Augmented Reality

In this class' TECH assignment we got to experiment with different Augmented Reality (AR) apps, as well as read how we can incorporate them into our lesson planning.

I found the article that we read to be interesting and helpful. it talked about the applications that AR apps can have in the classroom as well as gave us some sample apps that could be used. The article also talked about some tips to use when preparing a lesson with AR. one of the most important in my eyes was testing the app before you use it, having a prior knowledge would allow you to help with questions that came about as the students were using them.

We were able to use two different types of AR apps, targeted and non-targeted. From the non-targeted apps I used two called Virtual Snow and Dinosaurs. they both were very interesting apps, however there was not an exceeding amount of depth to either of the apps. with the Dinosaurs app I was able to see information on the different types of dinosaurs that appeared on the screen, however there only seemed to be about four types of dinosaurs. The Virtual Snow app was far less informative, I was only able to change the type of snow and the amount of it, it did not have any real educational information about snow.

From the Targeted group of apps I chose to look at Anatomy 4D and Quiver. The Anatomy app was particularly interesting because of the depth that it went into, I was able to manipulate the different parts of the body that I was looking at and remove ones that I was not focusing on. I fee like this would be a wonderful app to use in the classroom to show students different aspects of anatomy. The Quiver app however seems more designed towards entertainment than education. it allows users to color in pages and see those pages brought to life with the app. It had several different types of packs that included educational material, however those had to be purchased.

These types of apps could be useful in several different classroom settings. I can see these apps being used during seat work time to allow students to reinforce the concepts from earlier in the lesson by way of exploration. I think that the more these apps develop, the more extensive and informative they would become.

iPad apps for Education

In this section we were asked to review several apps from various disciplines that could assist in education within our chosen level. As I am elementary education i am looking at these apps and how they could help in a K-6 setting.

The fist app that I looked at was an app called iMathematics. This program has an overview of multiple aspects of math as well as topics within those aspects. The app allows for a note taking functionality, as well as the ability to favorite different topics. The app also had several different calculator functions that would assist students in doing their work.the one drawback to the app is that it requires a payment to unlock every function of the app.

The second app that I looked at was the Skype app. this app is a communication app that allows people to video chat and talk to anyone else who has Skype. this program could be particularly useful when students are learning about another culture or even another language. there are ways to connect with experts on specific topics as well as connect with other classrooms to learn about education in other countries. the drawbacks to this app are that both parties have to be available, and thus communicating with people around the world could be difficult.

The next app that I looked at was the Virtuoso Piano app. This app gives a simulation of a piano that students can play and listen to. This app is very beneficial because actual pianos are extremely expensive and would not be conductive to have multiple ones in a classroom. This app allows for students to have more of a well rounded education in the areas of the arts.

The fourth app that I looked at was the app called Constitution. This app contains the entire text of the constitution as well as the amendments that have been put into it. This app also includes background information on every section and amendment of the constitution as well as the signers. The layout of this app allows for students to learn information by discovery and to look more in depth into the sections that interest them.

The last app that I looked into was the NASA app. This is an app that has pictures, news articles, videos, and other information about NASA and its missions through space. With this app students can look into the most ambitious exploration attempts in the history of mankind. there are detailed articles for students to look into to feed their questions about what lies outside of earth.

All of these apps have a great potential to effective in the educational environment. I believe that students of all ages could learn from them.

iPad Literacy

For this class' assignment we were asked to review a few different types of apps, a Dictionary app, a Grammar or spelling app, a Drawing app, and a Story telling app.

I first looked at the dictionary app, Merriam-Webster, I have used the internet site for Webster before and I found the app to be similar in construction. I appreciate the way that they layout the words and explain them to help give people mastery of them. I also like the amount of background information that is given in a word that is not possible in an actual book format. I feel like if this were used in a classroom it would provide opportunities for curious students to explore more about words rather than simply retrieving a definition.

Second, I took a look at the app My Spelling Test. it provides some interesting features like being able to let children take a spelling test at their own pace. the teacher in the video also used a smart board in conjunction with the app to allow the student to move around and be out of their seat. I like the premise of this app, however unless there is a iPad for every student I do not see it as being practical in a classroom. However if a child has their own technology it could defiantly be used as a study tool.

The Next app I looked at was called Drawing Pad. This app is used to make pictures using different types of brushes, markers, pens, and backgrounds. I liked using this app, it had several different types of mediums to paint and draw with. one of the things that surprised me in this app what the assortment of different brushes to use even in the paint section. It had multiple widths and styles of brushes that all did different things when making a drawing. One of the ways that I see this working in a classroom is if there are centers set up, this could be a cool way to asses students by having them create a visual representation of whatever the subject is for that day.

Finally I looked at the app, Puppet Pals. Out of all the apps I looked at for this assignment i liked this one the most. it was a fun app that was very easy to use. This app is designed to create puppet shows with pre-loaded characters, and the user can input their voice to create the dialogue. there are several genres to choose from when creating a show, as well as several characters and backdrops in those genres. This app is very simple and intuitive allowing for people to grasp the concepts of using it very easily. I can see this app having an abundance of uses in history settings, by making the students retell the events in history through a puppet show.

TECH Assignment 1

For our first ed tech class we were asked to pick an Apple program and compare it to a similar program published by Microsoft. For this entry I chose to compare Power Point and Keynote.

First off I noticed several similarities between Power Point and Keynote, the most obvious of them being that they are both designed to display and present information. Another similarity that I noticed is the features, both applications have ways to add animations and transitions into a presentation to make it more visually appealing. and the last similarity that I noticed is that both of these programs is that on  the iPad you can link them up to save directly into cloud servers to save your presentations so that you do not take up the storage on your device.
I also noticed a few differences between the programs. the first of which is that Keynote is much more user friendly than Power Point. It had a very intuitive feel that made manipulating the aspects of the presentation much easier. It also was able to sync up between devices and make presenting the work much more streamlined and easier.

We were also asked to make a Box.net account and use it and respond. Box.net is a cloud storage site, one of the biggest flaws I saw when dealing with the app was that when I tried to upload a pages file from the iPad it would not let me access the device's storage. It would only let me access other cloud storage options such as Dropbox or iCloud. I have used Dropbox for several years and prefer it to Box.net.

We also used an app called iThought which is used for brainstorming, we were asked what kind of application this would have in the classroom. the main perk that I can see for using this in the classroom would be during whole class discussions when talking about a single topic and getting feedback from the students. In this scenario a teacher would be able to help the students create a visual representation of their thoughts.

lastly we were asked to compare two different Browsing apps for the iPad. One being safari and the other being Rover. The design and feel for the both of these was very similar. I felt like they would both be comparable, save for the fact that rover is streamed to the iPad from an outside server. Because of this, Rover uses much more bandwidth than the regular safari app. I believe that i would prefer to use the safari browsing app over the Rover app, simply because of he fact that there are more possibilities for problems to arise with the rover app, such as the server needing to work properly, data usage, and bandwidth consumption.