A Must-See Webinar!

The ISTE 3D Network (formerly known as SIG 3D) has slated a unique webinar entitled “3D Comes to School.” The webinar will be held on Tuesday, May 20 at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT. It will feature Kristin Donley, one of the original teachers in the Boulder 3D in Education (BVS3D) research project. According to Donley, “the ‘3D Comes to School’ presentation will focus on recent research supporting the use of stereoscopic 3D in the classroom, lesson ideas, and best practices.” She plans to share the continued results of a 4-year pilot study in Colorado where teachers and students were introduced to stereoscopic 3D videos, simulations and interactives in the classroom. After this webinar, you'll know why 3D technologies can make a big impact on teaching and learning in schools.

Donley, the presenter, is no lightweight in the field of education. She is a highly effective science and STEM instructor at Monarch High School with the Boulder Valley School District (BVSD). Due to her passion, innovative teaching methods and commitment to her students, Kristin was recognized as the 2012 Colorado Teacher of the Year and 2011 Colorado Top Technology Teacher of the Year. She has recently expanded her work to include serving as an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado-Denver and as a District Science Research Seminar Coordinator. To register for the May 20^th seminar, please follow this link.

3D in Education meets Brain Research

What do you get when you cross a 3D classroom with an advanced cognitive neuropsychology laboratory?  Find out for yourself by reading my recent Display Central article, which has been opened up for a limited time only....

To see the article, and answer the question, 

just click HERE

And if you have something to say on the matter, please come back here and submit a comment.

Implementing 3D (Part 1)

In the last two months I have been approached by four educators, situated across the nation, for advice about implementing 3D projects in their settings. If you are in a similar state of planning, I can provide a series of three essential tips for you, each an important strategy for implementing a 3D pilot project in a school or university setting:

Tip #1

It takes longer than you think. Implementing a 3D project usually doesn’t happen in a lightning-quick fashion. It takes time to grease the wheels. It takes time to explain it to funders or school/district/university supervisors. It takes time to do your research. It takes time to write a grant or obtain funding. It takes time to carefully interface with your IT department on support or set up. It takes time to see how specific content titles match up to your curriculum. It takes time to think through how you want to best employ 3D in your classroom. (In our original BVS3D project, we gave all participating teachers an entire spring and summer just to play and explore the 3D content we were using—in order to find the right fit, the right purpose, and unforeseen challenges—before officially launching our 4-school case study.)

Buying the equipment is easy. It’s the other stuff that matters. Consider this fact in your implementation timetable. 

See next week’s posting for an insightful Tip #2...

Sensavis [1]

Sensavis creates 3D products with incredible realism and stop-
action manipulation. And their content runs on iPads.

Our first featured nextgen company is a remarkably skilled group out of Sweden, Sensavis. They offer products in the field of corporate and medical education, marketing, and visualization. I've explored their products and works-in-progress first hand and found myself nothing less than stunned. I have seen it all with regards to 3D educational products on the market, and this is the best imagery I have seen. More importantly, it works the way teachers and professors really want 3D learning to work, based on the end-of-project teacher interviews conducted following our year-and-a half case study in the Boulder Valley School District. In a past blog post about educational content, “What is eS3D,” I describe five of the key attributes of outstanding 3D educational content, and the Sensavis masters all five. 

Sensavis has produced an Interactive 3D Human Framework (I3HF), which approaches discovering the human body from a physiological perspective – meaning that you see fluids flowing and particle systems moving, not just 3D learning objects. Their presentations are so completely interactive, you can zoom endlessly from macro to micro, steer around, or choose from a navigation client to add slides or film into the model. If only they would create content for the high school market!

Sensavis' app, Heart Interactive, demonstrates
their use of simulation in rendered 3D.  Their
content is also produced in stereo 3D. 

One of the many efforts now underway at Sensavis is a high end "interactive 3D heart project.” This involves software that integrates Sensavis’ technology with real time data from a heart simulation developed jointly by the internationally respected Karolinska University Hospital and KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden. Using their product, Sensavis intends to "steer" the heart “in real time” in order to conduct various simulations, conditions, and treatment effects. (If you would like to glimpse at the quality of their visualizations, download the free Heart Interactive app from the App Store—search for 'Sensavis' or 'Heart Interactive' and you will find it easily.)

Sensavis’ remarkable vision, driven by CEO Magnus Arfors and a world-class development team, is grounded in several fundamental beliefs. First, Arfors suggests that “Humans were equipped to learn through experience. The closer we can get to an experience of a message, the closer we get to an understanding of that message (and in shorter time).” Interactivity is key to his notion of experience. Arfors explains: “Film is linear, yet interactive content is non-linear. You choose where you want to go.”   Arfors offers a simple formula for 3D success: “3D + interaction = understanding and recollection.” He reminds us: “Regardless whether the interactive 3D content is for general education, learning science, or used in marketing—it enhances understanding and stimulates the learning process in a way that the audience is engaged and remembers the experience and the messages.” Arfors’ theories translate well into practice. Two weeks ago, a professor used the Sensavis’ 3D In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) visualization in her lecture for 100 medical students at the Karolinska University Hospital. Arfors gleams: “This was their première for interactive 3D content and already the enthusiasm is spreading internally at the university.

Second, the strength of Sensavis’ approach and expertise asserts itself at the precise point where “IT, visualization, and academic competence meet.” He clarifies: “We strive for realism, both in movements and in visual quality (we put very high demands on our software). Most importantly, Arfors notes: “A key characteristic of our content is that we want to picture ‘alive’ environments, i.e., the human body in operation (physiology).”  

Third, Sensavis’ accomplishments are grounded in solid technological advantage. They have developed their own visualization engine. They have reliable hardware delivery platforms, including an auto-stereoscopic streaming solution that can be used for companies desiring to distribute education content to local sites, universities, or hospitals from a central server. And they are agile enough to take on special projects in the fields of science or education. (For example, Sensavis just completed a production focused on In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), visualizing the achievements behind the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2010).

I have often stated that my personal vision is to make the world of teaching and learning a better place, to enable the kind of teaching that fully engages and challenges our 21^st century learners. I believe Sensavis’ creativity clearly moves us in that direction. Sensavis can be reached at www.sensavis.com.

A BVS3D Research Update

This information was recently published as a comment in my two-part series comparing the U.S. and European research in the area of DLP-enabled stereo 3D. (See A Parallel Universe, Part I and Part II.) It is such valuable information, I wanted to dedicate an entire post just to the preliminary data being reported, along with some context.

Following the BVS³D year-and-a-half case study evaluating the effectiveness of DLP stereo 3D in Colorado (see tag trail), continued research efforts did not cease. Under the watchful eye of Kristin Donley, (she is the Colorado 2012 Teacher of the Year, a high school science teacher, and the science research coordinator for the Boulder Valley School District), the study was continued for another year in order to tackle one of the most important challenges we often hear about 3D in classrooms: “How do we tease out the advantages of visualization in 2D versus visualization in stereo 3D?” In her posting, Donley noted:

“I am currently looking at the data of the next step in the Regis University/BVSD partnership in evaluating the effectiveness of 3D. This time we tried to focus on the differences between 2D images and 3D images. I taught an abstract concept such as DNA Replication and protein synthesis. Students in the control class only saw 2D pictures and animations. The experimental group received 3D animations instead. Keeping with previous results, I didn't see a difference in multiple choice averages, but did see increased higher-level thinking and detail in the experimental group's essay writing. I also did a video assessment. I had students use manipulatives (tinker toy set to build DNA and represent other molecules) to explain the process of DNA replication, for example, and they used their cell phones or iPods to tape their mini-movies. Students who had the 3D were better able to put molecules in relationship to one another in the 3D space and they had a higher level of understanding of the processes. They included more details in addition to just relating terms and steps of the process. The class with the 3D received a half-a-grade higher average on their essays and there were less misconceptions evident in their video assessments. We just finished focus groups and I am now going through the multiple choice to see if there is a difference in the types of multiple choice that the control and experimental group students missed.“

I appreciate Kristin and Regis University going the extra mile with our original research on DLP-enabled 3D in the classroom by extending the study an additional year. Expect a full report at the ISTE conference in San Diego, since I know the Regis University researchers are presenting there. Stay tuned…

Parallel Universe (Part II)

The following results were found in common to both the BVS³D and the LiFE I case studies (please refer to the previous post for context):

• Retention.
• Thinking in 3D. 3D learning affects how the mind’s eye approaches learning.
• Improved Behavior. In-class student behavior improves both during and after 3D learning experiences.
• Increased Focus. The ability of students to focus on the learning at hand increased due to the 3D experience. (This was labeled attentiveness in the LiFE I study and both focus and attention span in the U.S. study.)
• Special Education Benefits. Students (especially male students) with attention disorders showed the most positive change in attention and learning behaviors.
• Learning Transfer to Modeling or Essay Writing. Students in both studies performed better than those students with just 2D instruction.
• Positive Student Reaction.

What can we learn from these common-ground findings? It is clear that we are starting to see emerging evidence that the educational benefits associated with teaching and learning in 3D roundly echo across oceans and distinct cultures. Regardless of the geographic location or cultural settings, it appears we are growing cautiously closer to understanding how 3D affects the brain, how it impacts learning, and how it can be employed to support effective teaching. Interestingly, here in the U.S., I hear of identical results coming from teachers employing 3D with such diverse groups as urban or rural students. 

Parallel Universe (Part I)

Two large-scale research projects exploring the effectiveness of stereo 3D in K-12 education offer us a “parallel universe” for comparing insight and results.

The first project (BVS³D) was fairly sizeable, involving four schools, eight classrooms, eight teachers, and over 570 student participants in Colorado. The LiFE I (Learning in Future Education) study, was even larger in size and scope, involving schools in seven European countries. (In the LiFE I case study, project sites were located in the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Turkey, The Netherlands, and Sweden.) This project involved fifteen schools, fifteen classes, forty-seven teachers, and well over 740 students.  The final report for the LiFE I study was released and is available by registering here. The U.S. study, however, is not yet available. In this and the coming blog post, I want to highlight those results that were germane to both case studies. These overlapping areas of accord, featuring both U.S. and European perspectives, are both fascinating and informative.

In this first blog post, I want to clarify the environment and methodologies employed in these case studies:

• First, both the U.S. and European studies involved a variety of school settings and grade levels. Both projects also favored science content delivered in 3D stereo.
• In terms of methodologies, both case studies were similar. In each school there was a 3D class and a ‘control’ class. Both 2D and 3D classes were pre-tested and post-tested for content acquisition. In addition, both studies also incorporated qualitative feedback measures such as student and teacher surveys, classroom observations, and teacher/student interviews.

In next week’s post, we will highlight the results found in common to both the BVS³D and the LiFE I research projects.

Best of Future-Talk 3D

It’s been a thriving year for the Future-Talk 3D blog, which has grown to nearly 2000 web impressions per month. As the year comes to an end, it is fitting to reflect on the most popular topical posts of 2011.  The top ten topical posts are presented below, in order of web impressions received:

1.      3D Myth Busting (most web impressions received overall)

2.      Why 3D Works

3.      BVS3D Case Study

4.      3D Myth Busting II

5.      What is eS3D?

6.      3D Content Update

7.      Research in Europe

8.      Past Research

9.      A 3D Salute

10.  What Really Matters

Actually, it’s quite thought provoking to speculate as to why these particular topics were “top of mind” for the diverse international audience that regularly follows this blog. Please let us know your hypothesis or thinking by posting a short comment.

A 3D Salute

Kristin Donley,
2012 Colorado Teacher of the Year
and 3D Educator

Described by students as "better than an encyclopedia and the Internet," Monarch High School biology teacher Kristin Donley was recently named the 2012 Colorado Teacher of the Year.

Why is this important in the world of 3D? You see, Kristin, was one of the nation’s first 3D educators. She was a lead teacher in the BVS³D case study, a lead teacher informing the American Optometric Association’s (AOA) See Well, Learn Well report, and has provided captivating presentations at ISTE and technology conferences over the last two years.  She is a talented and influential force in shaping what the 3D classroom is and ought to be. This honor is doubly important. It confirms that teaching with 3D is not a fringe activity—it is a technological tool used by our nation’s best, brightest, and most creative teaching professionals. Kristin represents the long line of creative teachers who have been drawn to the promise of 3D in teaching and learning, not to mere hyperbole or technology fads.  Megan McDermott, a Colorado Department of Education spokeswoman, agrees: "The award is quite prestigious—the recipient becomes the Colorado nominee for National Teacher of the Year."

Monarch students honor Donley
in an all-school assembly.

Kristin Donley received both her undergraduate and graduate degrees in molecular, cellular and developmental biology at the University of Colorado at Boulder and has been teaching for 17 years, with 10 of those years at Monarch High School, in picturesque Louisville, Colorado. She is surrounded by many equally talented peers, but we take this time to honor her singular talent and dedication. Congrats!

Mental Reconstruction

As our phase 3 BVS³D research efforts came to a close, we took the opportunity to conduct wrap-up site visits. While conducting student and teacher one-on-one interviews and observing 3D lessons, some interesting discoveries materialized. One such finding, emerging from our teacher interviews, we labeled learning replay, which is described in the previous post. Another student behavior we observed may perhaps be best labeled as mental reconstruction.

The phenomenon of mental reconstruction occurred frequently within our 3D classrooms, affecting both students and teachers alike. Students would explain that, while taking a test several weeks following a 3D lesson, they could clearly ‘see’ or visualize the concept, construct or phenomena in their mind as they tackled a question. One student I spoke with, immediately following a 3D classroom lesson, described that 3D helped him “see things more clearly in my mind—like building a mental picture.” This sort of spatial or ‘visual’ thinking was even evidenced by teachers, who saw pictures in their mind as they were planning for upcoming lessons.

As teachers described this phenomenon, noting the apparent mind’s eye reconstruction that was taking place, we knew we were observing something else unique coming out of our 3D classroom experiment— mental reconstruction. As more schools and universities engage in continued studies of 3D learning, this may track into a potentially useful research question. It may be useful to track, observe, describe, and explain the concept of mental reconstruction in your own projects.

Learning Replay

As our phase 3 BVS³D research efforts came to a close, we took the opportunity to conduct wrap-up site visits. While conducting student and teacher one-on-one interviews and observing 3D lessons, some interesting discoveries materialized. One such finding, emerging from our teacher interviews, we labeled learning replay.

The phenomenon of learning replay occurred frequently within our 3D classrooms: students expressed the interest in viewing 3D content over and again. Students wanted to see a segment one more time, to make sure that they understood the learning presentation; they wanted to view it again, in order to observe a specific phenomenon more carefully; they asked to see it again, not just because it was visually interesting, but because they wanted to think about a concept from a different perspective.

“Can we see it again?”

“Can we look at it one more time?”

“Can we run that segment over again?

These were the kinds of requests that teachers repeatedly heard. Interestingly, teachers never receive this kind of double-down request when using textbooks, PowerPoint, still graphics, or traditional video. The learning replay phenomenon also became evident after school, when students came in for extra help, tutoring, or to catch up due to an absence. Even though students could have quickly received their tutoring or completed their required makeup, and then rushed out to be with their friends and enjoin their social lives, students instead asked to review the 3D materials repeatedly.

As teachers described this phenomenon, noting the repeated student requests for viewing 3D learning content and witnessing firsthand the increased time on task, we knew we were observing something unique coming out of our 3D classroom experiment—learning replay. As more schools and universities engage in continued studies of 3D learning, this may track well as a potentially useful research question. It may be useful to observe, quantify, and explain the concept of learning replay in your own projects.

Findings from Phase 3

After taking some time for breaking news, we return now to our research series. The full "Phase 3" BVS³D research study conducted by Regis University is due to be released sometime in mid-to-late August. The following preview results, however, were highlighted during the Wednesday panel session at the ISTE 2011 conference:

All Grade Levels

• High interest levels demonstrated by students
• High levels of attention and focus demonstrated by students
• Less disruptive behaviors in classrooms

Elementary School Findings

• Special education students showed positive gains on post-test measures

Middle School Findings

• Positive impact on student understanding, according to teacher observations
• Visualization particularly helpful with the special education student

High School Findings

• Positive effects noted on student written work (more detailed descriptions and illustrations of concepts were evident)

3D@ISTE: Breaking News

I am interrupting my research series on the Future-Talk 3D blog to share some breaking news related to stereoscopic 3D events at the ISTE 2011 conference. Since the conference starts on Monday, June 27, I am also posting this entry three days ahead of schedule.

 There are now four events featuring stereoscopic 3D technologies at the ISTE 2011 conference. In scheduled order, these events include:

Poster Session

3D Comes to School: The Story Continues

Monday, 6/27/2011, 11:00am–1:00pm
PACC Broad St Atrium        Table: 26

Presenters: Kristin Donley, Dr. Carole Hruskocy, Len Scrogan, Nancye Blair

Learn about the coming explosion of 3D stereoscopic content for the classroom from educators in the second year of a national pilot focused on 3D in learning.

ISTE UnPlugged Session

The Future of Document Cameras

Tuesday, 6/29/2011, 1:00-1:30pm

Presenter: Nancye Blair, Educational Technology Specialist (FL) www.engagingeducation.net or Twitter @engagingedu
Experience how best practices with emerging technologies in document cameras, from wireless mobility to stereoscopic 3D capability, can breathe life into the 21st Century elementary classroom.

Exhibit Hall Presentation

3D Interactive Teaching = Student Engagement

Tuesday, 6/29/2011, 2:30-3:00 Dell Booth, Exhibit Hall

Presenter: Len Scrogan, University of Colorado-Denver and Lesley University

Panel Session

3D Teaching = Student Engagement in the Classroom

Wednesday, 6/29/2011, 10:15am–11:15am
Building/Room: PACC 113A

Panelists: The panel features four thought leaders in the field of 3D in education:

Dr. Carol Hruskocy. Dr. Hruskocy, Associate Professor of Education and Counseling at Regis University (CO), oversees two master degree programs. She is one of the researchers associated with the BVS-3D Case Study project in Boulder, Colorado. She has presented both nationally and internationally on a variety of topics including technology integration, faculty development for online facilitation and course development, and assessment of student learning. 

Kristin Donley. A talented science teacher and runner up Teacher of the Year in the state of Colorado, Kristin currently serves as a high school teacher at Monarch High School in the Boulder Valley School District. She has carried the lead role in the most successful implementation project for 3D in U.S. schools.

Chris Hawes. A trained psychologist, documentary film producer, cinematographer, and advisor to the 3D@Home Consortium, Chris will comment about the role of 3D at home, cinemas, and schools related to human factors research.

Len Scrogan. Your humble blog author will provide an introduction and serve as the moderator for this unique panel session.

Breaking 3D news for those 3-D enthusiasts that are attending the ISTE conference in Philadelphia.

With the demand for 3D technology and educational content on the rise, a 3D document camera is joining the ranks. A 3D Ladibug from Lumens promises to be nothing less than a game-changer. It’s a stereoscopic visual presenter that allows teachers to handcraft unlimited 3D activities supporting standards in math, science, and literacy. The 3D Ladibug Document Camera can be experienced throughout ISTE in the Exhibit Hall at the Ladibug Document Camera Booth, #1049.  The booth will also feature interactive 3D presentations by pilot educator, Nancye Blair, on Monday and Tuesday at 10am and 2pm.  

I will feature this promising new technology in a coming Future-Talk 3D blog post, as well, and discuss the groundbreaking nature of this development.

Findings from Phase 2 (Part 3)

Our final Phase 2 BVS³D findings were school-specific. These findings emerged from classroom-based action research efforts that also helped target and focus the more rigorous Phase 3 evaluation being planned.

High school classrooms

Two interesting findings emerged from our high school action research efforts, which were characterized by much more aggressive data collection efforts:

• Using a 3D lesson (the only variable changed in the instruction) in AP biology classes, our lead teacher saw a small achievement bump of 11% in the essay component of an AP Biology unit test on cell parts and active/passive transport (as compared with historical performance levels).
• A 76% favorable survey rating by students, indicating their preference for 3D learning over traditional learning experiences. 

 Middle school classrooms

Again, our pilot middle school received its equipment later in the project cycle. As a result, at this stage we only received anecdotal comments that the students were really “excited about it” and “understood [classroom] concepts better.” This middle school fully participated in Phase 3 of the case study, so concrete results will be forthcoming in late June or July.

Elementary school classrooms

At the elementary school level, the use of stereoscopic 3D in three 4th grade classrooms was extremely limited due to the lack of educational content for lower grade levels. Still, using some very appropriate 3D math simulations, two interesting findings emerged:

• 3D lessons in math can be easily and successfully conducted simultaneously with desk-based, hands-on activities and manipulatives. (For example, students replicated visual lessons with acetate sheets at their desks, as teachers manipulated the 3D imagery on the screen. Also, 3D in-hand replicas of 3D screen imagery were manipulated simultaneously at student desks.) It was felt that 3D instruction was even more effective with these activities, than without them.

• Preliminary evidence revealed that 3D lessons may indeed have a positive impact on reducing stubborn achievement gap problems: historically struggling students experienced two-and-a-half times the gains on informal post-test measures than other students.

Findings from Phase 2 (Part 2)

One of the pleasant and unexpected surprises that emerged from Phase 2 of our BVS³D project came from our special education case study site, Halcyon Middle-High School. This school serves a few dozen students in a warm and measurably effective day treatment program, supported by a highly trained and extremely dedicated staff. Halcyon Middle-High School is a unique educational and therapeutic program for BVSD students’ grades 6-12.  (HMHS is supported through a multi-agency agreement among the Boulder Valley School District, the Mental Health Center serving Boulder and Broomfield Counties and Boulder County’s Department of Housing and Human Services.)

According to Matt Dudek, the principal of Halcyon, the focus of this highly successful day treatment program is to “provide quality education to students as well as provide therapeutic behavioral interventions and strategies to students and their families.” He adds:  “While at HMHS, students and their families address barriers to success and develop and implement strategies which ultimately allow students to be successful at home, at school and in their community.”

Unlike our other case study schools, this school used entirely different metrics for evaluating the benefits of 3D in instruction. The key goal for this school was to provide access to learning in an environment where access, student focus, and sustained learning opportunities could at times be difficult to sustain. Therefore, this school’s approach was more behavioral in nature. Due to their unique instructional challenges, this school was hoping to see how 3D instruction would affect:

• attendance
• the ability to focus on learning
• time on task
• reduced behavioral incidents
• engagement

During Phase 2 of the case study, an energized Halcyon teacher, Greg All, taught more than six "3D lessons" focusing on the reproductive, digestive, and circulatory systems. 3D content was primarily used to introduce new content or review previously taught content. The results, still informal in nature, exceeded expectations. In the words of the project’s lead teacher:


- 3D kept kids on the edge of their seats
-  In this school’s unique environment, it worked REALLY WELL
-  We have seen very good behavior management results
-  Students were well focused, not distracted as usual
-  There is no way anything works like this for behavior—enabling these students to learn for an entire 40 minute class without any behavior call outs.

Students also weighed in with comments:


-  “Love it“
-  “This is cool“
-  “Awesome“
-  “I Love it“
-  “This is not as good as ‘Avatar,’ though!”

So what's the upshot? Each time it was used, 3D instruction provided students and teachers in this challenging educational environment with 40 minutes of uninterrupted quality science instruction. Access to curriculum. Total focus. No behavioral incidents. That's significant.