Diary of a Techie Chick: February 2016

Bringing Books to Life with Augmented Reality....

Reading a good book opens the door to children's imagination. Adding educational augmented content to a book unlocks endless possibilities for learning and understanding. I was thrilled when Twyla shared her dream of adding augmented content to books to bring learning to life. Using the AugThat platform together we brought the book "The Napping House" by Audrey Wood and Don Wood to life.

Some of the lessons for "The Napping House" is geared to the hearing impaired students while others can be enjoyed for all students of all ages. Our goal was to provide triggers for the book for students to scan and then follow along while reading the book via sign language. We also wanted to reinforce keywords from the book for students to learn to sign.

To really bring the book to life we included activities that brought the world to kids. We've included 360º augmented triggers and augmented 3D objects. We've included math and science activities that are based from the theme of the book. My favorite activity for this book just happens to be the augmented 360º of the rainbow. Some kids may have never seen a rainbow other than a picture. How cool is it that we can transform our classrooms and bring in a rainbow.

Resources:

The Napping House - the book
The Augmented Resources by AugThat

Sketchnotes .... Inspired ....

I attend tons of educational conferences throughout the year. Some I am there just as an attendee to learn from others while other conferences I am there as a presenter sharing my EdTech skills and insight. While I was in the Tampa area last year I met this pretty spunky red head who is very talented in sketchnoting. If you do not know what sketchnoting is it is a method of making your notes visual and tying emotion to your notes. Sketchnotes include a mix of images, words, and color. When you refer back to your sketchnote you remember more why you thought that point, fact, and etc.... was so important. This amazing talented teacher that I met in the Tampa area at ST4T in 2015 inspired me to let go of my standard you write neatly on the line from left to right and to think outside of the box.

If you could take a peek into my mind you would see I truly do not think inside the box. I have thoughts floating in bubbles, while others bounce off the walls, and still others hiding in the dark. I think that sketchnoting will be a way to let my thoughts and ideas out. Keep in mind I am no artist. I can not draw a straight line even if I had a ruler. Even though I am not talented in the art, drawing, and doodling world I am going to do my best to get my thoughts out of my head and make them a reality.

Thanks Amber for being an inspiration.

Quiver's #AugmentedReality Valentines Coloring Contest ... #Quivervalentine

Quiver has done it again. They are having another augmented reality coloring contest just in time for Valentine's Day. Their Christmas coloring competition was so much fun, they've decided to run another one! This time, they're sharing the love with a Valentine's Day coloring page.

Get the coloring page PDF from our website at www.quivervision.com, color it in, and snap a cool screenshot of your creation. Share the screenshot on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag ‪#‎quivervalentine‬. Include your name and age too please!

You've got until the end of February to enter, and then we'll select our favorites and send out some prizes! Have fun, and good luck to you all this Valentine's Day!