3D @ ISTE (2)

The ISTE 2014 educational conference, with over 16,000 educators and thousands more vendors in attendance, was remarkable. I simply cannot recall a better ISTE conference in a decade. But the real story lies with the teeming presence of educational 3D technologies at this conference. Even the Atlanta Now magazine featured 3D on its June cover.

Let’s zoom in on some of the 3D happenings and developments at this huge educational event. 3D was everywhere—in the concurrent sessions, in the exhibit hall, and within the ISTE 3D Network’s special events. We will dedicate one post to each of these arenas.

In the Concurrent Sessions

At ISTE 2014, there were more than 21 presentations scheduled on the subtopics of 3D visualization, 3D design, and 3D printing, equally distributed. In the visualization category, about half featured educational practices using stereoscopic 3D and the other half demonstrated anaglyphic projects. I attended most of these sessions, but here are highlights of a few:

In-depth Learning Poster Session. “The best 3D educator in the U.S.,” Holli Hillman joined forces with Len Scrogan to present a poster session that reached hundreds of educators with best practice and promise in teaching with stereoscopic 3D. 

The Smithsonian. The Smithsonian is lending their gravitas to educational 3D by starting the work of turning their many educational collections into 3D visualizations, simulations, and printing templates. See for yourself: http://3d.si.edu/ This session had the largest and most enthusiastic attendance of all 3D sessions at ISTE.

Donley Research Presentation. Kristin Donley, Colorado Teacher of the Year (2012) presented her recent research on the advantages of teaching in 3D over teaching with flat 2D.

Other sessions. Other sessions were packed with attendees viewing anaglyphic field trips, architectural walk-throughs, 3D time capsules, and the NASA 3D collection.