30 Smart Phones and 5 Weeks: An Augmented Reality Classroom Experiment

30 Smart Phones and 5 Weeks: An Augmented Reality Classroom Experiment

     This is the first post in a series that I am going to do on Augmented Reality learning environments.  Over the past two years I have been working on my district to allow me to use smart phones in my room to develop Augmented Reality learning environments.  Augmented Reality “is a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are augmented by virtual computer-generated imagery” Wikipedia.  As you would expect, this has met with some concern about how students would be using these devices in class.  So I have been creating programs that create environments in which students interact in the real world, mainly on our back football field, where students interact with virtual characters and situations to solve a mystery or puzzle in the real world.  I have piloted this with a few kids with great success using my personal phone and some of the students’ phones. Seeing the success I had, the district decided to allow me a chance to pilot 30 HTC Touch Pro smart phones to develop more of these Augmented Reality learning environments.  So I thought I would share what software I have found to use to make these environments. 

     I have found two different types of free software to be very easy to use to develop these types of environments.  The first is MSCAPE: http://www.mscapers.com/.  This was created by HP as a pilot for their PDA’s.  This software is great to use and has a variety of games and a small community of developers behind it; however, they are closing down their site next March.  You will still be able to download their programs and games, but they will no longer be supporting the software.  I created “History Detectives”, which is a game that I used with a small group of students quite successfully last year and am gearing up for a full class pilot of this game next month.  A copy History Detectives can be found at this address. http://www.mscapers.com/msin/ABA0000579

     Another software program that I am using is called MITAR.  This was created by MIT’s Scheller Teacher Education Program, and they have been actively working on this since 2003.  This is a simple to use editor that allows you to embed virtual characters and objects in a real world environment to create unique learning opportunities.  A copy of this software is also free and can be found at: http://education.mit.edu/drupal/ar.  There is a good user manual, but no community behind this program.  The interface like MSCAPE is simple and intuitive.  You must register with MIT at that website to obtain a copy of the software.  Also, be sure to read their use policy. They are very specific on how you are able to use their software.

     I have found these types of environments to be exceptionally engaging for students. Often, I have had to beg students to go to their next class.  It is amazing how they get into learning a topic and don’t seem to even realize that they are learning.  I also follow each of these exercises up with a discussion. I have found that everyone participates in the discussion, since they have a vested interest in the topic thus creating another great learning environment.  Setting the game up does take time and some planning but is well worth the effort.  Having created a couple of games for students and now that I have enough phones for an entire class, I am very excited about the last few weeks of school.

     This post is part of EdTech Blog Swap and was written by guest blogger, Michael Alfred.  You can find me on Twitter at  Mreduhowto or on my blogs at the Eduhowto Blog.

I am not an assessment

As my regular readers know, I am teaching a 6th grade math class for the first time this year along with my regular technology classes. The biggest change for me is the scripted curriculum and standardized tests. I have a ton of academic freedom in my technology classes compared to most teachers, but my math students have the state standardized tests in the fall, quarterly district assessments, and district standardized tests for each unit we teach.

I am attempting standards based grading practices and some of my students are failing and make very little effort to do anything about it. I started the year off with the goal of helping every one of my students succeed in math and learn to like the subject. Utopian I know but I believe in No Child Left Behind-the concept not the ridiculous law. Well, reality has set in and I find myself stressed about the results-assessments, evaluations, whatever.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/76578669@N00/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pauliogeordio/ / CC BY 2.0

Some of my students love math and some hate it. Probably the same kids felt the same way at the start of the year. Lots of my students are successful and some are still grade levels behind in their skills and concepts.

I also find myself discouraged by the direction of education in this country. No, I am not about bashing public schools and United States education. I am discouraged by the political obsession of over-assessment of students and now the move to over-assess teachers with merit pay based on student achievement or just fire a whole school.

It really bothers me when a student performs poorly on a test or assignment (read anything). (yes, I was the student who wanted extra credit if I had an A- and actually read all (most) of the assigned readings in college) I think I take it personal sometimes.I truly want every student to earn an A in my class and enjoy it.

But the stress I feel this year is more personal. Since it is my first year teaching math I feel like if any of my students fail, my administration will see me as not a good math teacher. I truly want to be a great teacher for my students and want every one of them to be ready for 7th grade and be successful in the future, but deep down inside is also this ugliness about their failure making me look bad. It really is about my own insecurities and measuring my value based on results, assessment, pass/fail, whatever.

As is often the case, church put these feeling in perspective this morning. Rob preached (podcast will be here in a few days) about the obscure Bible story of David spilling water that his men had  risked their lives to bring him (II Samuel 23:13-17). David "wasted" the water by dumping it on the ground as an offering to God. David recognized that the water was sacred because of the sacrifice made by his men to obtain it. How did these guys feel watching David refuse to drink this water and instead dump it on the ground. It is easy to feel that efforts are wasted if we only look at the "results."

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pauliogeordio/ / CC BY 2.0

We are not the sum total of our accomplishments. My value is not a reflection of my ability or lack of ability to inspire every child to be successful. Teachers and students can not be measured by test scores or other formal assessment. Teachers sacrifice for their students daily in hundreds of ways. That is how I would measure how good a teacher is: how do they sacrifice daily for their students.

We can not control the results.
We can not make our students learn anything.
We love. We care. We support.
We teach. We learn with.
We sacrifice daily.
Teaching is sacred.

Politicians, administrators, parents, success, failure, assessments, whatever.

I am a Teacher. I am sacred through my sacrifice.

PD Time

I feel like I have not been blogging as much lately because of the busyness of the end of the year. I find that I had lots of thoughts to blog about on Spring Break when I had the opportunity to step back and relax. I also do most of my blogging on the weekend when I have less preparation to focus on. I think one of the biggest obstacles to teachers improving their craft is time set aside to think, plan, and learn.

On Thursday I jumped into a conversation on Twitter started by John Spencer about professional development using the hashtag #edrethink . There was whining (lots by me) about how worthless the majority of PD that most districts offer. Most of the people in the discussion agreed that we need PD that is differentiated, personalized, and conversational. I personally think we need more opportunities for conversations amongst teachers.

Last year my district had a PD day with different session options to choose from. I thought it was a good idea, but for whatever reason it was not repeated this year. Personally I would design a PD day where teachers brought their three best lessons/ activities in class and their three biggest challenges. Then they would meet in small groups and discuss. Every half hour they would rotate to different groups so that there would be as many different conversations as possible.

Unfortunately teachers seem to be pressed to do more. The political climate in this country is currently quite negative toward teachers. There is an amplifying of the age old arguments about three months off and how easy it is to be a teacher. There are also the budget problems for public schools across the country. So it does not seem to be an environment where teachers will gain time in their scheduled day to converse and collaborate.

Those educators who care must dedicate their own time for their own learning and conversations. I personally "wasted" an hour that morning in this conversation, along with helping others on Twitter. Afterwards I felt refreshed at the break from all of the "stuff" that needed to be done by the conversations I participated in.

My question for you is when do you reflect on your teaching and personal learning? Do you find that it takes a concentrated effort for you to find time to think about things or are you able to do it in the midst of a stormy week? Do you see any signs of changing PD in your district from sit n' git to more personal conversations?

Iranian Revolution re-mixed

How soon we forget about last year's news. This remix by DJ Spooky AKA That Subliminal Kid AKA Paul Miller tells the story of the Iranian Election and Revolution. Enjoy!



I don't know about you but almost all of my students like hip hop.Why not make this a history project for students to create their own re-mixed video of an era of history? How about a re-mix of a science or math concept or formula with great beats and pics to go with it. I think it would make a great summative assessment instead of a test.

Here is more about DJ Spooky's latest work The Secret Song and how he meshes hip hop, history, and videos for powerful messages. Thanks to Wesley Fryer for pointing me to DJ Spooky's work.