What's In a Name?

Throughout this blog, there is an ongoing debate thread about what 3D is and what it is not. You can follow that thread by reviewing any of the links below:

Olympics in 3D

3D @ ISTE 2010

TEDx DenverEd

3D Shoot

Stereo 3D Unpacked

3D @ ISTE 2011

Whether talking to parents, teachers, friends, relatives, professors, or casual acquaintances—it has become clear that the term 3D means different things to different people. Some think 3D is evidenced in Google Earth, when you zoom in to view a 3D-rendered scene; some think it is one of the 3D-like video games they play on their Xbox, PlayStation, or Wii; others think it’s nothing more than designing a 3D object using AutoCAD or SolidWorks; and still others see 3D as simply an entertaining app running on their Droid or iPhone.  Even more people feel 3D best describes an immersive virtual world such as Second Life. Sadly, none of these is what we mean by stereoscopic 3D. 

But this lack of shared understanding is now getting in the way. It’s getting in the way of teachers trying to explain it to principals; it’s standing in the way of resellers trying to sell 3D to education decision makers; and it remains a stubborn obstacle obstructing the pathway of 3D content providers trying to explain their visually rich offerings to all of the above-mentioned groups. So, in this and a short series of coming posts, we will attempt to conjure up a common language about what 3D is—with a surprise ending—how educational 3D is different, still.

3D Myth Busting

A recent magazine article features an old western ‘shootout’ between 3D and 2D projector technology. The article, published on August 1, 2011 in Tech&Learning magazine, highlights two districts and why they chose either 3D technology or 2D technology in their projectors. I was one of the individuals being interviewed. The premise of this article is a good one, but I’d like to correct some persistent inaccuracies, lest they lend themselves to the unfortunate role of myth-building:

"There is a lot more content" for a 2D projector.

"The direct cost of a 2D projector is less than" a 3D unit.
"3D [projectors] need to be kept sterile"

2D— “It’s what you expect in a classroom.”

So in the interest of myth-busting, here’s the truth, unembellished and straight up:

• All DLP 3D-ready projectors are first and foremost, 2D projectors at the same time. In fact, a 3D projector is used as a 2D projector most of the day—and when you want to see 3D, your software simply tells the projector you are in 3D mode.  
• Since all DLP 3D-ready projectors are also 2D projectors, they have access to all available content, whether 3D or 2D. The reverse is true for 2D-only projectors—they cannot project 3D content!
• Our 3D projector cost $520 with 3D. If we had purchased it without 3D built in, it was $520. Do the math.
• 3D projectors do not need to be kept sterile. Neither do glasses. The word "sterile" is a bit overstated. The recommendations found in the coming See Well, Learn Well report suggest the following common-sense guidelines: "Disinfect the 3D glasses thoroughly after viewings. This is most easily accomplished by using anti-bacterial sprays or wiping down each unit with a single disposable alcohol pad after use." And by the way, kids like the glasses.
• “2D is what you expect in a classroom.” Over my career, I have been involved in the design and building of nine new schools and over twenty-six major remodeling projects. Over the span of those years, I often heard this kind of statement. It usually referred to such technologies as chalkboards, overhead projectors, analog clocks, VCR players, and CRT monitors. We build for the future, not the past.

3D School Safety (Part II)

In the previous blog post we announced that SchoolSAFE is currently developing a 3D training simulation for school emergency preparedness. Two key questions surface: “Why use 3D to do this and how does all of this fit in with school safety?

By employing 3D video to train schools in crisis response, SchoolSAFE hopes to evoke a strong “training dividend” from the compelling nature of 3D content. John Simmons (johnsimmons@schoolsafetypartners.org) explains that “by viewing brief 3D scenes, trainees can experience a level of stress that will test their ability to manage the incident as they communicate with first responders” while a school threat unfolds in front of them. “3D has such volume,” he reminds us, and that’s why his organization believes this will succeed. Simmons points out that most school emergencies must be addressed by school staff who are 7 to 20 feet away from the action. This corresponds to the distance from the 3D camera where the 3D effect would be most pronounced. And, according to Simmons, synchronizing 3D viewing with live two-way radio drills provides an intense interactive experience not common in the world of entertainment or gaming.

In addition, using 3D offers some economic advantages. Simmons explains "in these tough economic times, this interactive 3D experience brings down the cost of drills and exercises, and offers more opportunities to schedule high-quality training so that all school personnel and students can benefit." These simulations can also help overcome the challenges of teacher turnover and new incoming classes by maintaining a consistent level of training for newcomers year after year.

The goal of this partnership, an effort notably inspired and led by Colorado State Senator Steve King,  is to bring this training to 30,000 school safety personnel and 800,000 students in Colorado, and ultimately to 2.1 million school safety personnel and over 56 million students nationwide.

So how will schools react? Steve Hoban the Director of Operations, Security & Environmental Services for the Boulder Valley School District, is optimistic. “The use of the 3D technology holds great potential in the world of school safety,” he predicts. 3D technology and training simulations represent “an opportunity to be more efficient with training, while still giving the recipient a more realistic feel for the crisis event being addressed,” he adds.

While attending the most recent meeting of Colorado’s School Safety Task Force, Jim Chabin, who is President of the International 3D Society, agreed:

" Using the immersive strengths of 3D media to better present, illuminate and stimulate educational subjects for students, teachers and leaders responsible for their academic success and safety, is an exciting opportunity. Once again, Colorado's community of committed educational stakeholders is leading the entire country in creating more exciting, and cost effective educational tools for this, and our next, generation of students. "

From a partnership perspective, school safety’s entry into the 3D world will bring a variety of players to the table—hardware, integration services, content development, and advertising. From an educational perspective, school safety could be a school district's first reason to invest in 3D classroom technology.

3D and School Safety

Think for a second about the community you live in. On any given work day, twenty percent of your community is involved in a K-12 environment. And if you add higher education to this count, the total number of community members actively involved in school locations exceeds twenty-five percent. That not only represents a huge footprint for public safety agencies, but a potential security “blind spot” if schools cannot communicate with them during emergencies.

As a result, SchoolSAFE recently announced the launch of a national 3D television campaign during National Safe Schools Week, October 16-22, 2011. SchoolSAFE has selected School Safety Partners to produce the 3D campaign with input from major 3D technology companies and school districts. The campaign will use live-action stereoscopic scenes and stereoscopic 3D animation, and will be delivered to general audiences, school staff, and students using all available platforms. The campaign will show how schools today must plan for a broad range of incidents and emergencies including: an active shooter, animal threats, bomb threats, a bus accident, chemical spills, earthquakes, fire, floods, food contamination, gas odor, intruders, pandemic outbreak, power outages, tornadoes, and severe winter storms.

SchoolSAFE’s plans offer some interesting content implications. “3D television channels are going to be hungry for product and sponsorship. Since the purpose of a TV channel is to use programing to gather a large audience and deliver it to the advertiser, the advertiser's message has to stand out. If channels are producing eye-popping 3D content, 2D advertiser messages are going to fall flat.” School Safety’s John Simmons predicts the emergence of more and more high-quality 3D advertising to fit in and keep stride with the new 3D content. "If our responsibility is to raise awareness in the community and try to influence public opinion about school safety, then our PSAs should be in 3D as well," Simmons says.

School Safety Partners then plans to create an interesting new mashup. It aims to leverage the impact of 3D with the power of interoperable two-way radio to create a pulsing, semi-live training simulation for school emergency preparedness. It’s interesting to note that the vision and impetus behind this effort comes from Colorado State Senator Steve King, who has a strong record in school safety legislation. 

Revisit our FutureTalk 3D blog next week to learn more details about this hallmark effort.

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: AOA Press Release

Some of the most impactful research in the world of educational 3D is being led by the American Optometric Association. Last week, at the ISTE 2011 conference, the AOA issued a special press release provided below, in its entirety:

Referenced at the bottom of the press release is a heart-warming story, an event which occurred just last week in Florida. When 3D viewing difficulties were identified in a kindergarten-aged child, the resulting comprehensive eye exam led to the discovery of a congenital eye muscle disease that can now be treated five years before it would typically have even been diagnosed.


It is also interesting to reflect on the notion that 3D technologies will likely be required in the treatment of many of the eye disorders now being safely diagnosed through the use of 3D in homes, schools, universities, and cinemas.

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.

Findings from Phase 2 (Part 1)

During Phase 2 of the BVS³D project, much of our time was spent developing the initial research questions and selecting content for the final research study. Concurrently, our teachers were busy testing a growing collection of stereoscopic 3D content in their lessons, hoping to learn as much as they could about teaching with 3D.

Our Phase 2 findings came from the intentional classroom-based action research efforts of our talented teaching staff. At this stage, our efforts were informal and lacked rigorous controls, but the results were still quite informative. Our Phase 2 findings helped further aim and focus the more rigorous Phase 3 evaluation that was yet to come.

In the second phase of the BVS³D case study, the following general findings were clearly and consistently evident across all schools:

Higher levels of student engagement and interest

‘Engagement’ is a fuzzy concept, so a more precise operational definition of student engagement slowly began to emerge from Phase 2 of our case study. In our environment, across all grade levels, ‘engagement’ involved increased attention to subject matter (focus), longer sustained focus on difficult materials (attention span), and improved student behavior, as defined by less behavior incidents per lesson (classroom discipline).

Favorable reactions by students

For example, a high school survey revealed a 76% favorable rating by students, indicating their preference for 3D learning over traditional learning experiences. Elementary, middle school, and special education feedback was similarly positive.

Greater student clarity in understanding abstract concepts

In this case, it is best to let the students speak for themselves:

-   “It provided a better visualization than the textbook.”

-   “It helped to see a 3D view of things; it was easier for me to picture it and understand the structure.”

-   "The 3D really helps me learn and visualize complex structures and processes.  I love seeing what is actually going on to the cellular level.”

-   "These 3D videos do help me learn it easier, especially because I'm a visual learner.  Seeing what is going on is much more helpful than just talking about it.  Especially because it's in 3D—it’s literally in front of you."

    In our next two postings, we will break down our Phase 2 
    findings specifically for each school or program.

BVS3D Case Study

The BVS3D case study in 3D teaching and learning began with a call for participation to all Boulder Valley schools. Schools submitted competitive applications; leaders from the district curriculum division selected the final participants based on specific criteria. Four schools were chosen, representing three different grade levels, involving eight total classrooms. The case study was officially launched in March 2010 and evolved into three distinct phases of research:

Phase 1: The discovery phase (March – June 2010)

Phase 2: The maturing phase (August 2010 – February 2011)

Phase 3: The formal research phase (March – May 2011)

In this posting, we will briefly highlight the gleanings from our "kick start" discovery phase, which was very brief. This phase had limited exposure for teachers and students to 3D learning resources for several reasons. The 'discovery' time was used to:

• set up, learn, and troubleshoot the hardware, software, and glasses used for 3-D instruction; 
• review, evaluate, and match available 3-D software resources to our district curriculum essentials;
• explore, test, and begin to integrate stereoscopic 3D content in the classroom.

In the initial discovery phase of the BVS3D case study, the following findings, informal in nature, were clearly and consistently evident:

high school classrooms

• high student interest
• the ability for students to focus on the learning target, and not be distracted, was noted
• sustained focus (over long periods of time) on classroom content was regularly evident

elementary school classrooms

• high student interest
• livelier student-initiated discussions about the learning content were strongly evidenced, as compared with traditional or typical classroom levels of discussion and curiosity
• solid retention (49%) two weeks after a lesson, as compared with  past experience (usually in the 20-30% range, depending on the child). This informally constructed pre-/post-test experiment consisted of five questions, half of which required higher-order thinking.]

day treatment center classrooms

• high student interest
• positive effects on student behavior were consistently observed

middle school classrooms

• there were no findings at the middle level; this site did not receive their equipment until the following fall

Discussion

Although these phase 1 results were informally collected and fairly ‘soft’ in nature, they are still quite informative and useful. They represent the first order of mental metrics that play out in the minds of teachers as they evaluate new technologies for potential use in classroom instruction. If teachers don't see these simple evidences, it is doubtful that they will continue to use the technology at all.

In the next posting, we will take a close look at our BVS3D phase 2 results.

Past Research

More than twenty-four years ago, the US National Science Foundation (NSF) convened a panel to report on the potential of visualization, including both 2D and 3D projection. This initial effort created a tremendous surge of research by greatly boosting funding for computer-based visualization. I've spent many hours skimming through some of the educational research specific to 3D visualization, which is chiefly focused on the post-graduate environment, and have generally seen learning gains in the 20-30% range, as well as favorable determinations in terms of learner retention and transfer. You can review much of this research by using Google Scholar or generic Google Search and the following search keyword string:  stereoscopic “3D visualization” research study findings NSF. (Scholar will give you a higher class of refereed publications, while Search will open a broader set of public resources for your examination. And please, if you have a better search string—post it in the blog comments area—so that we can all benefit.)

In 2004, the NSF and US National Institutes of Health convened the Visualization Research Challenges Executive Committee to develop a key report on visualization's potential, whether 2D or 3D, as a technology. Two other interesting papers on some of the challenges we face with 2D and 3D visualization are attached or referenced below:

Is there science in visualization? (2007)

The second surge of visualization research (2007)

Research in K12

Until recently, research on stereoscopic 3D in K-12 education has been noticeably sparse. Two of the limited research efforts to date have involved a study out of UC Davis and another out of Illinois. The most recent UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center Study (2010) demonstrated some interesting results in terms of knowledge gains and attitude/perception benefits. It also has a useful literature review (see page 11).

The second study involved a large, state-funded effort focused on the use of 3D interactive simulation in math and science, The study, entitled the Classroom Cubed Illinois Initiative, was conducted by Dr. Lloyd Kilmer from Western Illinois University (2007). The pre- and post-test results of over 1,070 students provided the following subgroup data, indicating some potential for reducing stubborn historical achievement gaps:

• Free/reduced lunch students: 32% increase

• Full paid lunch students: 31% increase
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

• Non-white students: 32% increase

• White students: 32% increase
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• Special Education students: 31% increase

• Non-special education students: 32% increase
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• Female students: 35% increase

• Male students: 29% increase
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• Math ISAT students currently below state standards: 31% increase

• Math ISAT students currently meeting state standards: 33% increase

• Math ISAT students currently exceeding state standards: 30% increase
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International Effort

Along with our four BVSD schools, many other schools around the world are involved in an international 3D pilot study effort using DLP projector technology. These schools are exploring the learning potential and impact of 3D in the classroom. The map below shows the current location of these pilot projects. Currently, there are over 7 pilot projects underway in the U.S. and over 28 projects abroad (some are so recent, they are not shown on the map).

I wanted to bring this effort to the attention of our blog readers early on. Why? In our fledgling field of 3D in education, current research is still very sparse. Much more needs to be done. Some of the research is just now starting in the international locations mentioned above. Some is being launched by government education ministries and private foundations. Some is informal, some is quite formal. So keep on reading in the coming weeks, as we systematically share with you the past, present, and future of what we know about using 3D in teaching and learning. And please post your questions.  

3D Zombies!

Last summer, at the ISTE 2010 conference in Denver, I was sitting in the sparsely-attended session of a well-known featured speaker. In his talk, he was criticizing many of the aspects of educational technology that are more marketing than substance. Much to my surprise, his topic switched briefly to 3D in schools, and he showed the following slides on the large screen behind him:

There you have it! 3D zombies in the making. All joking aside, this respected technologist was actually sincere with his concern. Those who have known me over my lengthy career in education know that I think in much the same way. Is 3D in schools fad or substance? Do we only see marketing here, or do we see actual educational value?

In order to directly address those questions, I am starting my first series on our Future-Talk 3D blog. Over the next 6-8 posts, I will carefully review past research in this field, examine the international case studies now under way, highlight the preliminary results from our own case study, interview notable researchers, and provide insight into the results we are seeing. In late June, we hope to discuss the findings from our current University-conducted study of 3D in the classroom. If you know me well, I wouldn't be involved in 3D at all if I didn't recognize promising educational value. Come along for the series journey...