Games Based Learning MOOC

Has anyone played with Aurasama yet?

Yes! I have my 4th-graders working with it right now. We are using it to add artist statements to their work for an upcoming exhibition. They studied Inca masks and then created their own masks by embossing aluminum and adding color. We used an app called Morfo to animate and add audio to images of their masks. Those videos are the overlays with the actual masks being the trigger. Our 3rd, 4th and 5th graders each have iPod Touches that they bring to class whenever I have a project for them.
I played with it for a couple of years before I ever used it with my students. The UI is so much better than it was in the beginning and as an educator I was able to get an Aurasma Studio account (free!) so I can use my laptop to put my own together..
Last year I used it to attach some stop-motion animations my students created to their storyboards that were hanging in a show. The next project I would like to do is have my students bring a narrative painting to life through role-playing.
I have trigger pictures for the masks (and the name of our channel) if anyone would like me to send them a jpeg.

I have not played it, will be downloading the app for Android, and I did look at the Aurasma Partner Guidelines Aurasma Partner Guidelines Sometimes you can learn more about what they are selling than using the product. I can see how Kathzig is using it with her 4th graders. I can explore it for myself, but I don’t see how I can integrate it for my classes without a grant for iPod Touches for all my students. I am at a community college in Colorado and many of my students have only basic mobile phones with no internet access. I can see an application for the ETH 224 class (Introduction to Chicano Studies) if we build a day of the dead altar at the Longmont Museum and Cultural Center. Might be able to do that without a grant with Kae’s help.

Kathzig. I would love to be able to see what you are doing. Could you possibly add that JPG top Flickr and then embed it here? I think we all would be interested.

I have downloaded it but haven't used it yet. I have been trying to work out ways to use it with my students. I posted links to some of the resources I have been looking at in a previous post like the Aurasma in Education Youtube channel. I applied for an education account but have not heard back yet. The Tedtalk about it has blown my mind with the things it can do. I think I am a little hesitant to use it because I feel that no matter what I decide to do with it, I won't be doing the app justice lol. I know you don't have to use it to its full potential especially when you're just starting but I just can't seem to jump in.

#7616716 Lleshrad wrote:

I have downloaded it but haven't used it yet. I have been trying to work out ways to use it with my students. I posted links to some of the resources I have been looking at in a previous post like the Aurasma in Education Youtube channel. I applied for an education account but have not heard back yet. The Tedtalk about it has blown my mind with the things it can do. I think I am a little hesitant to use it because I feel that no matter what I decide to do with it, I won't be doing the app justice lol. I know you don't have to use it to its full potential especially when you're just starting but I just can't seem to jump in.

I understand how you feel! I keep trying to figure out how exactly to use it. It looks like it would work best with image-based courses like Art History, Humanities, etc, or with location-based courses like Geography or even Astronomy. (I bet it could be trained to activate auras based on pictures of constellations.

Wouldn't this make a cool way to create a study guide for students?

I have put some trigger images in the GBL Flickr Group for anyone interested in seeing what I am doing with Aurasma right now in my 4th grade Art classes. You will need to download the app and follow our channel - Slaughter Artists Inca Masks. These were created with the actual mask as the trigger but it seems to work with the image just as well. It's just a start but I think they turned out pretty well for a first project!

I tried to embed the images here but could not get them to show up?

#7616716 Lleshrad wrote:

The Tedtalk about it has blown my mind with the things it can do. I think I am a little hesitant to use it because I feel that no matter what I decide to do with it, I won't be doing the app justice lol.

I find myself falling back on the classical rhetorical model of the memory palace as a guide for how to experiment with all of this new technology. The strategy used a familiar physical space to identify places into which one would store images that would trigger a memory (e.g. the "topics" of a speech). Jonathan Foer introduces the concept in his recent book.



If we think of all of this tech as simply extending our memories out into space, then it becomes a little clearer how it might be used.

It's useful to think of books as a technology here as well.

The "electrate" individual, then, is one who knows how to find information using the new technology. (In the humorous youtube video above, a medieval monk is getting help with how to use a book.) That's one fundamental skill. Another is authoring--being a content creator.

I'd be interested in hearing what people think are the skills necessary for creating relevant content with Aurisma: how do we decide what "auras" to connect to what "images" or triggers? How does juxtaposition and irony come into play? What is the most effective use of such "tagging"?

One thing I like to do is to invite students into the process of inventing practices for using the tech. I try to provide the framework, the "playpen" with boundaries in which they can play. And then I let them play. So we don't have to figure it out first--we give our students the opportunity to figure it out for us.... Then we watch for patterns and apply what we know of our given fields to extrapolate best uses.

--Richard

I really want to learn more and play around with Aurasma, but the website seems to be down today. I did install on my phone, though. One of the challenges I face with these AR apps (like Aurasma and ARIS) is that you have to go through the parent app to get to the one that you or your students have made. It would be great if you could just scan a QR code and go directly to the personalized and specific AR game of interest.

Another very real challenge to AR is the "heads down" phenomenon. We like the potential that AR holds because it uses the real-world as a context. However, if not implemented thoughtfully, AR can bring the user too much out of reality and into the augmentation. As a would-be designer of educational ARGs, I find myself struggling to balance the virtual augmentation with the desire for learners/players to interact with the real, physical world. I think looking for the most effective ratio is going to be a key part of the design based research process.

I created a few auras myself and it was not only fun to create, but the technology was simple enough I feel it could be used in many circumstances, two of which I want to talk about.

I feel that many times the problem with Autonomy in learning is the fact that you have to give up control on the outcome. If I give students the freedom to explore their own ideas and be creative it can hinder the responsibility and accountability that I have to make sure they reach a certain level of understanding.

However, with AR what if while I am studying a math problem in my textbook I come across an example I couldn't follow the way the text worked through an example. I hold up my smartphone and scan it over the problem and my professor walks through the steps with me on a video of how they got their solution. This addition of video overtop of text allows for students to determine which method of learning is best for them. The Autonomy for a student to decide if they need more explanation is given, yet the control of what is being taught is also maintained by the instructor.

Another example I could see would be for a University College Success class. Many times they have a "scavenger hunt" around the University to have students become familiar with the library, parking office, Student Union Building, etc.

What if you had 12 unique pictures from around the University that students needed to "find" to get clues that would pop up in the video once they placed their smartphone over the picture. This works great because there is WIFI over the whole university and students can collect their clues throughout a time period and then collect a prize at the end of an orientation.

The Ted video is amazing and really makes you think of how this can affect education. I loved the painting of the Scottish poet that comes to life. What a great immersive way to view art and history. I did download it and printed out a page from the Aurasama campaign library. I wanted to see if it would work with printed paper which it does.

I can see using it with a class - loved the Inca mask idea from Kathzig. It great to hear from someone actually using it. But I am intrigued to try something with it. It seems like there could be some flipped classroom ideas with this but would need to get some practice on it first.

Over in the Mentira thread, we have been starting to discuss some of these same issues with Aurasma, if anyone wants to drop by with suggestions!

"I find myself falling back on the classical rhetorical model of the memory palace as a guide for how to experiment with all of this new technology. The strategy used a familiar physical space to identify places into which one would store images that would trigger a memory (e.g. the "topics" of a speech). Jonathan Foer introduces the concept in his recent book.

If we think of all of this tech as simply extending our memories out into space, then it becomes a little clearer how it might be used.

[snip]

I'd be interested in hearing what people think are the skills necessary for creating relevant content with Aurisma: how do we decide what "auras" to connect to what "images" or triggers? How does juxtaposition and irony come into play? What is the most effective use of such "tagging"?

One thing I like to do is to invite students into the process of inventing practices for using the tech. I try to provide the framework, the "playpen" with boundaries in which they can play. And then I let them play. So we don't have to figure it out first--we give our students the opportunity to figure it out for us.... Then we watch for patterns and apply what we know of our given fields to extrapolate best uses."


Hi Richard!

The memory palace idea is a fascinating one. It brought up a realization for me.

Every time I bump into a new and cool technology promoted for education, I always try to ask myself: What is its affordances? What does it do better than anything else up to this point? Where would it fit best in education? Is there something else that's tried and true that would work better?

Aurasama gives us the ability to smoothly incorporate spatial associations with learning. It's a little bit like a hyperlink. It's a little bit like a walking audio tour in the museum. It's a little bit like a YouTube video. But, Aurasama is not exactly like any of them. It has a lower tech barrier than most, in terms of portability and tech required.

So, you're exactly right on there. It hacks (as in computer hacking, not Walking Dead time) our brains into awesomeness because we can associate things with places using technology.

"How do we decide what "auras" to connect to what "images" or triggers? How does juxtaposition and irony come into play? What is the most effective use of such "tagging"?"

I think this process is the same when we're referencing material for students to read. We decide what's relevant and use something related to reference it. It's a little like deciding what text to use as a link, I guess. Other thoughts on this, folks? What's the most effective when creating the trigger? What might an example of a "boring" use be?

@xenaqueen: I wonder, then, if it could be used with objects around in a room rather than just flat pictures. That would make it that much more fascinating to play with!

If it can be used with location type objects (like a particular shelf of books in my library) and not just a picture that will be a great thing for something I am thinking of doing with library orientation in the fall.

Well, tried as 3d object & it didn't work. It did work on a flat poster. Will try the shelf of books asap but I don't think it will work that way either. :0(