Immersive technology: Asset to the classroom or another tech fad?

Augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), mixed reality—can immersive technology really benefit students and their learning, or are these just tech fads? In their recent edWebinar, Jaime Donally, author, speaker, and edtech consultant, and Michelle Luhtala, library department chair at New Canaan High School in Connecticut, explained that although these technologies aren’t the answer to everything, they are transforming learning and will continue to do so going forward. In addition, while the thought of using these tools can be exciting, schools need to first plan for successful integration into the classroom and curriculum.

First, Donally and Luhtala started by distinguishing the three types of immersive technology. AR takes a view of the real world and enhances it with something digital, while VR is a completely digital experience with no views of the real world. Donally added that having a viewer isn’t always necessary to experience virtual reality; a device on its own can be used too. Last, mixed reality combines augmented and virtual reality, having digital objects interact with objects in a view of the real world. When it comes down to it, Donally noted, it’s not as important to know which experience equals which kind of immersive technology, just that immersive technology is taking strides to be more functional for learning.

Students are using immersive technology to collaborate with each other in ways that are no longer limited by geographic areas or language barriers. In addition to improved collaboration, these tools can help build empathy. Students can experience anything from being in the position of an individual with autism or right in the middle of a hurricane. Schools can even use immersive technology for enhanced safety training and emergency preparedness. And looking toward the future, immersive technology is paving the way for learning in completely virtual classrooms. “360 environments are our future,” said Donally. “The way that we want to interact with people should be the way we interact normally without that technology. We’re seeing a transition into something that feels more realistic in that way.”…Read More

How wearables, AR, and VR help students to develop SEL skills (part 2)

In my previous post, “How wearables, AR, and VR help students develop SEL skills (part 1),” I explored the ways in which wearables, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR) show promise in helping to cultivate social-emotional skills. All three technologies have been greeted with excitement by both the consumer market and many education stakeholders. While these technologies have great potential to support learning in new and novel ways, it is not a given that they will live up to the anticipation surrounding them. As expectations continue to build, educators can begin thinking through the various ways that they might be employed most effectively for learning.

KnowledgeWorks’ strategic foresight publication, Leveraging Digital Depth for Responsive Learning Environments: Future Prospects for Wearables, Augmented Reality, and Virtual Reality, explores how wearables, AR, and VR might be used to create responsive learning environments that can help with the cultivation of social-emotional skills. The publication proposes that educators think about possible uses of wearables, AR, and VR by first considering the types of environments these technologies can create and how they might support student learning. To help educators think about possibilities for these technologies in learning the paper presents a framework called the digital depth spectrum which consists of three kinds of spaces:

  • Enhanced physical spaces alter the physical world by applying a thin layer digital information capture, sharing, and feedback.
  • Hybrid spaces use multiple digital layers and more extensive computer-generated content, connectivity, and experiences to enable experiences that have a higher degree of digital immersion but which are still anchored in physical space.
  • Fully digital spaces provide full immersion in digitally created environments with little reference to physical space.

…Read More

4 ways AR/VR can transform your lesson plan

The post-1990’s generation, Gen Z, doesn’t remember a world without digital technology. In fact, the children of millennials, born after 2010, are sometimes described as Generation Alpha. They are poised to be the most tech-savvy demographic to date, with a pathway to success that is largely shaped by video, e-books, podcasts, voice command, and the advent of virtual reality (VR) headsets and augmented reality (AR).

As our business and personal lives increasingly merge with the digital environment, the progression to a more technologically focused model in the classroom is gaining momentum. This trend is reflected in the growing demand for VR and AR applications as equipment becomes cheaper and easier to use while proving its value as an educational tool.

Even though technology has allowed knowledge to be more easily attained for more people, there are roadblocks to learning that must be surmounted. Traditional teaching methods too often focus on providing facts and delivering large amounts of information. The result? A bored, disengaged room of students who are not sure about what they are learning and why.…Read More

Are you an AR innovator?

My library is not quiet. As much as I can, I strive to have my students engaged and excited about learning and exploring new things. One of those new things is augmented reality (AR).

Recently, an AR company gave interactive lessons for my class of 25 sixth-graders. The company was here for three hours and my students were engaged and excited the entire time. It was amazing to watch, and I thought, “This is a medium that we definitely have to explore.”

The challenge with this technology is that it looks fun, but many of us don’t have a concrete plan to incorporate it into learning or an idea of how (or if) it will impact student learning. Here are four tips that will help.…Read More

Building a smarter network

Given the data, networking, and security implications of upcoming technology trends, K-12 schools will require a variety of innovations to meet dramatically increased wireless and wired network performance demands without adding more stress on overworked IT staffers.

We recommend the following strategies:

1. Adopt smart infrastructure.
To keep IT overhead low while delivering the performance required to power Internet of things (IoT) devices, augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) applications and whatever comes next, invest in more intelligent networking infrastructure. At the wired networking layer, replace your outdated switching paradigm with a modern platform that supports the new IEEE 802.3bz standard for multi-gigabit Ethernet and is driven by an advanced software operating system.…Read More

AR for ELL: ‘I had students screaming and jumping up and down’

Almost 10 percent of students in US public schools are English language learners (ELLs), and that percentage is growing every year. One of the biggest challenges today’s teachers face is helping ELLs develop the literacy skills they need to keep pace with their peers. An essential first step in that process is getting their attention in class.

Here, two educators discuss how they use the engaging powers of the emerging 3D technology, augmented reality (AR), to do just that.

Hugo E. Gomez: Using AR to Engage Kindergarteners…Read More

5 AR & VR tools for social skills

Virtual and augmented reality, once far-off on the classroom horizon, have moved with relative speed into the realm of possible classroom technologies.

In fact, recent data indicates that while few teachers are using augmented and virtual reality, it does show some promise. Speak Up Survey data shows that 5 percent of teachers say they are using virtual or augmented reality in their classroom. Higher percentages of high school computer science and technology teachers (11 percent) and science teachers (9 percent) are using augmented or virtual reality.

Twenty-five percent of district administrators in small districts would like to see augmented reality apps in their schools, and 43 percent want virtual reality experiences and hardware in their schools.…Read More

The Friday 4: Your weekly ed-tech rewind

Every Friday, I’ll recap some of the most interesting news and thought-provoking developments from the past week.

I can’t fit all of this week’s news stories here, though, so feel free to browse eSchool News and read up on other news you may have missed.

New technologies and technology trends emerge all the time, but a few seem to have staying power in K-12 classrooms. Virtual reality and virtual field trips, augmented reality, and gaming are all moving from “cool” technologies to instructional approaches with research-backed merit.…Read More

How augmented reality enhances the classroom — even without technology

Several years ago, I made one of those foolish Dad choices. Despite my wife’s better judgment, I let my six- and seven-year-old sons watch Men in Black. What I thought would be a cool evening of fighting aliens turned into one of those nights ending with two kids afraid of going to sleep under a wife’s “I told you so” glare.

Miraculously, I stumbled onto a solution when my elder son came into our bedroom around midnight saying he kept waking up scared because he was afraid a giant bugman would get him. In the moment, a solution arose. I told my son that I kept special, super strong anti-bugman powder in the bathroom, so strong it could only be used in emergencies, but that it could keep bug monsters out of the house. With that, I went into the bathroom, filled a small plastic bag with talcum powder, and spent the next thirty minutes walking around the house throwing the powder about the place while chanting “Go away bugmen!” with my son. He slept the rest of the night.

The point of the story is not about showing myself to be a good parent (I abandoned any pretense to that title when I said to my wife, “The boys might be scared at first, but by the end they’ll be laughing”). What this incident demonstrates is a kind of teaching technique that too often is underutilized or even forgotten.…Read More

Lifeliqe Creator empowers teachers to create, publish interactive 3D content at ISTE

VR-enabled STEM models immerse students in a trip to space, a walk with a dinosaur, and a voyage through the inside of a shark

Lifeliqe, a learning and productivity platform for interactive 3D, VR, and AR, launched Lifeliqe Creator, a feature giving educators the power to create and publish interactive presentations and ebooks that integrate 3D models instead of 2D images.

Lifeliqe users can explore objects with interactive 3D views, zoom deep into the structure of the objects, experience augmented reality, view supplementary text on a subject, and change the language for a bilingual view in English and Spanish. With the Lifeliqe Creator feature, any of the 1,000 interactive 3D models can be dragged and dropped right into a presentation, ebook or lesson plan, so teachers can provide students with full, interactive 3D experiences.

“Lifeliqe Creator pushes the boundaries of publishing,” said Lifeliqe’s co-founder and CEO Ondrej Homola. “Embedding a real-time, interactive 3D model directly into a text document or a presentation takes it to another level. This enables teachers and students to create resources they have never been able to before, using 3D models instead of images.”…Read More

Top 10 ed-tech stories of 2013, No. 10: Augmented Reality

eSchool News counts down the 10 most significant developments in educational technology during the past year

augmented-top10In Washington, D.C., President Obama called for broadband internet access in every classroom within the next five years.

In Los Angeles, school district officials grappled with public criticism over an ambitious plan to give iPads to every student.

And in school systems from coast to coast, tech-savvy educators experimented with augmented reality, educational gaming, and other techniques designed to enhance teaching and learning.…Read More

Putting augmented reality into practice

A classroom is transformed, and student engagement receives a boost, with new augmented reality technology

augmented-realityThis year, when I introduced creative writing to my students, I wanted to do it a little differently than I had in years past. This year I wanted to use the awesome power of augmented reality to engage my students and inspire them to be creative and have fun. Augmented reality takes something in the static world and brings it to life. It gives the end user an additional and engaging experience.

I started by giving my students a choice of three different coloring pages from the colAR Mix app. They had a choice of a dragon, a girl in her room, and a hot air balloon. Their directions were to take their time coloring the picture and have fun.

After students had plenty of time to color their pictures, I told them to come have a seat on the carpet and to bring their pictures with them. I asked them: “Wouldn’t it be great if we could bring these pictures to life?” At that point, I took one of each of the three coloring pages and, using an iPad, I brought them to life using colAR.…Read More