20 of the Coolest Augmented Reality Experiments in Education so far

Augmented reality is exactly what the name implies — a medium through which the known world fuses with current technology to create a uniquely blended interactive experience. While still more or less a nascent entity in the frequently Luddite education industry, more and more teachers, researchers, and developers contribute their ideas and inventions towards the cause of more interactive learning environments. Many of these result in some of the most creative, engaging experiences imaginable, and as adherence grows, so too will students of all ages.

1. Second Life:Because it involves a Stephenson-esque reality where anything can happen, Second Life proved an incredibly valuable tool for educators hoping to reach a broad audience — or offering even more ways to learn for their own bands of students. Listing the numerous ways in which they utilized the virtual world means an entire article on its own, but a quick search will dredge up the online classes, demonstrations, discussions, lectures, presentations, debates, and other educational benefits.
2. Augmented Reality Development Lab:Affiliated with such itty-bitty, insignificant companies as Google, Microsoft, and Logitech, the Augmented Reality Development Lab run by Digital Tech Frontier seeks to draw up projects that entertain as well as educate. The very core goal of the ARDL — which classrooms can purchase in kits at various price levels — involves creating interactive, three-dimensional objects for studying purposes.
3. Reliving the Revolution:Karen Schrier harnessed GPS and Pocket PCs to bring the Battle of Lexington to her students through the Reliving the Revolution game, an AR experiment exploring some of the mysteries still shrouding the event — like who shot first! Players assume different historical roles and walk through everything on a real-life map of the Massachusetts city.
4. PhysicsPlayground:One of the many, many engines behind PC games received a second life as an engaging strategy for illustrating the intricate ins and outs of physics, in a project known as PhysicsPlayground. It offers up an immersive, three-dimensional environment for experimenting, offering up a safer, more diverse space to better understand how the universe drives itself.
5. MITAR Games:Developed by MIT’s Teacher Education Program and The Education Arcade, MITAR Games blend real-life locations with virtual individuals and scenarios for an educational experience that research proves entirely valid. Environmental Detectives, its first offering, sends users off on a mystery to discover the source of a devastating toxic spill.
6. New Horizon:Some Japanese students and adults learning and reviewing English lessons enjoy the first generation of augmented reality textbooks, courtesy of publisher Tokyo Shoseki, for the New Horizon class. As a smartphone app, it takes advantage of built-in cameras to present animated character conversations when aligned with certain sections of pages.
7. Occupational Safety Scaffolding:Professor Ron Dotson’s Construction Safety students receive a thorough education in establishing safe scaffolding space through three-dimensional demonstrations incorporating the real and the digital alike. A simple application of AR, to be certain, but one undoubtedly possessing the potential to save lives and limbs alike.
8. FETCH! Lunch Rush:Education-conscious parents who want L’il Muffin and Junior to learn outside the classroom might want to consider downloading PBS Kids’ intriguing iPhone and iPod Touch app. Keep them entertained in the car or on the couch with a fun little game for ages six through eight meant to help them build basic math skills visually.
9. Field trips:Augmented reality museums guide students and self-learners of all ages through interactive digital media centered around a specific theme — maybe even challenge them to play games along the way. HistoriQuest, for example, started life as the Civil War Augmented Reality Project and presented a heady blend of mystery gaming and very real stories.
10. School in the Park Augmented Reality Experience:Third graders participating in the 12-year-old School in the Park program engage with AR via smartphones as they explore Balboa Park, the San Diego History Center, and the world-class San Diego Zoo. Not only do they receive exposure to numerous educational digital media resources, teachers also train them in creating their very own augmented reality experiences!
11. QR Code scavenger hunts:Smartphones equipped with a QR code reader make for optimal tools when sending students on scavenger hunts across the classroom or school. The Daring Librarian, Gwyneth Anne Bronwynn, sends kids on an augmented reality, animated voyage through the library to figure out where to find everything and whom to ask for assistance.
12. Mentira:Mentira takes place in Albuquerque and fuses fact and fiction, fantasy characters and real people, for the world’s first AR Spanish language learning game. It intentionally mimics the structure of a historical murder mystery novel and allows for far deeper, more effective engagement with native speakers than many classroom lessons.
13. Driver’s ed:Toyota teamed up with Saatchi & Saatchi to deliver the world’s cleanest and safest test-drive via augmented reality. While the method has yet to catch on in the majority of driver’s education classes, it definitely makes for an impressive, effective alternative to keeping and maintaining a fleet of cars.
14. Geotagging:Classrooms with smartphone access blend Google Earth and web albums such as Picasa or Instagram for a firsthand experience in geotagging and receiving a visual education about the world around them. More collaborative classrooms — like those hked together with Skype or another VOIP client – could use this as a way to nurture cross-cultural, geopolitical understanding.
15. Dow Day:Jim Mathews’ augmented reality documentary and smartphone app brought University of Madison-Wisconsin students, faculty, staff, and visitors to the year 1967. As they traveled campus, participants’ smartphones called up actual footage of Vietnam War protests corresponding with their current locations.
16. SciMorph:Using a webcam and printed target, young kids in need of some science (although, really, everyone is in need of some science) interact with the cute critter SciMorph, who teaches them about gravity, sound, and microbial structures. Each lesson involves exploring a specific zone within the game and opens users up to questions, quizzes, and talks.
17. Imaginary Worlds:With PSPs in hand, Mansel Primary School students embarked on an artistic voyage, where downloaded images and QR codes merge and provide challenges to draw up personalized environments. The journey also pits them against monsters and requires a final write-up about how the immersive experience left an educational impact.
18. Sky Map and Star Walk:Available on Android and iWhatever devices, these deceptively simple applications pack a megaton punch of education via an innovative augmented reality approach. Both involve pointing the gadget to the sky and seeing the names of the currently visible stars, planets, and constellations pop up, along with additional astronomical information.
19. Handheld Augmented Reality Project:Harvard, MIT, and University of Wisconsin at Madison teamed up with a grant from the U.S. Department of Education and nurtured science and math skills to junior high kids using GPS navigators and Dell Axims. Moving through the school meant moving through a synched virtual environment, with each area presenting new challenges they must tackle before pressing forward.
20. Project Glass:One of the most ambitious augmented reality initiatives comes straight from Google, who believes its Project Glass holds potential far beyond the classroom. Notoriously, it requires a pair of glasses versus the usual smartphones and laptops, and current experiments involve placing users in first-person extreme athletic experiences, snapping photos, and more.

Will the Common Core Accelerate or SLOW Innovation?

Some friends are working on a paper on the topic of common standards and innovation. The primary question is how and whether the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) will accelerate or slow innovation. The answer is that common standards are a big boon to innovation for four reasons:

1. CCSS and the shift to digital are coincident and complementary . Online assessment of the CCSS will respond for the need for better and cheaper assessments and will, in turn, accelerate shift to digital. First generation online assessment starting in 2015 will be step function improvement in most states. Administration of online assessments is one more reason for schools and districts to boost student access to technology and that will push thousands of schools to develop or adopt innovative blended models

2. CCSS are producing in big investment in digital content. I’ve suggested that common standards are like the iPhone for Edu, have brought up the rear in 30 states with low standards and launched an avalanche of innovation, including adaptive learning platforms like i-Ready and fully-digital, Common Core-aligned curriculums like the Pearson 1:1 launched at Huntsville in August.

The Compass Learning team added, “Just in the past 12 months, the team has developed and released hundreds of new learning activities, quizzes, and writing prompts to address the deeper, more rigorous Common Core State Standards.”

Foundations are making a big investment in innovative CCSS content including EduCurious,Khan Academy, ST Math, and MadCap.

MasteryConnect and LearnZillion are some of the scrappy startups banking on CCSS (as noted in a review of Bob Rothman’s Common Core book). Every week we see new engaging Common Core-aligned content, apps, and platforms — including lots of open educational resources (OER). The improved ability to share resources across state lines is a huge benefit.

3. Data standards will help. Common tagging strategies and data protocols will power new apps. As Frank Catalano’s recent blog pointed out, it’s still pretty confusing how all the data initiatives fit together (or don’t).

The Shared Learning Collaborative announced a new CEO yesterday.Iwan Streichenberger will lead the rollout of SLC technology to pilot districts next year.

In a recent paper DLN paper “Data Backpacks,” my co-authors and I argued that a thick gradebook of data should follow a student from grade to grade and school to school. The SLC will make that data — and more — available by teacher query through multiple apps. That kind of plumbing will lead to an ecosystem of innovation.

As several of these ecosystems blossom in the second half of this decade, they will mark the beginning of big data learning — and that should change everything.

4. Common Core is boosting equity. The most important benefit of the Common Core is real college and career readiness standards for all students. We can finally say that nearly every state is committed to preparing every student for viable life options. That commitment is likely to drive innovations in:

Competency-based learning that provides the time for kids that need it and acceleration opportunities for those that are ready
Funding that provides more opportunity and support for struggling students; and
School models that inspire lots of reading, writing, and problem solving.

Some critics complain about the cost of adoption, but the CCSS will save, not cost billions.

Some critics fear that CCSS and tests will constrict innovation. Anti-testing folks chime in on this one. But common expectations for reading, writing, and problem solving skills will make young people college eligible and give them a shot at family wage employment is not asking too much and leaves plenty of room for innovative school models.

Some critics blame the feds for being too supportive of the CCSS, but Race to the Top (RttT) produced more policy innovation in the six months leading up to the grants than any previous initiative.

There are some CCSS supporters that worry four or five states doing their own thing and six or eight states developing their own tests is a bad thing, but both will prove to be sources of innovation. Test vendors like ACT will continue to push the state testing consortia.

CCSS assessment in 2015 will be the pivotal event of this decade. Adoption of common standards will provide a significant boost to innovations in learning.

Graduating with Technology

Technology has become an integral part of our daily lives: we use it to learn, to shop, to pay bills, and to entertain ourselves. Not surprisingly, younger generations are heavily influenced by computers in a way that changes the way they retain information and the ways they develop opinions about culture. Today 70% of children between the ages of 2-5 can operate a computer mouse, but only 11% of them can tie their own shoes. At the start of the 21st century only half of all school classrooms had Internet access, compared to 98% today. The proliferation and sheer breadth of accessibility that the Internet offers has in many ways redefined the process of “growing up” — this graphic explores this redefinition and provides insight into not just how we learn stuff, but also what we learn from a young age now that we have computers.

Creating art on tablets remains a work in progress

As publisher of San Francisco based technology news site Gotta Be Mobile, Xavier Lanier spends a lot of time at trade shows and away from his office equipment.

His tablet computer means he doesn’t have to wait to get back to the office before uploading content onto his site.

“The iPad can be faster at content production in certain circumstances,” he says.

Over the past few years, tablet sales have soared. Owners praise the ease with which they can be used to consume media.

New devices are on their way. Microsoft’s Surface tablets become available this week; Apple is expected to shortly release an “iPad Mini”; Google is rumoured to be unveiling new Nexus Android tablets at a presentation next week; and Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble’s Nook HD are about to hit UK shelves.

Kyle Lambert took eight hours to create this detailed drawing using an iPad of the singer Beyonce

The devices all make it easy to view magazines, books and movies. But trying to create content on them is a different issue altogether.

Some users find a touch screen and portability a plus for creation, but others lament their tablet’s more limited capabilities as being, well, limiting.

Finger painting

Mr Lanier believes the hands-on nature of using a tablet can help processes such as image editing.

“Photography is traditionally a very tactile art,” he says, recalling his experience of handling camera film in a darkroom.

Using a tablet – rather than a keyboard and mouse – allows him to alter a photo directly with his fingertips.

“It’s just natural,” he says. “It’s a much more physical, tactile experience and it brings the art back to photography.”

UK-based artist Kyle Lambert is known for visual works created using computer equipment, including a portrait of singer Beyonce entirely made with his fingers and an app called Brushes.

His works often begin on his tablet, which he carries around with him, replacing his paper sketchbooks.

“The playful stage for me is on an iPad,” he says.

“It’s really nice how on the tablet applications are simple and the toolset is limited because it makes you work in a quicker way.”

But when it comes to working on his ideas more fully in his studio, he uses more sophisticated equipment.

It’s something that comic book illustrator Peter Gross agrees with – he likes being able to sketch on a tablet when travelling.

Peter Gross still relies on Wacom’s equipment to complete his work for DC Comics

However, he also relies on specialist equipment to develop and refine his work.

Tablets offer limited pressure sensitivity, which can be utilised to make lines finer and thicker.

But for more detailed work, Gross uses a more sensitive pressure-sensitive 21in (53cm) monitor and stylus made by Wacom.

“Comics themselves are generally drawn one and a half times bigger than the printed things,” he says, stressing that tablets are simply too small to be used past early ideas.

Touch-created music

The touch-screen nature of tablets also appeals to musicians, but they too highlight problems.

Sam Pluta is a New York-based composer who uses computers, performing alongside classical and jazz ensembles. He uses tablets to tweak a range of factors such as volume, reverb and the amount and intensity of distortion. He likes the fact that the screen can be customised to change between different types of controllers quickly.

However, he complains that he can’t feel what he’s doing on the flat screen of a tablet. For a musician this can be difficult and even unnatural.

“You very seldom see a violinist look at their fingers while they play,” Mr Pluta says, referring to the way the musicians can “feel their way” around their instruments.

“The iPad doesn’t have that and I don’t think that you can get to that point.”

MiniMash allows users to mix together existing songs to create “mash-ups” of their tracks

It’s a view shared by another composer and performer, Daniel Iglesia, who also uses computers extensively. “When you’re onstage you don’t want to be looking at what you’re touching,” he says.

“I personally prefer something that has physical knobs and faders and buttons to touch, just because I’ll be able to feel those things without looking down.”

Iglesia created the MiniMash app, which scans the tracks in a user’s digital library and then alters them before mixing them together to create “mash-ups”.

But he says efforts to create new songs from scratch on a tablet have been less satisfying.

He writes and tinkers with the code of his own software when composing music to get a specific sound. But Apple’s restrictions on what software can be installed on the iPad mean that he has had to rely on a laptop computer, he adds.

Beyond computers

Despite these issues, Brooklyn-based design duo the Brothers Mueller believe tablets have a bright future as creative devices.

The two men specialise in computer-made art as well as being part of a team that creates a digital magazine for the lifestyle TV-host Martha Stewart.

Despite their focus on digital, they still rely on pen and paper in the early stages of their projects.

The early design of this wallpaper – based on graphics of diseases – was sketched out on a tablet

“That’s what we’ve been trained on for the first 20 years of our lives,” they say. “We can sketch things out much faster than we could on a tablet.

They believe the problem is that people view tablets as a replacement for existing tools, either computers or analogue techniques. But they argue people would be better off using them to try to do things they couldn’t before.

“They want it to better fit whatever it is they’re [already] doing,” they say.

“They’re a really fascinating device because they have a lot of potential. Therein lies the beauty of them.”

By Nastaran Tavakoli-Far BBC World Service

OMG! Cursive Education On the Chopping Block

Ever wanted to learn a language…Here’s how!!

Arabic

• Arabic Language Lessons – iTunes Free
  • The US Peace Corps serves up 10 free lessons that will teach you the Arabic spoken in Jordan. The web site includes a useful transcript.
• ArabicPod iTunes Free
  • Includes mp3s and PDF transcripts.
• Foreign Service Institute Basic Course
  • Includes instruction on written Arabic, Levantine Arabic, and Saudi Arabic.
• Survival Phrases Arabic – iTunes Free
  • Provides the essentials you’ll need to get around.

Bulgarian

• Bulgarian Survival Phrases iTunes Free – Feed

Catalan

• One Minute Catalan iTunes Free – Feed
  • A good way to get going with a language still spoken by some 12 million people, many living in Northeast Spain.

Chinese

• Real Chinese – Web Site
  • Presented by the BBC. A lively introduction to Mandarin Chinese in 10 short parts with video clips from the Real Chinese TV series.
• Beginner’s Chinese iTunes Free
  • Introductory audio lessons provided by the Open University.
• Chinese Learn Online iTunes Free – Feed
  • A dialogue-based introduction to Mandarin Chinese. Load the lessons on your mp3 player and get up the Chinese curve.
• Chinese Lessons with Serge Melnyk iTunes Free –Feed
  • Weekly lessons in Mandarin that get very strong reviews from iTunes users..
• Chinesepod.com iTunes Free –Feed
  • A series of well-reviewed lessons that will let you learn Mandarin on your own terms.

• CSLPod iTunes Free –Feed
  • Here, native Mandarin speakers teach you Chinese as a second language. Audio and transcripts are available on the website. The lessons also place an emphasis on understanding Chinese culture.
• iMandarinPod.com iTunes Free –Feed
  • This series of lessons teaches Chinese by talking about Chinese culture or what is happening today in China. More advanced than others.
• Mandarin Chinese Feed – Web Site
  • 10 Lessons by the US Peace Corps. Make sure you visit the site and download the pdf that accompanies the lessons.
• Mandarin Chinese Characters iTunes Free
  • Created by Emory University, this series of video lessons will help you draw several characters and numbers.
• Mandarin in China Web Site
  • Lessons courtesy of the US Peace Corps
• News in Slow Chinese iTunes Free – Web Site
  • Designed for intermediate Mandarin speakers. Improve your language skills by listening to world news delivered in slowly spoken words.
• Numbers and Radicals iTunes Free
  • Emory University teaches you the proper form for writing numbers and radicals. In Video.
• One Minute Mandarin iTunes Free – Feed
  • A quick way to cover the very basics…
• Popup Chinese iTunes Free – Feed
  • Offers lessons for beginners and also students at intermediate and advanced levels. In addition to language lessons, Popup Chinese provides annotated short stories, HSK test prep materials and a variety of speaking and listening exercises. They broadcast out of Beijing, and all voice actors speak the standard northern dialect.
• Survival Chinese iTunes Free – Feed
  • Learn the phrases you need to get by while traveling in China.
• World Learner Chinese iTunes Free – Feed
  • Another in the mix of possibilities.

Danish

• Dare to Danish iTunes Free
  • This is not your usual series of language lessons. Here, a “dirty Dane” teaches you “stupid phrases and more.”
• One Minute Danish iTunes Free – Feed–
  • We get a lot of requests (believe it or not) for Danish. So here’s another useful primer created by the One Minute series.

Dutch

• Laura Speaks Dutch iTunes Free
  • Lessons that will help you travel to Holland. It’s worth checking out the accompanying web site.
• Learn Dutch iTunes Free
  • Culturally relevant lessons that are easy to listen to.

English

• Connect with English – Web
  • Featuring the story of Rebecca, an aspiring singer on a journey across America, Connect With English offers 50 fifteen-minute video programs that will teach English as a second language to high school students, college students and adult learners. Produced by WGBH Boston.
• The English We Speak – iTunes Free – Web Site
  • Each week, the BBC looks at phrases used in the English language.
• American English Speech – Web
  •  The OLI American English Dialect course from Carnegie Mellon supplies the necessary reinforcement of dialectical structure, audio, production technique and phonetic representation for each sound.
• 6 Minute English iTunes Free – Downloads – Web Site
  • Learn and practice useful English with the BBC.
• Better @ English iTunes Free – Feed
  • Focuses on conversational English, with an emphasis on idioms and slang.
• Business English iTunes Free
  • Learn the English you will need to function effectively in an American business environment.
• Effortless English iTunes Free Feed
  • It gets solid reviews.
• English as a Second Language iTunes Free Feed Web Site
  • A very well liked collection of ESL lessons. Over 100 episodes in the collection.
• English in the Real World – iTunes Free
  • The focus here is on the business world and things financial.
• English for Spanish Speakers (’Por Fin Aprende Ingles’) iTunes Free Feed
  • Si usted haya asistido al menos a un curso de ingles, y usted necesita la oportunidad de escuchar al ingles y hablar el ingles, entonces ‘Por Fin Aprende Ingles’ es el podcast perfecto para usted. Presentado por Carla Staufert-Sauvier, una profesora de Mexico, y Jade Lindquist, una profesora de los EE UU.
• ESL Business News iTunes Free Feed Web Site
  • A weekly wrap of international business news read in slow, clear English. Listen to the broadcast and follow along in the accompanying script.
• Grammar Girl iTunes Free Feed Web Site
  • Grammar Girl provides short, friendly tips to improve your writing. Whether English is your first language or your second language, these grammar, punctuation, style, and business tips will make you a better and more successful writer.
• Speaking English iTunes Free Feed Web Site
  • 100+ lessons focusing on English pronunciation and vocabulary.
• Tu Ingles! iTunes Free Feed Web Site
  • “Tu Ingles” is designed to help Spanish-speakers improve their ear for English. The weekly program features drills of verb conjugation, interviews, advice about idioms, and excerpts of speeches and other recorded spoken material from famous English speakers.

Esperanto

• Esperanto-Lecionoj Feed Web Site
  • These lessons will help you become familiar with Esperanto, a purely international language.

Finnish

• Special Finnish Feed Web Site
  • For listeners with some command of Finnish YLE Radio Finland offers daily broadcasts in “Special Finnish”. The five minute broadcasts cover items of current interest. To ease understanding, we simplify the language and slow down the delivery. Some grammatical forms are not used at all. The level of Finnish used is planned to match the expected ability to understand Finnish shown by persons in Level Two Language Command (ofFinnish) as defined by the Council of Europe.”

French

• French in Action Free Web Site
  • Produced by Yale University, these video lessons uses the storyline of an American student and a young Frenchwoman’s adventures in Paris to teach the language.
• French 1 & French 2 from Carnegie Mellon – Web Site
  • The French courses are introductory, interactive video-based courses intended for use by university students and independent learners on the Internet. 
    
• Ma France Web Site
  • The BBC offers 24 video lessons that will teach you French.
• Easy French Poetry iTunes Free
  • A French as a second language program, using poetry as a topic for discussion using everyday conversational French.
• French for Beginners iTunes Free Feed
  • Fun, effective lessons for beginners. Provided by the French Ecole.
• FrenchPod.com iTunes Free Feed
  • A series of well-reviewed lessons that will let you learn French on your own terms. Lessons are accompanied by text expansion exercises and other tutoring aids.
• Le Journal en français facile iTunes Free Feed Web Site
  • Nightly news from RFI presented in slowly spoken French to assist you with your comprehension.
• Learn French iTunes Free Feed Web Site
  • A well-reviewed series of lessons for beginners and those who want to brush up on their French.
• Learn French with Coffee Break French iTunes Free Feed Web Site
  • The producers of the very popular Coffee Break Spanish now offer a program that will teach you French.
• Learn French with Daily Lessons iTunes Free Feed
  • These lessons are brought to you by French teachers from Paris. They are best suited for those who already have some beginning French under their belts.
• Mali French Feed Web Site
  • The Peace Corps teaches you some of the French spoken in Mali.
• Native French Speech Podcast iTunes Web Site
  • Listen to interesting conversations between Native French speakers and learn about everyday life in France and cultural French topics
• News in Slow French iTunes Free Web Site
  • Program discusses the Weekly News, French grammar, and French expressions in simplified French at a slow pace.
• Talk French Web Site
  • A lively introduction to French presented by the BBC.
• The French Pod Class iTunes Free
  • A very popular collection that teaches students the French language and different facets of French culture.
• University of Texas: Francais interactif iTunes Free – Web Site
  • UT provides a series of interactive vocabulary lessons. Media can be downloaded from the site.

Gaelic

• One Minute Gaelic – iTunes Free – Feed
  • Get a quick grounding in the basics…

German

• Deutsch – warum nicht?
  • An extensive collection of introductory German lessons put together by Deutsche Welle.
    • Part 1 iTunes Free
    • Part 2 iTunes Free
    • Part 3 iTunes Free
    • Part 4 iTunes Free
• Slowly Spoken News Feed
  • Deutsche Welle provides a nightly news broadcast in German that’s spoken slowly so that you can work on your comprehension.
• Talk German – Web Site
  • A lively introduction to German by the BBC. Presented in ten short parts.
• Deutsch – Lernen – Text
  • 10 German lessons for total beginners and 24 German grammar lessons. No audio; text only.
• GermanPod 101 iTunes Free – Feed
  • Offers materials for beginners, intermediate and advanced.
• German Podcast.de iTunes Free – Web Site
• GerGermanGrammar iTunes Free – Feed – Web Site
  • German grammar lessons aimed at American students.
• Lernen Wir Deutsch iTunes Free – Feed – Web Site
  • Presented in video, these “vodcasts” get high marks for being not only educational but also very entertaining.
• MyDailyPhrase.com iTunes Free – Feed
  • Learn German phrase by phrase over a course of 20 weeks. Lessons cover all the language you need to know to get by on a visit to a German-speaking country. This series is put together by the same people created the popular series “Coffee Break Spanish.”
• One Minute German iTunes Free – Feed
  • Presented by the Radio Lingua Network
• Slow German iTunes Free – Feed – Web Site
  • Annik Rubens reads slowly and clearly from parts of her popular program, Sleepless in Munich (Schaflos in Munchen).

Greek

• Learning Greek iTunes Free Web Site
  • From the Hellenic American Union, these lessons will teach students Modern Greek. For those who already have some foundation in the language.

Hebrew

• HebrewPod 101 iTunes Web Downloads Blog
  • A way to learn some quick Hebrew on the fly.
• Elementary Hebrew iTunes Free
  • The audio and video files come from a course taught in a seminary.
• Hebrew Journey – iTunes Video Free –  YouTube Free
  • 50 hours of Hebrew lessons that have a religious bent.

Hindi

• HindiPod 101 – iTunes Web Site
  • Learn Hindi with fun, interesting and culturally relevant lessons that are easy to listen to.
• I Speak Hindi iTunes – Feed Web Site
  • Coversessential words and phrases that you need for your trip to India. There are also Beginner Hindi lessons for those that want to seriously start to learn the language.
• Learn Hindi from Bollywood Movies iTunes Free Feed
  • This looks like a fun approach to learning a language.

• Namaste Dosti – Learn Hindi iTunes Free Feed Web Site
  • There are few options when it comes to learning Hindi so the author decided to fill the void.

Hungarian

• Let’s Learn Hungarian iTunes Free Feed Web Site
  • Learn with Steve or Gyorgyi, a native speaker.

Icelandic

• Icelandic Online – Web Site
  • Created by University of Iceland. The lessons use various media – text, flashcards, videos and so on. Lets you track your progress. Available up to expert level. (Requires registration.)

Indonesian

• Learning Indonesian iTunes Free Feed
  • A complete online Indonesian course geared towards developing conversational fluency in the Indonesian Language.

Irish

• One Minute Irish iTunes Free Feed

Italian

• Talk Italian – Web Site
  • A lively introduction to Italian presented by the BBC.
• ItalianPod.com iTunes Free Feed
  • A series of well-reviewed lessons that will let you learn Italian on your own terms.
• LearnItalianPod.com iTunes Free Feed
  • A series of Italian language lessons that will get you up and running. I have personally used them and found them effective.
• Let’s Speak Italian iTunes Free Feed
  • This collection will help you learn Italian in small, manageable 5-minute bites.
• MyDailyPhrase.com iTunes Free
  • Learn Italian step by step over a course of 20 weeks. Lessons cover all the language you need to know to get by on a visit to a Italian-speaking country. Created by the same people who put together the popular series “Coffee Break Spanish.”
• World Languages Podcasting – Italian iTunes Free Feed
  • It’s admittedly a bit of an untraditional way to learn Italian. Lets you listen to conversations about Australian culture in Italian.

Japanese

• Japanese Class (Video) iTunes Free
  • These videocasts from the Kyoto Japanese Language School get strong reviews. They use video effectively to demonstrate how to write in Japanese.
• JapanesePod101.com iTunes Free Feed
  • Over 100 quality lessons aimed at the beginner. Users give it high marks.
• Kanji Characters iTunes Free
  • Learn the proper form and stroke for several important Kanji characters. From Emory University.
• Learn Japanese iTunes Free Feed
  • Japancast teaches Japanese using lessons from anime and everyday conversation.
• Learn Japanese Symbols iTunes Free Feed Web Site
  • These lessons teach students how to work with Japanese symbols, such as Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana.
• Survival Phrases iTunes Free Feed
  • Learn the must-know phrases for traveling in Japan.

Korean

• KoreanClass101 – iTunes Free
  • Features daily audio lessons, video lessons, word of the day, etc.
• Korean Langauge Adventure – Web Site
  • These lessons have been developed in the theme of travel and adventure, allowing learners to take a virtual journey to Seoul and its nearby popular tourist destinations.
• Korean Learning for Correction Pronunciation – Web Site
• Online Intermediate College Korean – Web Site
  • A web-based online courseware based on Intermediate College Korean(University of California Press, 2002).
• Pathway to Korean: Beginning Spoken Korean from Zero –Web Site
  • Created by the National East Asian Languages Resource Center at The Ohio State University.
• Survival Phrases iTunes Free Feed
  • Gets the phrases that will get you by.
• Talk to Me in Korean – iTunes Free – Web Site
  • Korean learning made simple and easy.

Latin

• Nightly News in Latin Web Site
  • “Nuntii Latini – News in Latin – is a weekly review of world news in Classical Latin, the only international broadcast of its kind in the world, produced by YLE, the Finnish Broadcasting Company.
• Latinum iTunes Free
  • The Latin Language Learning program from London.

Lithuanian

• Lithuanian Out Loud iTunes Free Feed Web Site
  • Offers beginners, intermediate and advanced lessons.

Luxembourgish

• One Minute Luxembourgish iTunes Free Feed
  • Another niche language covered by the Radio Lingua Network.

Maori

• Toku Reo Web Site
  • Learn Maori, the language of New Zealand’s indigenous people. Although these lessons accompany a television programme that is currently running, the essential bits of the episodes are available to be watched right here on this site. The course starts at square 1. Site includes video lessons. Another useful site for learning the grammar can be found here.

Norwegian

• One Minute Norwegian iTunes Free Feed
  • Learn Norwegian in minutes with the Radio Lingua Network.
• Easy-to-Read Newspaper Text
  • This is not audio, but it’s useful nonetheless. A newspaper that helps you learn Norwegian by using large fonts and basic language.

Polish

• One Minute Polish iTunes Free Feed Web Site
  • Another helpful audio series provided by the Radio Lingua Network.

Study says “Art Students Perform Better on Standardized Exams”

West Virginia high school students who take more than the required amount of arts classes scored better on math and reading portions of the Westest than students who did not, according to a study scheduled for release today.

“Students who earn 2 or more arts credits during high school were about 1.3 to 1.6 times more likely to score at proficient levels for mathematics and reading/language arts,” the study states.

Conducted by the Office of Research within the state Department of Education, the study includes information from 14,653 public high school students between 2007 and 2010. Researchers considered any music, visual or performance arts courses for the study.

The study also found students with more arts credits performed better on the ACT PLAN exam, a preparatory test before students take the actual ACT.

Researchers couldn’t say why the correlation exists. State education officials, however, are confident the arts are linked with better academic performance.

“The WVDE believes that a broad curriculum that is arts-rich (as well as having foreign language, movement, etc.), does lead directly to higher student achievement, as indicated by measures such as the Westest2,” Superintendent Jorea Marple said in an emailed statement.

The department is releasing the study as Marple visits several arts programs across the state. She is scheduled to be at an art class at Magnolia High School in New Martinsville today. More stops in Wetzel, Marshall and Ohio counties are scheduled for the week.

The study focuses on high school students, but officials believe the same results would be found at any age.

“The research data indicate that arts participation is positively associated with academic outcomes, meaning as participation increases, so does achievement,” Marple said in the statement.

“We do not contend that participation in arts causes those outcomes, but we know they are related in a positive way and that the relationship is statistically significant.”

West Virginia high school students are required to take one arts credit to graduate. Elementary school students must take music and general art classes every year.

Both chorus and band must be offered starting in sixth grade, and middle school students must take a cumulative of 18 weeks of music and art classes before going to high school.

The study looked at high school students who took two or more credits, and examined Westest and demographic differences.

For reading, the relationship between arts and higher test scores was consistent across all study groups, researchers found. The trend held true in math only for students not from low-income families and without disabilities or students only from low-income families. Overall though, the study states any student’s odds of scoring “above mastery” or “distinguished” on the Westest go up somewhat if they earn additional arts credits.

All studies have limitations: Researchers measured arts credits for the student group into the 12th grade, although the Westest is not taken beyond 11th grade. There’s a similar limitation for the ACT PLAN test, which is given in 10th grade.

The study also assumed a correlation between arts and improved test scores exists. Several national studies are also referenced, but researchers noted most focus on slightly different aspects.

(c)2012 the Charleston Daily Mail (Charleston, W.Va.). Visit the Charleston Daily Mail (Charleston, W.Va.) at www.dailymail.com. Distributed by MCT Information Services.

The 50 Best Videos For Teachers Interested In Gamification

Designing a classroom for the 21st century

It’s not enough to take a traditional K-12 classroom and fill it with technology. The smart classroom requires a more methodic approach that factors in the design of the basic shell, the teacher’s space, and the students’ independent and collaborative work areas.

Schools that ignore this step, said Issac Herskowitz, director of New York-based Touro College’s instructional technology program, will wind up with smart classrooms that fall short of their goals. “Designing classrooms for today’s learners requires a different approach than what’s been traditionally employed in K-12 settings,” said Herskowitz.

Here are six design elements that should be incorporated into the 21st Century classroom.

1. Desks and furniture that support collaboration. The days of the single desk and chair are gone, according to Herskowitz. He said he envisions a time when all K-12 classrooms are developed around the concept of collaboration–between student and teacher and among the students themselves.

“You want students to be able to do discovery learning and to work together on projects and problem-solving,” said Herskowitz.

To support that concept, he said, furniture should be able to accommodate multiple learners and then be repositioned for independent learning (such as testing). “When you start with this foundation,” said Herskowitz, “the collaboration comes naturally.”

2. Ample electrical outlets. Not all students will come to class with their iPads and laptops charged up and ready to go. To make sure 21st Century learners have the power they need to engage in classroom activities, Amber Golden Raskin said her school uses a combination of electrical outlets, some of which are integrated into the classroom furniture, and power strips that are distributed through the classroom.

3. A “smart” teacher lectern. Teaching in a smart classroom requires a “smart” lectern, said Herskowitz, who advised schools to put time and money into the structures that teachers will use as their home bases. USB ports that allow for easy document camera connections, interactive whiteboard equipment controls, and other features should be incorporated into the fixtures.
“You really want to make everything accessible for the teachers that are using the technology,” said Herskowitz. “If instructors are comfortable in the space and able to use all of the tools that you put in front of them, half the battle is won.”

4. Lighting that’s easy to control. With audiovisual technology becoming more advanced and even more useful in the K-12 classroom, the need for lighting that’s easy to dim or enhance is imperative. The student sitting furthest away from the projection screen, for example, must be able to see the workspace clearly and without interference from shadows.

“Factor in the natural lighting, the fixtures, and the controls,” said Herskowitz, “and focus on accessible lighting controls that allow the teachers to adjust quickly.”

5. Physical space that goes beyond the single classroom. Who says the 21st Century classroom has to be a single room? At SVCi, a four-year-old charter school, Raskin said holes were intentionally punched in classroom walls to help create a collaborative environment that expands beyond a single room. “Students and teachers can go in and out of the openings, which are covered by curtains when not in use,” said Raskin.

The strategy works particularly well when teachers collaborate on interdisciplinary projects. “Being able to share across classrooms is a big deal here,” said Raskin, “and something that we strived for when designing our learning spaces.”

6. Fewer expansive gathering areas. The traditional, campus-wide auditorium didn’t have a place at SVCi. Instead there are several mid-sized gathering areas designed to accommodate three or four classrooms full of students who need to come together to share, collaborate, or watch a live presentation.

“We went with smaller common areas rather than just one big assembly room,” said Raskin. “Our goal was to get students exercising the ‘expression’ muscles in smaller groups that lend themselves to more participation and collaboration.”

At its core, Raskin said, the modern-day classroom’s design should revolve around the idea that students should no longer be sitting alone at desks “spitting out answers” to a teacher who stands behind a podium. “In the last century we were a factory-driven society and schools were designed around that concept,” said Raskin. “Today we must create spaces where students can collaborate and participate in real-life environments where they can learn how to work on teams; that’s what they’ll be doing in the work world.”

Gamification in Education