AVRover & ONfinity Portable Interactive Whiteboards

3D, Touch and Learning: using more neurons equals higher retention

Many of us describe ourselves as "hands on" learners. We tend to learn and absorb information best by physically completing a task rather than reading about it or listening to a lecture. Taking advantage of our sense of touch by applying a kinesthetic aspect to learning is an important part of constructing a successful lesson.  In recent years, more and more often, haptic technology is helping to achieve this aim. The term haptic technology refers to any technology that engages our sense of touch by applying forces, vibrations or motions to the user. The word haptic comes from Greek and literally means "I fasten onto, I touch". There are a host of haptic devices that provide the sensation of touch in various learning environments, from the military to education to medical training.   And it has been show to speed up the learning process significantly.

 

There are neurons in our brains, a specific type of mirror neuron, which encode information according to the viewer's perceived distance from an object. When objects are perceived to be within our "haptic envelope" that is, the immediate space around us where we feel we can reach out and touch any given object, these neurons are activated, thus engaging more of our neural pathways and resulting in a stronger memory. What does this mean for education? Well, if an object can be brought closer to a student their retention will increase. But this isn't always possible with a teacher up at the front of the classroom and students at their desks, right? And expensive touch-sensitive haptic technology devices are probably not affordable for most schools. Well, enter 3D technology. 3D images bring projected objects within each viewer's haptic envelope, resulting in each viewer having the same experience at the same time.

 

Have you ever noticed when watching a 3D movie that no matter where you sit in the theatre the images on the screen always appear to be coming right at you? This means that an illusion of touch, thereby activating your spatially selective mirror neurons is giving you a richer experience. We can all probably recall an experience where a particular scent or touch triggered a specific memory. The more of our senses engaged in a particular activity, the more neural activity, the more we remember and retain. It makes sense then why study after study show increased understanding and retention with 3D technology.

 

One such study, completed back in 2000 by the National Research Council of Canada, did a comparison of a standard 2D classroom experience vs. a 3D virtual training session for students engaged in wood harvesting. The findings were amazing. The students involved in 3D virtual training increased the volume of wood harvested by 23% while reducing mistakes as well vehicle repair and maintenance costs by 26%. Another study tested NASA employees in object recognition. The 3D virtual training participants had a decrease in errors by 40% and 12% faster recognition than their 2D training counterparts. In the educational sector, case studies by Texas Instruments have shown pre and post 3D increases in retention of 35% or higher whereas students educated with 2D technology resulted in only a 9% increase in retention.

 

The results are clear. 3D has a powerful effect on students understanding, awareness and retention. One reason why could be that we are engaging mirror neurons by bringing objects and videos within our haptic envelope. As we endeavor to make the educational environment richer and more engaging for everyone involved, 3D technology is an easy way to make learning more personal and more productive than ever before.

Increase your Spatial Ability with 3D

Throughout history there have been scientists and leaders in thought that we’ve all admired and attempted to emulate. Known for their radically different ideas and seemingly boundless genius their concepts have shaped the way we live and function as a society. But one question that always comes to mind is why are these heralded few any different from the rest of us? What makes them able to come up with these incredible ideas? One common denominator between people like Albert Einstein and structure of DNA developers, Watson and Crick, was their powerful spatial thinking abilities.

“The words or the language, as they are written or spoken, do not seem to play any role in my mechanism of though” Albert Einstein once said, “There are more or less clear images”.

Posthumous research on Einstein’s brain confirmed that his parietal cortex, which is the area of the brain used for mathematical and spatial thought, was unusually large, and could very well be part of the reason he was able to conceive of the universe in innovative ways. Scientists routinely employ spatial thought across the disciplines.

“Geoscientists visualize the processes that affect the formation of the earth. Engineers anticipate how various forces may affect the design of a structure. And neurosurgeons draw on MRIs to visualize particular brain areas that may determine the outcome of a surgical procedure.”

Spatial thought or the ability to negotiate shapes, their relations and their potential courses or movements when manipulated is an important trait to possess in order to pursue and work in the sciences. We’re seeing schools adapting rapidly to encourage and cultivate this form of learning by using 3D modeling software as well as 3D Printing, putting the students in charge of visualizing and creating their own models. Stereoscopic 3D fits perfectly into this evolving kind of mentally interactive classroom. Students can not only create and print their own 3D models, but they can view them from every angle, zoom in and out all in Stereoscopic 3D.

As more and more STEM schools spring up and schools look to align themselves to STEM principles to shape the future mathematicians and scientists of the world, 3D has emerged as a proven way to help not only engage students in math and science but increase their retention and improve their spatial thinking abilities.

Test your spatial abilities with the below quiz: 

Answers:  1.  A,  2.  A,  3.  C,  4.  D

The iPad Classroom Invasion

Apple products have been in schools since the 80’s when Macintosh computers were donated by the thousands to schools all over the country.  Now make way for the next Apple educational invasion: iPads™.  Schools have been incorportating iPads™ and all of the associated Apps into their lessons with increasing fervor.

With iBooks breaking onto the scene as well as iAnnotate and thousands of other apps specifically designed for the educational market, it’s no wonder students and teachers alike are embracing this trend in educational technology.  There are currently 20,000 educational applications are available specifically for the iPad.

While there is an initial investment in iPads™ themselves, many faculty have found the upfront expense is more than worth it when compared to the savings in traditional textbook and paper copy expenses.  Students are finding that iPads™ help them stay more organized, not to mention significantly reduce the weight of their backpacks.  The wide variety of Apps makes iPads™ attractive to not only K-12 schools but colleges and universities as well.   And with the ability to pull up drill and practice Apps, educators are finding their students not only better prepared and more engaged, but a savings in class time.

As Canby School District in Oregon’s technology director, Joseph Morelock explains, “We’ve recovered six full school days.  The kids are engaged.  The shiny, new factor has worn off—now they are just using it as a tool.”  In his district the devices are always on, and elementary students “have been using a quick two-minute math app to refresh their skills as they transition from recess to class.  Recapturing this time each day adds up to six full school days, he surmises.”  Canby School District currently has 3,000 iPods™ and 300 iPads™.

While the goal of any educator is to make learning a more personal experience for students, some educators fear that too much focus is taken off of the instructor to the point where students may be disconnected from what is being taught and focused on their iPads™ instead.  The only real way for educators to be involved with student work on the iPad is to go from student to student, desk to desk, checking work and instructing students individually.  If only there was a way teachers could work along-side their students on their own iPad and share the process with them.  Look no further than the iAVRover.  We’ve specifically designed the iAVRover to fill this growing void in the iPad™ invasion.  Wheel the system into place, plug it in, turn on your iPad and you’re up and running, mirroring your iPad through the projector in the iAVRover wirelessly.  Now you can walk around your classroom checking on student’s work, all while giving pointers and demonstrating a lesson up in the front of the class.  Ideal for a variety of class sizes, the iAVRover has all the AVRover features you’ve come to know and love, superior audio, storage, adjustable projector shelf, convenience outlets to charge your iPad, the list goes on and on.  The iAVRover is designed to be a dedicated classroom solution or a shareable teaching resource, which makes it a sound investment for any school looking to jump on the proverbial iPad™ bandwagon.

Interactive Projectors Pros and Cons

Here at AVRover we are for the most part projector agnostic.  Our solutions are designed to work with any projector from a bare-bones projection solution to a full blown 3D classroom system.    However, since our solutions integrate the latest and greatest in classroom technology we in turn end up being well fairly well-educated on industry trends.   Providing total solutions is a marketers dream and a goal of any manufacturer.  SMART and Promethean market their own versions of total interactive solutions, including projectors, mounting systems and software.  Projector manufacturers in turn have been devising their own interactive solutions in the form of interactive projectors with built in audio and all the inputs you can imagine.  While you are eliminating the middle man of the third party interactive whiteboard company so to speak, you are adding to the importance placed on your projector purchase.  Meaning if your projector malfunctions or requires repair, you are now not only out a projector, but an interactive whiteboard as well.  Positives include increased portability, added features such as interactivity at a distance (for example with the BenQ Point Draw), ease of use and time/space saving.  In many cases an Interactive projector solution solves many of the problems experienced with traditional interactive whiteboard solutions, such as installation costs, additional wiring and added flexibility in use. 

Education and the American “Decline”

With a stagnant economy and falling test scores it’s no wonder that print and broadcast media is inundating us with pieces on the American Decline.   And while these two troublesome potential symptoms might seem unrelated at first glance, they might be more intrinsically connected than you think.

A Three year study by the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report released last December ranked the US 14^th out of 34 OECD countries for reading skills, 17^th for their command of the sciences and 25^th (below-average) for their knowledge of mathematics.  Our neighbors to the north’s 15 yr old Math students tested more than a full school year ahead than their American counterparts. 

Even more startling is “the latest data on “mathematical literacy” reveals that the gap between the world leaders- the students of Shanghai and Singapore—and their American counterparts is now as big as the gap between US kinds and teenagers in Albania and Tunisa”

Additionally the OECD found there is a direct correlation between higher ranking students and America’s future GDP.  “Boosting US scores for reading, math and science by 25 points over the next 20 years would result in a gain of 41 trillion dollars for the United States economy over the lifetime of the generation born in 2010, the OECD said”.  

What we are in desperate need of are inventive solutions to engage and excite our students and 3D is perfectly poised to help save the day.    With immediate results such as increased retension (by 33% when compared to traditional teaching aids and even interactive classroom technology) employing 3D technology is a great way to help students excel and catch up with the rest of the educational world.

Our World in 3D: 3D Printing poised to revolutionize the classroom

Everything’s going 3D!  There’s been a lot of buzz recently about a new revolutionary 3D device and it’s poised to enter the classroom.  Gone are the days of 2D paper printing.  3D Printing and its potential educational applications are currently being discussed and piloted by public schools and universities alike.   The technology that was formerly only been being employed as a means to manufacture prototypes for industry has become streamlined opening up the world of 3D printing (also known as additive manufacturing) to educators and consumers alike. 

3D printing uses various kinds of materials from plastics to powders, even chocolate to create, layer by layer, 3D physical models of virtually anything you can think of.  In the past the methods for creating and using this technology were patented and heavily controlled by a few companies, so they remained an industrial tool only, used by few for creating prototypes and models.
However, now with companies like Makerbot Industries, 3D printing has become affordable for schools looking to have students create physical representations of 3D rendered objects.  MakerBot Industries has even developed 3D student curriculums as part of a pilot project with NYC Schools.  With 3D printing students can have an idea, design it, print it and test their theory.  Once potential problems are identified with let’s say the structure of their design for a model electric vehicle, they can adjust their design accordingly and “re-print” their model and see their changes come to life.  Makerbot also has also developed an online portal where students and consumers can share their designs. 

"It has 90% of the functionality of professional printers, but at 1% of the price," says Pettis. These prices aren't just democratising 3D printing; they're democratising manufacturing. "We make 3D printers to offer an alternative to consumerism," Pettis continues. "Nearly three years after we began, there are now 6,000 folks with Makerbots and they get to make a choice between buying something and 3D designing and printing it." Mr.  Pettis of Makerbot Industries.

The potential for this technology can be coupled with benefits of 3D learning for added educational benefits.  Learn about a concept in 3D, then make your own 3D design, print out the model and share it with your classmates.  For example:  Students can first watch a 3D video on photosynthesis in plants.  Then the teacher can pull up a 3D model (such as a cyberscience interactive 3D object) of a plant cell where students could identify the structure of a plant cell,  Then students can be tasked with replicating the structure of a plant cell in a 3D rendering program such as Google Sketchup!, (free) and then print their model for a hands on look at how their design compares to what was taught in class. 

Why 3D? Educators at Hamilton Park in Dallas, TX explain

From Texas Instruments DLP Pilot Study Findings at Hamilton Park In talking with educators across the country we've found that a common search they undergo is for an effective way to convey abstract concepts to their students.  These topics are often the most difficult for students to grasp leading to frustration and withdrawal. The use of technology in education has been tasked with helping to bridge this gap in understanding, with the employment of 3D at the forefront.   In light of this schools across the country have been piloting 3D in order to harness its ability to completely revolutionize the way we teach and learn.  At one of TI's DLP Pilot schools, Hamilton Park Elementary, Teachers and Administrators alike were blown away with their students response to 3D. "Their understanding of these abstract concepts blossomed"-Brittany Russo, 3rd grade teacher, Hamilton Park, "The students just LOVED this.  It can be hard to keep kid's attention-- there are only so many pictures you can show before some kids get bored or frustrated. One of my students said to me, 'We are actually having fun while learning -- that never happens.'" Principal Megan Timme agreed, "I believe the kids are more engaged because they are able to take abstract concepts and make them more concrete in their minds.  An engaged child is a successful child." Another Hamilton Park teacher added, "This is one of the most beneficial tools we've ever had.  They actually paid attention because it was neat.  They're learning and they're having fun."

3D Vision Problems indicates underlying eye disorders

Recently the AOA (American Optometry Association) published an extensive report outlining the benefits of employing 3D technology in Education.  Most importantly it dispelled claims that 3D should not be viewed for extended periods of time or that 3D was somehow damaging to users vision.  At the same time, with the flood of 3D products available on the consumer market (from the Nintendo's 3DS to 3D Cinema to 3DTVS) there has been alot of confusion and questions around those who've perceived discomfort when viewing 3D.  An important fact to keep in mind is that we see the world around us in 3D everyday, all 3D technology does is present videos and digital images to use in a way that appears three-dimensional, akin to the way our eyes function all the time. In an effort to dispel some of these concerns lets look at how our eyes view our world and how this translates into viewing 3D content. 

The human abilty to see in 3D and identify objects as having depth, as outlined in the AOA's report 3D In the Classroom, is known as Stereopsis.  But for us to view our world and 3D Videos in Stereopsis both of our eyes need to be functioning well and able to work together as a team to determine depth, distance, texture and a host of other details.  Stereopsis is a complex process that requires a number of physiological and neurological conditions to be met.  Just like 3D Content in order for us to be able to see in 3D we need each eye to see a slightly different image.   The differences in the two retinal images are called horizontal disparity, retinal disparity, or binocular disparity which results from the eyes' different positions in the head.  Stereopsis is proccessed in the visual cortex in binocular cells which have what are known as receptive fields located in different horizontal positions each eye.  These cells are only active when the given stimulus is in the correct position in the left eye as well as the right eye, thereby making them a way of detecting disparities. 

When we look at an object, both of our eyes converge so that the object appears in the center of the retina in each eye.  Everything around the object we are focusing on appears to shift in relation to this "main" object.  If our eyes aren't able to move together properly, as is the case in terms of binocular vision disorders, the ability to see in 3D is effected.  This condition does not just effect the ability to see 3D Videos but is everpresent.  Because often times we may not be aware of vision disorders, viewing 3D videos can bring this problem to the forefront, when normally it may not have been realized.  Optometrists have supported the use of 3D as an important educational tool not only because of its proven educational results but because it serves as a poweful diagnostic tool as well. 

For more on the AOA study, check out our 3D Resources page.

3DAVRover Educational Spotlight

 
Achieve Preparatory Academy in Toledo, OH

In order to engage students and increase enrollment Kerry Keese turned to the 3DAVRover to revolutionize their classroom experience and excite their blossoming young minds.In the modern classroom engagement is the key to increasing test scores and encouraging students to approach subjects in completely new ways. At Achieve, Kerry Keese, school leader, incorporated the 3DAVRover into their 3D lab, complete with blacklight paint to make the experience even more immersive. In addition to a more well-behaved and engaged student body, Achieve was featured this week in the Toledo Journal for their forward looking educational approach, which AVRover was proud to be part of!

3D in the Classroom: See Well, Learn Well

The American Optometric Association describes in this ground-breaking report not only key educational benefits, but also the hidden diagnostic and underlying health benefits from employing 3D in the classroom.  Below are some interesting findings discussed in the report on a variety of 3D Topics.

Active 3D Technology is the way to go
Key Benefits:  Minimal Setup, Most Portable
“Currently, most educational installations utilize Active Shutter technology because it is easy to set up and requires no specialized screens.  It is also relatively mobile, so it can be transferred from classroom to classroom as needed.”

3D Poses no threat to Children’s Vision
 “The American Optometric Association, along with other vision health professionals, has stated publicly – and frequently – that there is no evidence that viewing or attempting to view 3D images will harm a child’s eyes.”

3D Helps Diagnose Pre-existing Conditions
Such pre-existing conditions can detract from a student’s educational experience in a myriad of ways.
“It is known that a significant percentage of young children have some degree of impaired vision and my therefore experience an impaired or uncomfortable 3D experience.  Such youngsters typically do not know that their vision is impaired, nor do they think they see differently from anyone else.  Importantly, these occasional ‘impaired experiences’ have been described as a ‘blessing in disguise’ by leaders of the optometric community, precisely because they can lead to further investigation and treatment.”

Diagnosing Compromised Vision helps students inside and outside of the classroom
Binocular vision disorders can keep a student from reaching his or her potential academically and socially.  “Importantly, compromised vision does not just exclusively prevent a person from enjoying the full effect of the 3D experience.  In young students it can also hinder
their educational progress in the classroom, leading to reduced
attention, poor reading ability, and suboptimal academic and
social achievement”
“Outside the classroom, the ability to see 3D has equally profound
 implications, ranging from participating in sports, to driving an automobile, to operating complex machinery, or to executing fine motor activities – such as threading a needle.”

Teaching in 3D has dramatic educational benefits
“Studies have shown the the educational benefits of presenting teaching materials in 3D are promising, generating a significant improvement in comprehension and retention over the more traditional non-3D style of presentation.” 

Check out our 3D Resources Page for a link to the complete report!