The November 24th airing of the second episode of Charlie Rose's The Brain Series, The Perceiving Brain, is currently on the front page of the Charlie Rose website. I couldn't find an embeddable version of this episode, but I was able to find the transcript, linked below:
Transcript: The Perceiving Brain
Charlie Rose Brain Series
"The Charlie Rose Brain Series explores one of sciences final frontiers, the study of the human brain. Over the next year Charlie will interview the most knowledgeable scientists and researchers in hopes of illuminating a new topic of study. Each monthly episode will examine different subjects of the brain, including perception, social interaction, aging and creativity.
We will also look at scientific discovery and advances in technology, in the hope that someday terrible illnesses such as depression, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s will be history. Our special colleague on this journey is Dr. Eric Kandel. He is a psychiatrist and neuroscientist and professor at Columbia University. He’s also affiliated with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He received the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 2000 for his research into the biological mechanisms of learning and memory."
RELATED
The Charlie Rose Science Series, Part One: The Human Brain (Earlier version, from 2006)
Brain Disease
Thursday, November 26, 2009
The Brain Series on Charlie Rose: The Perceiving Brain - Sight and Visual Perception
Saturday, November 21, 2009
"Image Reveal" application for the SMART Table, by Vectorform.
The SMART Table from Smart Technologies now features the Image Reveal application, created by Vectorform, that supports multi-touch, multi-user collaborative learning activities for children. The Image Reveal is the first third-party application published for the SMART Table, and is available for free from the SMART website.
"Vectorform was eager to collaborate with SMART to create an early learning application for the SMART Table, which it feels is a groundbreaking technology product. Image Reveal enables young users to collaborate and answer a series of multiple choice questions in a chosen subject area. Each correct answer uncovers part of a hidden image until it is fully visible. Alternatively, students can guess what the hidden image is at any time to win the game. Using the SMART Table Toolkit, teachers can customize content, including subject area, hidden image, questions and answers, and use images to tailor questions and answers for pre-literate learners." -SMART Tech Press Release
SMART Table Introductory Video:
It is good news to see that SMART Technologies is providing new applications for the SMART Table. There is much room for growth in this field. However, the applications still have the look and feel of electronic workbooks, with a few interactive media bells and whistles tossed in to ensure that the system appeals to young learners. I wonder if the application supports teaching the skills needed for children to successfully work together, such turn-taking, negotiating with other children in a group situation, or settling differences of opinion.
Classrooms in elementary schools now contain a growing number of students who have autism spectrum disorders, as well as other disabilities that interfere with social interaction. For this reason, it would be important to learn if SMART Table applications follow the guidelines for Universal Design for Learning(UDL).
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
School Psychology Awareness Week
School psychologists promote positive possibilities and encourage gratitude towards others during National School Psychology Awareness Week—November 9–13, 2009
Bethesda, MD—The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) has designated November 9–13, 2009 as National School Psychology Awareness Week. This year’s theme, “See the possibilities in you. We do!” seeks to shine a light on the positive work school psychologists do to promote the possibilities for academic and personal success in the lives of the students they serve. The program involves a series of resources and activities that school psychologists can use to reach out to school staff, students and parents to help students feel connected, supported, and ready to achieve their individual goals.
NASP represents more than 25,500 school psychologists who work in schools and other education and health settings. School psychologists work with parents and educators to ensure that every child has the mental health and learning support they need to succeed in school and life. This year’s program focuses promoting students’ positive attitudes and competence by highlighting student strengths and the many ways schools reinforce those strengths. Specifically, school psychologists will be recognizing students who make significant progress toward their goals through the “Student POWER Award” Program and honoring adult members of the school community who contribute in an outstanding way to improved outcomes for students through the “Possibilities in Action Partner” Program.
“Adults make many important contributions to the development of children. Seeing and advancing the possibilities within students, even in the face of difficulties, is critical to helping them achieve their best in school, at home, and in life.” says NASP President Patti Harrison. “Some people go above and beyond, making extraordinary efforts to promote students’ competencies, create opportunities for children to meet their goals, and expand schools’ capacity to foster success. We want to recognize these adults who are partners for ‘Possibilities in Action’ and have been admirable influences on the lives of children.”
Additionally this year, NASP is launching the “Gratitude Works” Program, an effort to have students around the country write letters of gratitude to someone who has made a difference in their life or the lives of others. The “Gratitude Works” Program seeks to reinforce students’ practice of gratitude as one of many prosocial behaviors that can foster individual resilience and well-being as well as contribute to overall positive school climate. Promoting positive attitudes, such as gratitude, helps students become more aware of the strengths in themselves and others. Research has revealed that children who feel and express gratitude express more positive views of both home and school and improve their academic performance.
School psychologists around the country are working with teachers to help students identify and honor school staff, family members, students, and other educators or community members who contribute to their ability to achieve their best. Some students are choosing to write letters of gratitude to people who they do not even know personally, such as military servicemen and women and emergency responders.
As part of National School Psychology Awareness Week, NASP has developed downloadable and adaptable resources to help school psychologists participate in these programs. Further information on these programs, school psychologists and the contribution they make in guiding student success is available online at http://www.nasponline.org/communications/index.aspx.
For further information contact NASP Director of Marketing and Communications, Kathy Cowan at (301) 347-1665 or kcowan@naspweb.org, or visit www.nasponline.org.
RELATED
Ready to Learn, Empowered to Teach, Excellence in Education for the 21st Century: National Association of School Psychologists' Guiding Principles for Effective Education
http://www.nasponline.org/advocacy/2008educationpolicydocument.pdf
NASP
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Technology and Mental Health Research at Trinity College Dublin: Supporting Teens through Mental Health Games & Mobile Apps
In my last post, I mentioned some of the work in technology and mental health by researchers at Trinity College. PlayWrite is a system that is designed for mental health professionals to create and adapt 3D computer games designed for therapeutic activities with teens, and can incorporate a variety of treatment approaches. In includes a dialogue builder that can incorporate written and spoken questions. PlayWrite can also be used to adapt exisiting games.
The Personal Investigator game was created using PlayWrite and provides solution-focused conversational strategies that are mapped onto various game areas. The game is available tor trial purposes for use by mental health professionals and researchers. You can request a trial by contacting Dr. Gavin Doherty: Gavin.Doherty at cs.tcd.ie
Coyle, D., Matthews, M., Sharry, J., Nisbet, A., & Doherty, G. (2005). Personal Investigator: A Therapeutic 3D Game for Adolescent Psychotherapy. International Journal of Interactive Technology and Smart Education, 2, 73-88
As a school psychologist, I'd like to have a chance to work with the above applications. Even more, I'd like to try out two applications that the Trinity College team designed for use on mobile phones, My Mobile Story and Mobile Mood Diary.
I think this concept would work. Why?
In my observations of students in high school classrooms, I've recently come across the phenomenon of students texting on their cell phones, underneath their desks, without looking, out of sight of the teacher, but not out-of-sight of an observant school psychologist!
Matthews, M., Doherty, G., Sharry, J., & Fitzpatrick, C. (2008). Mobile Phone Mood Charting for Adolescents. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 36(2), 113-129.
(I'll post more about this soon.)
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Multi-User Virtual Environments for Kids, Teens, & College Students
A while ago, I wrote a post, Interactive Multimedia for Social Skills, Understanding Feelings, Relaxation, and Coping Strategies, that continues to get hits from readers looking for on-line social skills resources. Since that post, there has been a growing interest in the use of multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) and related interactive games for children, teens, and young adults. MUVEs appear to have the potential to help young people develop important social skills, such as cooperation, collaboration, and teamwork.
In this post, I'll focus on Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs) and also take a look at 3D game/virtual world environments designed to support social/communication skills and mental health.
Whyville
Whyville was one of the first virtual environments for children, established in 1999. It is currently sponsored by the Center for Disease Control, the Getty Museum, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Whyville Virtual World Tour (2008)
Resources
Everything Whyville!
QUEST ATLANTIS
Quest Atlantis was created by Sasha Barab, the Jacobs Chair in Learning Sciences, Indiana University. In classroom settings, students work together on computers as a team to learn science, math, reading, and writing in a game-based virtual environment. The following video is from the Learning Channel. Sasha Barab, Beth Spataro, a teacher, and students discuss their experiences with Quest Atlantis at the Rogers-Herr Middle School in Durham, North Carolina.
Virtual Mesa Verde
"The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has granted more than $1.8 million to the Indiana University School of Education to expand the immersive learning environment "Quest Atlantis."...Sasha Barab, associate professor and Jacobs Chair in Learning Sciences and Instructional Systems Technology and the director of the Center for Research on Learning and Technology, created the Quest Atlantis project. It is a learning and teaching tool for students ages 9-12 that uses a 3-D, multiuser environment to immerse children in educational tasks."
Resources:
Quest Atlantis Research Site
IJLM International Journal of Learning and Media (beta) Transformational Play and Virtual Worlds: Worked Examples From The Quest Atlantis Project
Conceptual Play
Learning Gains
Thomas, M.K., Barab, S.A., Tuzun, H. Developing Critical Implementations of Technology-Rich Innovations: A Cross-Case Study of the Implementation of Quest Atlantis (pdf) J.Educational Computing Research, 41(2) pp. 125-153, 2009.
Barab, S. A., Gresalfi, M., & Arici, A. (2009).Why Educators Should Care About Games. Educational Leadership 67(1), pp. 76-80.
Barab, S., Thomas, M., Dodge, T., Carteaux, R., & Tuzun, H. (2005). Making Learning Fun: Quest Atlantis, A Game Without Guns (pdf) Educational Technology Research and Development, (53)1, 86-107
EcoMUVE
EcoMUVE is an ecosystems science curriculum for middle school students that is an outgrowth of the River City project developed by Chris Dede and his colleagues at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Video of an early build of EcoMUVE
Resources
River City Research
Metcalf, S. J., Clarke, J. and Dede, C. (2009) Virtual Worlds for Education: River City and EcoMUVE,(pdf) Media In Transition International Conference, MIT, April 24-26, 2009, Cambridge, MA.
NASA MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online)
Astronaut: Moon, Mars and Beyond
Resources
Learning Technologies NASA STEM Learning MMO Games Plan (pdf)
Overview of the GSFC Integrated Design Center (IDC) Including the Mission Design Lab(MDL) and the Instrument Design Lab (IDL) (pdf)
NASA MMO FAQs
EduSim
EduSim has evolved since I last featured it on this blog. According to the EduSim website, maintained by Rich White, EduSim is a 3D multi-user virtual world and authoring toolkit designed for use on classroom interactive whiteboards, but also used on laptops and desktop computers. The application is a version of the core Open Cobalt Metaverse Project.
"Edusim has been tested and works on the Smartboard, Activeboard, Interwriter, Polyvision, Mimio, eBeam, and even the Wiimote Whiteboard. Edusim is extendable allowing multiple classrooms to connect their interactive whiteboards for collaborative learning session. Edusim as a concept seeks to model a new we to engage student through "immersive touch" by leveraging 3D virtual environments on the interactive surface or classroom interactive whiteboard."
RuneScape
Constance Steinkuehler is an educational researcher who focuses on massively multiplayer online games and virtual worlds from the perspective of learning sciences and new literacy studies. She's an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is affiliated with the UW-Madison Games, Learning & Society (GLS) group.
According to a post on the Massively website, "Steinkuehler has announced that she's got the Nation Academy of Education / Spencer Post-Doctorial Fellowship to do a cognitive ethnography on RuneScape. The study aims to show the educational merit of games designed for and played by youths instead of adults, which is what is typically studied, and to examine the impact of gameplay on their everyday lives, social relationships and school work...Cognitive ethnography is used to study the processes that effect the work carried out within a setting, whilst noting the effect of the material world and social context of the actions and social practices carried out. To put it in a simpler way, it studies how the social norms and social structures are created for a group of people who share a common culture, in this case RuneScapeplayers. You can read her proposal abstract over at her blog." -Jon Shute
Skateboarding for Real in World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft: Intergenerational WoW Study, Focus on At-Risk Youth
Jason Allaire, a gamer and psychology professor at NC State, has a proposal to involve 100 high school students considered to be "at-risk" in an after-school program, with mentors, aged 60 years old or older. Jason is involved in the Gains Through Gaming Lab, a collaboration between NCSU and Georgia Tech.
SECOND LIFE
I haven't posted about Second Life in a long while. There is quite a bit of catching up to do. Here is a short introduction to Second Life, using a garden as a metaphor:
Teen Second Life - Info from the Teen Second Life Wiki:
"The Teen Second Life was created to provide a safe place for education projects for those 13-17 years old. Unlike main Second Life, in the Teen Second Life, Linden Lab significantly restricts entry, purchase of land, and activities to those that support the education projects in Teen Second Life...Linden Lab only allows adults (anyone 18 and older) in the Teen Second Life who have had a background check completed, and who are either educators responsible for an education project in the Teen Second Life, developers assisting in the development of projects in the Teen Second Life, or the person responsible for managing activities on business islands in the Teen Second Life...Adults and businesses in Teen Second Life do not have any access to the Teen Second Life Mainland (Teen Second Life); that area is reserved exclusively for Teens."
According to information from Vimeo, Teens in Chicago and New York went digging for fossils in Zambia this summer, without leaving home, thanks to a technology enhanced science camp run by Chicago’s Field Museum in partnership with Global Kids. Watch the video produced by Ben Wolff.
I Dig from Spotlight on Vimeo.
Resources
Global Kids
University Applications of Second Life
Claudia Kimbrough used Second Life in two College of Management courses at North Carolina State University, part of the Learning in a Technology-Rich Environment (LITRE) research program. These courses were taught in 2007.
Resources:
Virtually Online Learning and Teaching (VOLT)
LITRE
Second Life in Nursing Education
The video below demonstrates a patient simulation in the virtual world of Second Life by MUVErs, used in nursing courses, with funding from University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, Accelerated BSN program.
Medical Simulation in the Virtual World of Second Life
Multi-touch Second Life - 100" screen with modules for sensing, integrated with opensim client.
100" Multi touch screen with Second Life from junhee, yeo on Vimeo
The following video shows how the above system works with Zentitum Wonder Island:
100" MultiTouch System with Zenitum Wonder Island from junhee, yeo on Vimeo.
IMG512 is the Interactive Media Group of Zenitum Entertainment Computing, in Seoul, Korea. The team focuses on interaction and user interface design, including multi-touch, gesture, and other means of physical computing.
David Coyle, PI and PlayWrite
Personal Investigator(PI)
Personal Investigator is a 3D game designed for teens that implements Solution Focused Therapy.
PlayWrite
PlayWrite "is a system which allows mental health care professionals to create and adapt therapeutic 3D computer games, which can then be used in adolescent mental health interventions."
Resources
Coyle, D., Doherty, G., & Sharry, J. (2009). An Evaluation of a Solution Focused Computer Game in Adolescent Interventions.Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 14(3) pp345-360
Coyle, D., & Doherty, G. (2009). Clinical evaluations and collaborative design: developing new technologies for mental healthcare interventions. ACM CHI'09 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. pp.2051-2060.http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1518701.1519013
Coyle, D., Doherty, G. (2008) Designing Adaptable Technologies for Talk-Based Mental Health Interventions (pdf). ACM CHI'09 Technology in Mental Health worksop
Coyle, D., Doherty, G., Sharry, J., & Matthews, M. (2007). Computers in Talk-Based Mental Health Care. Interacting with Computers, 19(4), pp.545-562. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.intcom.2007.02.001. (abstract)
Coyle, D., Doherty, G., & Sharry, J. (2005). Adaptable Computer Gaming for Adolescent Psychotherapy - Extended Abstract.CyberPsychology and Behavior, 8(4), pp.311-312.
Coyle, D., Matthews, M., Sharry, J., Nisbet, A., & Doherty, G. (2005). Personal Investigator: A Therapeutic 3D Game for Adolescent Psychotherapy. International Journal of Interactive Technology and Smart Education, 2, 73-88. Preprint (PDF).
CITEd Resources
Learning with Computer Games and Simulations
Multi-User Virtual Environments for Education
Multimedia Instruction of Social Skills
Friday, November 06, 2009
Human-Computer Interaction & Education: CHI 2010 Workshop on UI Technology and Educational Pedagogy
The 28th CHI 2010 (ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems) will be held from April 10-15 2010 in Atlanta, GA. The Workshop on UI Technology & Educational Pedagogy will be one of several workshops held during the conference.
- Gestural input, multitouch, large displays
- Mobile Devices, response systems (clickers)
- Tangible, VR, AR & MR, Multimodal interfaces
- Console gaming, 3D input devices
- Co-located interaction, presentations
- Educational Pedagogy, learner-centric
- Empirical methods, case studies
- Multi-display interaction
Pervasive Computing Laboratory
The Open University
Monday, November 02, 2009
Eric Sailers' "Bling Your Blog" Presentation: How to use Web 2.0 to spice up a blog.
Eric Sailers is a speech-language pathologist and assistive technology specialist in the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District in San Diago, CA. He's ahead of the pack when it comes to embracing emerging collaborative and interactive technologies in education. Eric recently shared his presentation, "Bling Your Blog" on SlideShare. The presentation is an overview of how to incorporate Web 2.0 technology into blogging.
Animoto
Glogster: "Poster Yourself"
Interactive Calendar Poster by a Glogster
Voicethread (Collaborative digital storytelling. The Ed. VoiceThread is a secure K-12 network.)
Web 2.0 Guru (Web 2.0 Resources for 21st Century Instruction)
100 Awesome, Free Web Tools for Elementary Teachers
Eric Sailers' Blog
(Cross posted on the Interactive Multimedia Technology blog.)
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Digital Media and Learning Resources: DML Central at the University of California
(If you are in a hurry, jump to the DML Central resource page for lots of links, including teaching resources.)
Here is the press release:
New Center at UC Irvine to Seed Research and Collaboration on Digital Media and Learning
“Global digital media are rapidly becoming a driving force in globalization, scientific advances, and the intersection - and sometimes clash - of cultures,” said David Theo Goldberg, director of the University of California Humanities Research Institute and co-director of the Digital Media and Learning Research Hub. “Every day new questions arise about the ability of traditional systems and institutions to prepare both young people and life-long learners for the social, economic and political demands of a complex and networked new century.”
Through study of how youth are using digital media, researchers will seek to understand the implications inherent in how this generation of youth – unlike any previous one – is embracing the online world to access information, socialize, and engage in public life. Research is expected to help schools, libraries, museums and other institutions engaged in teaching and learning better prepare students for the 21st century workforce.
“We’re at the very early stages of this phenomenon where youth and kids are learning so much more outside of the classroom via the Web and social networking,” said Mizuko Ito, University of California, Irvine researcher and co-director of the Research Hub. “If we don’t tap into the learning revolution that is going on today, I’m very concerned we’re going to have many kids being left behind.”
With a physical office at UC Irvine and a new virtual destination, www.dmlcentral.net, the Center will support emerging research on digital media and learning by hosting international conferences, facilitating workshops and working groups, and bringing together researchers, practitioners, policymakers, industry leaders and others working on related projects. It will also house related research initiatives of the MacArthur Foundation’s digital media and learning initiative. Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, and the nonprofit research group, FutureLab, are partnering with UC Irvine on Hub activities.
“At this time of extraordinary transformation, it is critical to harness and coordinate research that provides insight into the impact and applications of digital media for learning,” said Connie Yowell, director of MacArthur’s education grantmaking. “MacArthur has long been committed to improving public education in the U.S., and we see the emerging research and practices in the field of digital media and learning as holding the potential to transform the way we prepare our young people to be engaged citizens and to compete in the 21st century workforce.”
Two MacArthur initiatives are already active at the Hub. They are bringing together researchers and practitioners to explore 1) the transformation of learning and assessment in the 21st century and 2) the unprecedented ways in which technology is enabling youth to participate in the political and public sphere. These investigative efforts, lead by Mizuko Ito and Mills College professor and researcher Joseph Kahne, respectively, are major initiatives of the University of California Humanities Research Institute, the system-wide UC research center for the humanities and social sciences, based at UC Irvine. More information about the Digital Media and Learning Research Hub can be found at www.dmlcentral.net.
About the MacArthur Foundation
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation supports creative people and effective institutions committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. In addition to selecting the MacArthur Fellows, the Foundation works to defend human rights, advance global conservation and security, make cities better places, and understand how technology is affecting children and society. In 2006, MacArthur launched its digital media and learning initiative to explore how digital media are changing the way young people learn, play, socialize and participate in civic life and what that means for their learning in the 21st century. More information is available at www.macfound.org/education.
Contact
Jeff Brazil
e: jbrazil@hri.uci.edu
p: 949.824.9956
Sunday, October 25, 2009
NCTI Technology Innovators Conference: UDL, Accessibility, Reaching All Learners
Invited Speakers
- Mark Barlet, Leader, AbleGamers.com
- Daphne Bevalier, Professor, Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Center for Visual Science; Director, MindSpace Virtual Reality Laboratory, University of Rochester
- Alan Brightman, Senior Policy Director of Special Communities, Yahoo!
- Andy Carvin, Social Media Strategist, National Public Radio
- John Castellani, Associate Professor, Teacher Development and Leadership, Johns Hopkins University
- Jennifer Corriero, Executive Director of TakingITGlobal
- Kareem Dale, Special Assistant to the President, Disability Policy (invited)
- Jillian Darwish, Executive Director, Institute for Creative Collaboration, KnowledgeWorks Foundation
- Dan Domenech, Executive Director, American Association of School Administrators
- John Foley, Associate Professor, Physical Education; Co-Director Exergame Lab, State University of NY-Cortland
- Barry Gordon, MD, Therapeutic Cognitive Neuroscience Professor and Director of The Memory Clinic, Johns Hopkins University
- Steve Hargadon, Founder, Classroom 2.0
- John D. Kemp, Principal, Powers Pyle Sutter & Verville, PC
- Gary E. Knell, President and CEO, Sesame Workshop
- Michael Levine, Executive Director, Joan Ganz Cooney Center
- Debbie Moss, Specialist Technical Expert in Autism, Los Angeles Unified School District
- Lee Rainie, Director, Pew Internet & American Life Project
- David Rose, Founder and Chief Education Officer, Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST)
- Michael Russell, Associate Professor, Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation Department, Boston College
- Martha Thurlow, Director, National Center on Educational Outcomes, University of Minnesota
- Arthur VanderVeen, Executive Director, Educational Technology and Knowledge Management, Division of Accountability and Achievement, New York City, Department of Education
- Larry Wexler, Director, Research to Practice, Office of Special Education Programs
- Christina Whalen, Co Founder, TeachTown
- Stephen Yang, Assistant Professor, Physical Education; Co-Director Exergame Lab, State University of NY-Cortland
- Yong Zhao, University Distinguished Professor, Michigan State University, Founding Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning as well as the U.S.-China Center for Research on Educational Excellence
- Representatives from U.S. Department of Education and Congressional Educational Committees
Venue
- Venue:
- The Madison Hotel -
- Street:
- 1177 Fifteenth St. NW
- ZIP:
- 20005
- City:
- Washington
- State:
- DC
- Country:
Monday, October 19, 2009
Upcoming Interactive Events and Webinars on Classroom 2.0: Adolescent Literacy, Learning Teachnologies, and More!
Here is a letter from Steve Hargadon, the founder of Classroom 2.0, the the social network for those interested in Web 2.0 and collaborative technologies in education.
A message to all members of Classroom 2.0
Monday, October 19th, 1pm PDT (US): Angela Maiers' leads a panel discussion with Carnegie's "Time to Act Adolescent Literacy Panel." http://www.futureofeducation.
Tuesday, October 20th, 5pm PDT (US): Judi Fusco and Patti Schank from the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) join us
to talk about the Tapped In network, educational social networking, and the future of electronic communities in education. http://www.futureofeducation.
Tuesday, October 20th, 6pm PDT (US): Rushton Hurley hosts the Next Vista Digital Dream Team discussion on video projects and ideas. LearnCentral Link: http://www.learncentral.org/
Wednesday, October 21st, 11am PDT (US): The Ambient Insight "Learning Technology Innovation" series presents "Innovation In Educational Technology: The Virtualization Of K-12 And Higher Education" with Sam S. Adkins. LearnCentral Link: http://www.learncentral.org/
Wednesday, October 21st, 1pm PDT (US): Middle School Portal 2: Math & Science Pathways (MSP2) presents Mindy Johnson on Universal Design for Learning (UDL). LearnCentral Link: http://www.learncentral.org/
Wednesday, October 21st, 5pm PDT (US): I interview Esther Wojcicki, a Journalism/English teacher at Palo Alto High School and the current board chair of Creative Commons, on "Creative Commons and Open Education." http://www.futureofeducation.
Wednesday, October 21st, 6pm PDT (US): Maria Droujkova hosts another Math 2.0 session on the Guarantech math video community. LearnCentral Link: http://www.learncentral.org/
Thanks for your attention, and see you online! Be sure to let me know if you're interested in starting your own Webinar series!
Steve
Steve Hargadon
Founder, Classroom 2.0
Visit Classroom 2.0 at: http://www.classroom20.com
RELATED
Time to Act: An Agenda for Advancing Adolescent Literacy for College and Career Success (pdf)
(Final Report from Carnegie Corporation of New York's Council on Advancing Adolescent Literacy)
International Reading Association Publications
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Kindle in Education? Problems with usability and accessibility.
When e-readers first were released to the world, I thought I'd be the first on the block to run out and get one. But I wasn't, and I didn't. Why not?
- They are too expensive.
- They don't provide me with the text/content/concept/nonlinear/multimedia interaction I want (not useful for my purposes.)
- Issues regarding usability, accessibility, and universal design have yet to be resolved.
Problems with Kindle in Education: Looks as if Amazon forgot to do usability and accessibility homework!
Sunday, October 04, 2009
Links to Blogging School Psychologists
- IQ's Corner: Kevin McGrew's blog
- Assessment and Intervention in School Psychology Blog
- SchoolPsych Blog
- Dr. Weisz: School Psychology Blog & Podcasts
- Diary of a School Psychologist
- Brain S. Friedlander: Assistive Technology Blog
- The Black Briefcase (School Psychologist's blog)
- Notes from the School Psychologist
- School Psychologist Blog Files
- New School Psych Blog
- Cool School Psychologist
- Psychmommy blog
- NASP Blogs (Members Only)
Saturday, October 03, 2009
Looking for Free Online Resources for your Interactive Whiteboard?
The majority of teachers at one of my schools now have interactive whiteboards, and the last few will get theirs very soon. Teachers are smiling a lot, and so are the students with special needs that they teach.
I'm amazed at how quickly everyone has intuitively adapted to this technology in just a few weeks.The school has access to some fee-based resources, such as United Streaming Video, TumbleBooks, and Clicker 5, as well as the resources provided by SMARTTechnologies and Promethean Planet. Even so, there are plenty of free on-line resources the teachers are sharing and discovering.
Everything is better on an interactive whiteboard! The students focus their eyes intently on the screen, and listen carefully to the on-line stories. They get up in front of the screen and manipulate items, completing academic tasks that would not be possible using paper and pencil activities or folder tasks.
This post was created as a resource for my colleagues, but I'm sharing it on my blog since I know that many teachers are looking for good interactive content for their students.
I welcome comments and links to other resources!
Resources and Links
Imagine interacting with this content on a huge screen in front of you? The activity below is from the free Starfall website:
Zac Web Browser
The Zac Web Browser was designed by a grandfather of a young boy with autism. It is free and can be accessed via the web or downloaded to you computer. It even works with a Wii mote controller! The following video clip demonstrates the application- you'll have to wait through the short ad at the beginning:
I experimented with the ZAC browser on my HP TouchSmart and it worked well with touch interaction. Below are a couple of screen shots of the browser:
Video Portal
Storybook Portal
HelpKidzLearn is a website with free software and resources from Inclusive Technology:
Most young people love animals. Animal webcams from various zoos make an interesting focal point for learning and sharing, no matter what age or ability level. The Smithsonian National Zoological Park is a great place to start!
I especially like the Amazon River Cam:
Zoos Worldwide is a great portal to the zoocam world. If your students are learning about nocturnal animals, simply link to a webcam from a zoo that is in a time zone 12 or so hours away.
Other websites that are great for interactive whiteboards:
National Geographic Kids
Discovery Kids
PBS Kids
NASA Kids' Club
National Gallery of Art Kids
Smithsonian Kids
Kids Gov Kids Gov Fun Stuff
Natural History Museum Kids Only (UK)
e-Learning for Kids
This website has loads of learning games and courses covering math, science, health and life skills, English language, language arts, and computer skills.
"Established in 2004, e-Learning for Kids is a global nonprofit foundation dedicated to fun and free learning on the Internet for children ages 5-12 with courses in math, science, reading, health, and computers. A volunteer staff consists of education and e-learning experts and business professionals from around the world committed to making a difference."
Count Us In: Games designed to help children understand basic number concepts. The games were created in Flash and can be downloaded for off-line use.
Teaching Learners with Multiple Special Needs
Free Online Activities for Intensive/Multiple Special Needs
(recent post and links)
Kids Online Resources
Vicki Blackwell's Website
Blackwell's Best
Teachers Love SmartBoards (SMARTTechnologies blog)
Teacher LED: Interactive Whiteboard Resources for Teachers
Teacher LED's Interactive Clock
The AESOP for Children (on the Teacher LED website)
(This is a flip book that allows students to turn virtual pages on an interactive whiteboard.)
GREAT FEE-BASED RESOURCES
CLICKER 5
The students at Wolfe like Clicker5 activities. Imagine these screenshots on the SmartBoard:
Clicker 5 was developed following the guidelines of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). It includes high-quality speech with highlighting, sentence writing grides, writing frames to help scaffold writing, and on-screen talking books that highlight words automatically as they are read. Clicker allow students to create their own talking books, record their voices, and with Clicker Paint, illustrate their creations.
Even students with little or no speech can use Clicker using customized grids.
Clicker offers a variety of active learning support options for struggling readers, such as the Planet Wobble series of talking books and related on-screen activities:
Teach Town
"TeachTown: Basics is a research based solution for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and other special needs. The service brings together parents, clinicians, teachers and students in one comprehensive package. Subscription includes on-computer lessons, off-computer generalization activities, data tracking and communications tools that keep the whole team connected."
Screenshot of the TeachTown walkthrough:
TeachTown Research
I'll update this post as I collect additional resources.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Assistive Technology: Eye Gaze, Face Tracking, and HeadMouse Open Source, Free, and Low-Cost Alternatives
I'm working with a few students who have multiple special needs who are in need of assistive communication technologies that are not expensive. Although my first idea was to look at eye gaze technology, the possibility of face tracking is also appealing. Take a look at the following video from SeeingMachines, a commercial company:
SeeingMachines offers a free version that doesn't provide all of the features I'd need.
The HeadMouse concept is something that I think has potential.
The $$$ option is the HeadMouse Extreme. It provides head-controlled wireless computer access, and uses a wireless optical sensor that tracks a disposable target that can be affixed to glasses, a forehead, or hat. The resolution is very precise, and allows control over a range of activities such as graphics work, CAD, and gaming, in addition to typical productivity tasks.
Photos are from the Origin Instruments website, where you can find additional information about the HeadMouse Extreme system as well as other assistive technology and augmentative communication systems.
Alternative to HeadMouse Extreme:
HeadMouse2 is an open-source project from the Grupo de Robotica at the University of Lleida in Spain. The free software works with Virtual Keyboard, another free application.
Here are the links:
HeadMouse2
Virtual Keyboard
FREE, LOW-COST, AND OPENSOURCE ALTERNATIVES
COGAIN
COGAIN stands for Communication by Gaze Interaction. This group was created to overcome the current problems in research and development in the field that include software that works solely with a certain eye tracking device, and in the process, contribute to bringing down the price of eye tracking systems so that more people will benefit from this technology.
The COGAIN website provides a list of open-source gaze tracking, freeware, and low-cost eye tracking resources. There is enough information available for DYI purposes:
Open Source Resources
COGAIN's Early Language and Literacy Resources
Links to books and games can be found on the COGAIN Early Literacy web-page. Children in the Picture collaborated with COGAIN for some of the literacy resources.
- Note: "Scope's In The Picture campaign is about encouraging publishers, illustrators and writers to embrace diversity - so that disabled children, who have been virtually invisible until recently, are included alongside others in illustrations and story lines in books for young readers."
Gaze-Aware Systems, Attentive Interfaces, and Applied Eye Tracking
Research Papers, Bibliographies, Article Collections
COGAIN's Links
COGAIN's Downloads
More to come!
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Social Stories: Link to the ultimate Social Stories resource (test) site!
It is Saturday, and I know that there are hundreds of teachers online, searching for social story resources for their students who have autism spectrum disorders or other disabilities that interfere with social interaction and communication skills.
I am putting up a link to a mega-list of social story links. If you scroll down the massive page, you will find social stories and additional links. I have not explored the site or evaluated any of the stories. I plan to choose some of the best that I find, and link them from this blog
Readers are welcome to post links to good social stories and social stories resources in the comment section. This is NOT the spot for commercially-made social stories, as those can be found elsewhere.
Here is the link. From the title, it looks like it was a "test" page, so perhaps there is a cleaned-up version elsewhere.
http://www.autism-pdd.net/testdump/test14154.htm
Friday, September 11, 2009
Ru Zarin's Interactive Multi-touch Applications for the Cognitively Disabled: Social stories, talking symbols, a piano, and more!
Trollskogen Final Demo from Ru Zarin on Vimeo.
The above video is a demonstration of Ru Zarin's masters degree project at Umea Universitet.
This project examined ways to use multi-touch technologies to support communication and learning among children with Down syndrome, autism, and related diagnoses within the age group of 5-8. I especially liked the animated social story application.
"Trollskogen is a communicative framework designed to enhance communication among people with cognitive disabilities. The forest is split up into interactive modules that provide a fun and engaging learning environment while helping improve on certain aspects of speech, reading/writing and symbol based languages. This framework has been deployed on a custom multi-touch table prototype built at the Interactive institute Umeå, enabling the children to interact with their fingers in a more natural, intuitive way rather than a traditional keyboard/mouse setup."
RELATED READING
RELATED VIDEOS OF THE PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
Ru collaborated with the illustrator Linda Arvidsson for the characters and objects found in the troll forest theme.
I especially liked the Troll Forest Cabin, which is shown in the social stories section of the video.
Cross posted on the Interactive Multimedia Technology blog.
Monday, September 07, 2009
Thomas G. West's Blog: In the Mind's Eye, Dyslexic Renaissance
Who is Thomas G. West? He is the author of In the Mind's Eye: Visual Thinkers, Gifted People With Dyslexia and Other Learning Difficulties, Computer Images and the Ironies of Creativity and also Thinking Like Einstein: Returning To Our Visual Roots With The Emerging Revolution In Computer Information Visualization
I don't know how I missed Thomas G. West's blog, as his books and writings have influenced the last ten years or so of my life. They inspired me to study technology, take a deep look at visual thinking, and follow my instincts to take a visual/multimedia approach to the way I communicate through my blogs. (For examples of this method of communication, take a look at my Interactive Multimedia Technology blog.)
Here is a link to his blog, which he started in March, 2009:
In the Mind's Eye, Dyslexic Renaissance
"Visual thinking, visual thinkers, visual technologies, visual giftedness, dyslexia, learning difficulties, brain diversity, creativity, scientific discovery, scientific visualization, computer graphics, entrepreneurial business, art and design, history of science, visual aspects of cultural and economic history"
A new edition of In the Mind's Eye will be published later this year, perhaps this month. I look forward to seeing what West has to say. If you read some of Thomas West's blog post, you'll get an idea of what he explores in his books. (Warning; no pictures, just words.)
Visual Overload and Visual Crowding: When More Means Less (via Eide Neurolearning Blog)
Ken McGrew, of IQ Corner, shared this link to a post on the Eide Neurolearning Blog, which is worth the read, as it has specific suggestions regarding how information should be presented to students who have dyslexia or related reading difficulties:
Visual Overload and Visual Crowding-When More Means Less
RELATED
Crowding, reading, and developmental dyslexia
Martelli, M., Di Filippo, G., Spinelli, D., & Zoccolotti, P. (2009). Crowding, reading, and developmental dyslexia. Journal of Vision, 9(4):14, 1-18,
