Ed Tech Blog
The technology behind Virtual Reality is coming into its own. Students are becoming increasingly more familiar with a maturing VR through video games and inexpensive (read: accessible) tech like Google Cardboard. Now, as interest increases, many educators want to know how VR can be useful as a learning tool in the classroom.
VR as a means to promote collaboration and teamwork– allow students to problem-solve in safe and secure (and unique) environments. VR gives teachers an opportunity to engage students in any type of situation from paleontology digs to courtrooms to boardrooms and in space. Not only will students learn how to work as a team in real-life (or not so real) circumstances, but these opportunities can help promote work-force readiness in a similar manner as in-field experience.
VR gamifies curriculum– A hot trend in education now is gamification of course material. The benefits are becoming clear- increased interaction, increased engagement equals a direct correlation to retention and comprehension. Gamifying content through VR allows otherwise theoretical concepts to be manipulated into [virtually] practical knowledge. Gamification can also harness competitive personalities in a motivating and productive way.
VR for safety– Complex and potentially hazardous concepts can be staged, risk-free in VR worlds. VR can safely simulate high-stress, dangerous situations in a way that allows students to experience success and failure. Think security, chemistry, medicine, aerospace, nuclear, etc. Even teachers-in-training can use VR to learn how to address situations in classrooms like bullying, extreme personal safety hazards and medical emergencies.
VR offers insight into the past– And not only the past, but also the presently far-away. Imagine not just reading about history but being IN history; not just seeing a documentary about sea-life decline but being surrounded by it. Immersion in places and periods creates what we can almost consider positive...
Read more: 6 Tips to Encourage Adoption of Virtual Reality in Your School
A version of this post was published at Systems Contractor News (www.avnetwork.com)
The Takeaway: Yes, I am starting backward, but I think you need to hear this. You’ve heard it before but, like moving a big machine, our industry takes time to adjust and seems to need some coaxing from time to time. Here it is: we are very poor educators, marketers and ambassadors. Wait, let me clarify that before you jump to the comments section to defend why we have some of the best cheerleaders of any industry (you rabble-rousers know who you are)…
I was given the privilege of presenting, as an NSCA Ignite! Ambassador (learn more here), to two high school business classes- a total of about 40 students. These classes include mostly junior and senior students. They are the students that COULD alleviate industry wide hiring challenges. Yes, some of them mentioned they want to be a chef, fashion designer, or hospitality manager. So I spent a bit of time explaining how technology impacts each of those seemingly non-related fields because, overall, they are a group we know we should be targeting.
Not surprisingly, when asked what audiovisual and commercial technology meant to them, the...
Read more: Changing the Dialogue: Ignite-ing Interest in AV and Commercial Technologies
Guest post written by Mario Maltese. Reposted with permission from AQAV at aqav.org.
What is “Third Party Commissioning?”
In legal terms, the word “party” refers to a person taking part in a transaction or contract. An AV Company engaging in a contract with an AV Buyer forms two parties in the contract. When the AV Company completes a battery of tests themselves (using the AV 9000 Commissioning Checklist) intending to certify what they just installed as being compliant with that contract, we call that “First Party” commissioning. It is similar to an internal audit. Personnel specifically trained in the tests, with the required instrumentation, should perform the tests and that personnel should not be the same personnel who installed the system.
When the AV Buyer uses its own trained and equipped personnel to perform the AV9000 Commissioning tests that is called “Second Party” commissioning. Many organizations that have the specialized personnel and instrumentation resources to do this have done so.
When the AV Buyer brings in a disinterested party, one not part of the Project Team who designed or installed the AV system, one who simply applies the AV9000 Standard to gather the evidence of compliance (or non-compliance), that...
Read more: Third Party AV9000 Commissioning – The Obvious and the Not-So-Obvious Rationale
Four well known audiovisual and classroom technologies manufacturers, FSR, Inc, Biamp Systems, Christie Digital and Quam Nichols, have partnered to put on the second Higher Education Technology Summit (HETS). Created specifically for college and university managers of educational technology, HETS is designed to combine a day of product training, networking and peer-to-peer discussions in a fast moving format. The first HETS took place in Burlington, MA. Due to demand and feedback, the second HETS will take place in Philadelphia’s center city, convenient for eastern PA attendees and an easy train ride from NYC, NJ, DE and MD/ Washington DC.
Gina Sansivero, Director of Business Development, Education at FSR, Inc tells why an event like HETS was created. “As industry leading manufacturers, we understand that educational technology managers are technically educated and experienced and are increasingly taking on more design and installation responsibilities in house. They are also developing technology standards and specifying products for the AV systems campus-wide.”
Michael Frank, Sales Development Director, Eastern North America at Biamp Systems notes, “Technology managers typically have limited budgets for professional development, training and travel. A regional, cost- free, single day event provides the training they are asking for as well as...
Read more: AV Manufacturers partner for The SECOND Higher Education Technology Summit- Philadelphia
Residence halls are a big profit center for colleges and universities. Typically educational technologists have had little to no technology responsibility in dorms. But when student expectations drive projects and priorities, as they often do in order for schools to stay competitive and meet enrollment goals, traditional environments seem to get turned on their heads.
The idea of a multi-use or mixed-used building is not new. In many downtown areas, retail, commercial and residential space commonly inhabit the same structure. Now, the idea of multi-use buildings are becoming common on college campuses. Often, we find that residence halls also contain classroom space, public gathering/ study areas and possibly retail, gym or food components; a sort of “feed your mind, body and soul” all-in-one building.
As the definition of a residence hall morphs to mixed use, AV and IT teams are being called into these projects more frequently. The classroom spaces will still fall under their umbrella of responsibility. Therefore planning for the technology infrastructure necessary to support the rooms will bring them to the table (hopefully earlier, rather than later). Sometimes these buildings will be in a location on campus that is easy to access, allowing for a smoother...
Have you been to a conference with an opening keynote that just didn’t seem relevant to the attendees, their jobs or the trends and topics that they wanted to learn about? Probably. That’s why I like to share when I attend a conference at which the keynote speaker is spot on- knowing his audience, tailoring his content and providing takeaways that make sense and are usable.
At the DET/CHE (directors of educational technology/ California higher ed) conference this year, Adam Finkelstein from McGill University took the stage on the first full day of sessions. He had a difficult task; he had to engage and education a room of about 170 attendees with clearly varied jobs. DET/CHE pulls in AV and IT department heads, instructional designers, directors of distance education programs, and even some tech-inspired faculty. They all want to learn about learning technologies, but will understand use the new concepts in diverse ways that fit their position. No matter what their focus was, he grabbed the attendees immediately by proposing that “Higher Ed is under siege. It is neither affordable nor is it a great value.” Yipes! That’s a pretty strong statement, considering just about everyone in the room makes...