EDUCAUSE Research Snapshot | Leveraging Technology to Better Engage Students — from er.educause.edu
On 09/01/2016,
in A/V -- audio/visual, attention, Augmented Reality (AR), education technology, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, Google, health, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, journalism, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, learning preferences, media/film, relationships, society, user experience (UX), vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning,
by Daniel Christian
Virtual reality: The hype, the problems and the promise — from bbc.com by Tim Maughan
It’s the technology that is supposed to be 2016’s big thing, but what iteration of VR will actually catch on, and what’s just a fad? Tim Maughan takes an in-depth look.
Excerpt:
For Zec this is one of VR’s most promising potentials – to be able to drop audiences into a situation and force them to react emotionally, in ways that traditional filmmaking or journalism might struggle to do. “We really cannot understand what the people [in Syria and other places] right now are going through, so I thought maybe if we put the viewer inside the shoes of the family, or near them, maybe they can feel more and understand more rather than just reading a headline in a newspaper.”
The aim of Blackout is to challenge assumptions New Yorkers might have about the people around them, by allowing them to tap directly into their thoughts. “You’re given the ability to pick into people’s minds and their motives,” says co-creator Alex Porter. “Through that process you start to realise the ways in which you were wrong about all the people around you, and start to find these kind of exciting stories that they have to tell.”
From DSC:
Virtual Reality could have a significant impact in diversity training. (I don’t like the word diversity too much; as in my experience, everybody in the Fortune 5oo companies where I worked belonged in the realm of diversity except for Christians, but I’ll use it here anyway.)
The point is…when you can put yourself into someone else’s shoes, it could have some positive impact in terms of better being able to relate to what that person is going through.
Star Trek in VR – Why can’t we do this with VR in education? — from digitalbodies.net by Maya Georgieva
Excerpt:
What if there was a new way to start this journey? What if you walked into the room and boarded a starship instead? What would a school experience be like if we sent our students on a mission, joining a global team to learn and solve our world’s most pressing problems? What if they met in Virtual Reality? For example, literally experiencing the streets of Paris if they were studying French culture or urban planning. Examining first hand the geology of volcanoes or building the next generation transportation? What would happen if they are given a problem they could not answer on their own, a problem that requires collaboration and teamwork with colleagues to find a solution?
Here is how VR and AI can empower the future of learning. The Star Trek: Bridge Crew VR Game gives us a glimpse of how we can engage with our students. Or, as Levar Burton (Geordi La Forge from Engineering) in the video trailer puts it:
There is something different being in a shared virtual environment . . . The team does not succeed unless everybody does their job well.
…
In the true spirit of Star Trek it is through cooperation rather than competition that we learn best. In VR, you can sit on any of the crew chairs and be the captain, engineer, or doctor and experience events from very different point of views. In Star Trek: Bridge Crew, you are flying the ship but have to work collaboratively with your team. You have to work with your crew to reach goals and accomplish the mission as this is virtual reality as a social experience. It demands that you be fully engaged.
Not just for gamers: CSU launching Virtual Reality Initiative — from source.colostate.edu by Lauren Klamm
Excerpt:
Think “virtual reality,” and it’s probably video gaming that comes to mind. CSU is looking to expand the breadth and depth of this emerging technical field with a campus-wide Virtual Reality Initiative, launching this semester.
The initiative will give students and the science community hands-on experience with virtual reality, for research and educational applications.
Virtual reality (VR) is a way of experiencing virtual worlds or objects – the cockpit of a spaceship, an anatomy lesson, a walk through a historical building – through devices like computers, goggles or headsets designed to immerse someone in a simulated environment. VR touches fields ranging from design to art to engineering.
VR Learning: How Virtual Reality Will Democratize Learning — from iamvr.co
Excerpt:
In case you haven’t heard, there is a lot of hype right now about virtual and augmented reality. Three months into 2016, investors have already spent 1.1 billion dollars to get a piece of the action.
Still, I am confident that virtual reality will revolutionize how we learn, and the reason is simple. Virtual reality is not just a technology, it’s a medium. And I’ve seen how powerful that medium can be.
A Chinese surgeon has discovered a practical application for augmented reality in the medical field. Using the same technology by which a Pokemon character is layered onto a real-life setting, two surgical images can be combined into a single view, eliminating the need for surgeons to watch two separate screens simultaneously.
Catherine Chan Po-ling, a surgeon in Hong Kong and co-founder of MedEXO Robotics, says that the use of augmented reality technology in keyhole, or minimally invasive, surgery can solve one of the biggest problems for surgeons performing these procedures.
Currently, surgeons in keyhole procedures must create and view two images simultaneously. In Chan’s example, when checking for cancerous cells in the liver, the surgeon operates a regular camera showing a view of the surface of the liver, and at the same time operates an ultrasound probe to check beneath the surface of the liver.
Stanford Journalism Program’s Guide to Using Virtual Reality for Storytelling — from storybench.org by Geri Migielicz and Janine Zacharia
Excerpt:
Given the explosion of interest in virtual reality among media organizations, we sought in January to establish best practices and ideal scenarios for using the technology in storytelling through our inaugural immersive journalism class at Stanford University.
During the 10-week course, 12 undergraduate and graduate students evaluated a range of virtual reality experiences published by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, ABC News and others. We compared commercially available virtual reality headsets (Google Cardboard, HTC Vive, Samsung Gear/VR and Oculus Rift) for ease and quality as well as virtual reality cameras — the (more expensive but expansive) GoPro and the (more affordable) Ricoh Theta S.
12 ways to use Google Cardboard in your class — from ditchthattextbook.com
Excerpt:
Virtual reality used to be the thing of science fiction books and movies. Now, it’s inexpensive, works with the technology we carry in our pockets, and can transform us to real and imaginary places.
These 5 Incredible HoloLens Videos Will Make You A VR/AR Believer — from uploadvr.com
Upload And Make School Graduate Their First Class Of VR Developers — from uploadvr.com
On 08/26/2016,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, 3D, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, attention, Augmented Reality (AR), bots, computer science, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, education, education technology, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interactivity, K-12 related, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, lifelong learning, love of learning, multimedia, platforms, play, user experience (UX), Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, youth,
by Daniel Christian
The first truly awesome chatbot is a talking T. Rex — from fastcodesign.com by John Brownlee
National Geographic uses a virtual Tyrannosaur to teach kids about dinosaurs—and succeeds where other chatbots fail.
Excerpt:
As some have declared chatbots to be the “next webpage,” brands have scrambled to develop their own talkative bots, letting you do everything from order a pizza to rewrite your resume. The truth is, though, that a lot of these chatbots are actually quite stupid, and tend to have a hard time understanding natural human language. Sooner or later, users get frustrated bashing their heads up against the wall of a dim-witted bot’s AI.
So how do you design around a chatbot’s walnut-sized brain? If you’re National Geographic Kids UK, you set your chatbot to the task of pretending to be a Tyrannosaurus rex, a Cretaceous-era apex predator that really had a walnut-sized brain (at least comparatively speaking).
She’s called Tina the T. rex, and by making it fun to learn about dinosaurs, she suggests that education — rather than advertising or shopping — might be the real calling of chatbots.
Also relevant/see:
- Honeybot would teach kids using “3D augmented reality” — from newatlas.com by Aaron Heinrich
On 08/22/2016,
in 21st century, adult learning, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, colleges, community colleges, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, education, education technology, emerging technologies, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), hybrid learning, ideas, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, love of learning, microlearning, more voice more choice more control, motivation, online tutoring, personalized/customized learning, platforms, professional development, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, technologies for your home, training / L&D, TVs, ubiquitous learning, universities, virtual tutoring, workplace, youth,
by Daniel Christian
Education Technology And Artificial Intelligence: How Education Chatbots [could] Revolutionize Personalized Learning — from parentherald.com by Kristine Walker
From DSC:
I inserted a [could] in the title, as I don’t think we’re there yet. That said, I don’t see chatbots, personal assistants, and the use of AI going away any time soon. This should be on our radars from here on out. Chatbots could easily be assigned some heavy lifting duties within K-20 education as well as in the corporate world; but even then, we’ll still need excellent teachers, professors, and trainers/subject matter experts out there. I don’t see anyone being replaced at this point.
Excerpt:
As the equity gap in American education continues, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has been urging educators, investors and tech companies to be more open in investing time and money in artificial intelligence-driven education technology programs. The reason? Gates believed that these AI-based EdTech platforms could personalize and revolutionize school learning experience while eliminating the equity gap.
Also see:
Are ‘Motivation Bots’ Part of the Future of Education? — from educationworld.com
The Motivation, Revision and Announcement bots each perform respective functions that are intended to help students master exams.
The Motivation bot, for instance, “keeps students motivated with reminders, social support, and other means,” while the Revision bot “helps students to best understand ways to improve their work” and the Announcement bot “tells students how much studying they need to do based on the amount of time available.”
Somewhat related:
Deep Learning Is Still A No-Show In Gartner 2016 Hype Cycle For Emerging Technologies — from .forbes.com by Gil Press
Excerpt:
Machine learning is best defined as the transition from feeding the computer with programs containing specific instructions in the forms of step-by-step rules or algorithms to feeding the computer with algorithms that can “learn” from data and can make inferences “on their own.” The computer is “trained” by data which is labeled or classified based on previous outcomes, and its software algorithms “learn” how to predict the classification of new data that is not labeled or classified. For example, after a period of training in which the computer is presented with spam and non-spam email messages, a good machine learning program will successfully identify, (i.e., predict,) which email message is spam and which is not without human intervention. In addition to spam filtering, machine learning has been applied successfully to problems such as hand-writing recognition, machine translation, fraud detection, and product recommendations.
On 08/17/2016,
in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, adjunct faculty, Apple, attention, Augmented Reality (AR), colleges, community colleges, computer science, Daniel S. Christian, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, Facebook / Meta Platforms, game-changing environment, geography / geology, Google, graphics, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, immersion, innovation, interaction design, interactivity, learning ecosystem, Microsoft, Mixed Reality (MR), trends, universities, user experience (UX), vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning,
by Daniel Christian
From Dreams to Realities: AR/VR/MR in Education | A Q&A with Daniel Christian — from campustechnology.com by Mary Grush; I’d like to thank Jason VanHorn for his contributions to this article
Excerpt:
Grush: Is there a signpost you might point to that would indicate that there’s going to be more product development in AR/VR/MR?
Christian: There’s a significant one. Several major players — with very deep pockets — within the corporate world are investing in new forms of HCI, including Microsoft, Google, Apple, Facebook, Magic Leap, and others. In fact, according to an article on engadget.com from 6/16/16, “Magic Leap has amassed an astounding $1.39 billion in funding without shipping an actual product.” So to me, it’s just not likely that the billions of dollars being invested in a variety of R&D-related efforts are simply going to evaporate without producing any impactful, concrete products or services. There are too many extremely smart, creative people working on these projects, and they have impressive financial backing behind their research and product development efforts. So, I think we can expect an array of new choices in AR/VR/MR.
…
Just the other day I was talking to Jason VanHorn, an associate professor in our geology, geography, and environmental studies department. After finishing our discussion about a particular learning space and how we might implement active learning in it, we got to talking about mixed reality. He related his wonderful dreams of being able to view, manipulate, maneuver through, and interact with holographic displays of our planet Earth.
When I mentioned a video piece done by Case Western and the Cleveland Clinic that featured Microsoft’s Hololens technology, he knew exactly what I was referring to. But this time, instead of being able to drill down through the human body to review, explore, and learn about the various systems composing our human anatomy, he wanted to be able to drill down through the various layers of the planet Earth. He also wanted to be able to use gestures to maneuver and manipulate the globe — turning the globe to just the right spot before using a gesture to drill down to a particular place.
On 08/15/2016,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, accreditation, Blockchain, business, corporate / business world, Daniel S. Christian, education technology, emerging technologies, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, higher education, ideas, innovation, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, new business models, online learning, online media, personalized/customized learning, platforms, society, trends, TVs, vendors, workplace,
by Daniel Christian
The future of financial infrastructure: An ambitious look at how blockchain can reshape financial services — from weforum.org
Key findings include:
- Distributed ledger technology (blockchain) has the potential to drive simplicity and efficiency by establishing new financial services infrastructure and processes
- Distributed ledger technology will form the foundation of next generation financial services infrastructure in conjunction with other existing and emerging technologies
- Similar to technological advances in the past, new financial services infrastructure will transform and question traditional orthodoxies in today’s business models
- The most impactful distributed ledger technology applications will require deep collaboration between incumbents, innovators, and regulators, adding complexity and delaying implementation
The report is centered on use cases, considering how distributed ledger technology could benefit each scenario. How will blockchain transform the future of financial services?
Ernst & Young’s report anticipates blockchain to reach critical mass in 3-5 years — from coinspeaker.com by Tatsiana Yablonskaya
Ernst and Young explains that financial industry is far from being the only one that can benefit from the blockchain technology.
Excerpt (emphasis DSC):
Ernst & Young, leading consulting firm, one of the “Big Four” audit firms and the third largest professional services firm in the world, has made some predictions about the future of the blockchain technology and its significance in various industry sectors in the recent report.
The attention of multiple financial companies has been focused on the blockchain lately. This unique technology is well adaptable to the increasing requirements of secure bookkeeping and automation in various industries.
The EY report predicts that blockchain will reach critical mass in financial services in 3-5 years, with other industries following quickly. “One reason the blockchain reaction is racing toward critical mass faster than previous disruptive technologies is that it is arriving in the midst of the digital transformation already sweeping through most sectors of the global economy. Consequently, despite the obstacles still to be overcome, businesspeople and governments are preconditioned to recognize blockchain’s potential. Tech companies have already established much of the digital infrastructure required to realize blockchain business visions.”
From DSC:
Applying this technology towards the world of learning…
I wonder how blockchain might impact credentialing for lifelong learning, and will it be integrated into services available via tvOS-based applications? This type of cloud-based offering/service could likely be a piece of our future learning ecosystems. Innovative, forward-thinking institutions should put this on their radar now, and start working on such efforts.
![The Living [Class] Room -- by Daniel Christian -- July 2012 -- a second device used in conjunction with a Smart/Connected TV](http://danielschristian.com/learning-ecosystems/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/The-Living-Class-Room-Daniel-S-Christian-July-2012.jpg)
On 08/06/2016,
in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, adjunct faculty, colleges, community colleges, Daniel S. Christian, education technology, emerging technologies, faculty/staff, future, future of higher education, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, internet, learning, learning ecosystem, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, machine-to-machine communications, smart classrooms, student-related, technology (general), television, TVs, universities,
by Daniel Christian
Infographic: IoT and the classroom of tomorrow — from cr80news.com by Andrew Hudson
Student IDs among list of most used smart devices on campus
Excerpt:
The classroom of tomorrow will undoubtedly employ more and more smart devices, and coupled with the Internet of Things (IoT) phenomenon, the way in which students learn could be very different in the not-so-distant future.
A new survey conducted by Extreme Networks reveals that while smart classrooms and schools only represent a small fraction of campuses today, the promise is there for the technology to redefine the academic experience going forward. There are K-12 schools and universities across the country that are already using the IoT to connect smart devices that can “talk” to one another for the purpose of enhancing the learning experience.
From DSC:
I look forward to the time when machine-to-machine communications and sensors will give faculty members the settings that they want setup/initiated as soon as they walk into a room (some of this is most likely already occurring somewhere else…just not on our campus yet!):
- The front lights lower down 50% (as the professor had requested previously)
- The front 80′ LCD — a smart/Internet connected device — display is turned on and brings up that specific course on the screen (having already signed into the cloud-based CMS/LMS upon that professor entering the room; the system has already queried the appropriate back end system to ascertain what that professor teaches at that particular time and place)
- The window treatments are lowered all the way down for better viewing
- The speakers play a previously scheduled song, or a spoken poem, or an announcement, or what the students should be doing for the first 5-10 minutes of class
- Etc.
Also:
- Attendance is automatic (this clearly is already here today and has been for a while).
- Students could receive any handouts that the professor wanted to wait to deliver until that particular date and time — again, automatically
- Students could upload content that they created — automatically to an electronic parking lot, for the professor or other students to review and comment on
Also see the infographic, a portion of which is seen below:
On 08/04/2016,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, adult learning, Bring your own device (BYOD), collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, engineering, entrepreneurship, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, interactivity, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, lifelong learning, multimedia, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, project-based learning, real-world assignments, social learning / networks, technologies for your home, telepresence, television, tools, training / L&D, TVs, ubiquitous learning, universities, user experience (UX), using teams, vendors, videoconferencing, virtual K-12 schools, virtual tutoring, visualizing information, web-based collaboration, webinars, workplace,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC:
How much longer before the functionalities that are found in tools like Bluescape & Mural are available via tvOS-based devices? Entrepreneurs and VCs out there, take note. Given:
- the growth of freelancing and people working from home and/or out on the road
- the need for people to collaborate over a distance
- the growth of online learning
- the growth of active/collaborative learning spaces in K-12 and higher ed
- the need for lifelong learning
…this could be a lucrative market. Also, it would be meaningful work…knowing that you are helping people learn and earn.
On 08/03/2016,
in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, architecture, Asia, Augmented Reality (AR), education technology, emerging technologies, engineering, health, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, Microsoft, mobile learning, mobile technologies, universities, vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning,
by Daniel Christian
Baidu shows off DuSee, an augmented reality platform for China’s mobile users — from techcrunch.com by Lucas Matney
Excerpt:
Soon, hundreds of millions of mobile users in China will have direct access to an augmented reality smartphone platform on their smartphones.
Baidu, China’s largest search engine, unveiled an AR platform today called DuSee that will allow China’s mobile users the opportunity to test out smartphone augmented reality on their existing devices. The company also detailed that they plan to integrate the technology directly into their flagship apps, including the highly popular Mobile Baidu search app.
#Zuckerberg Claims Future of #AR is in Smartphones, Not Glasseshttps://t.co/QbpL9OhElN pic.twitter.com/Zd17yiRFG5
— Roblem VR (@RoblemVR) July 29, 2016
From DSC:
With “a billion iOS devices out in the world“, I’d say that’s a good, safe call…at least for one of the avenues/approaches via which AR will be offered.
Deaking University to bring AR to classrooms — from by Emma Boyle
Medicine and engineering classes will be first to access to the technology.
Excerpt:
Recently it’s appeared that augmented reality (AR) is gaining popularity as a professional platform, with Visa testing it as a brand new e-commerce solution and engineering giant Aecom piloting a project that will see the technology used in their construction projects across three continents. Now, it’s academia’s turn with Deakin University in Australia announcing that it plans to use the technology as a teaching tool in its medicine and engineering classrooms.
As reported by ITNews, AR technology will be introduced to Deakin University’s classes from December, with the first AR apps to be used during the university’s summer programme which runs from November to March, before the technology is distributed more widely in the first semester of 2017.
Microsoft kicks open the $3K HoloLens doors to all developers and companies — from digitaltrends.com by Kevin Parrish
Also see: HoloLens Development Edition Updates
Amazing MIT Research Project Lets You Reach Into Augmented Reality — from uploadvr.com by Jamie Feltham
Excerpt:
Creating realistic interactions with objects and people in virtual reality is one of the industry’s biggest challenges right now, but what about for augmented reality?
That’s an area that researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT’s) Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have recently made strides in with what they call Interactive Dynamic Video (IDV). First designed with video in mind, PhD student Abe Davis has created a unique concept that could represent a way to not only interact with on-screen objects, but for those objects to also realistically react to the world around them.
If that sounds a little confusing, then we recommend taking a look at…
Augmented reality “will change the way architects work” says Greg Lynn — from dezeen.com
Excerpt:
Venice Architecture Biennale 2016: augmented reality will revolutionise the architecture and construction industries according to architect Greg Lynn, who used Microsoft HoloLens to design his contribution to the US Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (+ movie).
.
Augmented Reality In Healthcare Will Be Revolutionary — from medicalfuturist.com
Augmented reality is one of the most promising digital technologies at present – look at the success of Pokémon Go – and it has the potential to change healthcare and everyday medicine completely for physicians and patients alike.
Excerpt:
Nurses can find veins easier with augmented reality
The start-up company AccuVein is using AR technology to make both nurses’ and patients’ lives easier. AccuVein’s marketing specialist, Vinny Luciano said 40% of IVs (intravenous injections) miss the vein on the first stick, with the numbers getting worse for children and the elderly. AccuVein uses augmented reality by using a handheld scanner that projects over skin and shows nurses and doctors where veins are in the patients’ bodies. Luciano estimates that it’s been used on more than 10 million patients, making finding a vein on the first stick 3.5x more likely. Such technologies could assist healthcare professionals and extend their skills.
The man behind HBO’s virtual reality bet says these new glasses could replace going to a movie theater — from businessinsider.com by Nathan McAlone
Excerpt:
But even with a wealth of hardware partners over the years, Urbach says he’d never tried a pair of consumer VR glasses that could effectively trick his brain until he began working with Osterhout Design Group (ODG).
ODG has previously made military night-vision goggles, and enterprise-focused glasses that overlay digital objects onto the real world. But now the company is partnering with OTOY, and will break into the consumer AR/VR market with a model of glasses codenamed “Project Horizon.”
The glasses work by using a pair of micro OLED displays to reflect images into your eyes at 120 frames-per-second. And the quality blew Urbach away, he tells Business Insider.
You could overlay images onto the real world in a way that didn’t appear “ghost-like.” We have the ability to do true opacity matching,” he says.
Live streaming VR performances — from digitalbodies.net by Emory Craig
Excerpt:
Live streaming VR events continue to make the news. First, it was the amazing Reggie Watts performance on AltspaceVR. Now the startup Rivet has launched an iOS app (sorry, Android still to come) for live streams of concerts. As the musician, record producer and visual artist Brian Eno once said,
You can’t really imagine music without technology.
In the near future, we may not be able to imagine a live performance without the option of a live stream in virtual reality.
Virtual Reality And Education Expanding Your Brain Expeditions Pioneer Program — from iamvr.co
Excerpt:
While statistics on VR use in K-12 schools and colleges have yet to be gathered, the steady growth of the market is reflected in the surge of companies (including zSpace, Alchemy VRand Immersive VR Education) solely dedicated to providing schools with packaged educational curriculum and content, teacher training and technological tools to support VR-based instruction in the classroom. Myriad articles, studies and conference presentations attest to the great success of 3D immersion and VR technology in hundreds of classrooms in educationally progressive schools and learning labs in the U.S. and Europe.
…
Much of this early foray into VR-based learning has centered on the hard sciences — biology, anatomy, geology and astronomy — as the curricular focus and learning opportunities are notably enriched through interaction with dimensional objects, animals and environments. The World of Comenius project, a biology lesson at a school in the Czech Republic that employed a Leap Motion controller and specially adapted Oculus Rift DK2 headsets, stands as an exemplary model of innovative scientific learning.
In other areas of education, many classes have used VR tools to collaboratively construct architectural models, recreations of historic or natural sites and other spatial renderings. Instructors also have used VR technology to engage students in topics related to literature, history and economics by offering a deeply immersive sense of place and time, whether historic or evolving.
“Perhaps the most utopian application of this technology will be seen in terms of bridging cultures and fostering understanding among young students.”
Addendum on 8/5/16:
- Why VR Will Revolutionize Education — from uploadvr.com
On 08/01/2016,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, attention, bots, change, collaboration, communications, digital learning, education, education technology, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, history, human-computer interaction (HCI), immersion, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interactivity, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, love of learning, Microsoft, personalized/customized learning, platforms, play, UK, United States, user experience (UX), Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning,
by Daniel Christian
Take a step inside the classroom of tomorrow — from techradar.com by Nicholas Fearn
Making learning fun
Excerpt:
But the classroom of tomorrow will look very different. The latest advancements in technology and innovation are paving the way for an educational space that’s interactive, engaging and fun.
The conventions of learning are changing. It’s becoming normal for youngsters to use games like Minecraft to develop skills such as team working and problem solving, and for teachers to turn to artificial intelligence to get a better understanding of how their pupils are progressing in lessons.
Virtual reality is also introducing new possibilities in the classroom. Gone are the days of imagining what an Ancient Egyptian tomb might look like – now you can just strap on a headset and transport yourself there in a heartbeat.
The potential for using VR to teach history, geography and other subjects is incredible when you really think about it – and it’s not the only tech that’s going to shake things up.
…
Artificial intelligence is already doing groundbreaking things in areas like robotics, computer science, neuroscience and linguistics, but now they’re now entering the world of education too.
London-based edtech firm Digital Assess has been working on an AI app that has the potential to revolutionise the way youngsters learn.
With the backing of the UK Government, the company has been trialing its web-based application Formative Assess in schools in England.
Using semantic indexing and natural language processing in a similar way to social networking sites, an on-screen avatar – which can be a rubber duck or robot – quizzes students on their knowledge and provides them with individual feedback on their work.
On 07/26/2016,
in adult learning, education technology, Europe, ideas, society, United States,
by Daniel Christian
Prisons, a new frontier for edtech? — from online-educa.com
Excerpt:
Edtech is furthering the reaches of education, which is now available to more people in more remote areas for less money as a result. MOOCs from leading universities around the world have reached thousands of learners in developing countries. But for one demographic, even in the most developed countries, these benefits have not been felt. Mobilising tech to teach people behind bars will reduce the risk of prisoners reoffending, hence reducing the burden on prisons. It will also help prisoners to contribute to society productively when they are set free. Recently, slowly, this is starting to change.
The benefits of education and computer-assisted learning in prisons were laid out in 2013 through a frequently cited RAND report. Edovo CEO, Brian Hill describes this potential as “by far the greatest shift in corrections and the most significant step forward” for prison education.