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Showing posts with label Joyce Thierer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joyce Thierer. Show all posts

Monday, October 1, 2018

New to Learning Technologies

Makers Lab 3D Printer working hard making a 3D print using polylactic acid filament.
Makers Lab - 3D Printer


Good Morning, my name is Selayoa Lovett and I started my first day in Learning Technologies on August 27th, 2018 as an Instructional Designer. My first month in Learning Technologies has been everything but slow and boring.  Within the first week, I assisted with training material for Jumpstart Design and Delivery, met with numerous faculty, and started my training on making documents accessible per Section 508 refresh.  By the next week, I had embarked on my journey in becoming Quality Matters Certified; within two weeks, I had completed the Applying the QM Rubric class and was enrolled in the next part starting October 9th, Becoming a Peer Reviewer. On top of completing the first part of Quality Matters, I also met with 6 new faculty, assisted with 3 class tours, started my Makerbot Certification, made my first 3D printed Corky, assisted a faculty with Kahoots (free online game quiz), discussed possibilities with a graduate student on a research project, attended a few embedded session with co-worker Anna Catterson, recorded Dr. Joyce Thierer performing at Constitution Day with 3D cameras, took on my first huge project with one of our new faculty, Melissa Gerleman, to make her classes interactive and engaging, helped another faculty with a video for a nonprofit organization they volunteer with, held a breakout box activities for the McNair Grant, attended my first conference, met with numerous other faculty on topics like Canvas, Panapto, Kaltura, and Zoom, and advised our Information Technology administrative team with their budgeting tool (which is the fields I came from before I moved to Learning Technologies) just to name a few things I did this month.  So on a whole, I think this first month could not have gone any better. But I would say, it is a good thing I love being busy! I look forward to the next month and what it has in store!

Thursday, November 16, 2017

Virtual Reality Applications

Community,

Over the past year our team has been researching and trying software to develop virtual reality applications. Virtual Reality allows you to see imagery in three dimensions and we feel that it has great potential in the classroom. To prove this, we have been working with Dr. Joyce Thierer, Professor of History. We wanted an opportunity to record a video with a 360 camera and then transform it into a Virtual Reality application that could be used for a class. Dr. Thierer agreed to participate in our research study and invited us to a history performance where she would be performing as Mary Fix, a Kansas woman who was an early settler in the Flinthills. Dr. Thierer was gracious enough to invite us to her ranch for the performance. The weather was perfect and the location was beautifully set in the Flinthills near Emporia, Kansas. Here is a list of equipment that we took with us that day:
We are also utilizing InstaVR for the development of the applications. Andrew Woodberry has been an excellent resource for us and provided a tremendous amount of support for our project. http://www.instavr.co.

Once on scene, we recorded the performance and then downloaded the footage to InstaVR. From there, the editing time took a total of four hours; however, that's mainly because we were new to the software and were working through some of the tutorials while developing. Take a look at the final product!

The work we have done with Virtual Reality has been incredible. We have since created a VR application for the One Button Studio and the MakerLab, also found on our website. We are now partnering with the library to develop an application. Demand and growth continue. At semester end, we will know for sure how this has impacted students retention and their success in the courses they submitted VR applications for.
Our work has gotten some national attention, too. Take a look at these articles recently published:
If you have considered a VR application, please send us an email or comment below for more information. One of our Instructional Designers will contact you to make arrangements.

~Anna