I started this blog in 2006-- and I do plan to get into the routine of blogging more more frequently. I'd love to update the posts that were the most popular in the past, and add links and resources that reflect what is going on with interactive multimedia technology in 2016. So much has evolved since I started this blog! 2006: Virtual Reality & Convergence with Game Technology
Note: Some of the links are broken.
FYI:
I still write blog posts from time to time.
Here are links to the blog post I've written for NUITEQ® about collaborative interactive technologies:
The Medion x9613 is a Windows 7, multi-touch all-in-one that has all of the features needed for playing games, working collaboratively with a colleague or classmate, watching HD video content, and more.
The following YouTube video is from Gizmodo, via Engadget.
According to Cali Lewis, of GeekBrief TV, this all-in-one will be available in the US. (Cali also previews other interesting gadgets and tech on the GeekBrief TV clip below.)
I haven't set eyes on this one yet. If anyone has played with a Medion X9613 a bit, or even used it for work, please leave a comment! How do YOU use your "All-in-One?"
I've been following Yvonne's research for some time now, and I thought I'd take this opportunity highlight her work. (I've provided additional information for those of you who are new to this blog.)
Background (from my perspective)
Back in the early 1990's, I ran a "paired learning" study skills/social skills group three mornings a week in a computer lab, for a crew of fourth grade students referred to me (the school psychologist) for support for behavior, learning, and social skills problems. Since many of the students needed to work on social skills such as waiting turns, cooperating, and working nicely with others, I decided to pair the students up, two to a computer.
Some of the applications were designed for two students, taking turns, but other applications were designed for only one person, and for those applications, the student's were encouraged to forget about the "rules" and help each other out, in other words, one student would control the mouse, and the other would be the "mouse-seat driver". I spent some time teaching "mouse-sharing" skills. One of the students was trying to grab the mouse when it wasn't his turn, and his partner whacked him over the head with it!
Moving on...
When I first touched an interactive whiteboard, it was 2002 or 2003. It was a SmartBoard, and I was fascinated by the possibilities that it held. Since I used it as a tool for group counseling and study skills in my role as a school psychologist, I couldn't help but hope that a new version would come out that would allow at least two students to interact with the screen at the same time.
Better yet, wouldn't it be cool to have the group table offer the same sort of functionality? I realize when people envision a learning environment, they are likely to think of students seated in single desks. While this is the case in many classrooms, many teachers manage to focus on group work, such as group projects, collaborative/cooperative learning lessons, or science experiments...even if they DON'T have tables. They push the desks together to form a "table".
In my life as a school psychologist, particularly during my days at an elementary school, I spent a good part of my day sitting at a table, with 3-6 students, for the purpose of group counseling, social skills training, and so forth. (The speech and language therapist worked with groups of children around a table, too.) You can imagine that something like the SMARTTable or the Surface would have been a godsend, provided that it came with a wealth of therapeutic activities and templates that could be easily customized to meet the needs of the students!
Interactive displays and whiteboards are now common in our schools and workplaces. There are a few classrooms that have interactive tables, and these tables are also found in museums and visitor centers. But there is much work yet to be done- in terms of content development, hardware design, interaction design, and research.
No one discipline "owns" this problem-space. Better said, no one owns this "solution-space"!
Yvonne Rogers has been a key player in this arena. She is focused, but at the same time, takes a big-picture, multi-faceted point of view, something that I find lacking in much of the computer science research that crosses my path. Yvonne's approach is consistent with other forward-minded thinkers in the field, such as
When she was a professor at Indiana University, Yvonne's team produced a short video to outline the types of problems when groups of people encounter when they share information and collaborate on projects.
What I like about this video is that it works towards solutions. Although the video is from 2006, it still rings true.
If you have ever worked with students in small groups forced to share one mouse and computer screen, some of the footage will bring you to a smile.
More about Dr. Rogers and her colleagues:
Dr. Rogers is the lead researcher of the SharedIT Project, an interdisciplinary endeavor that exploring how new technologies, such as multi-touch tables, gesture-based systems, interactive wall displays, and interactive tangibles, can support collaborative activities among small groups of people in a range of situations and settings.
Some of the people affiliated with Dr. Rogers and the Open University Pervasive Interaction Lab are highlighted in the video clip below. The video was filmed at an event held on June 23, 2009 at th Science Museums' Dana Center (UK), in collaboration with the London Knowledge Lab. The video highlights the work of researchers, artists, educators, and technologists, all exploring collaborative tangible, interactive technologies and surfaces. Some of the questions asked: What sort of new interfaces can support "collective creativity"? How can these technologies support interactions between people who are in different places around the world?
Surface Tension: Interactives and Workshops (June 23, 2009)
Doug Clow provides a good overview of some of the SharedIT projects in his April 2009 post, "Low-hanging fruit: interactive tables for collaborative learning". If you are curious and want to dig deeper, below is a link to the SharedIT publications web page, along with an assortment of articles related to Yvonne Roger's work.
Rick, J, and Rogers, Y. (2008) From DigiQuilt to DigiTile: Adapting Educational Technology to a Multi-Touch Table. IEEE Tabletops and Interactive Surfaces. 79-86.
Rogers, Y., Lim, Y., Hazlewood, W. R. and Marshall, P. (2008) Equal Opportunities: Do Shareable Interfaces Promote More Group Participation than Single User Displays? - To Appear in Human Computer Interaction
Rogers, Y. (2006) Moving on from Weiser's vision of of calm computing: engaging UbiComp experiences. In: P. Dourish and A. Friday (Eds.) Ubicomp 2006 Proceedings, LNCS 4206, pp. 404-421, Springer-Verlag, PDF version
Rick, J., Harris, A., Marshall, P., Fleck, R., Yuill, N. and Rogers, Y. (2009) Children designing together on a multi-touch tabletop: An analysis of spatial orientation and user interactions. Proceedings of Interaction Design and Children (IDC '09), 106-114
Harris, A., Rick, J., Bonnett, V., Yuill, N., Fleck, R., Marshall, P. and Rogers, Y. (2009) Around the Table: Are multiple-touch surfaces better than single-touch for children's collaborative interactions? Proceedings of CSCL 2009
Rick, J., Rogers, Y., Haig, C. and Yuill, N. (2009) Learning by Doing with Shareable Interfaces. Children, Youth & Environments, In Press.
Marshall, P., Fleck, R., Harris, A. Rick, J., Hornecker, E., Rogers, Y., Yuill, N. and Dalton, N. S. (2009) Fighting for Control: Children's Embodied Interactions When Using Physical and Digital Representations. Proceedings of CHI'09, 2149-2152. PDF version
Rogers, Y. and Price, S. (2009) How mobile technologies are changing the way children learn. In A. Druin, (Ed.) On the Move: Children, Learning and Technology. Elsevier. 3-22. PDF version
Rogers, Y. (2008) A comparison of how animation has been used to support formal, informal and playful learning. Learning with Animation, edited by R. Lowe and W. Schnotz, CUP, Cambridge. 286-303.
Rogers, Y. and Price, S. (2008) The role of mobile devices in facilitating collaborative inquiry in situ. Research and Practice in Technology Enhanced Learning. 3 (3), 209-229. PDF version
Rogers, Y. (2008) Using External Visualizations to Extend and Integrate Learning in Mobile and Classroom Settings. In J. Gilbert (ed.), Visualization: and practice in science education. CUP. 89-102.
Rogers, Y. and Muller, H. (2006) A framework for designing sensor-based interactions to promote exploration and reflection. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 64 (1), 1-15. PDF version
Brignull, H., Izadi, S, , Fitzpatrick, G., Rogers, Y. and Rodden, T. (2004) The Introduction of a Shared Interactive Surface into a Communal Space. In Proc. of CSCW 2004, Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, November 6-10, 2004, Chicago, USA: ACM Press. 49-58. PDF version
Randell, C., Phelps, T. and Rogers, Y. (2003) Ambient Wood: Demonstration of a digitally enhanced field trip for school children. In Adjunct Proc. UbiComp 2003, 100-104. PDF version
Brignull, H. and Rogers, Y (2003) Enticing people to interact with large public displays in public spaces. In Proceedings of INTERACT'03, Zurich, 17-24. PDF version
Rogers, Y., Brignull, H. and Scaife, M. (2002) Designing Dynamic Interactive Visualisations to Support Collaboration and Cognition. In First International Symposium on Collaborative Information Visualization Environments, IV 2002, London, July 10-12, 2002, IEEE, 39-50. PDF version
Of course, there are many other researchers who are exploring collaborative technologies, and I've featured a good number on this blog. I'll be sure to feature more, from a range of disciplines, in future posts.
I'm always on the look-out for interactive technology that can support engaged learning. This application is much richer than a basic note-taking solution!(via TechPsych)
Take a look at this videoclip about DyKnow, an application developed to combat mindless note-taking and enhance classroom learning. Although the video demonstrates the benefits of this technology in a university classroom, it is clear to see that this would be a great asset in high school classes conducted in computer labs or have access to classroom sets of laptops.
The "retro" effect of this black-and white clip is entertaining.
DyKnow provides a means for teachers to control the way the laptop is used during class, which in a high school environment is important. Watch the DyKnow Monitor video to learn more about the features of this application, which includes a means of instant progress monitoring. The software provides for collaborative interaction between students and between the students and the teacher's work space.
In my opinion, this looks like it would be an effective resource in high schools that are adopting data-driven decision-making and Response to Intervention (RTI) models. It provides students - and teachers- with immediate feedback, and monitors progress electronically.
We know that most students do not learn best auditorily at the high school level, yet much of the high school curriculum is delivered through traditional means that involve lectures, note-taking, and some discussions. In this set up, it can be easy for some of the students to become disctracted in class, with lower grades and test scores as a consequence.
For many struggling students, traditional means of instruction opens the door for task avoidant behaviors and an increase in discipline events. They simply are not often fully engaged in the learning process.
The DyKnow video highlights some of the ways that the curriculum be delivered in a more on-task, visual, and 'hands on" way that engages a higher percentage of students.
If your school is using DyKnow, feel free to leave a comment about your thoughts!
"Preprocessed spherical projections from inside a crystal including the Hershfield surface" Evaluating Second Life as a Collaborative Tool for Scientific Visualization http://local.wasp.uwa.edu.au/~pbourke/papers/cgat08/
I thought I'd devote a post to Paul Bourke's exciting work in the area of what I call "interactive visual immersion".
According to a bio on a math art website, Paul's working life "has revolved around high performance computing and computer graphics, in particular scientific visualisation: the use of computer graphics to represent scientific data with the aim of enhancing understanding of the underlying structure and processes." Paul is also interested in the use of "novel display technologies that can further enhance the understanding of large and complicated geometric datasets...These engage capabilities of our visual system not exploited by traditional computer displays..."
Paul recently participated in the the Computer Games, Multimedia & and Allied Technology 08: International Conference & Industry Symposium on Computer Games; Animation, Multimedia, IPTV & Edutainment. (CGAT'08, Singapore, April 28-30)
Bourke points out that there are few software tools available that support shared, remote collaborative scientific visualization. What is available is expensive, exploratory, and/or difficult to install and operate. Bourke proposes that Second Life might prove to be a useful tool for collaborative SciViz, despite some current limitations. Second Life is a cross-platform 3D environment that was designed specifically for interaction between many people, and it allows for texture mapping, which is a plus for visualization work. Burke notes that there are limitations, such as Second Life's low geometric complexity.
Paul Bourke's website includes a page that lists all of his papers, articles, and seminars, with impressive visuals alongside each entry. Since I recently completed a visualization class and also gave a short presentation about accessible games for health, I found many of Bourke's papers intriguing:
Vertical dome (iDome): Visualisation and Navigable movies Visualization for scientists, museums, public outreach, and education Immersive environments and applications to gaming Exploiting our sense of touch for scientific visualization. Tactile Visualization: Feel your data! Apple technology powering displays that engage the human visual system iDome and digital projection into hemispherical domes Take the time to explore Bourke's entire website. Look at his texture library and his "other" section!
If you are interested in interactive multimedia, you might be curious to learn more about virtual 3D worlds. I tried out Second Life for a couple of weeks in 2005, and found that for me, I simply don't have the time. I often don't have enough time in my "first life"!
Since 2005, Second Life and other virtual worlds have exploded in population. Here is a good overview and update, including information and views of children's virtual worlds such as Whyville, Webkins, and Penguin.
FYI: I'm always flattered when I've been "re-blogged", so I hope that Jonathan Tarr doesn't mind that I've reblogged his post from the HASTIC website:
March 4, 2008 - 3:34pm.VIRTUAL WORLDS TOUR FROM SHARON BURNS "MacArthur Foundation CIO Sharon Burns (whom I met briefly last month in Chicago) has posted the first part of an excellent tour through various virtual worlds on Youtube, for those who are looking for a quick and smart overview. I learned more about it in 8 minutes than I have in most longer presentations about virtual worlds, so there is certainly some benefit to brevity.There's also a useful writeup of the video on Susan Tenby's blog at Netsquared, if you want an even briefer writeup and some additional information."
What is HASTAC?
"A consortium of humanists, artists, scientists, social scientists, and engineers from universities across the country, HASTAC ("Haystack") is committed to new forms of collaboration across institutions, disciplines, and communities to promote creative uses of technology. Since 2003, we have been developing tools for multimedia archiving and social interaction, gaming environments for teaching, innovative educational programs in information science and information studies, virtual museums, and other digital projects. HASTAC leaders have served as consultants to U.S. and international organizations and governments on grid computing and cyberinfrastructure. Our aim is to promote expansive, innovative uses of technology in formal education and lifelong learning."
Classroom 2.0 is a good resource for educators who would like to keep up with the fast pace of technology. If you work with digital natives, you know how difficult it can be to keep one step ahead of the game! Classroom 2.0 provides forums, Wikkis, and resources on a variety of topics and the content is maintained by members of the network, which at the last count was at 3998.
From the Classroom 2.0 website
"The social network for educators using collaborative technologies!"
"Welcome to Classroom20.com, the social networking site for those interested in Web 2.0 and collaborative technologies in education. We especially hope that those who are "beginners" will find this a supportive community and a comfortable place to start being part of the digital dialog. Feel free to explore!"
