Augmented Reality - Fake on Real

Off the top of my head, I would define Augmented Reality (AR) as the manipulated viewing of our real-world environment and its elements through the use of a computer-based interface.

Last night I found an AR game called Pandemica. Basically there are these strains of bacteria that surround you as you look through your mobile camera. Your objective is to press the screen and shoot all the bacteria before they reach you and kill you. It won an award for best AR game of the year.

I really think that these types of tools would be very useful in education. I found another app called ARgo that creates tags on locations shown on your mobile interface when you look through the camera. The tags show descriptions of each building, statue, point of interest, etc. If you were facing your mobile camera at the Kamehameha Statue, then you would see a tag with a description of the statue and the history of King Kamehameha.

In education, learners can use these AR tools for geography lessons, or have a guided tour to learn about the things in their environment.

Check out Pandemica here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtAFb2uF1AA
Here are some AR apps: http://www.mobileaugmentedreality.info/

Have fun!

Gavon

Keep Movin' !!! Gesture-Based Learning

I remember gesture games existing back when I was intermediate. They had the Nintendo Glove. You put on the glove and you could control everything that happens on the screen: punching, flying, shooting, etc.

I am not surprised that methods of incorporating gesture-based learning into the curriculum has taken place. I watched several videos on the Microsoft Kinect being used as a learning tool:

I am looking forward to see the learning objects instructors produce with Kinect. Gesture-based learning engages all of the major senses of Sight, Sound, and Touch. It will appeal to various larding styles. What will the future hold for gesture-based learning.

G

Game-Based Learning

GBL in the future

I read the NMC.org site. I honestly feel that in my own opinion, game based-learning has already become adopted widely and will continue to grow. Game-Based Learning (GBL) will never disappear like a fad. It will hold its own place in education. A big reason why games appeal to the learner is because they cater to various learning styles: tactile learners: controlling an entity on the screen with your hands and having it interact with the other objects; visual learners: animated graphics and interaction between sprites and other entities; audio learners: sound effects after a shot is fired or an explosion occurs; textual learners: words describing the objectives of the game and notifying you when goals are attainted. These are the key tools used to engage the learner.

For this sole reason of games appealing to all the senses, I feel that games, especially video or online games, are the ultimate way to learn and teach.

I would take several factors into consideration when designing a game for learners:
1) Learners' demographics - What is the background? What do they know about gaming? 
2) Subject - What topic is being learned?
3) Content - What types of things will the learner learn? What objects or characters will be used in the game?
4) Entertainment - What type of storyline will be used for the learner to accomplished the objective?
5) Engagement - How will visual, audio, text, and interaction between learner and game be used to accomplish the objective?


I remember growing up as a child and learning the conventional way: teacher with chalk and chalkboard and student with pen and pad. I always wondered why teachers never incorporated techniques from sesame street and electric company to get our attention. I always wondered why games were not incorporated more into our school work. Even as an adult, game-based learning is still more engaging and effective for me when I am teaching or when I am being taught.

This is the basis for my final project. HOPE YOU ENJOY!!!

Gavon

Intellectual Property

I learned a lot during this online class session. Good job Elton. I use adobe flash in a lot of my web design projects and incorporate graphics and music. I was not that familiar with the standards for using music until the collaborate session on Feb. 27th.

After 70 years, the piece of music becomes public domain. I am sure that the FCC rules on the percentage of a song that can be used is listed somewhere online.

I found this interesting site discussing using copyright issues with music in videos.

http://www.school-video-news.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=306:copyright-issues-when-using-music-in-videos&catid=33:copyright&Itemid=51

I also like to perform and cover a lot of music as well. I need find out more on this topic. I will post if I find something.

Gavon

Mobile Apps in Learning

This past week we were assigned to collaborate in groups and discuss the use of mobile apps in education. I wrote a website about this topic in my ETEC 612 course. It talks about using mobile apps to learn languages.

I received a minor in Japanese and lived in Japan for a couple of years. After doing some research and taking my own personal experiences into consideration, I feel that mobile apps are a good way of reinforcing some of the content of language learning. But it could never replace the F2F interaction. Non-verbal communication makes about 80% of all communication that occurs among people. This means that F2F is vital interaction for learning languages. Here is the website that I made for this project:
http://gavonwongetec612finalproject.weebly.com


I agree with many of the articles that we read discussing how teachers need to focus on showing the learners how to use the iPad to improve their education rather than discovering what the iPad can do. I agree that note taking is probably one of the most useful capabilities of the iPad. I see so many individuals use it for that purpose.


Check out this app for language learning: Speaking Pal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvYIbnitFkc

FREE FOR ALL!!! ARIGATOU!!!!

A couple of weeks ago we had the privilege of hearing from Professor Kumiko Aoki. She commented on the state of Open Educational Resources (OER) in Japan. Makoto ni arigatou gozaimashita.

I also read the links for the readings. One of the links leads to 10 amazing free online computer science courses offered at Stanford University. Being a web and graphic designer, I am very interested in taking some of these free courses to develop my IT skills.

Because of the abundant sources available online for people to use, users are becoming producers of content online. Some of this content is static while some are dynamic. Some content destroy the community while some build it up.

In my personal research for math OER, I discovered this site: http://www.superkids.com/aweb/tools/math/add/plus1.shtml

This website allows an instructor to create worksheets to solve math problems. There are so many more available and they continue to be produced everyday. FIND THEM ....

Cloud Crashing

In the article from npr.org, there is a discussion about Steve Jobs's iCloud technology allowing all devices to gain access to a common juncture.

The article says however that experts have concerns for businesses moving to place their sensitive data in the cloud. It is still vulnerable to crashes and attacks and is likely to open up legal problems.

Personally I am not a fan of storing all of my information in just one area. There is that old saying to "Never keep your eggs in 1 basket" iCloud Technology sounds like it would make life very convenient for organizing information and gaining easy access to the content when needed.

Although the advantages of retrieving information remotely through a network server is very appealing, I think that one should consider the high security risks involved before investing all time and money into this iCloud.