Layar - Augmented Reality Platform

Layar – Augmented Reality Platform

Posted in 4-7, 8-12, AR & VR Tools, English, K-3, Not Subject Specific, Paid, Post Secondary, Resource | Tagged with , , , , , ,

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Layar is an augmented reality platform accessible via the web and mobile devices (iPads,iPhone, Android Tablets, and Android phones, etc.)

With Layar, you can upload “trigger” images and then add overlays like images, video, 3D animations and sounds to them either through the web application or on your own mobile devices. After creating your campaigns, you can make them public so that everyone with the app can easily get access to your campaigns.

With the Layar Creator, you can enhance flyers, postcards, packaging or any other item with interactive content, including video messages, websites, social links, music clips and much more.

 

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As virtual and augmented reality software and applications like Pokémon GO become more advanced and accessible to the average user, educators must ask themselves how this might benefit the educational community. The value in Layar is that it brings static content to life, turning an observational learning environment into a more interactive one.

So how could you use Layar in your classroom? The most popular way would be to add explanations with text and images. In this way, students can get more information in a more engaging way. In addition, Layar is a great tool to create educational posters with video, images or text.

Using Layar (or other similar AR tools), you will be able to grow student engagement with more interactions; in addition, with Layar, students can get access to updated educational materials without being in the classroom, which means they can study by themselves at home or via long-distance education!

 

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  • Download the Layar app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store depending on your device.
  • Sign up with your email, and create a username and password.
  • Take a picture of an object to act as a trigger. Layar works best with flatter triggers like pictures, posters, or patterns. The more detail in the image the better.
  • Upload the image either from your device or through the Layar Creator page. Create your first Campaign:

  • Add overlay content. When the trigger image is scanned the overlay content will be displayed. If you are creating the Campaign on your device you are limited to the default overlays that come with the application. Creating Campaigns through the web application allows you to upload 3D animations, sounds, images, videos, and links to each to make them interactive.

  • Make your campaign public to your audience.

 

Reference
Lens-FitzGerald, M., & Damyanov, N. (2014). Layar in Education . Retrieved May 15, 2017, from http://static.layar.com/website/Layar-Edu-Overview.pdf

UBC Blog Tutorial 5 – Inviting Users to Your Blog

Posted in 8-12, English, Not Subject Specific, Resource, Video & Video Tutorials | Tagged with , , , ,

If you choose to show your blog content only to your subscribers in your privacy setting, you need to manually invite your readers to become your subscribers of your blog.

This video will talk about how to invite users to be subscribers of your UBC blog. In this video, you will learn how to add people as subscribers to your blog within 2 minutes.

You can also change your settings to allow others to become a contributor, author, editor or administrator of your blog. Watch the video for more detail information:

Connected Classrooms – Skype

Posted in 4-7, 8-12, Assistive Technology, English, K-3, Not Subject Specific, Resource | Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

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Having students interact with experts in the field, such as scientists, models of culture or educators, can help to develop a sense of community and allow students to see beyond the school walls. Such interactions should be well-thought out and allow for student engagement and authentic, real-world learning or inquiry.

Connecting your Classroom to a Wider Community of peers and experts – Download a Handout Sandbox_Skype_Nov2013

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Skype in the classroom and other web conferencing software have the potential to transform a classroom-based lesson into an interactive and relevant real-world experience. Such real-world experiences increase student motivation, engagement and learning at all grade levels (NREL, 2005).

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Some suggestions:

http://www.teachingdegree.org/2009/06/30/50-awesome-ways-to-use-skype-in-the-classroom/

A recent example and review of a Skype in the Classroom ‘Global Classroom Project’

http://mrparkinsonict.blogspot.ca/2013/01/the-power-of-skype-in-classroom.html

Please visit Dean Shareski’s Blog for some caution and kudos:

http://ideasandthoughts.org/2011/03/28/the-anatomy-of-a-skype-call/

Other options to connect:

Scientists and innovators in the schools from ‘our own’ Telus World of Science offers f2f visits from working scientists in this volunteer based program.

http://www.scienceworld.ca/sis

Try the Flat Stanley Project with Elementary aged students: an old-school project via snail mail that has begun to harness the value of the web. Classes create their own Stanley and send it on a trip around the world – learning about the people and places he visits.

Think outside the box with KIVA and try some ‘challenge based learning’ with your class or family. KIVA crowd sources small loans (micro-funding) for individuals and groups around the world. I met an educator who used KIVA as a way for his students to learn more about world geography while also participating in global community service. The students even visited local businesses, Rotary clubs and their municipal government office to do presentations about their chosen project in order to raise funds. Visit the blog of one educator from Salem Middle School:

REALLY, the list is endless, I’ll add new posts under the category ‘Interactivity’ as I find more options and examples. Please comment with your own ideas.

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Postcards Canada Green Screen Project

Posted in AR & VR Tools, Blog Posts, Fine Arts | Tagged with , , ,

A collaboration between the Post Cards Canada project and the Scarfe Digital Sandbox allowed participants in the BEd program in 2016-2017 to virtually place themselves inside a landscape, a work of art or any creative commons image using ‘GreenScreen technologies’ in order to create unique projects.

This unique digital-technology infused art project was developed as a collaboration between Scarfe Digital Sandbox (Yvonne Dawydiak) and Natalie Leblanc, an artist in residence in the Faculty of Education as part of StudiOCanada, an ongoing project funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Natalie’s residency utilized art to provoke new ways of conceptualizing what it means to be Canadian as we approach Canada’s 150th anniversary of Confederation. Yvonne, in her capacity as digital technology integration mentor in the BEd program, worked with Natalie to consider how digital technologies might be integrated into art projects.

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For me, the opportunity to collaborate with Natalie Leblanc, our Artist in Residence, was an exciting one. As with any collaboration, I was able to bring the possibilities of digital technologies and be inspired by the potential for integrating the selected technology within a particular academic context. Working with a practicing artist undertaking a research project added even more interest! (Yvonne Dawydiak)

The Post Cards Canada “Creation”  was inspired by artist Basil AlZeri’s, The Post Card Project, and centers on the Canadian landscape through the use of national postcards. “The postcard, as a tourist and postal document, is often used as a reminder of what Canada is “supposed” to look like.”  This activity might provoke individuals to disrupt the image in some way through their selection of images or message, to complement it or make a personal connection.

Prompt: Using a found (or made) postcard, recreate the Postcard Project photo by artist Basil AlZeri in a place of your choosing. Hint: You may want to play with the contrast between the postcard and the background/landscape. Images below from our Post Cards Canada pop up event in the Scarfe Foyer Feb. 1, 2017

Possibilities: This activity is highly adaptable and could form part of a study of a particular artist, technique or school of art. For example, students might explore the works of a Canadian Artist, investigate the techniques, materials and processes and then create their own inspired imagery. The ‘post card’ the students create could then be held up in front of the green screen backdrop and an image that contrasts or perhaps one that inspired the work could become the background.  Note: From experience, I recommend that after exploring the individual artist, artworks or school of art, that you remove the images from view prior to students creating their own works. You might, in this way and through the discussion and emphasis on process, avoid derivative efforts that merely try to duplicate a particular work.

Visit the StudiOCanada website to view a post card project incorporating ‘Group of Seven’ artworks as background.

NOTE: From my perspective as a mentor of digital technology integration, it is important to be aware of copyright – especially in published work – and I am a strong proponent of appropriate attribution and using Creative Commons Images (cc). As a teacher, I believe it is important to help our students understand their responsibilities as digital citizens  and would include developing an understanding of, and respect for, copyright in this category. Using Creative Commons images (as we did in our session) and helping your students develop appropriate citation practices is a great place to start.

 

Hook ‘em – Using Visuals and Multimedia to Engage Students

Posted in English, Not Subject Specific, Resource | Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

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A hook or activating strategy is intended to engage students and help them access and apply prior knowledge to the current concept, lesson or unit of study. Auseubel (1978), recognizes that the activation of prior knowledge helps to deepen learning by bridging between what was known and new material.

Creating just the right motivator or anticipatory set for your classroom is essential to engaging your particular audience. While the content of this section of your ‘lesson plan’ or sequence will vary, there are a number of strategies that work for a variety of audiences!

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 Teachers who employ a variety of strategies, modes and mediums – especially those that contain multi-media content – are more likely to engage and hold the attention of today’s ‘Digital Natives’ (Prensky, 2007). For this reason, Digital Storytelling and the use of high interest graphics are recommended for use as hooks in lesson plans (Bernard, 2006). In particular, to grab learners in the digital age, a ‘TEASe’ (Technology Enhanced Anticipatory Sets) is an excellent option. Combining high interest visuals with sound and even text in a short video or presentation can activate prior knowledge and engender excitement in your audience. Slideshare presentation: When teasing is a good thing!

Read this interesting article about the inclusion of Hooks in a Secondary Science Classroom to help transform learning and engage students or this ASCD article about the value of a well designed ‘TEASe’

Download this handout for a short description of the theory and practice around hooks:  SandboxHooks_rev 2019

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Good Hooks should capture student interest; connect to prior knowledge or experience and might introduce or explain what is to be learned (learning targets) and how it will be learned. There are so many different strategies for hooks and each individual teacher has his/her own favourites:

  • Download this pdf file of various ‘activating strategies’ for the classroom.
  • Use WORLD MAPPER to view simulations (a map that morphs from geographic to ‘thematic’ and shows population and relative size…).
  • Have you seen the live tweets of the world map? Tweetping shows live tweets ‘as they happen’ while ‘OneMillionTweets’ shows worldwide activity clusters – you can even filter by hashtags – where in the world are people tweeting about a specific current event? an earthquake? etc. Consider how you might garner interest in an issue or current event through a live feed of some sort on display – pick a hashtag and show the feed to your students in real time.
  • Guided Visualization: Have a high quality image or video displayed and engage your students in a guided visualization exercise – Alice stepping through the looking glass… a tornado for that extreme weather unit and you are Dorothy…
  • Hook Stations are an active and hands-on form of engagement, can you think of a tech integration opportunity for one station?
  • Create cognitive discord with your own mashup or present discrepant events (a demonstration that taps into common misconceptions)
  • Create an infographic to share some key ideas, images or questions. Try:  http://visual.ly/ or http://piktochart.com/

Display an image and engage your students in a guided visualization or discussion. Searching for images:

References:

Ausubel, D. P. (1978). In defense of advance organizers: A reply to the critics. Review of Educational

Research, 48, 251-257.

Bernard, R. (2006). The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling. Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2006, 2006(1), 709–716.

Brupbacher, L., & Wilson, D. (2007). Enhancing the Power of Anticipatory Sets Using Multimedia. In R. Carlsen, K. McFerrin, J. Price, R. Weber, & D. A. Willis (Eds.), Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2007 (pp. 1922– 1925). San Antonio, Texas, USA: AACE. Retrieved from http://www.editlib.org/p/24858

Prensky, M. (2001). “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants”. On the Horizon 9 (5). Lincoln: NCB University Press.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9L98X1I944

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