Apps for Education
By: Christopher Robison
This weeks class was full of useful applications whether for education, or just for fun. We talked about apps useful for our specific fields of concentration, for educational or studying purposes, and even some apps that let you travel the world from your living room using Google Cardboard. Most of the apps we discussed were using either augmented reality or virtual reality. The difference between the two is that in virtual reality for example, you can virtually swim with an octopus whereas in augmented reality you can use your phone to make that octopus appear to be crawling on your hand. Overall this was a very fun and informative class and I am looking forward to using every application we discussed.
In using Google Cardboard, our class was able to explore the great big world of virtual reality. To start off we put a phone inside of the device to enable us with the viewing capabilities from up close. Before closing the Cardboard, we picked a random video from the Google Cardboard application. After you finish those steps just close the front flap containing the phone and start watching your video in 360 degrees. Another app we used with the Cardboard was Expeditions, a tool that allows you to view national landmarks, underwater expeditions, and even outer space in full 360 degree pictures. Finally, we used another virtual reality app called Discovery VR that is a lot like Expeditions but with videos instead of pictures that let you swim with sharks, ride thrilling rollercoasters, watch samurai fights, and join the crew of myth busters in some crazy challenges.
In an article about Google Cardboard and its use in hospitals to help comfort children in their recovery, Dwight Howard gave the children quite a surprise. He created a video that let the kids see into the depths of the Toyota Center to keep them distracted while he surprised several of them in their hospital rooms. The hospital mentions how this could be a good start for the future of Google Cardboard in the hospital. He says that one day maybe it could help children understand their process of recovery or help them to understand their illness.
Augmented reality was the other big topic discussed this week with apps that range from displaying elements using simple blocks, to making a dinosaur appear on your kitchen table. Augmented reality is a technology that takes a computerized image or video and displays it on the user's view of the real world thus connecting the two into one view. This computerized image may have certain triggers in the real world view that allow it to be seen such as a dollar bill or on a preset trigger made by the company. One of the applications that demonstrated augmented reality was Anatomy 4D which used a preset trigger of the human body or human heart to display a 4-dimensional image that you could interact with to learn more about the human anatomy. Another app uses building blocks with elements on them to help you improve your chemistry using a 4-dimensional visual of the element you want to see. This app is called Elements 4D and uses the targets on the building blocks to visualize any element you can think of. The last and probably the coolest of the augmented reality apps is called Zookazam and it allows you to place over 40 types of animals wherever you have the Zookazam target.
With augmented reality really taking off, companies were bound to start using them for advertising purposes. This article talks about how companies like Bud Light and Warner Bros are using augmented reality in snapchat to advertise their products. Bud Light uses a cartoon vendor to advertise their beer and with a crowd so big such as on Snapchat, I can't imagine this idea not taking off and becoming the next big advertising technique. This enhanced new tool drives consideration, purchase intent and other business objectives.
In an article about Target's new "See It In Your Space" feature on the app which you can use to view a piece of furniture in your home from Target's online collection. This app allows you to select and view over 200 pieces of furniture to get an idea of what you like before you buy the real thing, saving time, money, and the stress of having to return a new couch. Using augmented reality, you simply just take a picture of the space you wish to see the piece of furniture in, hit the "See It In Your Space" button after choosing a product, then just position and scale the item to fit properly into the space you've chosen. It's that simple and many apps are jumping on board the augmented reality train for their own apps like Ikea's Place app for IOS using the same concept but in real time video.d
This week was also our second app smackdown of the course, the two minute presentation where you have to present an application that would be useful in your major. The app that I chose is called Software Engineering by Engineering Apps. This app is a free handbook that offers the important topics, notes, news, and even blogs on software engineering. It allows you to track your learning, set reminders, edit the study material, add favorite topics, and share the topics on social media. You can also take a basic knowledge test on the material you've studied and find out which sections you should study more.
This weeks reading was chapter four of Untangling the Web which was all about video chatting and blogging. In addition to video chatting, blogging also became a new form of communication in the late 1990s. Kidblog is a blogging tool designed for the classroom that provides a safe environment for students, and gives them the power to write and share their ideas. There is an opportunity for customization as there are a lot of different templates to choose from, which creates a fun learning experience for children. Both the video chatting and blogging allow classrooms to speak to different classrooms around the world, helping us understand each others cultures. If there is a snow day, students will still get the information they need and won’t be behind as much since online class is possible
In using Google Cardboard, our class was able to explore the great big world of virtual reality. To start off we put a phone inside of the device to enable us with the viewing capabilities from up close. Before closing the Cardboard, we picked a random video from the Google Cardboard application. After you finish those steps just close the front flap containing the phone and start watching your video in 360 degrees. Another app we used with the Cardboard was Expeditions, a tool that allows you to view national landmarks, underwater expeditions, and even outer space in full 360 degree pictures. Finally, we used another virtual reality app called Discovery VR that is a lot like Expeditions but with videos instead of pictures that let you swim with sharks, ride thrilling rollercoasters, watch samurai fights, and join the crew of myth busters in some crazy challenges.In an article about Google Cardboard and its use in hospitals to help comfort children in their recovery, Dwight Howard gave the children quite a surprise. He created a video that let the kids see into the depths of the Toyota Center to keep them distracted while he surprised several of them in their hospital rooms. The hospital mentions how this could be a good start for the future of Google Cardboard in the hospital. He says that one day maybe it could help children understand their process of recovery or help them to understand their illness.
Augmented reality was the other big topic discussed this week with apps that range from displaying elements using simple blocks, to making a dinosaur appear on your kitchen table. Augmented reality is a technology that takes a computerized image or video and displays it on the user's view of the real world thus connecting the two into one view. This computerized image may have certain triggers in the real world view that allow it to be seen such as a dollar bill or on a preset trigger made by the company. One of the applications that demonstrated augmented reality was Anatomy 4D which used a preset trigger of the human body or human heart to display a 4-dimensional image that you could interact with to learn more about the human anatomy. Another app uses building blocks with elements on them to help you improve your chemistry using a 4-dimensional visual of the element you want to see. This app is called Elements 4D and uses the targets on the building blocks to visualize any element you can think of. The last and probably the coolest of the augmented reality apps is called Zookazam and it allows you to place over 40 types of animals wherever you have the Zookazam target.With augmented reality really taking off, companies were bound to start using them for advertising purposes. This article talks about how companies like Bud Light and Warner Bros are using augmented reality in snapchat to advertise their products. Bud Light uses a cartoon vendor to advertise their beer and with a crowd so big such as on Snapchat, I can't imagine this idea not taking off and becoming the next big advertising technique. This enhanced new tool drives consideration, purchase intent and other business objectives.
In an article about Target's new "See It In Your Space" feature on the app which you can use to view a piece of furniture in your home from Target's online collection. This app allows you to select and view over 200 pieces of furniture to get an idea of what you like before you buy the real thing, saving time, money, and the stress of having to return a new couch. Using augmented reality, you simply just take a picture of the space you wish to see the piece of furniture in, hit the "See It In Your Space" button after choosing a product, then just position and scale the item to fit properly into the space you've chosen. It's that simple and many apps are jumping on board the augmented reality train for their own apps like Ikea's Place app for IOS using the same concept but in real time video.d
This week was also our second app smackdown of the course, the two minute presentation where you have to present an application that would be useful in your major. The app that I chose is called Software Engineering by Engineering Apps. This app is a free handbook that offers the important topics, notes, news, and even blogs on software engineering. It allows you to track your learning, set reminders, edit the study material, add favorite topics, and share the topics on social media. You can also take a basic knowledge test on the material you've studied and find out which sections you should study more.
This weeks reading was chapter four of Untangling the Web which was all about video chatting and blogging. In addition to video chatting, blogging also became a new form of communication in the late 1990s. Kidblog is a blogging tool designed for the classroom that provides a safe environment for students, and gives them the power to write and share their ideas. There is an opportunity for customization as there are a lot of different templates to choose from, which creates a fun learning experience for children. Both the video chatting and blogging allow classrooms to speak to different classrooms around the world, helping us understand each others cultures. If there is a snow day, students will still get the information they need and won’t be behind as much since online class is possible
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