Digital: Divide & Conquer: apps

Today students basked in the glow of augmented reality.
It was amazing!

Augmented reality (AR) apps, as they are known, ~~are~~ have been gaining steam in the classroom and real-world. AR is when the real-world is supplemented with computer generated objects in real-time, kind of like live special FX. It's a combo like when you see a KFC-Pizza Hut-Taco Bell of pure heaven.

These AR apps are pretty cool, but they all vary in difficulty level. I started at the easiest, colAR Mix. And you should too.

HOW TO:

Download colAR Mix. It is free. There are extras you can buy, but for this lesson you won't need to.
Go to the colAR Mix website and print out a photo they have. Most of the photos say FREE and others have prices. I used a Starbucks photo, because I'm a teacher and I need coffee. On the coloring sheet they can create their own coffee cup (very cool). side note: I also need students to create new kinds of coffee because I drink so much coffee.
Kids design a coffee cup. The more color the better. Have them make it pretty, bright, and everything nice.
Scan the ENTIRE page with the app open.
Sit back and watch the kids go crazy.

WHAT I DID:

I really just needed to get some of my kids writing, so we went with the theme "favorite drink" or "favorite Starbucks drink". I used this because the coloring page was available and coffee is ~~good~~ fantastic.

We made a live anchor chart with categories for drinks, tastes, feels, and looks. These can be really tough ideas for my students. I tend to get a lot of "good" or "fun" type responses so needed to work on expanding our vocabulary. One kid said "mouth EXPLOSION!"

Yes.

Then we worked on sentence starters, which doesn't seem like a big deal. But. It. Is. Complete sentences can be tough. Each student (this was a mix of 2nd and 3rd graders) had to write 4-5 sentences. I know, I'm mean. And would you believe I had kids that didn't want to stop writing?!

The we began designing/creating/coloring our AR pages.

When they were done we had some pretty cool redesigned Starbucks coffee cups. It was quite the eclectic mix from rockets and orange juice to #swaggyunicorns and rainbows.

Above is a shot from my phone using the colAR app while iPad is too. So meta.

We also had another third grade class create their cups. I set a table up outside my room with my iPads and had students coming and going all afternoon checking out the app, looking at their creations, and just going bonkers.

A couple of notes about the app too:

-You can swipe the cup on the screen and make it move.

-You can turn your paper around and see even more details

-"This is awesome!" will be spoken quite a bit.

-It looks like each image does something unique

-I let the kids teach each other how the app works.

This is one of my favorites, reminds me of Starry Night.

I've never heard students so excited about seeing their creation come alive. The best part was the multiple teachers who stopped and talked with the students. They then shared all the details and info with the teachers. Circle of life, teaching style.

If you've thought about giving Augmented Reality a chance in your classroom, this would be the one to try. It is a perfect starter kit. It's easy enough for you and the students, plus they'll go home and try it out for themselves. It's the gift that keeps on giving.

Maybe I should change my name to Digital: Divide and Coffee...

UPDATED: Since this post the app has changed and is now called QUIVER.

Website here

ioS App here

apps

Tune Into Technology: iPads

This link up is by from Learning to the Core and iTeach 1:1

It doesn't matter to me if you like Mac or PC. I use both, but own all Mac stuff...it just works best for me. That being said, I don't discriminate those that are pro PC, Android, or VCR. But when it comes to the classroom and using a digital tool to enhance learning potential in students and teachers the iPad is second to none.

It should be noted I'm excluding laptops. Those are completely different animals and need a post for there own. This is really just about the best mobile device in the school (IMO).

I've been using an iPad for just over two years and my immediate reaction after using it and realizing the educational value was disappointment. Why disappointment? Well, I know at least four of my prior students that would have been tremendously successful using it with reading, writing, math, and social skills. And there is nothing more aggravating than hindsight.

For speed, accuracy, student engagement, learning styles, integration, and anything else that will stick to the wall--the iPad is a game changer (sorry Surface). The types of activities and lessons I can do with a classroom of 25 kids and a single iPad is pretty cool. It's even better when they each have their own, but budgets are a whole different story.

Public Service Announcement:

Cats like iPads.

So what I figured I'd do was list a few apps (and such) that I use in the my class and around school. Some of these are definitely outside the box (but doesn't teaching need to be that way?).

1. This is a direct link to post I did on the Jurassic Park App. It's great for reading, decoding, vocabulary, step by step instructions (and following), plus ordering of events, and more. And it is a game. Have a student walk you through this game and you'll see what I mean.

2. Scribble Press. I got this free, now it is about 3 bucks, which really isn't bad considering you can write, draw, create, and publish books. Then you can upload them to your email or their website and save it as a PDF. There is also an option to print the books out (or you could just do that yourself). I did this year with a couple of my fifth graders this year.

They wrote stories, edited them, illustrated, and then we Skyped with the early childhood school and my students read books to the kids. It was a beautiful thing. Check out this app...mind bottling.

3. Coach's Eye. This app allows you to edit video immediately by adding diagrams, lines, pausing video, speaking over it, you name it---except it has been used predominantly for sports. We found another alternative for it. Social Awareness/Social Situations. Myself and the social worker have taken video of specific areas in the school and the students diagram exactly what is happening.

We're basically asking students to break down video (like athletes) and try to recognize what is happening. The kids study this like crazy and then discuss it with teachers and they get to do all the diagramming too. I love having students recognize areas in class, the lunchroom, or recess that could be difficult (and why). Definitely check this out.

4. One of the simplest features is the video/photo. I know it might sound silly, but having the ability to immediately play back what you've done or said is powerful. We've had students film themselves when preparing for speeches so they could work on speed, volume, and clarity. No More Robot Speech Talk (said like a robot). I still think the power of video is underrated in education and this is just another way to utilize it.

5. Skitch. This bad boy is free. Anytime you can teach students how to annotate articles, images, and more is a win for the everyone. Have them take a photo of an article then highlight vocabulary, main idea, the 5 W's, and more. Others have integrated this app into math for area and perimeter too. There is a lot you can do with this.

Also, the fact that Skitch is part of Evernote doesn't hurt anything. It just makes the connection more seamless and easier for teachers to understand. Wait...you do know about Evernote right?

6. FlipBoard. My FAVORITE! Oh this, it's just an ever expanding digital magazine that is constantly updating itself with news from around the world. Oh, and you can hook up any RSS feed, Facebook, Twitter, or WhateverAccount you have and it places it in easy to see and use magazine form.

It pulls in all your feeds and organizes them.

Plus it shows smaller sections and titles of articles/etc.

Here is a little secret I have about Flipboard...this is the place where I find most of my free apps. Go to the search bar and type in #tcea, #edapp, #ipadapp you can save these as individual magazines. Most of these hashtags are used for all things app-related included a lot of limited time freebies. TCEA sends out at least 2 free app a day. Some great, some good, some blah...but all free. Also add in Appshopper.com and subscribe to this too.

This is one of the best Professional Development tools out there....besides all of you, my blogging friends!

7. Action Movie. This app is just fun as heck (and free) The kids love it. Here is a post I did on it earlier. Make your own quick movie, add in an effect, and feel like a movie star.

8. Roxie's a-MAZE-ing Adventure. This is one of my oldies (in app terms) and it was one of the original apps I first bought. This is a fun Where's Waldo type-of-app where students must travel through level/maps finding puzzle pieces, letters, and more. But it is a little tough because kids have to follow traffic rules since you move around by card, foot, bike, and more.

This is really good for motor skill activities because students have to keep their fingers on the figure as they move from place to place. This is really a good partner game. I've seen kids get frustrated with it (which is fine), but adding in a partner can alleviate some of the aggravation.

9. Photon and Rover. These apps convert FLASH media to make them viewable on your iPad. Rover is free. It is average because (and I swear I'm not making this) it only lets certain educational sites work through it. It filters out a lot of stuff, which I understand but can be kind of aggravating.

Photon costs around five bucks but it has no filters and works really fast. I've thoroughly enjoyed using this one and it works great with a lot educational sites that use games with Flash.

Not an App, just an Idea: LAYERING

One of my favorite aspects of the iPad is LAYERING. What is layering? That is when you start with one app, create something, export it (video, image, drawing, audio), then you open up another app to add to it. This process can be completed quite a few times and only ends when the users says so.

An example would be using Action Movie to make a video clip, then exporting it to my camera roll. From there I would import this clip into iMovie and add it to my film.

This is a simple layering technique that adds to the over quality of the work. Plus, this is great for Project Based Learning (my favorite). This takes practice and isn't something that students immediately think of, but once they are shown how it can work the possibilities are endless. Layering is probably a post all to its own, so I'll throw that on the back burner.

DOGS like iPads too.