Update: Video of My PlayHome App and 19-Month-Old Toddler

This little guy "plays" iPad about once or twice a week. The video shows him with the My PlayHome app. It is interesting to see how much he remembered from the previous week!


In the near future, I plan to write a few posts about the apps that I've used with students with special needs.  I will also touch on a few apps that are great for toddlers and "twos".

CFP for Special Issue of Personal and Ubiquitous Computing on Educational Interfaces, Software, and Technology (EIST)

CFP for Special Issue of Personal and Ubiquitous Computing on Educational Interfaces, Software, and Technology (EIST) 


Overview 
One of the primary goals of teaching is to prepare learners for life in the real world. In this ever-changing world of technologies such as mobile interaction, cloud computing, natural user interfaces, and gestural interfaces like the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Kinect, people have a greater selection of tools for the task at hand. Given the potential of these new interfaces, software, and technologies as learning tools, as well as the ubiquitous application of interactive technology in formal and informal learning environments, there is a growing need to explore how next-generation technologies will impact education in the future. 


As a community of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and educational researchers, we need to theorize and discuss how new technologies should be integrated into the classrooms and homes of the future. In the last three years, three CHI workshops have provided a forum to discuss key issues of this sort, particularly in the context of next-generation education. The aim of this special issue of Personal and Ubiquitous Computing is to summarize the potential design challenges and perspectives on how the community should handle next-generation technologies in the education domain for both teachers and students. 

We invite authors to present position papers about potential design challenges and perspectives on how the community should handle the next generation of HCI in education. Topics of interest include but are not limited to: 

• Gestural input, multitouch, large displays 
• Mobile devices, response systems (clickers) 
• Tangible, VR, AR & MR, multimodal interfaces 
• Console gaming, 3D input devices 
• Co-located interaction, presentations 
• Educational pedagogy, learner-centric, child computer interaction 
• Empirical methods, case studies 
• Multi-display interaction 
• Wearable educational media

Important Dates

• Full papers due: November 9, 2012
• Initial reviews to authors: January 18, 2013
• Revised papers due: March 15, 2013
• Final reviews to authors: April 26, 2013
• Final papers due: June 14, 2013

Submission Guidelines

Submissions should be prepared according to the Word template located at the bottom of this page. All manuscripts are subject to peer review. Manuscripts must be submitted as a PDF to the easychair submission system. Submissions should be no more than 8000 words in length.

Guest Editors and Contact Information

• Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed, Cornell University
• Quincy Brown, Bowie State University
• Jochen Huber, Technische Universität Darmstadt
• Si Jung “Jun” Kim, University of Central Florida
• Lynn Marentette, Union County Public Schools, Wolfe School
• Max Mühlhäuser, Technische Universität Darmstadt
• Alexander Thayer, University of Washington 
• Edward Tse, SMART Technologies

Contact: eistjournal2012@easychair.org

Information about the Journal of Personal and Ubiquitous Computing

• Editor-in-Chief: Peter Thomas
• Journal web site
• Facebook page

Digital Media and Learning Conference, March 1-3, San Francisco - wish I could go!

"The Digital Media and Learning Conference is an annual event supported by the MacArthur Foundation and organized by the Digital Media and Learning Research Hub located at the UC Humanities Research Institute, University of California, Irvine. The conference is meant to be an inclusive, international and annual gathering of scholars and practitioners in the field, focused on fostering interdisciplinary and participatory dialog and linking theory, empirical study, policy, and practice. The third annual conference – DML2012 – is organized around the theme “Beyond Educational Technology: Learning Innovations in a Connected World” and will be held between March 1-3, 2012 in San Francisco, California." -DML2012


Digital Media and Learning Conference Website

Keynote and Plenary Panalists

John Seely Brown will be the opening keynote for the conference.

Immersive Learning for Math using DimensionU Games - new "Play, Learn and Earn" with an allowance component

Take a look at the latest development to DimensionU's interactive math games! Parents can track their children's progress and translate it into an allowance. Students who play the 3D multi-player games show significant improvement in their math skills.


Take a look at the videos below, and check out the website.


DimensionU's National Scholarship Tournament:


RELATED
DimensionU YouTube Channel
DimensionU Website
DimensionU for educators

Quick Post: Interactive 3D Plug-in for SMARTBoard (Video) Notebook

Quick Link: 68 interesting ways to use an iPad in the classroom -Josh Fassbind

68 Interesting Ways to use an iPad in the Classroom

Child-Computer Interaction Workshop on May 7th at CHI 2011: Deadline Extended to February 18th!

The deadline for submissions to the CHI 2011 Child Computer Interaction: 2nd Workshop on UI Technologies an their Impact on Educational Pedagogy has been extended to February 18, 2011.

The workshop will be held on May 7, 2011, Vancouver, Canada, in conjunction with ACM's CHI 2011 conference. Interested researchers should submit a 4-page position paper in the ACM CHI adjunct proceedings style to the workshop management system. Note that the best 3 papers will be pre-accepted for a upcoming for a theme issue of the Springer Journal Personal and Ubiquitous Computing on “Child Computer Interaction”.

IMPORTANT DATES
Submission Deadline: February 18th, 2011
Author Notification: March 15th, 2011
Final Version Deadline: April 1st, 2011 
Workshop Date: May 7th, 2011

DETAILS 
2011 Workshop Website
Call for Papers
Workshop Management System

ACM CHI 2011 Website

Note:  Deadlines for several other CHI 2011 workshops have also been extended to February 18th. (Pictures and links from the CHI 2010 workshop are located at the end of this post.)

CALL FOR PAPERS

IN CONJUNCTION WITH CHI 2011

Child Computer Interaction: Workshop on UI Technologies and Educational Pedagogy

in conjunction with CHI 2011, Vancouver

May 7th, 2011

Topic: Given the emergence of Child Computer Interaction and the ubiquitous application of interactive technology as an educational tool, there is a need to explore how next generation HCI will impact education in the future. Educators are depending on the interaction communities and to deliver technologies that will improve and adapt learning to an ever- changing world. In addition to novel UI concepts, the HCI community needs to examine how these concepts can be matched to contemporary paradigms in educational pedagogy. The classroom is a challenging environment for evaluation, thus new techniques need to be established to prove the value of new HCI interactions in the educational space. This workshop provides a forum to discuss key HCI issues facing next generation education.

We invite authors to present position papers about potential design challenges and perspectives on how the community should handle the next generation of HCI in education. Topics of interest include:
• Gestural input, multitouch, large displays, multi-display interaction, response systems
• Mobile Devices/mobile & pervasive learning
• Tangible, VR, AR & MR, Multimodal interfaces, universal design, accessibility
• Console gaming, 3D input devices, 3D displays
• Co-located interaction, presentations, tele-presence, interactive video
• Child Computer Interaction, Educational Pedagogy, learner-centric, adaptive “smart” applications,
• Empirical methods, case studies, linking of HCI research with educational research methodology
•Usable systems to support learning and teaching: Ecology of learning, any where, anytime, (UX of cloud computing to support teaching and learning)

Submission: The deadline for workshop paper submissions is February 18, 2011. Interested researchers should submit a 4-page position paper in the ACM CHI adjunct proceedings style to the workshop management system. Acceptance notifications will be sent out March 15, 2011. The workshop will be held May 7, 2011 in Vancouver, Canada. Please note that at least one author of an accepted position paper must register for the workshop and for one or more days of the CHI 2011 conference.

The best 3 papers will be pre accepted for a upcoming for a theme issue of the Springer Journal Personal and Ubiquitous Computing on “Child Computer Interaction”. Other authors are also invite to submit/ resubmit their work. We will send a separate call for paper for this special issue soon.

Website: http://www.dfki.de/EducationCHI2011

Contact: Edward Tse, SMART Technologies, edwardtse@smarttech.com

CHI 2010

NEXT GENERATION OF HCI AND EDUCATION

2010 Workshop Website

Join an interdisciplinary, international group of like-minded peers and colleagues.

Brainstorm with thought leaders.

After the workshop, relax, dine, and converse with interesting people.

UPDATE: CALL FOR PAPERS: Workshop on UI Technologies and Educational Pedagogy, Child-Computer Interaction (in conjunction with CHI 2011, May)

CALL FOR PAPERS 

Child Computer Interaction: 

Workshop on UI Technologies and Educational Pedagogy

in conjunction with CHI 2011, Vancouver, Canada

May 8th 2011

Topic: Given the emergence of Child Computer Interaction and the ubiquitous application of interactive technology as an educational tool, there is a need to explore how next generation HCI will impact education in the future. Educators are depending on the interaction communities and to deliver technologies that will improve and adapt learning to an ever- changing world. In addition to novel UI concepts, the HCI community needs to examine how these concepts can be matched to contemporary paradigms in educational pedagogy. The classroom is a challenging environment for evaluation, thus new techniques need to be established to prove the value of new HCI interactions in the educational space. This workshop provides a forum to discuss key HCI issues facing next generation education.

We invite authors to present position papers about potential design challenges and perspectives on how the community should handle the next generation of HCI in education. Topics of interest include:

1. • Gestural input, multitouch, large displays, multi-display interaction, response systems
   
   
2. • Mobile Devices/mobile & pervasive learning
   
   
3. • Tangible, VR, AR & MR, Multimodal interfaces, universal design, accessibility
   
   
4. • Console gaming, 3D input devices, 3D displays
   
   
5. • Co-located interaction, presentations, tele-presence, interactive video
   
   
6. • Child Computer Interaction, Educational Pedagogy, learner-centric, adaptive “smart” applications
   
   
7. • Empirical methods, case studies, linking of HCI research with educational research methodology
   
   
8. •Usable systems to support learning and teaching: Ecology of learning, any where, anytime, (UX of cloud computing to support teaching and learning)

Submission: The deadline for workshop paper submissions is January 14, 2011. Interested researchers should submit a 4-page position paper in the ACM CHI adjunct proceedings style to the workshop management system. Acceptance notifications will be sent out February 20, 2011. The workshop will be held May 7 or May 8, 2011 in Vancouver, Canada. Please note that at least one author of an accepted position paper must register for the workshop and for one or more days of the CHI 2011conference.

Website: http://www.dfki.de/EducationCHI2011

Contact: Edward Tse, SMART Technologies, edwardtse@smarttech.com

WORKSHOP ORGANIZERS
Edward Tse, SMART Technologiess
Johannes Schöning, DFKI GmbH
Yvonne Rogers, Pervasive Computing Laboratory, The Open University
Jochen Huber, Technische Universität Darmstadt
Max Mühlhäuser, Technische Universität Darmstadt
Lynn Marentette, Union County Public Schools, Wolfe School
Richard Beckwith, Intel

Multi-touch SmartBoard! (SMARTBoard 800 Series)

Take a look at the video demonstration of the new SMARTBoard (800 series) that offers multi-touch and gesture interaction support so that two students can interact with the board at the same time.

• Students can use 2 finger gestures to enlarge objects and move them around.
• Two students can interact with the board at the same time to complete activities.
• SMARTInk/Calligraphic Ink creates stylized print as you write. Whatever is written or drawn on the SMARTBoard becomes an object in the SMARTNotebook, allowing for things to be resized or rotated.   (2:04)
• Multi-touch gestures enabled in Window 7 and Snow Leopard work with the SMARTBoard.
• Software development kit (3:28):  Example of a physics application developed by a 3rd-party developer.  The application supports two students working at the SMARTBoard at the same time

This video, in my opinion, does not provide viewers with the full range of possibilities that the new features provide.   I'd like to see a "redo" of this video using a live teacher and a group of students.  For example, it would be interested in seeing how the physics application would be incorporated into a broader lesson or science unit.   I'd love to hear what real students have to say as they interact with the physics application, too.

Comment:

I think a multi-user interactive timeline would be a great application for the new SMARTBoard, because students could work together to create and recreate events.  This would be ideal for history, literature, and humanities activities, across a wide span of grade levels.

Call for Papers - Child Computer Interaction: Workshop on UI Technologies and Educational Pedagogy, in conjunction with CHI 2011, Vancouver, May 7th or 8th

CALL FOR PAPERS 

Child Computer Interaction 

Workshop on UI Technologies and Educational Pedagogy

in conjunction with CHI 2011, Vancouver, Canada

May 7th or May 8th 2011

Topic: Given the emergence of Child Computer Interaction and the ubiquitous application of interactive technology as an educational tool, there is a need to explore how next generation HCI will impact education in the future. Educators are depending on the interaction communities and to deliver technologies that will improve and adapt learning to an ever- changing world. In addition to novel UI concepts, the HCI community needs to examine how these concepts can be matched to contemporary paradigms in educational pedagogy. The classroom is a challenging environment for evaluation, thus new techniques need to be established to prove the value of new HCI interactions in the educational space. This workshop provides a forum to discuss key HCI issues facing next generation education.

We invite authors to present position papers about potential design challenges and perspectives on how the community should handle the next generation of HCI in education. Topics of interest include:

1. • Gestural input, multitouch, large displays, multi-display interaction, response systems
   
   
2. • Mobile Devices/mobile & pervasive learning
   
   
3. • Tangible, VR, AR & MR, Multimodal interfaces, universal design, accessibility
   
   
4. • Console gaming, 3D input devices, 3D displays
   
   
5. • Co-located interaction, presentations, tele-presence, interactive video
   
   
6. • Child Computer Interaction, Educational Pedagogy, learner-centric, adaptive “smart” applications
   
   
7. • Empirical methods, case studies, linking of HCI research with educational research methodology
   
   
8. •Usable systems to support learning and teaching: Ecology of learning, any where, anytime, (UX of cloud computing to support teaching and learning)

Submission: The deadline for workshop paper submissions is January 14, 2011. Interested researchers should submit a 4-page position paper in the ACM CHI adjunct proceedings style to the workshop management system. Acceptance notifications will be sent out February 20, 2011. The workshop will be held May 7 or May 8, 2011 in Vancouver, Canada. Please note that at least one author of an accepted position paper must register for the workshop and for one or more days of the CHI 2011conference.

Website: http://www.dfki.de/EducationCHI2011

Contact: Edward Tse, SMART Technologies, edwardtse@smarttech.com

WORKSHOP ORGANIZERS
Edward Tse, SMART Technologiess
Johannes Schöning, DFKI GmbH
Yvonne Rogers, Pervasive Computing Laboratory, The Open University
Jochen Huber, Technische Universität Darmstadt
Max Mühlhäuser, Technische Universität Darmstadt
Lynn Marentette, Union County Public Schools, Wolfe School
Richard Beckwith, Intel

NY Times article and Video: iPad Opens World to a Disabled Boy

I meant to post a link to this article a while ago:


iPad Opens World to a Disabled Boy 
Emily B. Hager, New York Times, 10/12/10



Cross-posted on the TechPsych  blog

Technology and Education, a Temporal Approach -Link to Dan Sutch's article, plus info about FutureLab

I'm interested in topics related to school reform and how it impacts the intersection of education/learning and emerging/innovative interactive technologies.  There are many changes going on that will impact the future of education, and I thought I'd devote a post or two to this topic on the Interactive Multimedia Technology and TechPsych blogs.

Over the past few years, I've noticed that there is a re-occurring theme, sort of a self-perpetuating "myth" - or hope, that if we just could fire/tweak/transform- the teachers, and if we just had the right kind of technologies and applications at hand, the multiple problems of education would be solved.  Of course, we know it is much more complicated than throwing innovative technologies, teaching strategies, and new, "highly qualified" teachers into the educational mix!

On this note,  I'd like to share a link to an article written by Dan Sutch on the Flux blog, hosted by FutureLab. ( I've included some links to resources from the FuturLab website.  I've also added my own "2-cents" to the topic of technology and education reform, which can be found at the top of this blog under the "My 2-cents: Innovative Technologies, Education Reform, which is in draft form.)


In his article, Dan Sutch touches on some key problems facing education. Like the little boy in the children's book, the Emperor's New Clothes, he points out that the polarizing debates regarding education blind us to what we really need to think about- and understand.  

A Temporal View on the Aims of Education

Dan Sutch,  Flux (FutureLab)  October 7, 2010

Here are thee three "meta-functions" of education discussed in Dan's article:

• How the world is as it is. Which requires exploration of what is already known about the world: knowledge domains, histories, cultural differences etc.  [The past] This only makes sense in relation to how learners
• Understand their place in the world. This is a focus on the individual, their culture and context, their interests, knowledges and relationships etc. [The present] This then leads to a need to understand
• How they act within the world and how they can change it. This is about developing personal identities and agency, and the skills to enact them – for themselves, their communities and for wider global challenges. [The future]

By using this framework, it might be possible for us to generate meaningful ways to use technology to support the business/science/art of teaching and learning. This framework might be something for university-level teacher educators to consider.

RELATED AND SOMEWHAT RELATED

About Dan Sutch

"Dan's main research interests are in mobile learning, radical innovation and the role of the teacher in technology-rich learning environments. Dan’s current work involves investigating new models of innovation in the design and application of digital learning resources and the capacity of teachers to act as innovators in the use of digital learning resources."

Panel of Flux Contributors
I encourage you to take a look at the other people who contribute to Flux!  They are on the forefront of education and emerging technologies, and come from a wide range of disciplines.


About FutureLab
FutureLab is an organization located in the UK that focuses on "the way people learn through innovative technology and practice".   The FutureLab website has a wealth of information about interactive and immersive technologies that support- or have the potential to support- learning. 


FutureLab's Free Online Tools
One of many examples is Create-A-Scape:
"Create-A-Scape is a website that provides resources for creating digitally-enhanced learning experiences, using mobile technology to experience location-sensitive sounds and images that have been 'attached to' the local landscape. Can be used right across the curriculum with all age groups." -FutureLab


Links to FutureLab topics, from the home page of the FutureLab website:

• 14-19 
• 21st century skills 
• assessment 
• augmented reality 
• citizenship 
• collaboration 
• creativity
• curriculum 
• digital inclusion 
• digital media 
• family learning 
• futures 
• games
• health 
• informal learning 
• innovation
• innovative teaching 
• learner voice
• learning spaces 
• lifelong learning
• mobile/handheld 
• open source 
• personalisation
• pre-school 
• primary 
• secondary 
• skills 
• social software 
• thinking skills 
• user-centred design

Links to FutureLab's current projects:

• • Adult Informal Learning
  • Beyond Current Horizons
  • Create-A-Scape
  • Creativity in European Schools
  • Curriculum Innovation Network
  • Digital Participation
  • Dream Catcher
  • Education Eye
  • Enquiring Minds
  • Exploratree
  • Fizzees
  • Fountaineers
  • Games and Learning
  • Games-Based Experiences for Learning
  • Gaming in Families
  • Harnessing Technology
  • Home-School Relationships
  • Infocow
  • iTEC
  • Learning in Families
  • Learning Spaces
  • New Assessment Scenarios
  • Pedagogy 3.0
  • Power League
    • • Serious Games in Education
      • Technology-Supported Curriculum