integration, e-Learning Ontario provides teachers with the links and embed codes that will bring students directly to any activity. This allows teachers to customize the way they use these resources to better meet their programming needs.

Learn more using the USING CONTENT FROM THE OERB GUIDE.

So, do not ever stop using the OERB, start using it with the LMS and direct your students to all of these great resources in a seamless, engaging way!

IWB in Your Pocket

• Are you in need of an interactive white board (IWB) but don't have the $3000 to shell out to get one? 
• Have you already got a data projector in your class and are looking for ways to enhance what you can do with it? 
• Do you have a couple hundred dollars in your pocket and want to replace it with something else you can fit in your pocket? 

If you answered yes to one or more of these questions then I have the tech for you: A portable device that you can carry around in your bag that turns any surface into an IWB.

I found out about this product last December when I was at the RCAC conference and sat in on Chris Knight's breakout session on Increasing Student Interactivity. Now although I suspect Chris would say that IWBs aren't actually as good as people think when talking about promoting student interactivity (and I might agree), he did mention that a nice option to have IWB technology in your classrooms for a fraction of the cost was a new product created by IPEVO simply called an Interactive White Board System (though the mention of this was merely an aside in his session).

Now I have written about IPEVO before (I really like their portable document camera) so it doesn't come as a surprise to me that they have continued to put out inexpensive but reasonably well performing products. This IWB is no exception.

Keep in mind that certainly a $3000 Smartboard works better but for the money, this works great. I have tried it on a regular wall (ie painted surface) and directly onto a regular whiteboard and I prefer the whiteboard. Somehow the slight texture of the paint felt when moving the pen along the wall is off putting to me. But it works just fine and I was surprised at how precise the calibration is. It comes with its own software (see menu to the right) that allows you to annotate anything on screen with different pens and take screen shots of your work. It can also be fully integrated with the IPEVO P2V document camera.

Setting up the system is pretty easy. Once you have the projector set up and plugged into your computer, just place the IR receiver so it is facing the screen and then follow the two step calibration procedure. For an idea of what that might entail, watch the brief video below.

If you are interested in purchasing this product, in the US you can do so directly from IPEVO here. In Canada (to avoid high shipping and any duties or brokerage fees) you can get it from Merconnet here. Either way you should be around $200 with shipping and taxes.

How Readable is Your Text?

I was sifting through my many YouTube channel subscriptions and came across this video:

Now to be fair the video is about how we blindly just click "Accept" when we come upon those Terms & Conditions pages when signing up for things online and is a bit on the dry side. So I am not sure whether you want to spend the 10 minutes to watch it. One of the topics was about how complex the wording is in these documents and how that is a deterrent, right away, for most people to read them. So at about the 3 minute mark they talk a Google Chrome Plugin they developed called Literatin that would take the text of any web page (or any text you copy and paste into it) and give it a general rating that goes from Green Eggs & Ham (at the low end) and Frankenstein (at the high end).

Using the plugin is pretty easy. Once you install it on Chrome, you will see an icon appear on your toolbar. When on a web page, just click on the icon and it will read the text on the page and give a report. So for example, this blog page of text comes back equivalent to Harry Potter with an adult Literacy level of about 2. 

If you want to use text from a PDF or Word document, just copy it and past it into the plugin. So for example I took a reading passage from the 2013 OSSLT and it came back equivalent to Moby Dick with an adult reading level of 2 or above. Or I went back to the 2013 Grade 6 EQAO test and took a passage from it and it came back equivalent to Harry Potter with an adult reading level of 1. Finally I looked at the 2013 Grade 3 EQAO test and took a passage from it and it came back equivalent to Oh the Places You'll Go with an adult reading level of 1. 

Now I am not a literacy expert but I still think that this seems like a useful tool. If you found this tool useful (or not) it would be nice to hear from you in the comments. 

Why Should I Use a Learning Management System?

In my conversations lately with people in the teaching world (teachers, consultants, e-Learning Contacts, etc.), I am hearing the word 'container' used very often. The context is that teachers are embracing technology in all subject areas and are now using video, audio, presentations, images, etc., as part of all that they do.  The number of ‘presentations’ alone, being created by students, has skyrocketed recently because of access to online presentation tools and the ease of incorporating multimedia from the internet. Teachers need a 'container' to hold all of this stuff.

Pragmatically speaking, a learning management system (LMS) is needed to simply manage all of the digital content that is a large part of the learning in today’s classrooms. From a pedagogical perspective, the access to multimedia must be leveraged to promote critical thinking surrounding the abundant content available at our fingertips. Ideally, an LMS needs to provide the platform for teachers to make class announcements and post course content, as well as the ability to receive, assess, and provide descriptive feedback about student work. Also, a truly robust LMS would give teachers the ability to display exemplary student work, differentiate instruction and assessment, and inspire meaningful communication and collaboration, while seamlessly incorporating multimedia. All of this needs to be in a safe, secure, private environment that is available across all digital devices.

An LMS may be as simple as a classroom blog, online calendar, or a website. These tools are mainly used for pushing out content, but fall short in terms of two-way communication. Further, blogs, calendars, and websites are generally ‘public on the web’, so they may not address the unique needs of an individual classroom. Many teachers have embraced Google Apps for Education and are using the sharing capabilities to create their own learning management system. There are two major reasons I suggest not using Google Apps for Education as an LMS. First, teachers themselves need to do the back end work every semester or school year, with each of their classes, in terms of creating shared folders and creating contacts. Second, the sheer volume of files that will accumulate rapidly may become unmanageable and monitoring individual files will be very tedious, at best. There are numerous free learning management systems available to educators, and most offer key features that support curriculum delivery and assessment opportunities. Further, most of these virtual learning environments have developed a welcoming, engaging infrastructure for meaningful communication, collaboration, and social networking. One of the most inviting features of an LMS, from a pedagogical lens, is the use of release conditions to differentiate instruction and assessment. Teachers may release certain items to individuals, or groups of students, and establish different timelines for assessment items.

In summary, as students and teachers integrate increasingly more digital content into their learning, the need grows for learning environments that leverage the power of multimedia and seemingly unlimited access to knowledge. This environment must meet the unique needs of all key stakeholders in education. Teachers can use an LMS to supplement and enhance the learning in their face-to-face classroom environments. Students may access engaging course content anywhere, anytime. This just-in-time learning model empowers students to take charge of their own learning,  equipping them with tools for meaningful communication and collaboration, ultimately improving student achievement. Finally, the safety, security, and privacy inherent in a learning management system is essential to increase confidence in publicy-funded education, both in parents and school Board Administrators.

Gizmos on the iPad

One of the biggest drawbacks with the iPad could be its lack of ability to play Flash objects. For the most part this is becoming less of an issue as more and more sites adopt HTML5 as their standard. But for older sites that were built on Flash, they might be slow in making the switch, or deciding to not make the switch or have chosen some other alternative to accommodate the Cult of Apple.

Seeing that so many iPads have been introduced into schools I am sure that is why Explore Learning has decided to do the latter and created an app that allows you to access all of the Gizmos on the iPad. There was an earlier version that was a Sampler of some Gizmos but now the full compliment of Gizmos are now available on the new app (or at least it looks like all of them).

Once you have downloaded the app (which is free from the iTunes store) you then have two ways to use the Gizmos:

1. Open the Gizmos app on your device and your regular Gizmos login (or your students can use theirs) and you are in. Just choose your Gizmo and go to town.

 

The drawback of this one is that your students won't have access to all the assessment modules and class management features. 

2. The other way is to go and log into the website version (through Safari or other browser) on your iPad and then when you tap to go to the Gizmo you want you will see a new screen that has the assessment questions and a button to open the Gizmo on the Gizmo app.

Besides having all the class management and assessment features available here, one of the nice things about this one is that when you have set your classes up and your students log in, they can easily get to the Gizmos you have added to your class. 

Once in the app you should notice that the Gizmos look and behave almost identical to what you would see on a computer.

              

On the iPad

On the Computer

So rejoice, those of you who have been asking for Gizmos on the iPad. They are finally here.

IF YOU DO ONE THING WITH TECH THIS YEAR...

Presentations are an excellent way for students to share their learning with their peers. Good presentations, and good presenters, have the ability to engage their audience in the learning. Further, presentations ideally are the "start of a conversation", with more learning to occur.

The presentation embedded below is about Canada but has the unique feature that the viewer can navigate through it based on what interests them.  Each of the Provinces and Territories are links to other slides in the presentation.
Essentially, it is a 'stand-alone' presentation that is not linear in nature but goes where the viewer decides.  This creative use of links lets the audience "do" a presentation rather than "get" a presentation. 



When students facilitate a presentation in this way to their classmates, they may reconsider their role. Student presenters can now stand in the middle of the room and let other students choose where there want to go or what they wan to learn about first. Presentations in this format are excellent in a digital environment, where students can navigate through at their own pace and differentiate their own learning. 

Two more examples are provided below. 
* They are incomplete in terms of content, but the idea of a self-contained, self-navigated presentation is clear.

Please contact Joe Sisco (joe_sisco@wecdsb.on.ca) for further information