MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Learning Competition

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the HASTAC Initiative is accepting applications through October 15, 2007. The two awards:

Innovation Awards

$250,000.00 and $100,000.00

"Innovation Awards will go to pioneers who are exploring new digital models of learning that build upon and enhance the informal, networked, and collaborative styles today, especially but not only among youth. These projects will demonstrate new modes of learning in many environments."

Knowledge-Networking Awards
$30.000.00-$75,000.00

"Knowledge-Networking Awards will go to creative and dedicated communicators. Not every digital inventor/developer is a skillful knowledge-networker. How can good ideas be circulated widely, taking full advantage of the Web's potential for collaborative thinking, where many can contribute, shape, and share?"

About Interaction and Wireless Handheld Devices: Mediascapes and Create-A-Scape, and mscapers

If you are interested in learning more about Mediascapes (mscapes) and Create-A-Scape, the educational version of mscapes, take a look my recent post and related video clip on the TechPsych blog.

Resources:

Futurelab's Create-A-Scape website

Hewlett-Packard's mscapers website

"Mediascapes are mobile, location-based experiences that incorporate digital media with the sights, sounds, and textures of the world around you. A mediascape blends digital images, video, audio and interactions with the physical landscape. Games, guided walks, tours, and destinations are among the mediascapes created to date. Download a mediascape onto a portable device, and see how your landscape comes alive as you move through the environment." -Hewlett-Packard

About Interaction and Displays: HP's Interactive Canvas

More video clips of interactive touch displays:

HP's Interactive Canvas, highlighting pictures and video.


Virtual instruments on HP's Virtual Canvas.

The application behind the Virtual Canvas is Microsoft's Windows Presentation Foundation.

According to Microsoft, "The Microsoft Windows Presentation Foundation provides the foundation for building applications and high fidelity experiences in Windows Vista, blending to gether application UI, documents, and media content, while exploiting the full power of your computer. The functionality extends to the support for Tablet and other forms of input, a more modern imaging and printing infrastructure, data driven UI and visualization, as well as the integration points for weaving the application experience into the Windows shell."

Related Links:

"Look or Feel" blog

About Interaction: Bill Buxton and Multi-Touch Systems

Based on data from SiteMeter, there are a number of my readers who are searching for information about touch screen interaction design and multi-touch systems. A great resource for anyone interested in these topics is Bill Buxton's website, "Multi-Touch Systems that I have Known and Loved".

Bill provides a good overview of the various flavors of multi-touch interaction and interfaces, along with a an annotated chronology of multi-touch and related technologies, starting before 1982. The chronology includes some interesting pictures.

Bill Buxton works for Microsoft Research. The following information is from his bio:

"Bill Buxton is a designer and a researcher concerned with human aspects of technology. His work reflects a particular interest in the use of technology to support creative activities such as design, film making and music. Buxton's research specialties include technologies, techniques and theories of input to computers, technology mediated human-human collaboration, and ubiquitous computing."

About Displays: Content Interface- Touch Interaction on a Panasonic Display

Here is a video-clip of a demo from Content Interface using a large touch-enabled Panasonic display.

About Displays

From time-to-time I will share information about displays under the heading "About Displays"

Why? When I set out to learn more about display hardware and related technologies that support interactive multimedia applications, I quickly discovered that things are changing - fast. Some of the technology is complex.

I will post a list of research articles and related information soon. I know that my list is missing some pieces, as it is difficult to keep up with important changes. For this reason, I'm asking my readers to help me out by posting a comment about display-related information to share with others when you come across something interesting and useful.

Here is an example of something worth sharing:

Dolby Acquires BrightSide

"The DR37-P is a spectacular breakthrough in display technology. It uses an array of individually modulated LED backlights to provide 10 times the brightness and 100 times the contrast of existing television and computer monitors. The Extreme Dynamic Range display delivers more vibrant images, enabling you to see information onscreen in vivid detail."

"In an HDR-enabled display, the backlight consists of an array of ultrahigh-brightness white or tricolor light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Each LED can be controlled individually—faster than video refresh rates. The lower-resolution LED image is then projected through a standard LCD panel, which displays a high-resolution version of the image, resulting in a vibrant display."

A display with HDR technology might be something to consider for use with people with visual impairments, which are more commen among the elderly.

Links to whitepapers, screen shots, and interactive demos are welcome!

HDRInteractive Demo

Interactive web-based science and math: Link to my TechPsych post about ExploreLearning Gizmos

ExploreLearning is a website that offers a variety of engaging math and science activities, called "Gizmos", for students in grades 6-12.


ExploreLearning's Gizmos would be great on large touch-screen surfaces or displays, such as a NextWindow Human Touch, a SmartBoard, or Microsoft's Surface.

Since the activites are designed as learning modules and are web-based, the Gizmos might even work on iPhones!

Check out my TechPsych post for more information and links.

Photo courtesy of ExploreLearning.

Virtual Reality Field Trips

Take a look at my post on the TechPsych blog about virtual reality field trips. Imagine what a virtual field trip would be like on a large touch-screen display!

More touch screen "surface" display musings...

I had my first chance to use an interactive touch-screen SmartBoard, by Smart Technologies in 2002-03. Since I work mostly with kids and teens, I wondered why large-display touch screen technology wasn't more widespread, since there are so many free, interactive websites that provide pretty engaging activities for users.

One of the things I learned was that large-display touch-screen technology is in the preschool stage. There are problems with screen responsiveness, screen resolution, durability, and input.

In recent years, the idea of a touch screen has evolved to table-tops and drafting boards, embedded within wireless systems that allow for interoperability with mobile devices and remote applications.

Great technology exists, but no-one has pulled all the components together in a way that can easily scale for the people who would benefit from this sort of technology the most - people who spend most of day time teaching, learning, or both. I had a great experience using a NextWindow Human Touch large-screen display for some of my projects last semester. It was difficult for me to track one down, but once I got my hands on it, I liked it, even though it did not have multi-touch capabilities.

One laptop for each child? That was a good idea for the late 1990's and early 2000's. One high-quality, affordable, large touch-screen display or table for each classroom would be more effective.

One touch-screen display/table for every 4-6 students would be better. Is there anyone out there who is up for the challenge?

Next Post: Updated links to interactive multimedia websites appropriate for large touch screen surfaces.

Women in Technology: My editorial on the NCWIT blog -UPDATE

The above link is to my editorial, "Gender Beneath the Surface", posted on the NCWIT blog.

Although women make up half the population, they are under-represented in computer science and related technological fields. If your are interested in issues related to women and technology, the National Center for Women in Information Technology -NCWIT- is a great place to start.

I wrote the post on the day I learned that all of the members of the executive team for Microsoft Surface (Madrid) were male.

UPDATE:

The Microsoft Surface website now includes photos and bios of other team members, including women.  One woman,  Gretchen R., was originally hired to develop games for children on the Surface. 

(dually posted - techpsych and interactive multimedia technology blogs)

Yet another video about an interactive touch-table desk with potential for educational settings

Here is yet another video of a touch table from Microsoft's Center for Information Work that I think has great potential for use in education settings and for "serious games".

Microsoft appears to be targeting business, retail, and entertainment for new "surface computing" applications. I'd like to see Microsoft focus some of their efforts with this technology on education, as I think this technology would support "engaged learning". It might also inspire young people to consider future careers in technology. Given that we have a high school dropout-rate of about 30% in the US, we don't have too much time to waste.


This system allows for hands-free search via voice, which would be great for people who have physical disabilities.

As a school psychologist, I can see many uses for this sort of set-up to support what I do at work. I can envision interactive assessments on this table- if you work in education or psychology, or if you are interested in this sort of technology, leave a comment!

Microsoft's Center for Information Work, the group working on the technology behind the table shown in the video clip.

For a glimpse of some of the work I did last semester using touch-screen displays, take a look at the following posts:

Touch Screen Poetry Picture Share

Google Earth with photo-overlays

Google Earth photo-overlay on a touch screen

Novint Falcon Haptic Controller video -

My Novint Falcon haptic controller arrived the other day! What is a haptic controller? Watch the video...

( I purchased the controller to work on games for young people who are visually impaired.)

First attempt at a touch-screen "Poetry Picture Share" application

This was my first attempt at a "poetry picture share" application. It was designed for use on a multi-touch table and can be accessed remotely so people in different places can move things around on the screen.   The video shows how the application works on a NextWindow Human Touch interactive large-screen display.

Version 2 will be posted soon. I am planning on adapting this application for use with students with special needs, such as those who have autism or other communication disorders.

Multimedia: Interactive touch-tables and large displays

This semester I'm taking a class in Human Computer Interaction and another class called "Ubiquitous Computing". I'm working on two projects that involve the use of interactive touch-screen displays. One is for travel-planning, and the other is for games that are located in social gathering places.

I've come across lots of interesting applications during the course of my research that I'd like to share on this blog. (Check back for more information!)

Right now, my dream is to get my hands on an interactive touch table that has multi-touch capability. The table needs to be wi-fi enabled, with an adjustable surface so that it can function horizantally, vertically, or in any position in between, like a drafting table.

Here is the "Multi-Touch Interaction Experiments" video demo of Jeff Han's work with a multi-touch interactive table/screen. I know this was included in an earlier post, but if you haven't seen it, you have to take a look!




Here is a link to Jeff Han's multi-touch wall, his latest work.

Stefano Baraldi's blog, "onthetabletop" is a good resource for people interested in interactive tables. He has a link to the recent Classroom of the Future conference, which focuses on collaborative learning spaces.

Here is one of Stefano Baraldi's demo videos:

Concept Matching



Working with photographs:



Here are more links about the use of interactive tables:

Interactive Tables: Supporting Collaborative Casual Learning

SIDES: A Cooperative Tabletop Computer Game for Social Skills Development


SIDES is a game that was designed for use on a MERL DiamondTouch tabletop. The researchers studied the use of social skills games for middle school students who have Asperger Syndrome.

Create 3D-like landscapes on-line

This interactive website from Park Studio in Russia allows you to create various land forms. It has a easy-to use interface and might work well on an interactive whiteboard. It looks like it was created for teaching geography or earth science, but it is fun to play with!

Link to info about a "super touch screen" for Google Earth - it has multiple uses.

Watch this video about a "super touch screen" for Google Earth from Perceptive Pixel! More information about this can be found on the TechPsych blog, and from the Google Earth Blog. I think this application would be great for visual learners.

Applications like this are immersive and engaging. If you are an educator, think about the ways you could use this application in your classroom!

Link to related article.

-Lynn

Revised Post 8/1/06 Interactive multimedia for social skills, understanding feelings, relaxation and coping strategies, etc.

UPDATE Links:
Link to Pragmatic Language/Social Skills Objectives (North Carolina Department of Public Instruction)
http://techpsych.blogspot.com/p/social-skillspragmatic-language.html


Link to a post about interactive technology (whiteboards, interactive websites, touch screen technologies, tabletop computing, etc.) in my work as a school psychologist in 2010:
http://interactivemultimediatechnology.blogspot.com/2010/08/reflections-about-interactivity-in-my.html


UPDATE: 1/17/08

(Additional information about multimedia and social skills applications, tips, and strategies can be found on the CITEd website. See my post on the TechPsych blog for links to CITEd resources.)

Here are some interactive applications and games that focus on social skills, coping skills, feelings, stress management, relaxation, communication, attention, or study skills. Multimedia applications present students with experiences that address a variety of modes of learning, communication, and thinking. This can be helpful with students who have more difficulty with traditional word-based counseling techniques.

The links with an asterisk (*) have online demos or offer the content on-line. Click on the links to view on-line activities and information.

ITSMYLIFE * is an interactive website for middle-school students. It has video clips, games and related activities on topics such as bullying, dealing with emotions, dealing with crushes, gossip and rumors, divorce, death, time management, test stress, fighting, and more. Streaming video clips on a range of topics are available on this site. Resources are provided on-line for teachers and parents. The activities on this website are appropriate for classroom guidance, small group counseling/ intervention, and for "homework". The website also includes several interactive games. The activities are engaging when presented via an interactive white board. Good potential for social-emotional intervention/prevention research.

(I used activities at the It's My Life website for group and individual counseling with middle school students who had social-emotional and behavioral difficulties.)

MOODGYM *is "a free Internet-based cognitive behavior therapy intervention designed to treat and prevent depression in young people, available to all Internet users, and targeted to those who may have no formal contact with professional help services.” This online intervention was developed and researched in Australia . It can be used effectively with older teens in a school setting. Some of the activities are appropriate for a group through presentation on an interactive whiteboard. Some of the activities can be completed during the week outside of school. Good research potential. Click here to download a 2.6 mg. PowerPoint presentation about MoodGym.

(I used MOODGYM with high school students with anxiety disorders, Asperger Syndrome, bipolar disorder, and depression. The students did some of the activities at home and we discussed their "homework" during counseling sessions. Although MoodGym was designed for young people to use independently, I found that it was useful- and informative- to guide the students I worked with through the first sessions. MoodGym has several self-tests that provide results that show the student where they stand relative to others within their age group in areas of anxiety, depression, and "warpy thoughts"(mistaken beliefs).

CLOUD GAME*

Cloud is a relaxing, nonviolent game, created by graduate students at USC. The character, a child, flies around, collecting clouds and putting them into puzzles in the sky. The music is very soothing. The game is free and can be downloaded through the website. This game could be used to help relax students with anxiety disorders, Asperger syndrome, etc., develop coping strategies. Here is the link to the Cloud video trailer.

(I use the Cloud Game as a form of crisis intervention with students undergoing high level of agitation and stress at the middle and high school level.)

DO2LEARN*
Facial Expression Game
Feelings Game
Resources for students, parents, and teachers. Focuses on activities suitable for students with Asperger-Autism spectrum disorders, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome/Effect, and related disorders. Offers free online activities as well as affordable interactive applications. Many activities are useful for younger students in regular education settings and would work for small group support as well as in classrooms using an interactive whiteboard. A good site to use when consulting with new teachers about intervention strategies. Do2Learn links to information regarding various disabilities. Do2Learn's early work with Virtual Reality helped young children with autism learn street crossing. These games are available on the internet for free.

(I use the Facial Expression Game and the Feelings Game during assessment of students with Autism spectrum disorders and students with other disorders or disabilities. The students enjoy the games. I have also used it during counseling activities that focused on understanding and identifying feelings.)

RIPPLEEFFECTS*

Ripple Effects programs have been researched in the schools, with positive results. The programs would integrate well with positive behavior support programs, including those that offer small group counseling interventions. Some activities work well on an interactive whiteboard and could be incorporated in school-wide efforts for character education, bullying prevention, and so forth.

"Ripple Effects for Teens (grades 6-10) addresses social, emotional and learning needs with individualized guidance in 390 areas.” “Ripple Effects For Kids (grades 3-5) prevents bullying, builds character, promotes healthy behavior and academic success with over 140 reading independent tutorials.” Ripple Effects also offers "Teaching Coach" for staff development. Download an 8 minute video clip overview of Ripple Effects software here.

(I use Ripple Effects in group and individual counseling. It works well for groups using a SmartBoard, as the touch screen on the SmartBoard allows the students to get up and physically interact with the various activities. I have also used Ripple Effects for crisis intervention, choosing topics related to the immediate problem and guiding the student through the activities. I find that Ripple Effects software is easy for the students to use and they can do the activities independently once they are familiar with the format.)

ZAPDRAMATIC *
Free and low-cost on-line games: "Life Experience through Simulations" and "Online Negotiation games" Suitable for high school students for teaching social skills needed for the workplace, community, and relationships. Some of the applications are used for training attorneys, agrologists, and business workers. Simulations could be used in work/life planning classes, conflict resolution, and transition planning.

SELF-ESTEEM GAMES *

On this website, you will find short, interactive games designed to promote positive self-esteem and counteract negative thoughts and anxiety, based on research at University. Appropriate for students who have negative thought patterns and feelings of lower self-esteem. The on-line games may work well with a small social skills group and an interactive whiteboard. Games are based on over 15 years of social psychology research at McGill.
Eye Spy Wham! Grow your Chi

IMMERSIVE EDUCATION*
"Kar2ouche Composer is a highly creative and interactive multimedia authoring tool. It helps students develop contextual understanding, critical interpretation and individual expression through a wide range of creative activities, including interactive role-play, picture-making, storyboarding, animation, publishing and movie-making.”

"MediaStage provides students of all abilities with a creative simulation environment that has all the engagement of the best computer game but puts creative and collaborative learning at its core. MediaStage stimulates students into new ways of thinking about the interactions between characters and people through its use of 3D role-playing simulations. Students can express their own thoughts as if others were expressing them and then mediate these thoughts in empathic ways which are sensitive both to audience and performer. Students can also use MediaStage to design virtual performances that include subtleties of expression through the body language of characters, their proximity to each other and their juxtaposition, as well as their movements and interactions with props and stage settings.”

MediaStage and K ar2ouche allow users to develop narrative and dialogue, so both applications are good for role-play activities. The visual nature of the applications may appeal to students who are visual learners, such as those who have language delays/disorders, autism-spectrum disorders, and language-based learning disabilities. Both applications incorporate story-boarding activities. Story boarding is useful with students who benefit from visual schedules and "Social Stories".

"Immersive Education has substantial evidence which demonstrates how its software and support materials are leading to significant benefits in the traditional classroom environment. These include:

• Better classroom performance and increased pupil motivation and attention
• Inclusion for children of all abilities in understanding difficult texts and concepts
• New ways for teachers to involve children in learning where software is used as an integrated part of an overall teaching solution extending teachers' creative computer skills leading to wider use of computing in the classroom."

Click here to view a short video clip about MediaStage. Click here for a free user's guide.

RELAX TO WIN
Vyro Games
Relax to Win is appropriate for students who have difficulty coping with stress or anxiety. The game is available as a PC game as well as for the smaller screen of a SmartPhone or newer cell phone. It comes with a bio-sensing feedback device. The more relaxed the user, the better the outcome of the game. Research regarding Relax to Win has shown that it is effective. It has not been researched in U.S. schools.

FREE DIVE
BreakAway Games

BreakAway Games produced Free Dive, in collaboration with others. Free Dive a 3-D game found to reduce the need for pain medication among children undergoing painful medical treatments, such as chemotherapy. Click here for a short video about Free Dive.

BreakAway Games produced A Force More Powerful , a game that encourages non-violence. .

SOCIAL IMPACT GAMES

"The goal of this site is to catalog the growing number of video and computer games whose primary purpose is something other than to entertain. These are also known as "serious games." This site is updated regularly and has links to various categories of games. The site is supported by Games2Train.

TRANQUILITY*

A gamer's comments:
"On-line relaxation "game": I really feel like I'm flying around in this space and the notion of 'tranquility' and how it really is needed in order to master the game is something I find extremely cool." Tranquility is similar in principle to the "Cloud" game. This game could be included in interventions for students who have anxiety and related disorders.

PLAY ATTENTION

From the information provided by the Play Attention Website: "Inspired by the same technology NASA uses to train their astronauts, Play Attention® builds skill sets that are vital to everyday activities- from staying organized, to filtering out distractions, to listening more attentively in class."

KIDS TOOLS AND KIDS SKILLS is “performance support software for children, ages 7-13, who have learning disabilities and/or emotional and behavioral problems.” K id Tools/Skills provides accompanying databases and tools/skills resources for teachers and parents. Information can be downloaded from the website that includes overviews, examples of completed tools, and tips for implementation. Although the graphics and interactive technology of K ids Tools doesn't have all of the "bells and whistles" of other programs, it provides a means for students to track and monitor their own progress. The programs are free and there are teacher resources. Funded by the Steppingstones Technology grant.

Interactive literacy applications and on-line resources

Here are some literacy links:

STARFALL
This extensive, free resource works well with in situations such as peer-tutoring, small group instruction, and home learning interventions. Good potential for reading intervention research, also for interventions/support for ELL students. Impressive on an interactive whiteboard. From the website: "“Starfall's online reading programs, together with Starfall's printed materials, are available free from our website as a public service. The website is easy to access and does not require special software to operate. Our printed materials are available for download free of charge. Starfall's educational objectives are consistent with the findings of National Research Council in their report on Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children."

EDUTOPIA ARTICLE ABOUT AUDIOBOOKS- "Listening to Literature"

EDUTOPIA ARTICLE ABOUT TECHNOLOGY AND READING - "Tech Teaches"

LEXIA LEARNINGSYSTEMS
Lexia provides interactive software applications for reading. A Spanish version is available. The Lexia Cross-Trainer provides interactive games to develop visual-spatial problem -solving skills. For more information, visit the Lexia products link and the support library.

HEADSPROUT

"HeadSprout's secure, web-based performance reports summarize the online instruction into practical information for teachers and administrators. Automated performance reports provide objective, empirical information about each student's individual strengths and weaknesses and progression within the Headsprout reading program."

Samples

EDMARK and RIVERDEEP

Edmark and Riverdeep offer a range of educational applications geared towards special learning needs. Some of the validity research regarding these products is dated. (Research that compares the effectiveness of these products with other interactive reading and academic programs is needed.)

LITERACY RESOURCES FOR SPECIAL NEEDS
Resources from UConn to support reading and writing for students with special needs.

NORTH CENTRAL REGIONAL LIBRARY ARTICLE ON TECHNOLOGY AND LITERACY - "Critical Issue: Using Technology to Enhance Literacy Instruction

READ PRINT
Good resources for reading materials. Includes biographical information about various authors. According to the website: "Our website offers thousands of free books for students, teachers, and the classic enthusiast."

VCOM3D INC

From the website: "This technology provides interactive, 3D animated characters that communicate through body language (including gesture, signs, and facial expression), lip-synched speech, and action. Their embedded behaviors reflect each character‚’s individual personality, and makes them appealing and lifelike."

"A striking increase in attention span, their level of engagement, and results. During an evaluation at the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, the increase in comprehension when shifting from text-only to text accompanied by sign language using SigningAvatar technology was 17% to 67%."

INTERVENTION CENTRAL

A great on-line resource is Intervention Central, created by Jim Wright, a school psychologist and school administrator. On this site, you will find several on-line tools, downloads, and links to a variety of academic and behavioral intervention strategies. Many of the interventions focus on literacy. There are some technology links on the site.

Update 3/24/10:  READ 180

"READ 180 is a comprehensive reading intervention program proven to meet the needs of struggling readers in transitional Grades 3–12. The program directly addresses individual needs through differentiated instruction, adaptive and instructional software, high-interest literature and non-fiction, and direct instruction in reading, writing, and vocabulary skills."