physics

“The world’s first smart #AugmentedReality for the Connected Home has arrived. — from thunderclap.it

From DSC:
Note this new type of Human Computer Interaction (HCI). I think that we’ll likely be seeing much more of this sort of thing.

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

How is Hayo different?
AR that connects the magical and the functional:
Unlike most AR integrations, Hayo removes the screens from smarthome use and transforms the objects and spaces around you into a set of virtual remote controls. Hayo empowers you to create experiences that have previously been limited by the technology, but now are only limited by your imagination.

Screenless IoT:
The best interface is no interface at all. Aside from the one-time setup Hayo does not use any screens. Your real-life surfaces become the interface and you, the user, become the controls. Virtual remote controls can be placed wherever you want for whatever you need by simply using your Hayo device to take a 3D scan of your space.

Smarter AR experience:
Hayo anticipates your unique context, passive motion and gestures to create useful and more unique controls for the connected home. The Hayo system learns your behaviors and uses its AI to help meet your needs.

Also see:

Labster: Empowering the Next Generation of Scientists to Change the World
Laboratory Simulations for Educators to Empower their STEM Students

From DSC:
I recently met Maaroof Fakhri at the Next Generation Learning Spaces Conference. It was a pleasure to meet him and hear him speak of the work they are doing at Labster (which is located in Denmark). He is very innovative, and he shines forth with a high degree of energy, creativity, and innovation.

Keep an eye on the work they are doing. Very sharp.

Also see:

2015 with Labster in review, and ahead to 2016

Learnathons, on the other hand are optimized sessions that teach participants how to apply what they learn as soon as possible. They are on the opposite end of how classroom teaching is organized, with lessons spread out over the course of a semester focusing on theory and weekly practice. They are a fairly new concept, but have created an environment for learning that is speeding up comprehension and application to levels that aren’t seen elsewhere.

Addendum on 3/16/16:

What are Remote Labs? <– from ilabcentral.org

Making high school science labs more real, more engaging, and more accessible
Remote Online laboratories (iLabs) are experimental facilities that can be accessed through the Internet, allowing students and educators to carry out experiments from anywhere at any time.

Augmented Reality

Augmented reality app brings art history to life — from creativebloq.com

Excerpt:

Dazzle It is a cool new augmented reality app that lets you remix artwork from artists including the Sir Peter Blake, Godfather of Pop Art – best known for designing the 1967 Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover.

Developed by digital design agency, Corporation Pop, it combines the latest augmented reality techniques with design to bring history to life. And notably, unlike most augmented reality apps, you don’t need a pre-supplied marker to view what you create in a real-world scene.

7 Great Augmented Reality Apps for Your Classroom — from teachercast.net

Apps Discussed on the Show:

Aurasma
Anatomy 4D
ColAR
Spacecraft 3D
AR Flash Cards
Elements 3D
Google Translate

Angus park to host augmented reality performance — from scotsman.com with thanks to Woontack Woo for his posting on this

Excerpt:

A FOREST park in Angus is to host the UK’s first live theatrical performance featuring augmented reality (AR) technology.

By downloading an app, audiences will be able to spot magical creatures through their smartphones and capture them on camera, before sharing the images with friends and family on social media.

DragonQuest, which will be performed in Monikie Country Park, allows visitors to wander around a forest using their smartphone to create images of fantastical creatures in addition to real-life characters and events on the set.

Here are the signs that point to Apple’s next big innovation in computing, according to one analyst — from businessinsider.com

Check Out How These Teachers and Students are Using Augmented Reality — from emergingedtech.com

Using Augmented Reality for Learning and Teaching — from edtechreview.in by Prasanna Bharti

Excerpt:

Various Application of Augmented Reality in Learning Different Subjects

Astronomy: AR can be used to make student understand about the relationship between the Sun and the Earth. Here AR technology can be used with 3D rendered sun and earth shapes.

Chemistry: Teachers can demonstrate what a molecule and atoms consist of using AR technology.

Biology: Teachers can use Augmented Reality to showcase their student’s body structure or anatomy. Teachers can show their students different types of organ and how they look in a 3D atmosphere. Students can even study human body structure on their own by using devices with AR embedded technology in it.

Physics: Physics is one of the subjects where AR technology can be used perfectly. Various kinematics properties can be easily understood by using AR technology.

Virtual Reality

Virtual reality can take us to the world’s greatest museums — from venturebeat.com by Mike Minotti

London's The Courtauld Gallery.

How Virtual Reality Can Close Learning Gaps in Your Classroom — from edsurge.com

Excerpt:

Virtual Reality (VR) may be the type of educational breakthrough that comes along once in a generation, heralding a tectonic shift toward immersive content for teaching and instruction.

By presenting a complete view of the world in which it is situated, VR offers a new opportunity to close some of the pedagogical gaps that have appeared in 21st century classroom learning. These gaps stem from the fact that curriculum and content in education have not caught up with rapid technology advancements.

Below I introduce three of these gaps and how they might be addressed by virtual reality content soon to be produced and distributed commercially.

Google Cardboard offers virtual trip for Lawrence students — from www2.ljworld.com

Excerpt:

The Lawrence school district recently purchased 20 Google Cardboards, which beginning this school year are available for teachers to check out for use in their classrooms, said Joe Smysor, the district’s technology integration specialist. Cardboard works in conjunction with a smartphone app to deliver a 3-D, 360-degree navigable image. Students can use apps with Cardboard to virtually visit museums, landmarks or cities around the world.

“It’s going to allow teachers to take their class on field trips where school buses couldn’t otherwise go,” Smysor said. “That could be back 100 years in the past, or underwater.”

Virtual college tours with cardboard, a smartphone and YouVisit — from mystatesman.com by Omar L. Gallaga

Excerpt:

While college students are settling into their dorms, it’s already time for next year’s class of high school students to narrow down their potential school choices and schedule campus visits. Or maybe they can just stay home and start the journey virtually.

A site called YouVisit has a surprisingly large set of virtual-reality college tours available. All the major Texas colleges are represented, and one of them, Trinity University, has been making a big push to get cheap sets of cardboard VR goggles out to families at recruiting events such as college fairs. Trinity sent me a pair of the cardboard glasses. The virtual visit to the campus certainly wasn’t the same as being there, but to get at least a visual sense of what the campus looks like and to be generally wowed by the 3-D/360-degree effect, it was worth the trip.

Regis University Creates Remote Campus Tours with Primacy’s Virtual Reality Experience — from businesswire.com
Jesuit university builds on rich tradition of innovation by enabling immersive virtual tours using Oculus Rift technology and virtual reality headsets

Excerpt:

FARMINGTON, Conn. & DENVER–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Regis University today unveiled a unique new way for prospective students to tour and experience the school’s scenic 100-acre campus. Through an interactive, immersive experience created by independent agency Primacy, students are able to put on an Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) headset and immediately be transformed to the campus where they can get a full, 360-degree tour as if they were on site – including viewing daybreak runs at Red Rocks, being immersed in Regis’ experiential nursing skills lab and visiting the campus pub to watch a live Jenga game.

GoPro is now selling its crazy 16-camera virtual reality rig — from theverge.com by Sean O’Kane
‘Odyssey’ is only available to pros

Excerpt:

Odyssey is the first camera rig built specifically for Google’s Jump platform, which was also announced at this year’s I/O conference. Jump is an entire virtual reality ecosystem that, in theory, will make it easier to both create and consume VR content. With Jump, Google created open plans that companies can use to build their own 16-camera rig (GoPro just happened to be the first), as well as assemble software that can recreate the scene being captured in much higher quality than most existing image stitching software can. Eventually, Jump videos will be hosted in YouTube; think of it as the next logical step following YouTube’s inclusion of 360-degree videos earlier this year.

Behind the Scenes of a Virtual Reality Beethoven Concert — from recode.net by Eric Johnson

Excerpt:

Are you a classical music fan? It’s a question most people would probably say no to, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic knows that.

“People are intimidated by classical music,” said Amy Seidenwurm, the Philharmonic’s director of digital initiatives. “They don’t come to concerts because they feel it might not be for them.”

But to change those minds, the LA Phil is turning to virtual reality. For the next month, it will be driving around the Los Angeles area to parks, festivals and museums, in a van outfitted with real carpeting and seats from the Walt Disney Concert Hall — and six Samsung Gear VR headsets, which have been loaded with a special video performance of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. (You know the one: Dun-dun-dun DUNNNN.)

Inside Industrial Light & Magic’s secret Star Wars VR lab — from theverge.com by Bryan Bishop
ILMxLab isn’t just exploring the future of entertainment… they’re already making it

Addendums on 9/10/15:

The Top 10 Virtual Reality Headsets of 2015 — from avatargeneration.com

5 augmented reality apps to alter your world — from cbronline.com with thanks to Woontack Woo for his posting on this
Learn more about Dazzle It, Streetmuseum, Skyview, Blippar and Colorblind Fix.

Excerpt:

Ever wanted to see the world around you in a different way? These apps will transform your phone into a portal to a world of altered perceptions.

APP Ed Review (appedreview.org) & the Global Education Database (gedb.org)

On 04/11/2014, in 21st century, 3D, A/V -- audio/visual, Apple, art, biology, Bring your own device (BYOD), chemistry, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, computer science, content development, aggregation, repositories, creativity, digital audio, digital learning, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, engagement / engaging students, engineering, Google, graphics, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, maker movement, mobile learning, multimedia, new media literacies, open courseware and systems, passions, physics, platforms, play, political science, presentations, productivity / tips and tricks, programming, publishing, science, simulations, STEAM-related, storytelling, student-related, tablets, teachers, teaching & learning, writing, youth, by Daniel Christian

App Ed Review

From the About Us page (emphasis DSC):

App Ed Review is a free searchable database of educational app reviews designed to support classroom teachers finding and using apps effectively in their teaching practice. In its database, each app review includes:

A brief, original description of the app;
A classification of the app based on its purpose;
Three or more ideas for how the app could be used in the classroom;
A comprehensive app evaluation;
The app’s target audience;
Subject areas where the app can be used; and,
The cost of the app.

Also see the Global Education Database:

From the About Us page:

It’s our belief that digital technologies will utterly change the way education is delivered and consumed over the next decade. We also reckon that this large-scale disruption doesn’t come with an instruction manual. And we’d like GEDB to be part of the answer to that.

It’s the pulling together of a number of different ways in which all those involved in education (teachers, parents, administrators, students) can make some sense of the huge changes going on around them. So there’s consumer reviews of technologies, a forum for advice, an aggregation of the most important EdTech news and online courses for users to equip themselves with digital skills. Backed by a growing community on social media (here, here and here for starters).

It’s a fast-track to digital literacy in the education industry.

GEDB has been pulled together by California residents Jeff Dunn, co-founder of Edudemic, and Katie Dunn, the other Edudemic co-founder, and, across the Atlantic in London, Jimmy Leach, a former habitue of digital government and media circles.

Addendum:

Favorite educational iPad apps that are also on Android — from the Learning in Hand blog by Tony Vincent

Research Application for the 21st Century: A Video for Every Scientific Article [JOVE.com]

On 02/05/2014, in biology, chemistry, online learning, physics, psychology, research, by Daniel Christian

Research Application for the 21st Century: A Video for Every Scientific Article — from jove.com on January 20, 2014

Excerpt:

Last week, JoVE, the Journal of Visualized Experiments, introduced a web application allowing scientists to view their text-based scientific articles in a 21^st century format.

Named the Ask JoVE button, this new web application, or bookmarklet, generates a collection of peer-reviewed videos demonstrating the techniques used in a given scientific paper. It offers researchers the opportunity to watch the crucial components of a procedure, thereby reducing experimental error and the time it takes to learn the experiment.

“We created this new feature because we want to visualize all the science literature in the world,” said JoVE’s CEO, Dr. Moshe Pritsker, “For every science article you read, click on the Ask JoVE button and immediately see videos of experiments related to this article, filmed at the best university labs.”

What an incredible use of Minecraft to teach about quantum physics!

On 11/15/2013, in attention, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital storytelling, digital video, education technology, educational games / serious games, engagement / engaging students, ideas, innovation, K-12 related, physics, teaching & learning, tools, using teams, vendors, by Daniel Christian

qCraft: A Beginner’s Guide to Quantum Physics in Minecraft — from with thanks to Steve Node for this item

Description of video:

qCraft is a mod that brings principles of quantum physics to Minecraft. Learn more at qCraft.org. This video is a look at those principles, how you can use them, and how they relate to real quantum physics.

From DSC:
Wow! What a great way to grab someone’s attention, keep it, and then use that medium to teach someone something! This approach made me wonder…

In what other ways could we use Minecraft for purposes of teaching and learning?
How could we use it in digital storytelling?
What sorts of creativity are fostered by using such an environment?
What’s a mod and how is one created for Minecraft?

What if augmented reality could help bring more of the invisible things to life — such as equations, molecular structures, etc.?

On 11/07/2013, in 21st century, animation, attention, Augmented Reality (AR), biology, chemistry, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, education technology, emerging technologies, mathematics, physics, by Daniel Christian

augmented-reality-picture-11-7-13

From DSC:
When I woke up last night, an idea surfaced to the forefront of my thinking. It had to do with augmented reality. I wondered (and tried to picture)…

What if augmented reality could help bring something that’s harder to picture/understand/grasp to life?

What if, for example, you could point your mobile device at an object/piece of paper/”button” on a main screen and have an animation pop up that would explain what’s being discussed…? I realize this is being done in some areas (even in elementary apps such as ColAR App), but I think we are largely leaving this area untapped and we’re missing out on a powerful, potential way of engaging students and inviting interactivity.

For example, I had a very difficult time grasping organic chemistry — and the “weeding out” method worked on me big time! That course had a lot to due with me questioning my future as a pre-med student and I ended up dropping out of pre-med (a good decision, but heh, why blow the story now?). Being a student who prefers visuals, I think that it would have helped me greatly if I could have seen — and ideally manipulated — models and animations in real time.

For example:

If I tried to move an atom to an inappropriate ring/connection, the holographic design would show a holographic pop up — with accompany audio — letting me know why that won’t work. Wow.
Then I ran into the article below and the idea came back to me…and again, I wondered…where might augmented reality help us out here? Or holographic displays that can be manipulated?

Which points to:

BEAUTY OF MATHEMATICS — a video on Vimeo from PARACHUTES.TV by Yann Pineill & Nicolas Lefaucheux

“Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty — a beauty cold and austere, without the gorgeous trappings of painting or music.”

—Bertrand Russell

Wow! Those teaching Physics/Science/Art might want to investigate new possibilities w/ Google Glass (& the like)!

On 09/13/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, 3D, A/V -- audio/visual, art, Augmented Reality (AR), biology, chemistry, creativity, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, flipping -- inverted learning, Google, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, immersion, informal learning, innovation, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, media/film, Michigan, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, new media literacies, online learning, online media, physics, platforms, science, streams of content, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, telepresence, ubiquitous learning, user experience (UX), videoconferencing, virtual field trips, vision/possibilities, visualizing information, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

A first look at how educators are really using Google Glass — from by Stephen Noonoo

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

Per Andrew Vanden Heuvel:

What Glass does offer, Vanden Heuvel said, is a shift in perspective, particularly because teachers can use it as a tool to engage students faster and more easily than before. After returning from Geneva, Vanden Heuvel launched a YouTube channel devoted to his experiments with science–and Glass–called STEMBite. To date, in more than two dozen videos, he’s guided viewers through the physics of ball spin on the tennis court to the polarization of light through (appropriately enough) a pair of glasses.

“What I’m excited by making these videos is not only that they’re filmed with Google Glass, but they’re high engagement videos, so they’re meant to be really short and to get kids to think about how math and science is all around,” he said. “I suppose I could have done that before, but it’s just so easy now.”

Per Hanna Brown:

“I’ve had videos in my classroom before–that’s not a novel thing–but I’ve never been able to take a video from my eye perspective,” said Hannah Brown, another early Glass adopter who works as a high school art teacher at Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow, an all-online statewide charter school in Ohio.

From DSC:
Virtual field trips, mobile learning, videoconferencing, web-based collaboration, Human Computer Interaction (HCI), and other topics come to my mind when I see this.

“Apps for High School” featured on iTunes this week

On 05/01/2013, in Apple, art, biology, chemistry, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, geography / geology, history, K-12 related, languages and translation, mathematics, music, physics, reading, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
With thanks going out to Mr. Mike Amante (@mamante) for posting this item out on Twitter.

White light separates into a dazzling array of colors [Knapp]

On 02/20/2013, in art, physics, science, by Daniel Christian

White light separates into a dazzling array of colors –– from mymodernmet.com by Stephen Knapp

.

What are science cafes?

On 02/05/2013, in biology, chemistry, engagement / engaging students, lifelong learning, physics, science, social learning / networks, by Daniel Christian

Also see:

Science cafes offer a sip of learning — from reuters.com by Barbara Liston — with thanks to Annie Murphy Paul (@anniemurphypaul) who used twitter to ask: Americans resist studying science in school, but they flock to “science cafes” on their own time. What gives?
.
Excerpt:
(Reuters) – Americans may be turning away from the hard sciences at universities, but they are increasingly showing up at “science cafes” in local bars and restaurants to listen to scientific talks over a drink or a meal.

What an amazing person and teacher! [New York Times article & video about Jeffrey Wright]

On 12/31/2012, in engagement / engaging students, faith, hearts -- matters of the heart, physics, relationships, special needs, teachers, by Daniel Christian

Article:

Video:

Mr. Wright said he decided to share his son’s story when his physics lessons led students to start asking him “the big questions.”

“When you start talking about physics, you start to wonder, ‘What is the purpose of it all?’ ” he said in an interview. “Kids started coming to me and asking me those ultimate questions. I wanted them to look at their life in a little different way — as opposed to just through the laws of physics — and give themselves more purpose in life.”

.

From DSC:
My thanks go out to Mr. Joseph Byerwalter for this very powerful piece…

Check out these comments re: “The Fourth Dimension”

On 04/17/2012, in cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, digital learning, interactivity, mathematics, physics, by Daniel Christian

Comments (emphasis DSC)

If you ever wanted to know what four dimensional geometry could be like, install this app. For the low, low price of $2.99, you’ll take an exciting journey into the Fourth Dimension. “Textbook” doesn’t do this app justice, virtually every page is interactive. — Nicholas Nguyen March 19, 2012
“The app is very cool, and it’s unlike pretty much anything we’ve seen in the App Store.” — Sam Byford, The Verge
“This is one of my most favorite iOS apps ever.” — George Musser, senior editor at Scientific American and author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to String Theory
“Fantastic! This is what someone really smart, and who really knows how to teach well, can do with a tablet. And the authors are funny, too, which is a neat bonus.” — DNY
“Blew my mind. I generally don’t use ‘learning’ apps as they’re mostly gimmicks. This one, though, truly made me think. I hope this developer comes out with more outstanding apps such as this one. Bravo!” — Iceitic
“Fantastic app. I work at a leading UK university. If only all our material was this well written and presented. Definitely worth buying and then spending a bit of time with over a day or two to get your head around the fourth dimension. Great app!” — JulesFM

Also see:

fourthdimensionapp.com
‘The Fourth Dimension’ for iOS: learn to see in 4D (hands-on) — from the Verge.com by Sam Byford
It’s priced fairly low ($2.99 for a universal iPhone/iPad app) and uses innovative design to explore a single, focused concept, and while you’ll be done with it after twenty minutes or so that actually adds to the appeal. It’s a bite-sized chunk of brain training that’s a lot of fun to wrap your head around, and it probably couldn’t have been produced any other way. That’s about the most you can ask for in an app these days.

Item re: Physics for the 21st Century — the microscopic description of forces

On 02/20/2012, in 21st century, physics, by Daniel Christian

.
Description:

A better understanding of the fundamental interactions is a key to physicists’ search for a new, underlying theory of the physical world. One starting point is to investigate the microscopic description of forces: electromagnetism, gravity, and the two nuclear forces, strong and weak, with increasingly energetic collisions. The Large Hadron Collider at CERN has not only the highest energy yet achieved in a particle accelerator, but also the highest luminosity—with events measured in millions of collisions per second. This presents a challenge for physicists to capture only the most interesting events and to find reliable ways to analyze these to reveal interactions that have never been seen before.

Featured Scientists

Ayana Arce
Srini Rajagopalan

Building Learning Communities 2011 Keynote: Dr. Eric Mazur [November Learning]

On 10/13/2011, in adjunct faculty, blended learning, collaboration, communities of practice, data related items, face-to-face, faculty, higher education, hybrid learning, innovation, learning ecosystem, learning theories, physics, social learning / networks, strategy, teachers, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

Building Learning Communities 2011 Keynote: Dr. Eric Mazur — from November Learning

Excerpt:

Today, we are officially relaunching our opening keynote from BLC11 with Dr. Eric Mazur. Dr. Mazur is the Area Dean of Applied Physics and Balkanski Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA.

In his keynote, Dr. Mazur shares his vast research on teaching and learning. Students in Dr. Mazur’s class are moving far away from the traditional stand and deliver lectures given in many k-12 and university classrooms around the world, and they are gaining a much deeper understanding of the material being taught in the process.

As you watch this video, we invite you to take some time and respond to one or more of the following questions…

From DSC:
What I understood the key points to be:

Teaching and learning should not be about information transfer alone; that is, it’s not about simply having students “parrot back” the information. That doesn’t lead to true learning and long-term retention.
The more a teacher is an expert in his/her content, the more difficulty this teacher has in understanding how a first time learner in this subject struggles
Rather we need to guide and use peer instruction/social learning/collaboration amongst students to construct learning and then be able to apply/transfer that learning to a different context
Lecturing is not an effective way to create a long term retention of information
Peer instruction/human interaction creates effective learning
“The plural of anecdotes is not data.”
Eric is seeking data and feedback to sharpen his theories of how to optimize learning
Technology serves pedagogy — technology should afford a new mode of learning
Towards that end, Eric and team working on “Peer instruction 2.0”
How do I design good questions? Optimize the discussions? Manage time? Insure learning is taking place?
Eric is working with several other colleagues to create a system for building and using data analytics to give useful information to instructor about who’s “getting it” and who isn’t; about how we learn
Peer instruction not without issues — how people group themselves and who students choose to collaborate with can be problematical
Why not have the system do the pairing/grouping?
System uses algorithms, facial recognition, posture analysis; cameras, microphones
Surveys also used
The system is attempting to help Eric and his team learn about learning
The system being used at Harvard and by invitation only

Eric ended with a summary of the 2 key messages:

Education is not about lecturing
We can move way beyond the current technologies and use new methods and technologies to actively manage learning as it happens

From DSC:
After listening to this lecture, the graphic below captures a bit of what he’s getting at and reflects some of my thinking on this subject as well. That is, we need diagnostic tools — along the lines of those a mechanic might use on our cars to ascertain where the problems/issues are:

Learning Ecosystems

“The world’s first smart #AugmentedReality for the Connected Home has arrived. [thunderclap.it]

Research Application for the 21st Century: A Video for Every Scientific Article [JOVE.com]

What if augmented reality could help bring more of the invisible things to life — such as equations, molecular structures, etc.?

White light separates into a dazzling array of colors [Knapp]

What an amazing person and teacher! [New York Times article & video about Jeffrey Wright]

Item re: Physics for the 21st Century — the microscopic description of forces

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