Tag: Augmented Reality

#ICE15 Recap

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I don’t know about you, but after attending conferences for more than a day I get..
1. extremely excited to try new things
2. completely exhausted from late nights and packing my brain
3. Already thinking about how I can improve my presentations for next year

This year, I was extremely lucky to attend our Illinois Computing Educators (ICE) conference not one, but three days! Next to being surprised and attending ISTE in 2014 for multiple days, this comes in 2nd with my longest consecutive conference attended. I can tell you one thing, I will definitely be looking into hotels for next year. Even being local, with not a huge commute, it still adds into the exhaustion with traffic.

There were many great topics that I absorbed and many great people I was able to catch up with and meet.  One of the workshops I liked the most was “Coaching Teachers to Student Success,” by @avrarobinson. If you haven’t heard from her yet, find her on Twitter. Her coaching resources are amazing and the personalities she created for first timer technology integrated teachers are spot on. Lots of handy tips to help along the way when working to build a partnership with educators.

The maker movement is still going strong. There were many hands on activities and sessions to learn about coding, robotics and engineering. I’m sure this is something that won’t fade out anytime soon. Passion based learning is truly important and I wish I had that opportunity in school.  Sylvia Martinez was a keynote speaker and a true inspiration. I also very much enjoyed Jim Sill, who gave a very thought provoking keynote using his past experience in film.

Another area I personally reflected on was my break-out session, of course. Now, I’m normally used to presenting in smaller classroom setups, where maybe 10-15 people attend and it is an easy walk-through in 45 minutes for my augmented reality topic. Well…I definitely wasn’t expecting to be presenting in a comedy club, with a room full of educators! While I experienced some technology bumps from this first time larger experience…here are some tips I can offer and suggestions I plan to follow myself.

1. Have a backup plan: the wireless connection wasn’t allowing for my reflector app to work from iPad to laptop. Either purchase VGA connects to have on hand or check with your district if there is one you can barrow. Luckily I had one for each device.

2. Stick to your backup plan: While my reflector didn’t work, I had planned on using my VGA connector for the iPad. Well, the nerves got the best of me and I presented from my computer the entire time. I definitely regret that.

3. Keep your audience in mind: Speaking to a larger group was quite the surprise. What was a very successful PD that I had practiced in advanced at local education camps, would need to be simplified for a larger group. I had so many materials with me that I didn’t even use and felt like I was going too fast.

4. Be proud of your accomplishment: While things may have not gone perfectly, still take pride in what you have done, especially if it was your first time hosting a session of this scale. Reflect on your experience and try again. We always tell our students to learn from their mistakes, so why not follow the same advice?

Thanks to those who attended my workshop and shared your experience on Twitter! Also, a big thank you to my district team, both past and present for supporting me!

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Pixel Press Floors

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One evening, before the end of our school year, I had been on a hunt to experiment more with augmented reality (AR) with my students. One of my favorite blogs to visit for that is, Two Guys and Some iPads. Brad and Drew are very well know for their 2 Guys Show, which you can watch at anytime from their archive on their blog, but also for their use of Augmented Reality.

So, while browsing their blog I came across their latest post that caught my eye on Pixel Press Floors. See the article HERE.

Now, I’ve tried to be the cool teacher and introduce video games into my classroom, what student doesn’t love an excuse to play games? We participated in the Hour of Code, we also used Lunacraft for math review in our classroom, but Pixel Press Floors is truly unique. Students can actually draw their own game out, on a downloadable grid sheet, using the specific codes given in their Sketch Guide. From there, students can then take an image of their grid and it will turn into a virtual world that they have created. Students can test their game out and even edit it from within the app.

I highly encourage trying this, it was by far one of the favorite projects that I received feedback on.

How can you use it in your classroom? The ideas below are not all original ideas, just blog posts I have stumbled upon while researching.

– Math Review – area, perimeter (See Lakewood Digital Literacy blog for more ideas)
– Research & Survey – What makes an engaging video game? Graph results and explain.
– Compare and Contrast – analyze various games to provide peer feedback
– Creative writing – create a comic based on your designed game (Porchester Junior School) 

Of course, the project couldn’t be complete without a little friendly competition game-off. My students wanted to finish the year with an elimination challenge, competing in teams against one another as we reflected the iPads onto my Mac.

Here is how I introduced the App to my students.
1. This was being used as an end of the year math center, so mid week as students were getting closer to starting, I went over the directions. How-to videos and the Sketch Guide were left for their curiosity in our math Blendspace course.
2. Students had an organizer to complete reviewing 3 or 4 games that were already created in the Pixel Press Floors Arcade. Students rated the game, and included pros and cons for ideas they would use. They also received a story map to incorporate their game into creative writing later on. We talked about how games have a storyline and a purpose like our books.
3. Once their organizer was uploaded to Schoology and approved, they were able to begin sketching their plan on the grid paper with the use of their guide.
4. Uploaded their game when finished and began receiving peer review.
5. Ideally if we didn’t run out of time, I was going to use the idea from above for the students to create a comic based around their character and the story line they created.

I encourage you to check the app out while it is free. It is available on both the iPad and now the iPhone! Happy creating! Visit the App Store to check it out!