storytelling

NEW: The Top Tools for Learning 2018 [Jane Hart]

On 09/29/2018, in A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, adjunct faculty, Adobe, adult learning, animation, Apple, Asia, assistive technologies, Australia, blended learning, blogs / blogging, Canada, career development, change, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, design, digital audio, digital learning, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital video, distance education, e-books, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), e-readers, education, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, Europe, Google, Graphics, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, India, instructional design, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Lifelong learning, Media/film, Microlearning, Microsoft, Mobile learning, Mobile technologies, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more choice more control, multimedia, online learning, platforms, PLNs, podcasting, presentations, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, smart classrooms, social learning / networks, social media, society, story, storytelling, streams of content, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, tablets, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, Technologies for your home, technology (general), telecommunications, tools, training / L&D, trends, twitter, UK, United States, universities, vendors, videoconferencing, virtual reality / worlds / learning, Walmart of Education --> New Amazon.com of Higher Education, web design and production, web-based collaboration, workplace, by Daniel Christian

The above was from Jane’s posting 10 Trends for Digital Learning in 2018 — from modernworkplacelearning.com by Jane Hart

Excerpt:

[On 9/24/18], I released the Top Tools for Learning 2018 , which I compiled from the results of the 12th Annual Digital Learning Tools Survey.

I have also categorised the tools into 30 different areas, and produced 3 sub-lists that provide some context to how the tools are being used:

Top 100 Tools for Personal & Professional Learning 2018 (PPL100): the digital tools used by individuals for their own self-improvement, learning and development – both inside and outside the workplace.
Top 100 Tools for Workplace Learning (WPL100): the digital tools used to design, deliver, enable and/or support learning in the workplace.
Top 100 Tools for Education (EDU100): the digital tools used by educators and students in schools, colleges, universities, adult education etc.

3 – Web courses are increasing in popularity.
Although Coursera is still the most popular web course platform, there are, in fact, now 12 web course platforms on the list. New additions this year include Udacity and Highbrow (the latter provides daily micro-lessons). It is clear that people like these platforms because they can chose what they want to study as well as how they want to study, ie. they can dip in and out if they want to and no-one is going to tell them off – which is unlike most corporate online courses which have a prescribed path through them and their use is heavily monitored.

5 – Learning at work is becoming personal and continuous.
The most significant feature of the list this year is the huge leap up the list that Degreed has made – up 86 places to 47th place – the biggest increase by any tool this year. Degreed is a lifelong learning platform and provides the opportunity for individuals to own their expertise and development through a continuous learning approach. And, interestingly, Degreed appears both on the PPL100 (at 30) and WPL100 (at 52). This suggests that some organisations are beginning to see the importance of personal, continuous learning at work. Indeed, another platform that underpins this, has also moved up the list significantly this year, too. Anders Pink is a smart curation platform available for both individuals and teams which delivers daily curated resources on specified topics. Non-traditional learning platforms are therefore coming to the forefront, as the next point further shows.

From DSC:
Perhaps some foreshadowing of the presence of a powerful, online-based, next generation learning platform…?

The Mobile AR Leaders of 2018 — from next.reality.news

Excerpt:

This time last year, we were getting our first taste of what mobile app developers could do in augmented reality with Apple’s ARKit, and most people had never heard of Animojis. Google’s AR platform was still Tango. Snapchat had just introduced its World Lens AR experiences. Most mobile AR experiences existing in the wild were marker-based offerings from the likes of Blippar and Zappar, or generic Pokémon GO knock-offs.

In last year’s NR50, published before the introduction of ARKit, only two of the top 10 professionals worked directly with mobile AR, and Apple CEO Tim Cook was ranked number 26, based primarily on his forward-looking statements about AR.

This year, Cook comes in at number one, with five others categorized under mobile AR in the overall top 10 of the NR30.

What a difference a year makes.

In just 12 months, we’ve seen mobile AR grow at a breakneck pace. Since Apple launched its AR toolkit, users have downloaded more than 13 million ARKit apps from the App Store, not including existing apps updated with ARKit capabilities. Apple has already updated its platform and will introduce even more new features to the public with the release of ARKit 2.0 this fall. Last year’s iPhone X also introduced a depth-sensing camera and AR Animojis that captured the imaginations of its users.

The Weather Channel forecasts more augmented reality for its live broadcasts with Unreal Engine — from next.reality.news by Tommy Palladino

Excerpt:

Augmented reality made its live broadcast debut for The Weather Channel in 2015. The technology helps on-air talent at the network to explain the science behind weather phenomena and tell more immersive stories. Powered by Unreal Engine, The Future Group’s Frontier platform will enable The Weather Channel to be able to show even more realistic AR content, such as accurately rendered storms and detailed cityscapes, all in real time.

From DSC:
Imagine this type of thing in online-based learning, MOOCs, and/or even in blended learning based learning environments (i.e., in situations where learning materials are designed/created by teams of specialists). If that were the case, who needs to be trained to create these pieces? Will students be creating these types of pieces in the future? Hmmm….

Winners announced of the 2018 Journalism 360 Challenge — from vrfocus.com
The question of “How might we experiment with immersive storytelling to advance the field of journalism?” looks to be answered by 11 projects.

Excerpt:

The eleven winners were announced on 9/11/18 of a contest being held by the Google News Initiative, Knight Foundation and Online News Association. The 2018 Journalism 360 Challenge asked people the question “How might we experiment with immersive storytelling to advance the field of journalism?” and it generated over 400 responses.

Addendum:

Educause Explores Future of Extended Reality on Campus — from campustechnology.com by Dian Schaffhauser

Among the findings:

VR makes people feel like they’re really there. The “intellectual and physiological reactions” to constructs and events in VR are the same — “and sometimes identical” — to a person’s reactions in the real world;
3D technologies facilitate active and experiential learning. AR, for example, lets users interact with an object in ways that aren’t possible in the physical world — such as seeing through surfaces or viewing data about underlying objects. And with 3D printing, learners can create “physical objects that might otherwise exist only simulations”; and
Simulations allow for scaling up of “high-touch, high-cost learning experiences.” Students may be able to go through virtual lab activities, for instance, even when a physical lab isn’t available.

Common challenges included implementation learning curves, instructional design, data storage of 3D images and effective cross-departmental collaboration.

“One significant result from this research is that it shows that these extended reality technologies are applicable across a wide spectrum of academic disciplines,” said Malcolm Brown, director of learning initiatives at Educause, in a statement. “In addition to the scientific disciplines, students in the humanities, for example, can re-construct cities and structures that no longer exist. I think this study will go a long way in encouraging faculty, instructional designers and educational technologists across higher education to further experiment with these technologies to vivify learning experiences in nearly all courses of study.”

30 Sites and Apps for Digital Storytelling

On 09/08/2018, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, creativity, digital learning, digital storytelling, flipping -- inverted learning, K-12 related, learning, Mobile learning, Mobile technologies, story, storytelling, student-related, tools, by Daniel Christian

30 Sites and Apps for Digital Storytelling — from cyber-kap.blogspot.com

Excerpt:

Digital Storytelling is the process of telling a story through the use of digital means. Also, it happens to be one the easiest ways to integrate technology into the classroom. Educators can use digital storytelling w/ almost any subject and can even “flip” their classroom by using mobile apps. Below is my comprehensive list of sites/apps that can be used for digital storytelling…

100 things students can create to demonstrate what they know [teachthought.com]

On 07/26/2018, in adjunct faculty, animation, art, assessment, attention, blended learning, blogs / blogging, Christian education, colleges, community colleges, creativity, digital audio, digital learning, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, drama/theater, e-books, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), education, education technology, educational games / serious games, engagement / engaging students, hybrid learning, ideas, innovation, instructional design, K-12 related, more choice more control, multimedia, online learning, online media, pedagogy, personalized/customized learning, podcasting, story, storytelling, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, tools, vendors, writing, youth, by Daniel Christian

100 things students can create to demonstrate what they know — from teachthought.com

Excerpt:

[Here] is a diverse list adapted from resources found at fortheteachers.org of potential student products or activities learners can use to demonstrate their mastery of lesson content. The list also offers several digital tools for students to consider using in a technology-enriched learning environment.

Oculus’ VR television hub launches today on Oculus Go [Robertson]

On 06/25/2018, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, digital storytelling, digital video, emerging technologies, Facebook, innovation, story, storytelling, Technologies for your home, television, tools, vendors, virtual reality / worlds / learning, by Daniel Christian

Oculus’ VR television hub launches today on Oculus Go — from theverge.com by Adi Robertson

Excerpt:

Oculus is officially launching Oculus TV, its dedicated hub for watching flatscreen video in virtual reality, on the standalone Oculus Go headset. Oculus TV was announced at last month’s F8 conference, and it ties together a lot of existing VR video options, highlighting Oculus’ attempts to emphasize non-gaming uses of VR. The free app features a virtual home theater with what Oculus claims is the equivalent of a 180-inch TV screen. It offers access to several streaming video services, including subscription-based platforms like Showtime and free web television services like Pluto TV as well as video from Oculus’ parent company Facebook.

The World Will Be Painted With Data — from forbes.com by Charlie Fink

Excerpt:

The world is about to be painted with data. Every place. Every person. Every thing. In the near term this invisible digital layer will be revealed by the camera in your phone, but in the long term it will be incorporated into a wearable device, likely a head-mounted display (HMD) integrating phone, audio, and AI assistants. Users will control the system with a combination of voice, gesture and ring controller. Workers in factories use monocular displays to do this now, but it’s going to be quite some time before this benefits consumers. While this coming augmentation of man represents an evolutionary turning point, it’s adoption will resemble that of the personal computer, which took at least fifteen years. Mobile AR, on the other hand, is here now, and in a billion Android and Apple smartphones, which are about to get a lot better. Thanks to AR, we can start building the world’s digital layer for the smartphone, right now, without waiting for HMDs to unlock the benefits of an AR-enabled world.

12 hot augmented reality ideas for your business — from information-age.com
Augmented reality is one of the most exciting technologies that made its way into the mass market in the recent years.

Excerpt:

In this article we will tell you about other ways to use this technology in a mobile app except for gaming and give you some augmented reality business ideas.

Google Maps is getting augmented reality directions and recommendation features — from theverge.com by Chaim Gartenberg
Plus, the ability to vote on restaurants with friends

Excerpt:

The new AR features combine Google’s existing Street View and Maps data with a live feed from your phone’s camera to overlay walking directions on top of the real world and help you figure out which way you need to go.

VR Travel: Virtual Reality Can Show You The World — from appreal-vr.com by Yariv Levski

Excerpt:

The VR travel industry may be in its infancy, but if you expect to see baby steps leading to market adoption, think again. Digital travel sales are expected to reach $198 billion this year, with virtual reality travel apps and VR tours capturing a good share of market revenue.

Of course, this should come as no surprise. Consumers increasingly turn to digital media when planning aspects of their lives, from recreational activities to retirement. Because VR has the power to engage travelers like no other technology can do, it is a natural step in the evolution of the travel industry. It is also likely to disrupt travel planning as we know it.

In this article, we will explore VR travel technology, and what it means for business in 2018.

From Inside VR & AR

HP Inc. is teaming up with DiSTI to create VR training programs for enterprise customers. DiSTI is a platform for user interface software and custom 3D training solutions. The companies are partnering to create maintenance and operations training in VR for vehicle, aircraft and industrial equipment systems. DiSTI’s new VE Studio software lets customers develop their own virtual training applications or have DiSTI and HP professional services teams assist in designing and building the program. — TECHRADAR

HP and DiSTI to enhance enterprise training through VR solutions — from techradar.com by Nick Rego
Global alliance will combine HP’s VR solutions with DiSTI’s advanced development platform

Excerpt:

HP Inc. today announced an alliance with the DiSTI Corporation, a leading global provider of VR and advanced human machine interface development solutions, to address the growing demand for high-impact, cost-effective VR training.

The two companies will work together to develop unique VR training solutions for enterprise customers, with a specific focus on maintenance and operations training for complex systems such as vehicle, aircraft and industrial equipment.

Addendum:

Why 360 Video and Virtual Reality Matters and 5 Great Ways To Use It — from mediamerse.com
Excerpt:

It’s a different approach to storytelling: Just as standard video is a step up from photography in terms of immersiveness, 360 video and VR amp this up considerably further. Controlling what’s in the frame and editing to hone in on the elements of the picture that we’d like the viewer to focus on is somewhat ‘easy’ with photography. With moving pictures (video), this is harder but with the right use of the camera, it’s still easy to direct the viewer’s attention to the elements of the narrative we’d like to highlight.Since 360 and VR allow the user to essentially take control of the camera, content creators have a lot less control in terms of capturing attention. This has its upsides too though…360 video and particularly VR provide for a very rich sensory environment that standard video just can’t match.

Are you telling stories in the classroom? — from teaching.berkeley.edu by Melanie Green

Excerpts:

Stories can make a subject accessible and even interesting… [Storytelling] can provide value, turn something abstract or obscure into something concrete.
…
Stories:

make a subject relatable and accessible to students
can pique interest, or demonstrate relevance, in a subject that students usually dislike, or worse, find mind-numbing
build meaning-making (there’s that word again), helping students to recall the information later
forge, or repave, paths to material that students already thought they knew, making way for new perspectives, connections, and experiences to develop through someone else’s story
make a subject approachable

From DSC:
The Master Teacher also used stories (parables) to teach people:

If our Creator/Designer did so, I think we should take a serious look at doing so as well.

“Pixar co-founder teleported live into a virtual classroom with students in Slough (UK)” + 3 other items re: XR

On 04/25/2018, in A/V -- audio/visual, Amazon, augmented reality, digital storytelling, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, interactivity, K-12 related, story, storytelling, student-related, teachers, tools, UK, user experience (UX), vendors, virtual reality / worlds / learning, by Daniel Christian

Pixar co-founder teleported live into a virtual classroom with students in Slough — from pressreleases.responsesource.com
Game-changing ENGAGE platform beams in the best teachers from around the world.

Excerpt:

25 April 2018: Today, the boring classroom lesson finally gets consigned to the history books when technology pioneers, Immersive VR Education, beam experts from California and Dubai into a virtual classroom to teach students at Langley College near Slough, via a short trip to the moon.

Pixar co-founder, Loren Carpenter, will be ‘beamed’ in to the virtual reality (VR) classroom live from the US so that IT and gaming students at Langley College, part of the Windsor Forest Colleges Group, can learn from one of the founding fathers of computer programming for animation and film.

David Whelan, CEO of Immersive VR Education, says, “This is a pivotal moment in the history of learning. ENGAGE allows students to not only experience the environment they are learning about in virtual reality, but have the best teachers from around the globe join them in a virtual classroom.”

Unleash the Power of Storytelling With These New AR and VR Tools — from edsurge.com by Jaime Donally

Excerpt:

A compelling use for using immersive technology, like augmented and virtual reality, is learning through storytelling. Stories are a powerful way to deliver meaningful and relevant content. The learning is heightened when paired with a story that penetrates the heart of the student. Let’s explore some of the newest and best tools out there and see if we can’t get students to create their happily ever after.

Amazon Embraces AR and VR With Sumerian Platform — from vrfocus.com by Rebecca Hills-Duty
Amazon is developing a new platform for creating VR and AR apps as part of Amazon Web Services.

Excerpt:

Amazon is no stranger to changing company direction and expanding into new markets. Starting out as an online bookstore, Amazon is now one of the giants of technology, with fingers in almost every conceivable pie. Small wonder, then, that the company is working towards a new platform for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR).

The platform has been named Sumerian, and is designed to be an all-in-one development platform for the building for VR and AR apps for both smartphones and VR headsets, and eventually, VR and AR apps that can run direct from the web browser.

You AR what you eat — augmented reality menus are coming to Snapchat — from digitaltrends.com by Hillary Grigonis

Excerpt:

The smells wafting from the kitchen, a crinkled and torn paper menu, and the fleeting glimpses of orders the waiter is deftly balancing on his way to another table may no longer be the only ways to preview what you eat at a restaurant. Start-up Kabaq is aiming to bring the next big technology-influenced change for restaurants and foodies since Instagram sparked a surge in food photography: an augmented reality menu.

Burger chain Bareburger will be among the first restaurants to allow customers to see their meal right in front of them — before ever placing an order.

How to Set Up a VR Pilot — from campustechnology.com by Dian Schaffhauser
As Washington & Lee University has found, there is no best approach for introducing virtual reality into your classrooms — just stages of faculty commitment.

Excerpt:

The work at the IQ Center offers a model for how other institutions might want to approach their own VR experimentation. The secret to success, suggested IQ Center Coordinator David Pfaff, “is to not be afraid to develop your own stuff” — in other words, diving right in. But first, there’s dipping a toe.

The IQ Center is a collaborative workspace housed in the science building but providing services to “departments all over campus,” said Pfaff. The facilities include three labs: one loaded with high-performance workstations, another decked out for 3D visualization and a third packed with physical/mechanical equipment, including 3D printers, a laser cutter and a motion-capture system.

The Future of Language Learning: Augmented Reality vs Virtual Reality — from medium.com by Denis Hurley

Excerpts:

Here, I would like to stick to the challenges and opportunities presented by augmented reality and virtual reality for language learning.
…
While the challenge is a significant one, I am more optimistic than most that wearable AR will be available and popular soon. We don’t yet know how Snap Spectacles will evolve, and, of course, there’s always Apple.
…
I suspect we will see a flurry of new VR apps from language learning startups soon, especially from Duolingo and in combination with their AI chat bots. I am curious if users will quickly abandon the isolating experiences or become dedicated users.

Bose has a plan to make AR glasses — from cnet.com by David Carnoy
Best known for its speakers and headphones, the company has created a $50 million development fund to back a new AR platform that’s all about audio.

Excerpts:

“Unlike other augmented reality products and platforms, Bose AR doesn’t change what you see, but knows what you’re looking at — without an integrated lens or phone camera,” Bose said. “And rather than superimposing visual objects on the real world, Bose AR adds an audible layer of information and experiences, making every day better, easier, more meaningful, and more productive.”
…
The secret sauce seems to be the tiny, “wafer-thin” acoustics package developed for the platform. Bose said it represents the future of mobile micro-sound and features “jaw-dropping power and clarity.”

Bose adds the technology can “be built into headphones, eyewear, helmets and more and it allows simple head gestures, voice, or a tap on the wearable to control content.”

Here are some examples Bose gave for how it might be used:

- For travel, the Bose AR could simulate historic events at landmarks as you view them — “so voices and horses are heard charging in from your left, then passing right in front of you before riding off in the direction of their original route, fading as they go.” You could hear a statue make a famous speech when you approach it. Or get told which way to turn towards your departure gate while checking in at the airport.
- Bose AR could translate a sign you’re reading. Or tell you the word or phrase for what you’re looking at in any language. Or explain the story behind the painting you’ve just approached.

With gesture controls, you could choose or change your music with simple head nods indicating yes, no, or next (Bragi headphones already do this).
Bose AR would add useful information based on where you look. Like the forecast when you look up or information about restaurants on the street you look down.

The 10 Best VR Apps for Classrooms Using Merge VR’s New Merge Cube — from edsurge.com

Google Lens arrives on iOS — from techcrunch.com by Sarah Perez

Excerpt:

On the heels of last week’s rollout on Android, Google’s new AI-powered technology, Google Lens, is now arriving on iOS. The feature is available within the Google Photos iOS application, where it can do things like identify objects, buildings, and landmarks, and tell you more information about them, including helpful details like their phone number, address, or open hours. It can also identify things like books, paintings in museums, plants, and animals. In the case of some objects, it can also take actions.

For example, you can add an event to your calendar from a photo of a flyer or event billboard, or you can snap a photo of a business card to store the person’s phone number or address to your Contacts.

The eventual goal is to allow smartphone cameras to understand what it is they’re seeing across any type of photo, then helping you take action on that information, if need be – whether that’s calling a business, saving contact information, or just learning about the world on the other side of the camera.

15 Top Augmented Reality (AR) Apps Changing Education — from vudream.com by Steven Wesley

CNN VR App Brings News to Oculus Rift — from vrscout.com by Jonathan Nafarrete

The Future of Design, Part II [Madeleine Morley; Adobe]

On 02/16/2018, in Adobe, career development, change, creativity, design, digital storytelling, Graphics, human-computer interaction (HCI), story, storytelling, user experience (UX), user interface design, vendors, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, web design and production, by Daniel Christian

The Future of Design, Part II — from 99u.adobe.com by Madeleine Morley; with thanks to Keesa V. Johnson for posting this on Twitter
For the second straight year, we asked 10 creatives to predict what is coming up in the world of design and how they will prepare for it. This year’s installment includes designing for voice-controlled tech, holograms, and the rise of the hybrid designer.

Design is always changing, and wider changes are often spearheaded by design itself. Now with tech and the creative industry increasingly aligning, we’re on the precipice of a truly momentous period in the history of design, something unprecedented that is difficult to predict and prepare for.

Excerpts:

With quickly evolving tools, tumultuous shifts in the economy, the relentless growth of the gig and freelance lifestyle, and global networks, the working landscape for young designers is a tremendously uncertain one. There’s no model to follow: The known and well-trodden career path of previous generations is overgrown.
…
It’s an uncertain time for design, but in its difficulty and complexity, it is an inspiring and crucial one: Those with the skills will help decide the way that innovations in tech not only look but function, too, and influence our daily lives.

Although we can’t predict the future, we can speak to those with experience who think about what’s in store. We asked each participant to give us their advice: What does their future of design look like? What will it do to the very idea of design. And how can we prepare for it?

Design will be for ears and not eyes.

We’re always getting our heads around designing for the latest technology, methodology, application, media, or format. It’s a fascinating time to be a designer. There will always be space for experts, for those who specialize in the things they are really, really good at, but for others there is the need to diversify.

We won’t tell stories; we’ll live them.

Learning Ecosystems

Mobile AR leaders of 2018, immersive storytelling, AR in live weather broadcasts

Oculus’ VR television hub launches today on Oculus Go [Robertson]

“How to Set Up a VR Pilot” + 6 other items re: AR, VR, MR & XR

The Future of Design, Part II [Madeleine Morley; Adobe]

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