The Best in Show winner of IXDA's 2012 Interaction Awards was LoopLoop, an interactive music sequencer application for children, created by designers at Stimulant in collaboration with Sifteo.
Workshop on Digital Ecosystems for Collaborative Learning: Embedding Personal and Collaborative Devices to Support Classrooms of the Future
This workshop will be held in conjunction with ICLS 2012 (International Conference of the Learning Sciences) on July 2, 2012, in Sydney, Australia. The guest speaker in the introductory panel is Chia Shen, the SEAS Senior Research Fellow and Director for the SDR (Scientists' Discovery Room) Lab at Harvard University.
Call For Papers Applications for the workshop must be submitted by May 1, 2012, and must include a paper of up to 4 pages, along with an optional video.
Topics of Interest (from the workshop website) Connection between technologies and co-located collaborative learning Usage of technology in the classroom Ubiquitous and mobile learning environments Multi-touch tables and surfaces, interactive whiteboards Motion sensitive interfaces, physical and tangible computing Multi-display, single-display groupware Educational uses of smart phones and tablets Classroom orchestration and monitoring Improving teacher support
Integrating technology and pedagogical theory Best practices for adaptation of technology to educational context
Amit Pitaru and James Paterson, creators of Numby, an app for kids to teach counting skills, have been involved in a number of interesting projects. Here are two of them:
The app creates music in 3D, so it is best to use headphones.
Sonic Wire Sculpture is available as an iPhone app. More information can be found on the Sonic Wire Sculptor website.
Rhonda Forever is a 3D drawing tool that was born around 2003 and has a team of developers who are working to create stable releases of the application so it can be accessed through different platforms. There is a newer beta version of Rhonda for PC and Mac that can be downloaded from the Rhonda website. The team is working on releases that will support 2-hand interaction.
I'm hoping that Rhonda Forever will be available for the iPad.
I've been meaning to post reviews about my favorite apps for kids, but there are so many that I love and use at work and when I'm with my little grandson, I haven't figured out where to begin!
I came across information about the Numby app on the Creative Application Network website, one of my favorite places to learn about creative, innovative applications and technologies. The app was created by Amit Pitaru and James Paterson.
FYI: Jennifer Pahlka will be a keynote speaker on Tuesday, March 13 at the SXSW (South by Southwest) conference in Austin, Texas. SXSW events and interactive keynotes will be streaming live at http://sxsw.com/interactive/live
In the above video, Jennifer Pahlka, the founder of Code for America, discusses how "coding" citizens- app developers, web developers, designers, and others are helping government work more efficiently and effectively, drawing on the strength of the internet, mobile web, and social media. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/lang///id/1381
Participatory citizenship through coding!
RELATED Code for America Fellowship Program The Code for America Fellows work in teams for 11 months, during which they receive mentoring, education about municipal government, and the opportunity to develop a web application to help cities - and citizens- solve problems. The 2012 Fellows are based in San Francisco, and are provided a $35,000 stipend, travel expenses, and healthcare. Although based in San Francisco, the Fellows are assigned to a host city (Boston, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, or Seatle), and spend some of their time on-site. Code for America Blog
South by Southwest - SXSW -Austin, Texas "The South by Southwest Conference & Festivals offer the unique convergence of original music, independent films, and emerging technologies. Fostering creative and professional growth alike, SXSW is the premier destination for discovery" -SXSW
I came across the following video about nsquare's presenter application. It looks like it has potential. It supports "seamless" collaboration between people, multimedia content, interactive tables, interactive touch screens, and tablet devices.
