The Hillman Files

There are a lot of good things happening with educational 3D across the country, yet I find that most of the great stories about 3D in classrooms somehow seem to fly under the radar. Good things are in fact happening, but often 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. 

This is a story about 3D project that began at Cedar Creek Community School (Cedar, MN) and is now extending district-wide.

The St. Francis Schools are no stranger to innovative technology use, being well-equipped with projectors, SMARTboards, document cameras, and other innovative technologies. More than two years ago, however, they began a planning process to bring teaching with depth—stereo 3D visualization—into their classrooms. Led by 4^th grade teacher-innovator, Holli Hillman, this project represents what I believe to be the single most successful district-level 3D implementation in the nation. Bar none. And for that reason, there’s much to be learned from these humble yet daring St. Francis innovators. Let’s continue our story.

Holli Hillman

Hillman, a seasoned and bright educator, summarizes the St. Francis project in this way:

“We are exploring stereoscopic 3D content, currently in the areas of Science and Mathematics, for our STEM initiative. Because many of the 3D lesson topics were produced using the Common Core Standards, many directly correlate with our Minnesota state standards, making this content worthy of replacing some curriculum.”

The content being used by Hillman includes stereoscopic 3D simulations created by DesignMate. She explains the advantages of teaching with depth in this way:

 “3D brings concrete, abstract concepts to life and allows for optimum visualization and comprehension of some very conceptual topics. This content is fascinating and the sky is the limit for how it can be used. I believe this to be a ground-breaking approach to instruction as well as comprehension for students. The color and imagery are beyond bold and attention-grabbing.”

Remarkably, Hillman’ innovative efforts began with her 4^th grade classroom. That is significant because the far majority of 3D projects in the nation are being implemented in middle and high schools.

Folks, there’s so much more to this story. That is why I am turning this piece into an off-and-on-again series. I consider Holli Hillman to be the best 3D educator in the U.S., and in future installments, you will clearly find out why. 

3D@ISTE 2013 (1)

This year’s ISTE 2013 conference, attended by more than 18,000 educators and industry representatives, took place in sweltering San Antonio. I cannot remember as much happening in the educational 3D world since Texas Instruments proudly displayed their then nascent technologies more than three years ago.  Here’s a brief description of the many 3D happenings that were baking in the Texas sunlight.

Stalwarts in the 3D content manufacturer industry, Cyber-Anatomy and DesignMate were there. Yet, newcomers were aplenty. Zspace was the most popular new player. (I will write more about the implications of Zspace technologies for education in a future posting.) To say the least, their exhibit was boiling over with activity and interest. ISTE attendees like anything new, and Zspace came to fulfill their hopes. They demonstrated their near-holographic hardware platform and it raised the eyebrows and caught the attention of even the most discerning educators I know. 

Zspace's nnear-holographic display technology. You had to be there!

Across the exhibit hall, award-winning app producers Vito Technology were found showing off some of its apps in anaglyph format, using both iPads and an eye-catching display dome. They were offering three apps, including StarWalk (an interactive astronomy guide), SolarWalk (a 3D solar system model on steroids), and GeoWalk (an interactive globetrek allowing learners to explore new and remarkable things—like animals, plants, history, people and inventions—600 unusual objects in all).

Vito Technology's 3D iPad apps on display at ISTE

ClassTeacher Learning Systems decided to move on from FETC to the ISTE conference and were showing their 3D content for the first time at ISTE. So, too, FortunaPix offered a display in the new startups booth, showing the hundreds of 3D content titles they are just ready to push into the market.

FortunaPix's 3D content on display

 And there's more! Stay tuned for our next post...

DesignMate Elementary

When we first started the BVS³D case study in Boulder, our fourth grade teachers were functionally limited to a narrow range of topical lessons in the areas of math (symmetry, estimation, place-value cubes) and science (the solar system, moon phases, photosynthesis, and trees). That’s not very much content, given a broad and varied curriculum in the 4^th grade. 

Now, in a long-anticipated move, DesignMate released a collection of 79 stereo 3D animations focused on the elementary school market. Until this release, the lion’s share of available stereo content for K-12 education has chiefly settled in at the secondary level (that is, content for middle- and high school-level schools). Elementary students have largely been “the forgotten learners” in 3D.

The good news is that the new DesignMate content fits the paradigm teachers often like and use. It consists of short three- and four-minute animated vignettes tightly focused on specific topics that are difficult for children to learn or understand without the assistance of rich, immersive 3D visualization. The new DesignMate content significantly widens the availability of stereo 3D resources specifically supporting STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) initiatives in elementary schools.

This new collection includes a variety of immediately usable elementary 3D animations. This new content covers such fields as physical science (light reflection, the three phases of water, gravity, floating and sinking, and heat energy), life science (body systems, parts of a flower, food chain, the atmosphere, forests, trees, leaves, and roots), earth and space science (day and night cycles, solar energy, the sun, earthquakes, erosion, water cycles, and seasons), and even environmental science (recycling, rubbish and litter, and saving energy). For a complete listing, refer to the document below:

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?

More on Brain Research and 3D Learning

In our post last week, I wrote about a new study now being conducted in Boulder connecting brain research with 3D learning.  In this follow-up post, I want to take a closer look at the study design and the hardware/ software that is being deployed in the effort. This insight can help other schools and organizations develop their own research strategies.

Study Design

Some of the most insightful design aspects of this study include:

• Using software in both the stereoscopic mode (3D) and in non-stereoscopic mode (2D) in to explore students’ ability to understand and retain abstract knowledge (as opposed to just using 3D). 
• Testing a student’s ability to transfer learning through model building and videotaped explanations of abstract concepts and processes (as opposed to testing for retention). 
• Ascertaining a student’s ability to transfer their newly-acquired visual learning to the standardized tests and writing prompts of the new Colorado state testing system.
• Using a control group of students, who do not view the science and math lesson content in stereo version prior to the standardized test, comparing their outcomes with students who used the stereo mode for only the first 5 to 10 minutes of a class period. (Remember, it may not require constant use of 3D to show a positive effect on learning.)
• A special focus on the effects of 3D versus 2D images on thinking, memory formation and student learning disabilities.
• As an innovative form of evaluation, students will be videotaped while using 3D and 2D interactive software and while doing hands-on performance assessments (3D model building and video explanations of content).

Hardware and Software

The hardware being deployed in this study includes DLP 3D projectors provided by Vivitek and active glasses provided by XPAND. The software lessons to be used in this designed study include Stereo 3D biology, physics, and chemistry resources from Designmate, along with and 3D Geometry and Calculus lessons from Spatial Thinking.