storytelling

Writing for VR: The Definitive Guide to VR Storytelling [Damiani & Southard]

On 10/07/2017, in digital storytelling, story, storytelling, user experience (UX), vendors, virtual reality / worlds / learning, writing, by Daniel Christian

Writing for VR: The Definitive Guide to VR Storytelling — from vrscout.com by Jesse Damiani and Dylan Southard

Excerpt:

Though it’s geared toward 360° filmmaking, we also wanted to get creators thinking about conceiving and composing VR experiences with an eye toward the medium’s future. We’re guessing many readers fall into a similar camp, so we decided to make this resource available to the public—think of it as something like, “VR Writing and Storytelling 201.”

…

In other words, your audience will feel an increased sense of responsibility—these questions of Why am I here? and What should I do? This is why games and genre stories that focus on intentions (rescuing something; capturing something; escaping something; solving something) work particularly well.

…

The nuts-and-bolts part of presence is point of view (POV). In 360° storytelling, you must directly address the question of which specific POV you will utilize in your story. Will your audience see things through a specific character’s eyes (first-person POV) or will you simply take on an “objective,” detached perspective (third-person POV)?

We can’t express this enough: the space is as (if not more) important than your plot and characters. While composing your story, think about the ways you can build environments capable of making the viewer imagine stories of their own—even without any other human beings in the picture.

Udacity Launches a ‘Learn ARKit’ Course Created in Collaboration with Unity [Hayden]

On 10/06/2017, in 21st century, Apple, augmented reality, computer science, higher education, iPhone, Mobile learning, Mobile technologies, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, online learning, platforms, professional development, storytelling, student-related, tools, user experience (UX), user interface design, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Udacity Launches a ‘Learn ARKit’ Course Created in Collaboration with Unity — from roadtovr.com by Scott Hayden

Excerpt:

With ARKit already baked into the mobile operating system of “hundreds of millions of iPhones and iPads,” the massive potential install base means there’s plenty of reasons for developers to start making new augmented reality apps for Apple’s App Store. Now Udacity, the for-profit online education site that was spawned from free Stanford University computer science classes, has created a course that says will take you one month to complete so you can start making your own AR apps for iOS.

From DSC:
Again, how many of these types of courses/programs are in the works right now throughout traditional institutions of higher education? My guess? Very few.

What’s keeping us from being more responsive?

Top 200 Tools for Learning 2017 [Center for Learning & Performance Technologies; Jane Hart]

On 10/06/2017, in 21st century, Adobe, adult learning, Asia, blogs / blogging, bots, business, Canada, CMS/LMS, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, creativity, design, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital video, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), education, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, Europe, Facebook, global / globalization, Google, heutagogy, higher education, India, learning, learning ecosystem, Lifelong learning, Microsoft, Mobile learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, multimedia, online learning, online media, RSS, social learning / networks, social media, staying relevant, storytelling, streams of content, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, tools, training / L&D, trends, twitter, UK, United States, universities, vendors, wearables, web design and production, by Daniel Christian

Excerpt:

The Top 200 Tools for Learning 2017 (11th Annual Survey) has been compiled by Jane Hart of the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies from the votes of 2,174 learning professionals worldwide, together with 3 sub-lists

Top 100 Tools for Personal & Professional Learning (PPL)
Top 100 Tools for Workplace Learning (WPL)
Top 100 Tools for Education (EDU)

Excerpt from the Analysis page (emphasis DSC):

Here is a brief analysis of what’s on the list and what it tells us about the current state of personal learning, workplace learning and education.

Some facts

The top 2 tools are the same as in 2016: YouTube and Google Search
PowerPoint moves up to #3, Word moves up to #6, Excel up 29 to #17
Twitter moves down to #5
66 tools moved up the list. Top 3 risers are Unsplash (up 71 places), Grammarly (up 70 places) and Snapchat (up 64 places
Messaging apps and team tools are particularly on the rise: Slack is now up 8 places to #12, Trello is up 21 places to #22, Microsoft Teams is another new tool in at #79
4 tools are BACK on the list: Google Alerts, IFTTT, Backpack and Hootsuite
52 NEW tools appear on the list this year – the highest entry is Typeform in at #55.
2 interesting new tools for augmented and virtual reality join the list – Aurasma, ENTiTi – as well as a chatbot system – Ultra Hal Assistant.

Some observations on what the Top Tools list tells us personal and professional learning
As in previous years, individuals continue to using a wide variety of:

networks, services and platforms for professional networking, communication and collaboration
web resources and courses for self-improvement and self-development
tools for personal productivity

All of which shows that many individuals have become highly independent, continuous modern professional learners – making their own decisions about what they need to learn and how to do it.

“Learning is leaving the (school) building” — and other items from Will Richardson & Bruce Dixon

On 09/01/2017, in 1:1 / 1:World, 21st century, active learning, attention, change, collaboration, communications, communities of practice, dangers of the status quo, digital learning, education, education reform, education technology, engagement / engaging students, face-to-face, game-changing environment, generational differences, ideas, innovation, internet, K-12 related, leadership, learning, learning ecosystem, legislatures / government / legal, love of learning, more choice more control, motivation, pace of change, parents, participation, passions, pedagogy, personalized/customized learning, real-world assignments, social learning / networks, society, staying relevant, story, storytelling, strategy, student-related, surviving, teachers, teaching & learning, technology (general), traditional / tradition, United States, user experience (UX), vision, web-based collaboration, webinars, youth, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
I appreciated hearing the perspectives from Bruce Dixon and Will Richardson this morning, as I listed to a webinar that they recently offered. A few key takeaways for me from that webinar — and with a document that they shared — were:

The world has fundamentally changed. (Bruce and Will also mentioned the new pace of change; i.e., that it’s much faster.)
We need to have more urgency about the need to reimagine school, not to try to improve the existing model.
“Because of the advent of the Web and the technologies we use to access it, learning is, in a phrase, leaving the (school) building.”
There is a newfound capacity to take full control of one’s own learning; self-determined learning should be at the center of students’ and teachers’ work; co-constructed curriculum
And today, at a moment when learners of all ages have never had more agency over their own learning, schools must unlearn centuries old mindsets and practices and relearn them in ways that truly will serve every child living in the modern, connected world.
Will and Bruce believe that every educator — and district for that matter — should articulate their own “principles of learning”
Beliefs about how kids learn (powerfully and deeply) need to be articulated and consistently communicated and lived out
Everything we do as educators, administrators, etc. tells a story. What stories are we telling? (For example, what does the signage around your school building say? Is it about compliance? Is is about a love of learning? Wonder? What does the 20′ jumbo tron say about priorities? Etc.)
Bruce and Will covered a “story audit” and how to do one

“Learning is, in a phrase, leaving the (school) building.”

Richardson & Dixon

Also see:

These educators have decades worth of experience. They are pulse-checking their environments. They want to see students thrive both now and into the future. For these reasons, at least for me, their perspectives are highly worth reflecting upon.

Campus Technology 2017: Virtual Reality Is More Than a New Medium — from edtechmagazine.com by Amy Burroughs
Experts weigh in on the future of VR in higher education.

Excerpts:

“It’s actually getting pretty exciting,” Georgieva said, noting that legacy companies and startups alike have projects in the works that will soon be on the market. Look for standalone, wireless VR headsets later this year from Facebook and Google.

“I think it’s going to be a universal device,” he said. “Eventually, we’ll end up with some kind of glasses where we can just dial in the level of immersion that we want.”

— Per Emery Craig, at Campus Technology 2017 Conference

…
“Doing VR for the sake of VR makes no sense whatsoever,” Craig said. “Ask when does it make sense to do this in VR? Does a sense of presence help this, or is it better suited to traditional media?”

Virtual Reality: The User Experience of Story — from blogs.adobe.com

Excerpt:

Solving the content problems in VR requires new skills that are only just starting to be developed and understood, skills that are quite different from traditional storytelling. VR is a nascent medium. One part story, one part experience. And while many of the concepts from film and theater can be used, storytelling through VR is not like making a movie or a play.

In VR, the user has to be guided through an experience of a story, which means many of the challenges in telling a VR story are closer to UX design than anything from film or theater.

Take the issue of frameless scenes. In a VR experience, there are no borders, and no guarantees where a user will look. Scenes must be designed to attract user attention, in order to guide them through the experience of a story.

Sound design, staging cues, lighting effects, and movement can all be used to draw a user’s attention.

However, it’s a fine balance between attraction to distraction.

“In VR, it’s easy to overwhelm the user. If you see a flashing light and in the background, you hear a sharp siren, and then something moves, you’ve given the user too many things to understand,” says Di Dang, User Experience Lead at POP, Seattle. “Be intentional and deliberate about how you grab audience attention.”

VR is a storytelling superpower. No other medium has the quite the same potential to create empathy and drive human connection. Because viewers are for all intents and purposes living the experience, they walk away with that history coded into their memory banks—easily accessible for future responses.

Google’s latest VR experiment is teaching people how to make coffee — from techradar.com by Parker Wilhelm
All in a quest to see how effective learning in virtual reality is

Excerpt:

Teaching with a simulation is no new concept, but Google’s Daydream Labs wants to see exactly how useful virtual reality can be for teaching people practical skills.

In a recent experiment, Google ran a simulation of an interactive espresso machine in VR. From there, it had a group of people try their virtual hand at brewing a cup of java before being tasked to make the real thing.

Addendum on 7/26/17:

A New World: VR and AR Tech Developments — from er.educause.edu by Emory Craig and Maya Georgieva

The case for a next generation learning platform [Grush & Christian]

On 07/11/2017, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, adult learning, algorithms, Amazon, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning, attention, Blockchain, Bring your own device (BYOD), career development, change, Christian education, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, CMS/LMS, cognitive computing, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, competency-based learning/education, Content aggregration, content repositories, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, credentialing, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, disruption, distance education, education, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, global / globalization, heutagogy, higher education, history, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, internet, K-12 related, Languages and translation, learner profiles, learning, Learning Agents, learning ecosystem, learning from the living [class] room, learning hubs, learning spaces, Lifelong learning, machine-to-machine communications, Michigan, Microlearning, mirroring and/or multiple devices, Mobile learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more choice more control, multimedia, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Near Field Communication (NFC), new business models, new media literacies, online learning, online media, online tutoring, open courseware and systems, pace of change, passions, personalized/customized learning, platforms, PLNs, professional development, reinvent, robotics, RSS, second screen apps, simulations, Smart/Connected TV, social learning / networks, society, staying relevant, storytelling, streams of content, student-related, surviving, teaching online, Technologies for your home, technology (general), telepresence, television, tools, training / L&D, trends, universities, user experience (UX), Using teams, vendors, videoconferencing, virtual reality / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, Walmart of Education --> New Amazon.com of Higher Education, web-based collaboration, webinars, workplace, youth, by Daniel Christian

The case for a next generation learning platform — from campustechnology.com by Mary Grush & Daniel Christian

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Grush: Then what are some of the implications you could draw from metrics like that one?

Christian: As we consider all the investment in those emerging technologies, the question many are beginning to ask is, “How will these technologies impact jobs and the makeup of our workforce in the future?”

While there are many thoughts and questions regarding the cumulative impact these technologies will have on our future workforce (e.g., “How many jobs will be displaced?”), the consensus seems to be that there will be massive change.

Whether our jobs are completely displaced or if we will be working alongside robots, chatbots, workbots, or some other forms of AI-backed personal assistants, all of us will need to become lifelong learners — to be constantly reinventing ourselves. This assertion is also made in the aforementioned study from McKinsey: “AI promises benefits, but also poses urgent challenges that cut across firms, developers, government, and workers. The workforce needs to be re-skilled to exploit AI rather than compete with it…”

A side note from DSC:
I began working on this vision prior to 2010…but I didn’t officially document it until 2012.

Learning from the Living [Class] Room:

A global, powerful, next generation learning platform

What does the vision entail?

A new, global, collaborative learning platform that offers more choice, more control to learners of all ages – 24×7 – and could become the organization that futurist Thomas Frey discusses here with Business Insider:

“I’ve been predicting that by 2030 the largest company on the internet is going to be an education-based company that we haven’t heard of yet,” Frey, the senior futurist at the DaVinci Institute think tank, tells Business Insider.

A learner-centered platform that is enabled by – and reliant upon – human beings but is backed up by a powerful suite of technologies that work together in order to help people reinvent themselves quickly, conveniently, and extremely cost-effectively
A customizable learning environment that will offer up-to-date streams of regularly curated content (i.e., microlearning) as well as engaging learning experiences
Along these lines, a lifelong learner can opt to receive an RSS feed on a particular topic until they master that concept; periodic quizzes (i.e., spaced repetition) determines that mastery. Once mastered, the system will ask the learner whether they still want to receive that particular stream of content or not.
A Netflix-like interface to peruse and select plugins to extend the functionality of the core product
An AI-backed system of analyzing employment trends and opportunities will highlight those courses and streams of content that will help someone obtain the most in-demand skills
A system that tracks learning and, via Blockchain-based technologies, feeds all completed learning modules/courses into learners’ web-based learner profiles
A learning platform that provides customized, personalized recommendation lists – based upon the learner’s goals
A platform that delivers customized, personalized learning within a self-directed course (meant for those content creators who want to deliver more sophisticated courses/modules while moving people through the relevant Zones of Proximal Development)
Notifications and/or inspirational quotes will be available upon request to help provide motivation, encouragement, and accountability – helping learners establish habits of continual, lifelong-based learning
(Potentially) An online-based marketplace, matching learners with teachers, professors, and other such Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
(Potentially) Direct access to popular job search sites
(Potentially) Direct access to resources that describe what other companies do/provide and descriptions of any particular company’s culture (as described by current and former employees and freelancers)
(Potentially) Integration with one-on-one tutoring services

Further details here >>

Addendum from DSC (regarding the resource mentioned below):
Note the voice recognition/control mechanisms on Westinghouse’s new product — also note the integration of Amazon’s Alexa into a “TV.”

Westinghouse’s Alexa-equipped Fire TV Edition smart TVs are now available — from theverge.com by Chaim Gartenberg

The key selling point, of course, is the built-in Amazon Fire TV, which is controlled with the bundled Voice Remote and features Amazon’s Alexa assistant.

Finally…also see:

NASA unveils a skill for Amazon’s Alexa that lets you ask questions about Mars — from geekwire.com by Kevin Lisota
Holographic storytelling — from jwtintelligence.com
The stories of Holocaust survivors are brought to life with the help of interactive 3D technologies.
New Dimensions in Testimony is a new way of preserving history for future generations. The project brings to life the stories of Holocaust survivors with 3D video, revealing raw first-hand accounts that are more interactive than learning through a history book. Holocaust survivor Pinchas Gutter, the first subject of the project, was filmed answering over 1000 questions, generating approximately 25 hours of footage. By incorporating natural language processing from the USC Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT), people are able to ask Gutter’s projected image questions that trigger relevant responses.

6 Ways to Accelerate Learning in Your Virtual Classroom [Clay]

On 07/05/2017, in adjunct faculty, adult learning, corporate universities / corporate training, digital learning, digital storytelling, education technology, engagement / engaging students, faculty, online learning, pedagogy, story, storytelling, teaching & learning, training / L&D, by Daniel Christian

6 Ways to Accelerate Learning in Your Virtual Classroom —- from td.org by Cynthia Clay

Excerpt:

When you move into the virtual classroom, whether as an instructional designer or a trainer, you quickly discover that guidelines for instruction in the traditional classroom may not help as much as you expected. You might have a bevy of questions: Should I use more slides or fewer? Should I present more content or streamline what I have? What about chat? Should I turn it on and let people talk to each other or turn it off so they focus on what I say? Should I put myself on camera throughout the session or just display a photograph at the opening?

How you answer those questions will either expedite or decelerate the learning experience. The following six accelerators make the difference between delivering learning that sticks and learning that’s forgotten by Friday.

Accelerator #1: Get visual
Accelerator #2: Tell a story
Accelerator #3: Establish rapport
Accelerator #4: Engage continuously
Accelerator #5: Hit them with a problem
Accelerator #6: Facilitate learning

New from Apple: Clips

On 04/10/2017, in A/V -- audio/visual, Apple, digital audio, digital storytelling, digital video, Media/film, Mobile learning, multimedia, new media literacies, story, storytelling, tools, by Daniel Christian

The 82 Hottest EdTech Tools of 2017 According to Education Experts [Cassella; tutora.co.uk]

On 04/06/2017, in 21st century, 3D, adjunct faculty, analytics, animation, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning, assessment, augmented reality, Australia, blogs / blogging, bots, business side of he, Canada, change, chemistry, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, colleges, communications, community colleges, computer science, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital citizenship, digital learning, digital photography, digital video, e-books, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), education technology, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, Europe, gifted students, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), India, innovation, interactivity, internet, K-12 related, Languages and translation, learning, learning ecosystem, literacy, maker movement, mathematics, Media/film, memory, Mobile learning, multimedia, online learning, participation, pedagogy, platforms, play, productivity / tips and tricks, programming, robotics, science, story, storytelling, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, Technologies for your home, tools, UK, United States, universities, vendors, virtual field trips, virtual reality / worlds / learning, writing, youth, by Daniel Christian

The 82 Hottest EdTech Tools of 2017 According to Education Experts — from tutora.co.uk by Giorgio Cassella

Excerpt:

If you work in education, you’ll know there’s a HUGE array of applications, services, products and tools created to serve a multitude of functions in education.

Tools for teaching and learning, parent-teacher communication apps, lesson planning software, home-tutoring websites, revision blogs, SEN education information, professional development qualifications and more.

There are so many companies creating new products for education, though, that it can be difficult to keep up – especially with the massive volumes of planning and marking teachers have to do, never mind finding the time to actually teach!

So how do you know which ones are the best?

Well, as a team of people passionate about education and learning, we decided to do a bit of research to help you out.

We’ve asked some of the best and brightest in education for their opinions on the hottest EdTech of 2017. These guys are the real deal – experts in education, teaching and new tech from all over the world from England to India, to New York and San Francisco.

They’ve given us a list of 82 amazing, tried and tested tools…

From DSC:
The ones that I mentioned that Giorgio included in his excellent article were:

AdmitHub – Free, Expert College Admissions Advice
Labster – Empowering the Next Generation of Scientists to Change the World
Unimersiv – Virtual Reality Educational Experiences
Lifeliqe – Interactive 3D Models to Augment Classroom Learning

“Learning Themes” – A free, new eBook that curates the content from the Learning 2016 Conference [Elliott Masie]

On 11/30/2016, in 21st century, business, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, digital storytelling, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, Microlearning, story, storytelling, tools, trends, United States, virtual reality / worlds / learning, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Learning Themes
Curated Content from Learning 2016
Open Source eBook – No Cost
http://www.masie.com/eBookL16

From an email from Elliott Masie and the Masie Center:

This 35-page eBook is packed with content, context, conversations, video links, and curated resources that include:

Learning Perspectives from Anderson Cooper, Scott Kelly, Tiffany Shlain, George Takei, Richard Culatta, Karl Kapp, Nancy DeViney, and other Learning 2016 Keynotes
Graphic Illustrations from Deirdre Crowley, Crowley & Co.
Video Links for Content Segments
Learning Perspectives from Elliott Masie
Segments focusing on:
- Brain & Cognitive Science
- Gamification & Gaming
- Micro-Learning
- Visual Storytelling
- Connected & Flipped Classrooms
- Compliance & Learning
- Engagement in Virtual Learning
- Video & Learning
- Virtual Reality & Learning
And much more!

We have created this as an open source, shareable resource that will extend the learning from Learning 2016 to our colleagues around the world. We are using the Open Creative Commons license, so feel free to share!

We believe that CURATION, focusing on extending and organizing follow-up content, is a growing and critical dimension of any learning event. We hope that you find your eBook of value!

Learning Ecosystems

Writing for VR: The Definitive Guide to VR Storytelling [Damiani & Southard]

3 articles that show that experimentation is needed — & is just getting started — with virtual reality

6 Ways to Accelerate Learning in Your Virtual Classroom [Clay]

New from Apple: Clips

“Learning Themes” – A free, new eBook that curates the content from the Learning 2016 Conference [Elliott Masie]

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