The 3D Evolution: Part I, Introduction — from Innovative Interactivity by Tracy Boyer

I asked II multimedia education contributor Lynn Marentette to research the emergence of 3D technologies and how it might impact the educational sector. I’ve been really intrigued by this concept and how we might be able to develop interactive 3D applications for a TV console and from my conversations with Lynn, it sounds like this is a promising field that we need to closely watch. We will be cross blogging this biweekly series on here and Lynn’s blog “Interactive Multimedia Technology.” Below is her introduction to the series, which she initially published over at IMT. As always, please let us know if there is a particular issue, question, and/or concept that you would like us to tackle in this series.


I will be featuring topics related to 3D technologies in a series of future posts on the Innovative Interactivity blog. Look forward to discussions on topics related to the history of 3D in films, virtual reality, and games. I’ll also touch on the history of 3D, including films, the evolution of 3D technologies, and the role of the virtual reality and gaming fields in this development. I will also discuss how 3D technologies might impact the future of interactive multimedia, in education, in the home, and the web.

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TEDxTalks — April 12, 2010 — Dan Meyer teaches high school math outside of Santa Cruz, CA, and explores the intersection of math instruction, multimedia, and inquiry-based learning. He received his Masters of Arts from the University of California at Davis in 2005 and Cable in the Classroom’s Leader in Learning award in 2008. He currently works for Google as a curriculum fellow and lives with his wife in Santa Cruz, CA.

For an excellent example of how to bring the world of multimedia into a math problem, click on the graphic below:

Dan Meyer’s blog:

Dan Meyer's blog -- if you teach math, you NEED to subscribe to this blog!

My thanks to Mr. Caleb Kuntz, Calvin College Teaching & Learning Digital Studio, for the heads-up on Dan Meyer’s Ted Talk

Using VoiceThread to build student engagement — from Faculty Focus by John Orlando, PhD

Online educators have long known that asynchronous discussion is deeper than face-to-face discussion due to the increased thought time and the “democratization” of the classroom. But one major disadvantage of traditional online discussion is that it is separate from the lecture.

Students in a face-to-face classroom can stop the instructor during the lecture to ask questions, whereas students in an online classroom generally read or watch the lecture at one time and then discuss it in a separate forum later. Any questions or thoughts that the students have during the lecture are generally forgotten by the time that the students reach discussion. Plus, online discussion is usually tracked into preset questions determined by the instructor.

But a new technology allows online instructors to reconnect discussion to the lecture. VoiceThread is a web service that allows users to upload PowerPoint slides, videos, photos, etc. and add voice narration to create a multimedia presentation. But best of all, viewers can add their own comments to the presentation via voice or text. With VoiceThread students can attach questions or thoughts about a lecture directly to the lecture itself when and where they apply. The result is a discussion that is integrated into the lecture itself.

VoiceThread opens up new possibilities for greater interactivity and richer experiences in online teaching and learning. Give us 20 minutes and we’ll show you how to use this powerful tool to enrich your classes. Learn more »

The advantages of VoiceThread include:

Student driven discussion:
Discussion originates from the students themselves, and thus students tend to bring more of themselves into the conversation. Discussion is freer and more open, touching on a wider variety of issues.

A growing lecture:
Discussion in a traditional online forum never leaves the classroom. The class is archived and discussion forums are wiped clean for the next group, meaning that the insights are lost. But because discussion in VoiceThread is attached to the lecture itself, which can then be used for the next class, students are adding to the lecture itself, which grows from class to class. Students contribute to an ongoing conversation with future classes.

Improved social presence:
Students find that the ability to see and hear their instructor and classmates improves the sense of social presence of others in the classroom.

Better understanding of nuance:
Students are better able to understand the nuances of discussion when they can hear the tone in someone’s voice.

Student Projects:
VoiceThreads are a great way for students to deliver projects and solicit feedback from others.
New users can create up to three VoiceThreads for free, and after that reduced higher ed pricing is available. VoiceThreads can be password protected to provide the same level of security as any learning management system. Set one up and try it yourself!

To learn more about VoiceThread and how it’s being used in education, visit these sites:

John Orlando, PhD, is the Program Director for the online Master of Science in Business Continuity Management and Master of Science in Information Assurance programs at Norwich University. John develops faculty training in online education and is available for consulting at jorlando@norwich.edu.

Highly interactive classrooms -- from the University of Michigan

  

And by the way, for cases where the faculty member really wants a high-definition image, this would be a great solution. Projection technologies lose some information (such as numerous stars in a galaxy), whereas images on a laptop or iPad would not lose such visual information. Also, ideally, the student could control where they go in terms of zooming in and out of whatever is on the board.  Personalized viewing.

Microsoft releases free classroom interaction add-on for PowerPoint

From DSC:
Note the quote from Ira Snyder that says:

Mouse Mischief is designed to “turn students from passive observers to active participants”

Now let’s play this out a bit. If K-12’rs are starting to use more and more of these types of interactive technologies and are becoming active participants in their learning, how does that affect their expectations when they come into our colleges and universities? To me, change is not an option for those of us in higher ed. Here are my concerns if we follow the status quo:

Daniel S. Christian: My concerns with just maintaining the status quo

Adaptive learning: Putting an idea into practice at the School of One — from EducationNext.org by Paul E. Peterson

Time magazine touted “the School of One” as one of the 50 top innovations of 2009—the only educational innovation to be given that honor. As described in Time, “each day, students in the School of One are given a unique lesson plan — a ‘daily playlist’— tailored to their learning style and rate of progress that includes a mix of virtual tutoring, in-class instruction and educational video games (emphasis DSC). I stopped by a New York City middle school using the School of One last week to see how new technologies that help teachers adapt to each student’s learning level actually work in practice.

Educators, like designers, can benefit from identifying the student price point, the material the student is now ready and prepared to learn.  With adaptive testing technologies now available, schools can quickly and efficiently obtain weekly, perhaps daily, information on what a student knows. Teaching can zero in on the price point, so the student is not given something that is either too advanced or too repetitive of what he or she already knows.

School of One takes this idea one step further by also trying to identify student interests and learning styles as well.  If a boy is a Little Leaguer; then baseball statistics may be the best way to teach math.  If a girl plays volleyball, the examples can be modified accordingly.

The 21st-century art teacher — from NorthJersey.com by Stephanie Akin [via Ray’s Schroeder’s Educational Technology Blog)

From DSC:
Not saying that this is the only way to teach art — no way — but this teacher’s “…seventh- and eighth-grade art classes at Eisenhower Middle School use almost no traditional materials. Instead, he teaches students how to work with modern technology, including computers, digital cameras and camcorders. He also guides eighth-grade students through the process of producing their own daily television news program, which is broadcast to the rest of the school and on a local cable channel.”

My bet is that the energy level is high in his classes, as students are allowed to be creative in a variety of ways. If your institution doesn’t have a new media studies program, consider developing one. If you are teaching art, then you need to have at least a portion of your curriculum integrate/utilize such technologies.

  

Peg Maddocks Keys to Success presentation -- PPT slides

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