VASCD Presentations

Meg Swecker and I presented at VASCD on Augmented Reality. Here’s our presentation:

You can download other files from our presentation here:
VASCD AR Dropbox Folder

Alisa Downey and I presented at VASCD on STEM and PBL in the Differentiated Classroom. Here’s our presentation:

You can check out our blog here:
STEM Crazy Teachers

Admin Retreat Presentations

I had the opportunity to present and co-present at the Admin Retreat this year on two topics: Augmented Reality and Engineering and Design Thinking.

Admin Retreat
Here are the presentations below:

 

And the handouts that go with them:

Augmented Reality

Engineering and Design Thinking

Bringing Famous Virginians and Documents to Life

Mrs. Mulvaney’s VA Studies class created virtual reality posters to convey key information about Famous Virgnians and Famous Documents.  They used a lot of technology to create these posters.  They used Pic Collage on the iPads to create the actual poster and green screen technology to place themselves in a historical setting.  The entire project is pulled together using an app called Aurasma.  If you download the app, follow the Oak Grove Channel, and scan the posters, they will come to life with the students’ videos.  Here are directions on how to load the app.

Aurasma Directions for Oak Grove

And just in case you can’t make it to Oak Grove to scan the posters in person, here are their videos below:

Cross posted on the Oak Grove Digital Archive.

Kicking Machines with Augmented Reality

As students in Mrs. Grave’s Science class studied force and motion, they created Kicking Machines to move a ping pong ball into a cup 12 inches away. They started with the idea from the Design Squad but added a technology twist.  Once students created their machines, they used an app called VideoPix to film their Kicking Machine in action.  This app allowed students to slow down their videos. Then, they were able to capture images from the video showing the machine and ball in action.  Using these pictures, they created a Pic Collage showing potential and kinetic energy.

Finally, using an Aurasma app, the slow motion videos were imposed on the Pic Collage.  Now, when someone scans the Pic Collage with the Aurasma app, a video will pop up and play.  It’s hard to explain without seeing the posters in action, but here are a few examples.  If you follow the Clearbrook channel on the Aurasma app, you can scan and see their videos.

They students absolutely loved this project and were amazed at the final product.  And by the time the project concluded, students were very clear on Potential and Kinetic energy.  If you’d like to try to scan the posters and see the videos, the directions are below:

aurasma

Presenting the Oak Grove Digital Archive

The teachers at Oak Grove Elementary decided, during a faculty book study meeting, to create a digital archive on their school website to display all the wonderful projects there students were creating for STEM, PBL, and 21st Century Learning.  They wanted a way for parents and students to have “copies” of the three dimensional group projects the students were creating. Also, they wanted to showcase digital projects that their students were creating with iPads and other devices.  Take a look here:

The Oak Grove Digital Archive

The newest step in this adventure is to also post QR codes around the school.  Parents can scan the QR codes to see the virtual projects or read more about the things their children have been creating in class.  It is a physical way to display work in the hall with a digital link.  Take look at some of the teachers’ displays:

I’m really excited about the ways teachers are taking technology to the next level at Oak Grove.  Stop by their site and see what you think!