As I sit here reflecting after attending my first VSTE Annual Conference, I find my head spinning with ideas and what I want to focus on first. Attending Tech Conferences are so worthwhile because you leave with more ideas than you can implement in your class room at once. While some may see this as overwhelming, I have learned that instead of feeling swamped, you just have to pick and choose the most intriguing to start with first and then move down the line. With that being said, here’s the first thing I have jumped on and want to implement as soon as possible:
Aurasma – Do you like using QR Codes in the classroom? What if you could make the actual poster on the wall a QR Code? What about a piece of rug right in the middle of the classroom? Aurasma is an amazing app for the iPhone4, 4s, iPad2, or iPad3 that allows you to scan real world objects instead of code. The scanned object will display different digital work in real time such as images, videos, animations, audio files, or a webpage. I’m still learning all the capabilities and how I could use it in the classroom, but here are some different ideas swirling around in my head:
1. Aurasma Scavenger Hunts – Students travel around the school scanning different parts of the school to watch videos related to the project
2. Aura Homework Worksheets – Students could scan the HW at home and had a video come up with an explanation on how to complete the homework.
3. Aura Book Reviews – Students can scan the actual cover of the book to have a video pop up giving a book review of the story:
4. Aura of Student Work – Attach Videos to student work to have a video pop up of a student explaining what they did. Quick Student Work Example.
5. Aura Posters or “Part of Rug” – Video explaining a concept you are teaching in class that is “attached” to a poster, rug, etc. around the class. Posters are great sellers at those “Teacher Stores,” but many of these posters are hardly even looked at while they are up. Now, I am not saying these posters aren’t beneficial to some students, but how great would it be to add life to those posters instead of just the usual info that is on it? Since all our Kindergarten and 1st Grade classes have 4 iPads, I figure I would start here when it came to creating an Aura Poster or “Rug” example. Here’s the quick example I made with Mrs. Gregory this afternoon. I look forward to making and teaching teachers how they can create these. How great would it be to have a full classroom of videos literally floating around in your classroom waiting to be discovered!
During my two days at the VSTE Conference and Hilton Hotel, I took pictures to document my experience. While this video doesn’t do full justice to how educational, beneficial, and pack full of fun VSTE12 was, its just fun to see some of these images to keep me excited about trying some new things. Enjoy my VSTE12 in under 2 minutes:
