At the end of a session at EdCamp Forth Worth, TX, a young, attractive teacher burst in to find a friend of hers, all in a dither and going on about something called Aurasma and Augmented Reality. At the time, she wasn't really making sense, but now I get it.
She was having an Aura-gasm.
Poor young thing couldn't handle it. Now, I haven't been a twenty-something for a good twenty-something years, but I know a revolutionary thing when I see it, and figured this was worth checking out. I wasn't disappointed.
Cool, right? But does it have practical applications?
Imagine a worksheet that can be self-, peer-, or parent-checked by hovering a tablet over it. Take that same worksheet and imagine a tutorial linked in by hovering a smartphone. Got some difficult words (or words from another language) on a page of text? Link in an audio file to pronounce those words or a pic with a definition. How about video vocabulary? A.gif that pops up over an unfamiliar word to add meaning? Maybe some kind of mnemonic? That'll stick in their heads even better. Lower grades, can you say, 'Sight Words' and 'Place value blocks'?
Of course, there's always going for the gimmick, which I'll do with Open House. I'm going to hang some pictures of last year's kids working and place QR codes next to them so that parents can see their online projects. Some will also have auras added, and I'll post a sign inviting families to come in, grab a tablet, and explore. That should space out the entries into the room and the competition for my attention. Better yet, it should create some buzz and excitement for what goes on in my room.
I'd set you up with a tutorial on getting started with Aurasma, but the gentlemen at Two Guys and Some iPads have already done a bang-up job with that. You'll find it here.
Then get others on the bandwagon. Everyone knows that Aura-gasms are best when they're shared. ;)
She was having an Aura-gasm.
Poor young thing couldn't handle it. Now, I haven't been a twenty-something for a good twenty-something years, but I know a revolutionary thing when I see it, and figured this was worth checking out. I wasn't disappointed.
Cool, right? But does it have practical applications?
Imagine a worksheet that can be self-, peer-, or parent-checked by hovering a tablet over it. Take that same worksheet and imagine a tutorial linked in by hovering a smartphone. Got some difficult words (or words from another language) on a page of text? Link in an audio file to pronounce those words or a pic with a definition. How about video vocabulary? A.gif that pops up over an unfamiliar word to add meaning? Maybe some kind of mnemonic? That'll stick in their heads even better. Lower grades, can you say, 'Sight Words' and 'Place value blocks'?
Of course, there's always going for the gimmick, which I'll do with Open House. I'm going to hang some pictures of last year's kids working and place QR codes next to them so that parents can see their online projects. Some will also have auras added, and I'll post a sign inviting families to come in, grab a tablet, and explore. That should space out the entries into the room and the competition for my attention. Better yet, it should create some buzz and excitement for what goes on in my room.
I'd set you up with a tutorial on getting started with Aurasma, but the gentlemen at Two Guys and Some iPads have already done a bang-up job with that. You'll find it here.
Then get others on the bandwagon. Everyone knows that Aura-gasms are best when they're shared. ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment