3D as Accelerator

For educators exploring mobile, large display, virtual reality or augmented reality platforms using 3D, it is important to know the value added benefits of these products. To date, most reports about the effectiveness of using stereo 3D in the classroom revolve around increased retention of learning, ‘wow’ factor, motivation to learn, and higher pre-test/post-test scores. What if there is another benefit we are missing entirely, something much more appealing to educators?

One advantage of teaching with 3D, based on recent learning experiences in advantage of teaching with 3D, based on learning experiences in Swedish schools, appears to be the acceleration of curriculum. The growth dividend associated with the acceleration of curriculum seems very attractive.  Here’s how it’s evidenced in some Swedish schools.

Using the 3D Classroom, a richly 3D simulation series produced by Sensavis, teachers in Sweden are seeing some surprising results, even at very young ages. At the intermediate school level, Principal Mattias Bostrom reported the following example of curriculum acceleration in action:

An 8th grade biology teacher using The 3D Classroom stopped having tests in anatomy at the end of a course. Instead he had the 8th grade students teaching what they had learned to 4th and 5th grade students, but using the same 3D visualization tools. This way he could better understand the depth of the 8th grade students’ knowledge. During the experiment, the instructor noticed that the 4th and 5th grade students asked tougher questions than he had imagined they would ask. The biology teacher, curious about what the younger students had learned, conducted another spot experiment.  He took the last year’s final test for 8th grade anatomy and gave it to the 5th graders. He was surprised and delighted when the 5th graders scored better on this test than last year’s 8th graders. Humorously, at the same time he was a bit worried what to teach the 4th and 5th graders when they became 8th graders. 

Stay tuned next week for a post involving curriculum acceleration by even younger students.

Students in Charge

There are good things happening with educational 3D across the country, yet most of the great stories about 3D in classrooms somehow seem to fly under the radar. No one knows about them. That’s because educators rarely toot their own horn; it’s also because the education industry is highly isolated and successful programs are often geographically pigeonholed. Rarely do successes get the broad recognition they deserve.  Here is another 3D School Success Story

In a Fort Collins middle school late last spring, eighteen students gave 3D presentations, making the case to the school faculty that 3D should be used more in teaching throughout the school. Dennis Cafiero, the president of Presente3D—a 3D plug in for PowerPoint—attended the student presentations, and a day later, I joined him to sit down with the students in a roundtable discussion. The lead teachers—and magnificent teachers they were indeed—facilitated the robust discussion. During the roundtable, students asked a flurry of questions about 3D, tapping into both the industry insights of Cafiero and my own perspectives.

Preston Middle School, Fort Collins, CO

First, let’s take a brief look at the school. Preston Middle School is a neighborhood STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) school serving roughly nine hundred and twenty students from 6^th to 8^th grade.  Cutting edge technology implementation drives learning throughout the building.   Most classrooms have interactive SMART Boards.  Many hundreds of netbooks are available for student use.  A video conferencing system allows students to interact with experts around world.  Two years ago, Preston received a grant for a 3D passive system.  A group of staff members researched, interviewed 3D experts and built a 3D room. 

After students began developing, using and enjoying 3D PowerPoint presentations in class, they decided to propose expanding its use to the entire school. The entire experience was remarkable and rejuvenating. I left with even higher confidence in our future generations and the talented, hard-working teachers that form relationships with them. I wanted to share this remarkable experience with you. The funniest story was how one student turned his presentation into 4D--by throwing a live snake into the audience during his 3D presentation on snakes!

3D student presentations at Preston Middle School

Cafiero answering student questions at Preston

North Carolina Rocks 3D

Another Success Story in 3D Education

I don't know what it is about the Tar Heel state, but ya’ll certainly gotchee a mess of educational 3D talent there.  Maybe it comes from the drinking water. Or the fresh country air. Or the amazing waffles. Maybe it’s due to the Old North State’s beautiful, plentiful, and restful foliage.  Perhaps it emanates from the high-tech bowels of the Research Triangle. But they sure do educational 3D well in North Carolina. It's a 3-D success story all around.

Rural Richmond County, NC

For the last few years I have described the work of the so-called 3D Jedi, Director of Technology—Jeff Epps.  His past efforts can be reviewed in these previous blog posts: 3D Jedi * 3D Jedi Conclusion * Return of the 3D Jedi * Return of the 3D Jedi (2) But let's move on...

Holly Ridge, NC

Now move eastward with me, as we take a look at some of the 3D learning taking place at coastal Dixon high school.  For the last two years, Jason Chambers, a respected biology teacher, has used XPAND glasses, DLP technology, and DesignMate software with positive results:  “It’s been a dream using the software. It not only helps the kids but the teachers are also enjoying it, especially when they see the test results. In General Biology alone there has been a more than 50 percent improvement in test scores. Our principal is ecstatic,” Mr. Chambers said. In North Carolina, a student has to score a level 3 (mastery of concepts) or 4 (superior understanding and clearly proficient in concept) on a statewide testing exam to be considered proficient. All classes taught by Mr. Chambers [including those with special needs students] earned a remarkable 100% proficiency using the 3D material. In an Honors class taught by Mr. Chambers, he had 12 students score 4 in a class of 21 students. “Those types of scores are unheard of!” Mr. Chambers added. “Normally I’m lucky to get four or five 4’s in a class of 30 students, so the numbers speak for themselves.”

Where students often get restless when a video is being played, Mr. Chambers noticed the opposite effect with the presentation of 3D content. “I can hear a pin drop in the room when we’re watching a 3D video. Kids are attentive and focused and actually entertained by what they are watching. I had never seen that before,” he said.

“Students are grasping the material much quicker than with traditional methods,” Mr. Chambers said. Mr. Chambers concluded: “I don’t have to change the way I teach; I’ve had outstanding results with the content.”

Listen to this short overview video of Dixon High School’s 3D project:

Also, listen to this short video with interviews of students and Mr. Chambers. 

Kinston, NC

And, surprisingly we’re still not done. North Carolina is still that good!  Meet Joe Romig, IB biology teacher at Kinston High. His students, too are seeing positive results using 3D in biology lessons. "In the past, before the 3D biology classes, 8 of 26 students showed academic growth. Now that number has increased to 24 of 29 students," he explains. "I've had kids that would probably have been at level two score at level three. Even had a kid score a perfect EOC [end of course] score." 

See this video of Kinston.

Based on some of these success stories coming out of North Carolina, I am certain that other states “might can” (might be able to) see similar results.  North Carolina rocks. Don't  you agree?

A Teacher's Story

Do you ever wonder what educators think about 3D? How they approach buying a 3D solution? What kind of obstacles they face in doing so? Over the last few months, I have received six emails like the one below. Please take a close read:

Dear Len,

I first met you at ISTE in the EXPO while you were demonstrating an incredible lesson using 3D technology. I again spoke with you during another 3D session. I’m extremely interested in bring 3D technology into my school district and have the support of both my IT Department and Superintendent. Our district is very tech savvy and interested in implementing 3D technology!

I need more information regarding what I saw at the EXPO at what exactly is required to implement this technology precisely as it was seen; I believe this is called “stereoscopic 3D”. The few pieces of 3D software that we have demo’d thus far have been nothing more than glorified 2D—I am looking for what’s required to implement stereoscopic 3D. The software I saw yesterday must have been flat 3D. I was not impressed at all. This was nothing like I saw when you demonstrated 3D at [the Texas Instruments ISTE exhibit]. That demonstration still has me talking and has me incredibly eager to get it in my district. I just need more specifics. The [AV dealer] for our district said we are the first district in the state to request 3D technology to demo. However, he sent us a special [and expensive] projector, told us we needed a special [high-end] laptop, and two pair of glasses [@ $150 each]. The video we witnessed was hardly 3D. I don’t think our rep is familiar with what I am after.

I want to blow people away with I saw at ISTE! It was incredible!

Could you please contact me to answer a few more detailed questions and point me in the right direction to working with people that can help me successfully locate the appropriate technology required?

I look forward to hearing from you!

Wow! My question to the reader is: “Why do we make 3D so very hard to buy, even if the customers want it badly?” 

Depth by PowerPoint

[NextGen 3D Content Series, Part 3]

Bringing the 3D Advantage to Presentations

I teach some very popular workshops on how to do teaching (or sales presentations) differently, based on how our minds work. Based on brain research, the techniques I employ cleverly draw the attention of the audience, while sustaining their focused attention on the learning at hand. Done well, these techniques can even go so far as to visually ‘delight’ the viewer. It’s all part of my personal campaign—my intentional effort—to utterly destroy the old notion of “death by PowerPoint,” the notion of tiresome, unimaginative, overly lengthy, and utterly boring PowerPoint presentations. Of course, the notion of “death by PowerPoint” is forever immortalized in such Dilbert cartoons as the PowerPoint Coma, the PowerPoint Chimp, and PowerPoint Poisoning. 

In the stereoscopic 3D world, many have tried to provide a way to convert traditional presentations into stereo 3D, hoping to capture the illusive golden goose ‘wow’ factor.  Our third entry in the field of  Next Generation Educational 3D content is Presente3D. This new startup aims to become nothing less than a game-changer for educators. What these folks are up to is so promising, I playfully call it Depth by PowerPoint, and I assure you it is a good thing, and for quite a number of very practical reasons. First, Presente3D enables 3D content creation through a truly easy-to-use and extremely flexible ribbon bar add-on to PowerPoint 2010. " It enables the educator, e-trainer, or student to turn their presentations into a 3D format, but more importantly, to turn any graphic or chart within a PowerPoint into a 3D object that can be manipulated in space and depth. Any object or text can be individually extruded and the z-depth adjusted, as well. Presente3D, with offices in New Jersey and a talented technical team in the Ukraine, offers the potential for some very creative and immersive presentations. Their easy and flexible process for designing 3D presentations also offers a stiff advantage: it’s easy enough to use that you can construct effective stereo 3D PowerPoint presentations the night before your presentation. Here an overview video and here is a video showing how their interface works. In addition, this tool is quite extensible. It runs on most portable devices, including Apple and Android operating systems, the iPad2, and all 3D TVs and projectors.

Yet, the significance of this effective new 3D tool lies with content creation. Perhaps 95% of educational 3D content currently available supports science instruction. Math content is well on its way toward a solid presence this year. But this tool opens up the floodgates of immediate amateur content creation for all the other subject areas, such as English, world languages, social studies, and the arts—to name a few. Think about it. There are over 500 million PowerPoint users worldwide. Currently, over 50 million PowerPoint presentations are made every day. Now, anyone can be able to create 3D content. It is simply content creation for the rest of us. 

Summer 2012 eS3D Content Update

Below please find my Future-Talk 3D August 2012 list of producers of 3D educational content. These content producers are listed in alphabetic order, along with a few salient comments that are worth a look. Links are provided and the entire file is downloadable. If you are a 3D educational content manufacturer, and you are not yet on this list (but would like to fill me in on your intentions), please contact me directly.

                                    Open publication - Free publishing - More 3d

A 3D Ladibug

Ground-breaking news in the educational 3D world. Lumens recently released their new 3D Ladibug document camera. This high-definition document camera comes 3D-ready for both 3D DLP projectors and 3D TVs. And don't worry, educators!  The 3D Ladibug easily can function as a 2D visualizer, as well! Lumens is a power player in the document camera industry, so this product release is not a trivial matter.

The context of this product release is not trivial within the education market either. A 3D document camera can be used by teachers to showcase immersive science experiments or model math skills through the visual display of manipulatives, tiny ‘blocks’ or shapes that teach place value, fractions, measurement, or geometry—with depth.  More importantly, the 3D document camera becomes another stout tool for content creation. Imagine student dioramas, stick or finger puppet shows, or model displays—again, with depth. And even primary children can ‘design’ the content. To learn more, take a look at this case study link and the following product data sheet link. You can also see live demonstrations on the exhibit hall floor at ISTE 2012 in San Diego in June. It’s a great time to be alive.

ISTE 3D Preview

The ISTE 2012 educational conference, scheduled for San Diego in June, is offering four powerful educator presentations in the area of stereo 3D. Make plans to be there and learn about the latest in stereo 3D DLP technologies for the classroom. Click on any link to learn more.

When 3D Comes to Your School Saturday, 6/23/2012, 12:30pm–3:30pm Presenter: Len Scrogan, University of Colorado-Denver This is a comprehensive three-hour workshop on everything you need to know about creating a stereo 3D classroom or pilot project in your school or district.

3D in Education
Tuesday, 6/26/2012, 5:00pm–6:15pm
Nancye Blair, McKeel Elementary Academy with Len Scrogan

This is a birds-of-a-feather gathering for teachers or leaders interested in learning or talking about teaching with stereoscopic 3D. It is an open-ended discussion focusing on emerging resources and best practices for using 3D technologies to increase student engagement and learning gains.

Exploring 3D Technology in the Classroom: Strategies and Lessons Learned
Tuesday, 6/26/2012, 1:00pm–3:00pm
Carole Hruskocy, Regis University with Sandra Foster

How does 3D technology in a science classroom affect learning and teaching? Explore this emerging technology and find out the results from a third-year extension of the BVS3D research study, presented by University researchers in a two-hour stay-as-long-as-you-want poster session.

Teaching in 3D: Why It Works, Why It Matters
Tuesday, 6/26/2012, 10:00am–12:00pm
Presenter: Len Scrogan, University of Colorado-Denver

Discover how stereo 3D visualization technology is being used effectively in K-12 classrooms, how it affects student thinking and performance, and why it matters. Presented in a two-hour stay-as-long-as-you-want poster session. 

Think in 3D

The Panasonic HDC-SDT750 3D Camcorder

Some 3D educators are purchasing 3D video cameras these days, like the low-cost Panasonic model shown opposite, so that students can begin to make their own 3D content. This arena will be an increasingly important category of 3D content development in the future—student-created content. So, when asked by 3D educators to recommend a resource guide for teaching tips on how to film in 3D versus 2D, I can easily recommend a new book by 3D expert Clyde DeSouza. The book is called "Think in 3D.” It is quite easy to read, practical, and offers easy entry into this field. In particular, “Think in 3D” offers worthwhile educational and psychological insight about the effective use of the 3D medium.

Think in 3D

The kindle version can be located at: http://amzn.to/zKTb8c 

The paperback version can be found at: http://amzn.to/x3ryUq 

On Youthful Shoulders

I think DLP-enabled 3D will definitely be carried into the future on the shoulders of kids. Kids get it. Adults, still not so much. Why do I say that? Three reasons. See if you agree with my logic. And please comment if you have time.

Reason 1. Kids pressure adults. While attending the CIO Summit in Fort Lauderdale this year, I had some separate conversations with a superintendent from a large school district on the east coast and his entourage (all technology staff). Although 3D was nowhere on the radar of his technology staff, the superintendent, in a separate discussion, was very interested in creating a DLP-enabled 3D pilot project in his district. I asked him why. He explained that his 4^th grade daughter thought it was cool. (I gave him several 3D stickers for his daughter.)

Reason 2. Kids pressure adults. The notion that students appreciate what 3D has to offer was amplified in the last Speak Up survey, an annual national research project produced by Project Tomorrow, which surveys K-12 students teachers, teachers, parents, and administrators.  When asked what types of digital content students perceived as important to make available in e-textbooks, students included access to 3D content as one of their top choices. Middle school students, in particular, rated access to 3D content higher than all other grade levels surveyed. Interestingly, we know that 3D content can also play a major role in four out of the remaining five of the preferred e-textbook characteristics identified in this chart (virtual labs, video clips. games, and animations/simulations).

Figure 1. Project Tomorrow (2010). Empowering Digitally-rich Content through the E-textbook.

Speak Up 2010 Survey. Reprinted with permission.

By the way, Project Tomorrow is a wonderful resource to help you understand what educational stakeholders value in both the present and future, so be sure to visit their website frequently.  You may even want to consider sponsoring a future report.

Reason 3. Kids pressure adults. Scorsese made the film Hugo in 3D because a) his wife wanted him to make something his kids could actually see, and b) his own 12 year-old daughter and her friends asked “In 3D, right?” See Scorcese’s own comments at the 3D Society Creative Awards:

What’s the bottom line? Young people readily connect with the visual, mobile, and social technologies that so permeate our modern lives. Now if only the adults will listen…

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…

The Eyes Have It

On June 6^th and 7^th, the Vision Performance Institute is offering a seminal 3D educational experience that will be of interest to 3D educators, software developers, hardware manufacturers, and literati alike: their 6^th Annual Research Conference. 


This conference will feature topics such as

• vision ergonomics
• defining 3D content quality
• vision care
• S3D in the classroom
• S3D in public health
• and much more

At the conference, I will be moderating a panel, but will also offer an informative presentation on what is different about educational 3D content (eS3D), exactly how we use it in the classroom, what the research is suggesting to us, and key research questions your organization should examine in future case studies.

I strongly encourage the audience of this blog (and especially our strong international audience) to find a way to attend this conference. It will lend a competitive advantage to all of your hard work and efforts in this field. Below is the flyer. I hope to see you there.

Open publication - Free publishing - More 3d

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. 

Spatial Thinking

Over the next few months, I periodically plan to interview some of the educational 3D content developers that are making great strides in producing classroom-ready content. This is the first posting in that editorial line.

This week, we see the release of a new series of secondary-level stereoscopic 3D  math simulations by Spatial Thinking, a Los Angeles-based educational content developer, with a top-rate programming team in Beirut, Lebanon.  Spatial Thinking produces interactive simulations designed to teach difficult math concepts to students using the advantages of 3D stereo visualization. And it works. 

The initial 3D stereo interactives released by Spatial Thinking, with more on the way.

This software was clearly designed with the math classroom in mind, tackling the toughest problems with bravado. George Dekermenjian, the founder of Spatial Thinking, explains: “Our goal was to create an application that would serve as a bridge between the teacher’s mind and the students’ minds.”

An interactive stereo 3D simulation that can be used by teachers or students to promote deep questioning and understanding of solids and their nets.

Focusing on the mathematics behind space geometry and measurement, the Spatial Thinking math series focuses on the relationships between concepts of geometry that students often feel are unrelated and disconnected. It deploys animations of more than 100+ objects to make learning connections successful for students. Dekermenjian is definitely on track when he clarifies that “any product aimed at teachers and students must be one that inspires discovery, experimentation, and engagement. “ These interactives do just that. No joke. For 3D-using educators, this software is definitely a must see, and portends a bright future for this company. Take a look.

On the Road Again

I’m doing quite a bit of presenting on 3D in education over the next six months. Here is a current list of my schedule and topics, in case you are interested in attending. If you are in the vicinity, it’s also always a good excuse for an opportunity to meet, get some coffee, and have some conversation.

Conference	Month and Location	Topic(s)
TCEA	February, Austin TX	5 Workshop: When 3D Comes to School 5 Teaching in 3D: Ten Reasons Why it Works, Why it Matters
Colorado Conversations	February, Wheat Ridge, CO	5 Evaluating Technology Initiatives
COSN	March, Washington, D.C.	5 Teaching in 3D: Ten Reasons Why it Works, Why it Matters 5 21st Century Teaching with New Media 5 Evaluating Technology Initiatives
Vision Performance Institute, Pacific University	June, Forest Grove, OR	5 3D in Education
3D Comm	June, Las Vegas, NV	5 Remapping for 2012: 3D and the Education Market Space
Colorado TIE 2012	June, Copper Mt., CO	5 Cultivating Your Donkey Cam Kung Fu
ISTE 2012	June, San Diego, CA	5 Teaching in 3D: Ten Reasons Why it Works, Why it Matters 5 Workshop: When 3D Comes to School
American Optometric Association	June, Chicago, IL	5 Panel: 3D in Education