Sketch Up

Day 3: Sketch Up

On our third session, we tried a different program call SketchUp.  I had no experience with this program and had no idea what to do when I first opened the software.  As I looked closely at the tool bar, I realized that some of the icons looked very familiar to Geogebra, a software I used frequently as a math teacher.  From there, I knew that I was creating shapes that would eventually make up a three-dimensional shape. 

Click here for a quick video of an example of using SketchUp

For that specific class session, our professor told us that we would make a house.  We started with basic rectangles to get the foundation on the object.  Then we pulled the rectangles out with the push/pull tool to create the outer walls of the house.  It was a little challenging at first and I made a lot of mistakes that required myself to start over a couple of times.  However, it was rewarding when I saw the end product and even created a swimming pool in the back to enhance the house.    

We continued to work with SketchUp the next week and created an apartment from a floor plan.  I thought this was pretty amazing to be able to turn a two dimensional floor plan into a three dimensional apartment.  I saw this very useful for contractors, interior design, real estate agents, …etc.  I personally did not see this software to be useful in my profession, but I did show this program to our site technology instructor and she loved it!  She thought that it was easy enough for middle school students to understand and create a simple house.  The instructor was excited to show her students and the students were able to create their own houses just in time our Open House.  The students were excited to be able to share something they created on the computer that was personalized with different colors, designs, and decorations.  Parents were also amused by the fact that their child was able a piece of artwork that looked very complex and professional. 

Overall, I thought this was a great tool to introduce students and other new users the basics for creating a three dimensional shape.  Students can definitely extend their knowledge into more difficult programs after mastering SketchUp.

Click here for some excellent tutorials to help you get started with the software.

Aurasam

Day 2: Aurasma

Our next session introduced a program call Aurasma.  Aurasma was an app that permitted any user to create their own augmented reality. 

Click here for a quick video of how augmented reality works on TED talk. 

I watched a couple of the tutorials and promotions on their website and wasn’t able to come up with a way to incorporate this program to my own classroom.  After I pondered on it for a while, I realized that I could use it in my profession every day!  Since my students struggled with completing their homework on their own, I decided to use Aurasma to provide quick tutorials on difficult problems.  This allowed my students to use Aurasma to get help at home if needed.  Also, it is very common for my students to be absent from class.  Therefore, I took pictures of my finished notes so that students would be able to see the notes and not be too far behind when they came back.  Since there was only about a month left of school, I did not get to try it enough to get a strong feeling about it.  However, based on the feedback I received from some of my students, it seemed like they found it helpful to be able to get instant assistance on their homework assignments.  In addition, they expressed that it was fun and entertaining to play with even if they didn’t need the help. 

Overall, I thought this program was great and I would try it more often next school year before I can fully implement it into my practices.  I was also told that one of my classmates used Aurasma to record her students’ presentations so that the parents could see it during Open House as if they were in a live museum.  I also enjoyed this discovery because it could easily be used in any profession and could personalized their own video to make it fit for their stakeholders.

Click here for more ideas on how to implement Aurasma in your classroom!

Story Sphere/ YouVisit

In our GED 550 class, we learned a new tool call Story Sphere.  This was a resource that allowed anyone to create their own 360°experience.  We had a chance to play around with this program through a lab with our instructor and got familiar with the different features that it offered.  As an assignment, we had to create our own 360° experience using this program.  I decided to create one of my classroom during Open House.  Before the parents and students came into explore, I took a 360° photo of my classroom using Google maps and imported the picture to Story Sphere.  After I recorded several audio clips from Audacity, the assembling was extremely easy to do. 

If you would like to check out my Story Sphere, click here.

In addition, my group decided to explore other options that also allow users to create their own 360° experience.  We came across a program call YouVisit.  We really enjoyed this resource because they have numerous pre-made experiences for us to use without the hassle of creating our own.  Especially since two out of the three of us were educators, we found it most useful in our profession!  It was a little difficult to find videos related to math (since I’m a middle school math teacher), but I was able to find a lot of experience for colleges.  This was perfect for my school site because our district pushed a lot of college and career program.  Since our school did not have enough money to send our students to different campuses, this was a perfect solution to still give our students a tour of college campuses. 

Finally, we were introduced to a device call Google Cardboard which was very affordable to purchase.  One of our classmates went on Amazon and bought it for about $15.  Since both of these programs were easily used on any mobile device, the Google Cardboard was also compatible, which made the experience that much more real!