Learning with 3D

Today, 3D learning resources and tools are used increasingly in schools. This technology needs 3D glasses for each pupil and 3D projector.  Studies about the influence of 3D in classroom show that it has a positive effect on student’s understanding and focusing on lesson. So it brings successful scores for students. Also, 3D learning tools help shy student to involve in class activities. Even teachers realize the impact of 3D on student concentration.

According to the study, which was conducted by international research agency on behalf of Texas instruments DLP products, 740 students were assessed by researchers in schools of Turkey, Sweden, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, and the UK. Researchers test the students before and after the lessons. This technique of test, which is done before and after the lessons, shows us differences between 3D and traditional teaching methods. On average, “86% of pupils in 3D classrooms improved in test results, compared to 52% of children using traditional teaching methods. It also found that attention levels soared - with 92% of the class paying attention during 3D lessons compared to 46% in the traditional learning environment”.

It seems to me that 3D will take the place of traditional teaching methods. It is used in some schools in Europe but it should be used by other part of the world. With the aid of 3D resources, students have long term learning. By experiencing virtual world, students more concentrate on lessons and they improve their scores. Also students interact with each other and this interaction enhances the attentiveness of student to the lesson. Even quiet students, who cannot involve in class activities, answer the questions of their classmates.

Students learn everything about lessons virtually and they cannot forget it easily. As an example, Students learn about the functions of the body in biology lesson by experiencing it in virtual world. 3D brings biology lesson to real life. Prof Anne Bamford who is the  Director of the International Research Agency points out that

"Children can see how things function. Instead of learning about the heart statically they can see it in a solid way, literally see blood passing through the valves, see exchange of oxygen, rotate it, tilt it and zoom in".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15115059

Mark Twain/Samuel Clemens birthday today...

That most witty and accessible of American writers, Samuel Longhome Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, was born on the 30th of November 1835. 

Probably most read are those most wonderful icons Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn, but Twain wrote a great deal of other books - he still is in fact one of America's most prolific writers - and the topics he has touched upon in his writings span almost all aspects of life.

"And why would one write about Twain on a blog on educational technology?", one might ask... because Twain had a thing or two to say about education... the technology of his day was the schoolboard, on which he had to say the following:

In the first place God made idiots. This was for practice. Then he made School Boards.

Following the Equator; Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar

_________________

"To be good is noble, but to teach others how to be good is nobler--and less trouble." 

Doctor Van Dyke speech, 1906

The first quote brings me to another reason why I believe that Twain has earned a spot on a VUB blog: his attitude towards God and religion. Though born in a family of believers, Clemens was what we would now call a 'free thinker' who questioned organised religion and the outward aspects of it. He wrote, for example, "If Christ were here now there is one thing he would not be – a Christian."

But he was not an agnost - nor did he ever reject his beliefs! He made that all-important distinction between believing and religion: "Faith is believing; what you know ain't so," and as such, he fulminated often against missionaries who abused faith for the suppression of others. Twain was also Freemason, a member of the Polar Star Lodge No. 79 in St.-Louis.

All of the above, but most of all the days of fun Mark Twain's books gave me, and millions like me, until this day, make that he deserves to be remembered here! 

University of Missouri to limit lecture recording

The following article is from eCampus News:

Under the new policy, students must first obtain written permission from their professors and classmates.

The new policy “protects the sanctity of the classroom for our students so they can freely discuss their thoughts and opinions,” said Steve Graham, senior associate vice president for academic affairs for the four-campus Missouri system.

But some Missouri professors are crying foul. They say the restrictions are impractical and contradict the public university’s goal of promoting shared knowledge.

“…We are public, taxpayer-funded faculty, and so we should think long and hard about any sort of restrictions on the rights of our students to record us as we work,” said Charles Davis, a journalism professor and former executive director of the National Freedom of Information Coalition.

The proposal, which awaits approval by campus attorneys, is a response to a video of a labor studies lecture by University of Missouri-Kansas City professor Judy Ancel. Conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart’s Big Government website obtained a leaked copy and edited hours of classroom lectures to suggest that she and a classroom colleague advocated union violence.

Launch of the GO Fight Against Malaria Project

Have you heard of "grid computing"? It's a term referring to the combination of computer resources from multiple administrative domains to reach a common goal (Wikipedia). The people behind the World Community Grid have a new project out.

This is what we read in the press release:

Malaria is one of the one of the three deadliest infectious diseases on earth and is caused by parasites that infect both humans and animals. Half of the entire human population is at risk: in 2006, 247 million people became infected with malaria. Of the nearly one million deaths caused by malaria each year, 85% of those are children.

The researchers at The Scripps Research Institute, are running the GO Fight Against Malaria project on World Community Grid to evaluate millions of candidate compounds to advance the search for new drugs that can cure patients who are infected with multi-drug-resistant mutant “superbugs” of malaria.

GO Fight Against Malaria is the nineteenth research project to be launched on World Community Grid and one of ten projects currently running on World Community Grid. The other nine research projects are:

Drug Search for Leishmaniasis (launched August, 2011

Computing for Clean Water (launched August, 2010)

The Clean Energy Project – Phase 2 (launched June, 2010)

Discover Dengue Drugs – Together – Phase 2 (launched February, 2010)

Help Cure Muscular Dystrophy – Phase 2 (launched May, 2009)

Help Fight Childhood Cancer (launched March, 2009)

Help Conquer Cancer (launched November, 2007)

Human Proteome Folding - Phase 2 (launched July, 2006)

FightAIDS@Home (launched November, 2005)

However, grid computing is considered as dangerous by some. Even though it sounds like an easy thing to do (just installing software which uses spare CPU cycles), could we be sure that the results will be used by the right people?

School App for Parents-knowing your child in school easily

With the technology of smartphone, people have more access to information, news, weather forecast...  
Therefore developers want create some apps used in smartphone to help solving practical problems in the daily life. One is the "School app"

"Imagine checking your child's school grades and lunch menu, and then emailing the principal with a quick tap—all from a dedicated application on your smartphone.

Even better, the app is free.

School districts across Oklahoma are snapping up the free apps, while many across the country and Canada are inquiring about getting a mobile application for their districts just from word-of-mouth, said Steve McDaniel, a founder of Norman-based SCHOOL CONNECT.

The app provides GPS features, push notifications, secure access to students' grades, school lunch menus, class schedules and more."

see: http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2011/11/15/13mct_okapp.h31.html

With this technology, which is free to download, parents can know exactly if their children go to the school or not, whether their children are safe in campus or on the road.

In addition, in the future, each school probably can apply this app into their teaching- sending teaching schedules, campus news, students feedbacks to parents, and may contact with teachers more easily. 

However, from a critical point of view, does this app harmful to the students' personal privacy? If everything of the children can be watched and managed by parents, it could be a bad news for children...

TOP 10 reasons to use technology in classroom

Educational Technology VUB: Connectivism - the latest in a series of theories

Hallelujah Aida! I couldn't agree more with this idea of connectivism. It's not a new idea at all but incorporates all the existing theories in a more informal process. The picture of the metro map reminds me of the Boston subway system. It's totally messy, made-up of many different colours and squiggly lines but is nevertheless connected. If we don't adjust our teaching style to this new network we are doomed to be left out of the cloud.

Connectivism - the latest in a series of theories

Connectivism - prof. Lombaert please take note -  is hailed as 'a learning theory for the digital age' - it contends that learning has changed so much over the last several decades that a new theory is in order because the existing theories (behaviourism, cognitivism, and constructivism et al.) fall short when learning moves into informal, networked, technology-enabled arena. Some principles of connectivism, according to a blog are listed here: 

• Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources. A learner can exponentially improve their own learning by plugging into an existing network.
• Learning may reside in non-human appliances. Learning (in the sense that something is known, but not necessarily actuated) can rest in a community, a network, or a database.
• Knowing where to find information is more important than knowing information.
• Learning happens in many different ways. Courses, email, communities, conversations, web search, email lists, reading blogs, etc. Courses are not the primary conduit for learning.

The list on the blog is of course a lot longer - but the elements above illustrate (IMHO) best what the technology element has to offer... although, I am not convinced that the arguments in themselves need to be ICT-based (people can network without a computer, or a book is also a non-human appliance...), but I do agree with the fact that an additional/expanded view on the theories on learning are a welcome addition to the theoretic framework

Wikipedia (in all its fallibility) actually sees similarities with the Activity theory of Vygotsky as it regards knowledge to exist within systems which are accessed through people participating in activities. It also bears some similarity with the Social Learning Theory of Bandura that proposes that people learn through contact. 

Wikipedia also traces the term 'connectivism' to a 2008 online course by Siemens and Downes delivered "Connectivism and Connective Knowledge". Downes, on his blog, defines the concept as: 

"At its heart, connectivism is the thesis that knowledge is distributed across a network of connections, and therefore that learning consists of the ability to construct and traverse those networks."

Where, according Downes, connectivism differs from existing theories theories, is that connectivism is 'connectionist', literally the set of connections formed by actions and experience. The following video tries to explain the concept...

There still is a great deal of criticism of connectivism as a theory. The most often cited is prof Plon Verhagen from the University of Twente - as retrieved from on the web - who criticises connectivism as a new theory, primarily because he can distil no new principles from connectivism that are not already present in other existing learning theories.

The jury, it seems, is still out. And I would like to see your views in this blog...

The learning machine ...

Joe's post - especially the cartoon at the end - made me remember a famous French comedy of the '80, "Les sous-doués (passent le bac)" (The under-gifted) about a bunch of under-achievers that have to pass their qualifying exams at the end of secondary school ... the plot-line is not all that important, except for the fact that the school has invested in a learning machine!

The dialogue is in French, but I am sure that everyone will get the idea...

La machine raciste

Is technology in the classroom worth the investment?

Over the past few years schools in America have invested billions to acquire the latest technologies in order to increase test scores and enhance the learning experience. In a NYTimes article by Matt Richtel one school district in Chandler, Arizona invested 33 million dollars’ in technology in the classroom only to see test scores stagnate in an effort to improve basic learning skills (See graph). While most educators would agree that technology enhances the classroom experience, there is actually little proof to show that educational technologies make students smarter. This is the one billion dollar question; if you can't quantify whether technology improves a student’s education, how do you justify its investment?

My own school has invested much in one to one computers, interactive boards and online textbooks in an effort to improve student’s growth in the classroom. The jury is still out on its effectiveness in the classroom but it certainly has made teaching more fun. In fact, as a teacher almost everything I do in the classroom is in some way or another connected the computer. On the rare days the internet goes down, or we lose power the learning process virtually shuts down. Now, I do not propose we go back to chalk boards and writing essays out in long hand but there is certainly something to say about traditional education that is free and separate from 21^st century technology.

Matt Richtel goes on to point out in another NYTimes article that employees of Google, Apple, Yahoo and Hewlet-Packard send their children to schools that do not use computers. Here you have some of the most computer savvy people in the country that believe (whether right or wrong) that a computer-free education has more value than a computer obsessed one. Simply food for thought, but there is something to be said about balancing technology in the classroom with traditional learning modules.

Solar-powered Internet School in Boksburg

After commenting on Simeon's article I looked for news on technology and education in Africa and this one on solar-powered internet schools in Boksburg (South Africa) caught my eye. 

As part of its social responsibility programme, Samsung try to address Africa’s electrification limits by “Positively impacting lives”. The solar-powered, mobile and completely independent classroom is geared at increasing accessibility to education and connectivity across Africa. It is designed particularly for use in remote rural areas with limited or no access to electricity. The solar panels are made of rubber and can power the classroom’s devices for up to 9 hours daily.

[JV]Having recently re-visited South Africa, possibly the most developed of the sub-saharan African nations, I remain shocked that - other for reasons of energy efficiency - the country still has areas where  these types of projects make sense. But, as the article continues, South Africa can export its insights to the rest of the continent...

The Solar Powered Internet Schools model addresses one of Africa's largest economic challenges - electrification. On average, less than 25% of rural areas on the continent benefit from electricity, resulting in isolated communities with limited access to education and connectivity both of which are key to fast-tracking a nation's development.

Each classroom is fitted with an electronic E-board and different Samsung notebooks and netbooks, including the solar powered netbooks and Galaxy tablets for student and teacher interface, all of which are optimised for use in a solar powered environment. According to KK Park, president and CEO of Samsung Electronics Africa

"The amount of power generated by the schools each day means they can be used beyond the traditional school day as an adult education centre in the afternoons or a community centre over weekends. Our goal was to create an environment that would facilitate learning for whole communities in remote areas that otherwise don't have access to education tools or internet connectivity."

All over Africa, similar initiatives are springing up. This container being transported along a remote Zambian road holds one of three ZubaBox internet cafes that technology charity Computer Aid International has set up in Kenya and Zambia since 2010. Zuba is the word for Sun in Nyanja - a language spoken in Zimbabwe, Malawi and Southern Zambia - the area where the first ZubaBox was deployed to harness power from the sun and provide internet connectivity for the community.

The ZubaBox has been designed to help rural communities access the IT and internet, which can have a huge impact on poverty reduction. Additionally, learning IT skills at school means children will be able to gain better paid employment in the future. In 2008, the UN found that there were only 5.6 internet users in Zambia per 100 people, compared to nearly 80 internet users per 100 people in the UK.

The internet cafes, the first of which was installed in early 2010, have brought internet connectivity to communities in sub-Saharan Africa in an effort to boost IT skills, education and day-to-day communications in remote rural areas.

[JV]: As I said in an earlier comment, it is not so much the access to technology in itself that is important, but the access to knowledge that such technology brings. In that sense, it does not have to be the latest gadget that will power the knowledge society's first steps in Africa, but old, often discarded pc's that organisations such as Computer Aid refurbish for a 'second life'. And that's I Second Life I can wholeheartedly support!

Young Kids Learn Tech Skills Before 'Life Skills'

I guess the comment I placed under the article on toddlers and technology got me thinking ... and I did some research. According to a new ‘Digital Diaries’ study from Internet Security Company AVG,

"Small children today are more likely to navigate with a mouse, play a computer game and increasingly – operate a smartphone – than swim, tie their shoelaces or make their own breakfast."

The AVG Digital Diaries is a series of studies looking at how children's interaction with technology has changed. In one of the studies, researchers polled 2,200 mothers with Internet access and with children aged 2-5 in the U.S., Canada, the EU5 (U.K., France, Italy, Germany, Spain), Japan, Australia and New Zealand. The mothers were given a list of tech skills and a list of life skills and asked which ones their very young children had mastered. Some of the results are as follows:

1. More kids aged 2-5 can play with a smartphone application (19 percent) than tie his or her shoelaces (9 percent). 
2. Almost as many 2-3 year olds (17 percent) can play with a smartphone application as 4-5 year olds (21 percent)
3. There is no tech gender divide between young boys and girls. As many boys (58 percent) as girls (59 percent) can play a computer game or make a mobile phone call (28 percent boys, 29 percent girls)
4. European children aged 2-5 lead their U.S. counterparts in knowing how to make a mobile phone call (44 percent in Italy vs. 25 percent for the U.S.), playing a computer game (70 percent U.K. vs. 61 percent U.S.) and operating a computer mouse (78 percent France vs. 67 percent U.S.)

The study received quite some attention - and criticism.  One of the more recurrent commentaries was that "It's much harder to learn how to swim or learn how to ride a bike than move your wrist or press a button..." and that it requires a different set of skills to successfully ride a bike than to use a computer. 

A more profound study on the use of touch screen technology in early learning, undertaken as part of a study for the U.S. Department of Education Ready to Learn Media Grant, the Michael Cohen Group contends that there is a compelling case for using touch screen devices as learning tools - but the study also places a lot of emphasis on the design of the learning app's that "...is as critical as the platform and needs to be intuitive in order to easily afford access."

According to the study, from a developmental perspective iPad usage can be organized in six ability and preference categories. These categories include: 

1. motor skills
2. approaches to exploration
3. game concept
4. generalization of skills
5. preferences for activities and designs
6. comprehension of App interface

The study makes some recommendations on application design, both from a usability and a content perspective and ends with an interesting overview table, including recommendations.

AVG's Tony Anscombe, meanwhile, recommends finding a healthy equilibrium between tech and tradition, and urges parents to exercise what he calls their "digital responsibility." Anscombe thinks that today's parents "need to look at making sure that we give our children a balanced life and a mix of both life skills and technical skills." I couldn't agree more.