About a month ago I wrote a blog post about Augmented Reality and gave a demo using my own webcam and home PC.  I showed this technology off at the CEGSA conference too where a lot of teachers were blown away by the idea and the power of the tool.  The more I look into this, the faster it grows and the more I wonder whether eventually we’ll be able to get rid of hard surface IWBs and the Webcam will take over for us!

Augmented Reality even made it onto the Channel 9 news this morning! Uni SA are also offering a seminar on the subject next Wednesday if anyone is interested.  It should be great.  Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend as I’m training some lovely teachers on IWBs that afternoon but I will be tuning into the webcast afterwards.    You need to email in if you’re planning to attend – All the details can be found here  

Playing music in the air! I wonder if he can make an AR air guitar?

Since I wrote that article I’ve had a few people contact me about AR projects that they are involved in.  This morning one such person emailed me with a link to his own research project into using AR for educational and rehabilitation.  I’ve just been playing with a full body piano  and flapping about in mid air squashing odd numbers!  Great fun   Here’s a link to Dr Masciopinto’s work if you’re interested (His site is available in English and Italian)

Please keep the comments coming.  If you know of any good AR software please let me know. There seems such a demand I may start adding them into the resources library under AR Here’s a game of Dominoes to get you started

When i first saw that this search term had appeared on the site my initial reaction was “You’ll be lucky!” It’s very rare that I ever come across anyone offering a Free Interactive Whiteboard! Then I got thinking… What if we could have a free, online interactive whiteboard? Perhaps we already have a board but don’t like the software it came with. What then? I’ve done some digging and here are some examples of IWBs that are free (but without hardware!)

Web based -collaborative whiteboards:

I’ve come across three web applications that are definitely worth a mention.

1. Dabbleboard

Import Pdf, Docs and other files and write over the top of them

Dabbleboard runs in your web browser and, just like the other two web applications in this list, requires the Internet in order for it to work.  The application also includes built in voice and video chat ( Via Tokbox)so you could feasibly connect more than one classroom together to work on the same idea. It allows you to import PDFs, DOCs and excel sheets directly into it – so that you can annotate them.

You can have multiple pages and navigate between them.  There is a small gallery of down loadable items available although this is not in anyway extensive. You can add your own drawings to your library and use them again later.
Basic pen functionality is possible with pen, highlighter and eraser along with the options of changing colour and size.  It also has built in shape and line recognition.

It’s very easy to use too

2. Scriblink.

The Maths tools in ScribLink are excellent!

Scriblink looks great.  It also has VOIP built in and the usual basic tool pen functionality. It doesn’t have shape recognition but it does allow you to  draw perfect circles and squares. You can not import a document to work on but you can import your own images.

The best thing about this particular application is it’s integrated use of STIMO maths tools.  These beat Promethean’s paid for software hands down! A plug in from LaTex allows maths teachers to create both complex and simple mathematic equations and then drop them onto the page.  (It would be possible to use LaTex’s tool online and drop the result straight into Activ Inspire /Notebook if you wished to)

The usual functions of print, save, send are available making it easy for you to keep and share notes with your students/participants.  Only caters for one page. You must have Java installed on your machine to use this application.

3. Group Board.

There are 8 people in this conversation. The Chat applet is reminiscent of MIRC

Group board requires that you have your own website and some basic web editing tools;  it would be great on something like a VLE or Wiki.

There are two options,  Single user or Group Mode. There’s a demo version you can play with here.  When I popped in I got chatting to some very talented artists who were “doodling” on the board.

Pages can be saved to a gallery to be accessed (and modified) later by other users.  You must have Java installed on your machine to use this application.

This is also available as an Iphone / I pad app.

Other Online Whiteboards:

http://www.imaginationcubed.com/

Freeware and Shareware Interactive Whiteboard Software:

Coming soon…

]]> http://www.teachertechnologies.com/2010/07/free-interactive-whiteboard/feed/ 0 http://www.teachertechnologies.com/2010/07/iboard-player/ http://www.teachertechnologies.com/2010/07/iboard-player/#comments Thu, 01 Jul 2010 23:16:18 +0000 admin http://www.teachertechnologies.com/?p=942

A whole host of free, online IWB resources and games. No downloading available though so you’ll need a good internet connection in your classroom. Primary focused but well recommended.

Click here

Flash animations for teaching science. They also include a tool kit that you can use to create your own animations. Covers:

Biology, Chemistry and Physics for senior seondary science.

Click here

“PhET Interactive Simulations is an ongoing effort to provide an extensive suite of simulations to improve the way that physics, chemistry, biology, earth science and math are taught and learned. The simulations are interactive tools that enable students to make connections between real life phenomena and the underlying science which explains such phenomena. Our team of scientists, software engineers and science educators use a research-based approach – incorporating findings from prior research and our own testing – to create simulations that support student engagement with and understanding of scientific concepts. ”

Click here

A site with an interactive periodic table. You click on the elements to see a short video about it. Created by the University of Nottingham UK.

Click here

“This site offers a growing bank of imaginative, highly visual teaching-aids developed for use with interactive whiteboards in 11-18 Schools.
The resources are designed to be used as rich sources of visually stimulating material, making use of both animations and drag and drop interactivity. The appropriate Key Stage is indicated for each resource. It is hoped that the resources will help students to make sense of some of the more challenging concepts they encounter.”

Click here

From the makers of Crocodile Clips, this website containts hundreds of free IWB animations for KS4/KS5 (Senior Secondary) Chemistry and Physics.

Click here

I’ve been hearing on the grape vine that SMART are planning to introduce Augmented Reality into their range of products. They’re planning to do this using their document camera……

www.arsights.com
Google Earth
Camera used: Logitech C600

Here’s SMART’s protype in action

In honor of thenerdyteacher (A very knowledgable EDtech blogger) this all reminds me of one of my favourite UK TV shows we had when were kids… You worked in a team. One of the members was blinded by a very fetching helmet, the other three guided them through a virtual castle on quests. Reality was augmented using Kromekey in those days!

Here’s a list of places where you can find and create your own AR experiences. Anyone fancy re-making Knightmare?

The first post in a series on using ICT to teach English. I will look at features we find in word and excel which can be used to help students explore literary texts.

Great for :

UK APP

AF5 – explain and comment on writers’ use of language, including grammatical and literary features at word and sentence level AF3 – deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas from texts

AU ACARA

Evaluative vocabulary – Strength of feelings, opinions and judgments can be adjusted through choice of vocabulary (including adjectives and adverbs) and images (E7LNG2) Vocabulary expansion – How vocabulary choices enable greater precision, technicality and interest (E7LNG5) Engaging with texts - Use evidence from literary texts to develop arguments that support or refute opinions on aspects of literary texts (E6LTR3)

In this post, I’m going to show you how the use of drop down fields can help students explore descriptive verbs and how the author’s choice of vocabulary is key to developing the themes or moods in a piece of writing[1]. Of course, I will also walk you through, step by step, the process required to create the drop down fields in the first place!

Start your lesson by giving your students a hard copy of the text with all of the options on show.  Ask them to circle the word which they feel is most effective.  (In the past I have given students the same text but, in groups, have given them a different effect to create – this affects their choice and can initiate some excellent conversations about the power of word choice). It is important to discuss with the students what kind of atmosphere or mood you want them to create.

Next, I’d provide the students with an interactive version.  This version is a word document which contains drop down fields.  I would invite each group of students to come to the front and manipulate the text to show the words that they have chosen.  As a whole class we can then discuss the choices they have made, discuss their effectiveness etc.  (AF5 – level 5 - Comments show some awareness of the effect of writer’s language choices, e.g. ‘“inked up” is a good way of describing how the blackberries go a bluey black colour as they ripen’)

Now give them the text that you want them to identify mood in.  Ask them to identify the writer’s view point, now, invite them to identify how the writer is creating that view through word choice.  I bet they won’t need much more help.  The results are usually fantastic – you’ve already got them warmed up!

so.. how do we create our own drop down fields?

(I am using Office 2007 – for instructions for an earlier version of office please click here)

Type in the text that you would like to use with your class; in this example I am using a chapter from the novel Skellig by David Almond.

His joints creaked as he slowly rose from the floor.  He whimpered in pain.  He leaned against us.  He tottered and wobbled as he rose.  He was taller than us, tall than Dad.  We felt how thin he was, how extraordinarily light he was.  We had our arms around him.  Our fingers touched behind his back.

In order to create drop down fields (In Office 2007 onwards) you will need to have access to the “Developers” ribbon.  You can make this appear by following the instructions below from Microsoft:

The developer toolbar which appears should then look like this:

The "Developer" ribbon in Office 2007

The purple circle indicates the area on the toolbar where you will find the fields options. We will use these icons to create the drop down fields for our exercise.

Highlight the word that you want to create a drop down field on (do this by going to the end of the word, left clicking and holding down that mouse button whilst you drag your cursor over the word) To replace that word with a drop down field simply press the briefcase with the spanner and hammer on and select the drop down field menu from the panel that appears. (See image below)

The result will be that the word you highlighted will be replaced with a blank, grey box.  Double left click on this box. A menu will appear in which you can add the options that will appear in your drop down box.  Type a word that you’d like to use in the box on the top left and then press “Add” to add it to the list.  Continue this process until you have all of the words you wish to use in your list.

Repeat this process every time you want to insert a drop down list over a word.

You will notice that at the moment none of the field boxes are allowing you drop down anything.  This is because you have to tell the document that you have finished adding your fields and then lock them in place. Follow these instructions to complete the process and make your document ready for use:

Now that it’s all locked, when you click on the grey box you will see a small arrow appear prompting you to drop down the menu and choose. When you select one the option will replace what was there before.  Allowing you to see what the sentence might look like with that choice and to discuss and change in effect.

This is an excellent way to draw pupils’ attention to the effects that carefully chosen vocabulary can have on a narrative.

My top tips when using this in class:

1. Always give student ‘think time’ before using the interactive version you have created.  It is important that they have had time to work out which would they would use and why.  The discussion in this lesson will become the main point of learning.
2. Change the options by selecting one in the drop down list and discuss its effects.  Encourage students to think about the words as paints on a canvas; what picture are the words painting in the readers mind.  I.e. If we choose limped or tiptoed how much information is that giving us than the word “walked”
3. Get the students to demonstrate.  I often ask on student to walk across the room and pretend to get agitated telling them “not like that – you know walk…” then as they get annoyed with me I ask them what information they need and they always tell me “well how do you want me to walk?” at which point we can change the word to tiptoe, creep etc.

There are lots of different ways you can use this method too:

• A Simple close exercises with multiple choice
• Try changing the Mood of a standard piece of writing by changing some options then look at a piece of writing and ask the students to identify how the author creates mood and atmosphere with language
• To explore word level language features of any kind.

Experiment and be creative !