AR Runner

     AR Runner is an augmented reality app that encourages physical activity as obstacles/activities are seen digitally on a phone screen. AR Runner is available on  Android and iOS mobile. It costs only $0.99 for most features and has an additional $1.99 for premium features. It allows for users to compete against each other in two player competitions (using the same device) or log in to see how individual scores compare to the scores of all other users. I think that this is a great tool for individuals and could absolutely be used in PE classes or for sports teams.

Single Player:
Field Set-up - In single player mode, you first choose a field size. It gives you measurements in meters or feet so you are comfortable with what they are asking. The app can be used inside or outside. However, they suggest that you do some pre-planning and are very aware of your surroundings prior to starting a game and while you are engaged. With size measurements, you could utilize this in a space as small as a workout room in your home to a football field.  

Choosing Your Game Mode - Once you've established how large your area is, you decide one kind of game that you will play. The first type is 'normal'. The 'normal' mode is where you essentially run to dots (they almost look like beams going up to the sky) to activate them. Once you've run to one dot, you must run to the next active dot and so on. You can run in designs of a line, triangle, square, hexagon, box with diagonals (premium only), and cross (premium only). These different shapes create unique challenges in cutting and moving. You are timed when you do these activities and you can try to better your score as you continue using the app. 

The next mode that you can use is called wall punch. This mode works your upper body. It creates a 2 circle x 3 circle digital image in front of you and then one of the holes light up. You punch through the hole with your device in hand. Then, another hole lights up (kind of like whack a mole). Your goal is to do this as quickly as possible in the 30 seconds that you are allotted. 

30 Second Rush is a premium feature. Your goal is to run to active spots in a 3 x 3 dot square in 30 seconds. When you've reached the active dot, another dot will light up showing you your next destination. 

Enemies is an interesting feature that I am convincing myself to fork over the $2 to try. It is essentially 30 second rush, but you have to avoid 'enemy' blocks. When one circle becomes activated, another circle takes on a color showing that it is an enemy block. It makes it more challenging in that you may not be able to run straight to an active circle, but most run around and in different directions/designs. 

Challenges: 

Challenges are an interesting aspect of this app and it really gives the app a 'video game' feel. Challenges give you multiple goals that you must accomplish to move on from level to level. These challenges usually involve either cumulative use of the app or beating a certain goal in a single or multiplayer activity. Once you have beaten one level by accomplishing all goals, a new level appears with a new set of activities. 

Local Multiplayer:

You can use AR Runner with your friends! With local multiplayer, you are able to do competitions of two, three, or four players. Essentially, you choose a single player competition and then take turns completing it on the same device. It lets you know when to pass it to a new player. 

Local Leaderboard: 

If you sign in to AR runner, you are able to be included in and see a list of high scores in activities. You can see how you stand in each of the different competitions.

My Activity:

I tried wall punch. This is where you 'punch' your device through the 2 x 3 design of 'holes' in front of you. I didn't do very well, honestly. My experience with this app is that you really learn as you go what is required of you. Initially, I wasn't sure how far I would need to punch through the holes so it took a couple of attempts and I honestly wasted a few punches that I wish would've counted. You definitely get used to these features the more that you use the app, though. 

General Thoughts:

This app is awesome for individual teachers, PE students, and sports teams. As teachers, we are encouraged to take care of ourselves and take time to make sure that we exercise and do things that we enjoy. This app allows us to do this in a relatively small area and in a short period of time. As long as BYOD policies are favorable and you can convince students to shell out $.99, PE coaches should love this app. As a coach, I would love to use this app. We are always looking for ways to make workouts engaging and fun. Competition and variety accomplish this and are definitely present in this app. 

Plicker

       Plicker is a website/app for collecting student data that can be used to poll or question students and formulate data showing results. Teachers are able to create true/false or multiple choice questions that are displayed for the class to see. Students answer questions using plicker cards and this data is then organized and stored for the educator's use. Not only does it provide benefit to teachers, it is a stress free check-up tool for students so that they'll know if they have truly mastered the objectives that they are expected to master.

How to use Plicker:
1) Download/register for Plicker and create questions - First, you should register online at Plicker.com and download the Plicker app for your mobile device (it does not matter which order). Go online and start creating your questions. You are able to create multiple classes to organize your question sets. After you've created a class, go to 'Your Library' and start creating a question set. You can create multiple choice questions with up to four answer choices or true/false questions. You are able to set the mode to graded where there is a correct answer to each question or the mode to survey where there is not an assigned correct answer to the question. You are also able to add pictures to these questions. Once you have created your question sets (this is absolutely the most time consuming part), you can print off Plicker cards for your students.

2) Plicker Cards - In order to quickly scan responses, Plicker creates cards that you print off for your students so that their responses are recorded when they are scanned. Students hold up the appropriate card displaying the answer and the teacher scans the room with a mobile device. For longevity, you may want to laminate these cards for student use. See sample plicker card picture.

3) Displaying Plicker Questions - Students must be able to see the questions/polls to answer them (obviously). On Plicker, the teacher clicks 'Play Now' after clicking on the question set and this puts the program on 'Live Mode' so that the question can be displayed on a smartboard/projector.

4) Reading Results - Using the results and scoresheets teachers can see how classes have scored on questions. Teachers can look or objectives that need to be revisited and document class growth on a given objective. However, the best part about Plicker is the quick gauge of student mastery. Teachers are able to check on student knowledge and adjust their instruction in a given class period using Plicker. In addition to class results, Plicker also offers individual results so that you can adjust individual instruction and quickly create data for RTI and other programs requiring documentation of student progress and growth.

How would I use this in my classroom?
1) I like the anonymous polling aspect of the Plicker program/app. I teach Geography and we cover all kinds of debatable topics: government's role in conservation, immigration, future of alternative resources, etc. I would love to use Plicker to gauge student thought before starting debate or discussion. Plicker enables the students who are scared to share their opinion a way to do so without fear of judgment. I would love to start discussions such as these with a poll.

2) Quick, formative assessment - I would love to use Plicker for daily, quick formative assessment. It would enable me to never wait multiple days and figure out that we just don't quite have a certain concept. It is an easy and quick way to just pop up a few questions for the day and see if students have mastered the daily objectives.

Video Game Seduction Secrets

     In "The Seduction Secrets of Video Game Designers", Keith Stuart discusses why people love video games so much. It is surprising to many that the world 'mindless' is never used and video games actually play on our love for learning. Yes, I absolutely said video games and learning in the same sentence. I would like to discuss how these engaging aspects of video games can translate into the classroom:

1) An 'effective creative' environment - Video game users operate in a universe where failure is ok. This provides the motivation to try new things. In the classroom, students are rarely rewarded for trying something. They are simply given corrective feedback and hardly able to apply the feedback before a new standard is being introduced. Students need an environment where they feel welcome to try new things without fear of failure. The old saying 'A for effort' is an interesting one, but students' effort should be rewarded and an environment should be created where students are ok with trying. Teachers often give unit tests or assign projects or term papers where it is a one attempt deal. How can we better provide ongoing feedback to students where they feel that mastery is truly the goal? This course has shown an effective means of doing so. If a student doesn't fulfill requirements on the first attempt, they are given feedback and welcomed to try again. In the mean time, the game administrator is able to issue rewards. Not all of these rewards are based upon completion of assignments. It would be great if we rewarded students for their unique abilities and not just how they master a standard (especially only on one attempt).

2) Interesting Tools - In video games, we are given interesting tools such as weapons or magic. While the complexity and sometimes wild nature of the tools is engaging, it is more about what we do with the tools that keeps us hooked. We are able to first get the tool. Then, we are able to test the tool. Eventually, we are able to master the tool. As you become more skilled in a game, you are able to better utilize the weapons provided to you. In the classroom, we could absolutely capitalize this. Students would like to acquire tools, test them, and then master them, but we often bounce from one skill to the next leaving students behind. Teachers can be creative in finding exciting activities that stagger the application of a given skill. Simplified example: Writing paragraphs, writing 5 paragraph essay, writing novels. Let's provide opportunities that increase in complexity so students can see how far that they can take a given skill.

3) Choosing and Planning - We love autonomy. We love to be in control of our learning. It is a wonderful thing when students get to choose how they display mastery. Whether through options on a project-based learning assignment, a learning menu, or even giving students creative control to come up with how they display mastery, options are great in education. Students feel as though they truly have ownership of their learning. They'll choose activities that they are interested in and likely display mastery through their preferred learning styles. This can only increase student engagement and enable students to really feel as though they are in control.

4) Disproportionate feedback - In games, users are rewarded for very simple tasks. In most classroom, simple tasks for students are simply expected. If you don't complete the simple tasks, you either get in trouble or don't have an opportunity at completing the larger tasks. Supporting students in doing the little things will keep them engaged and make sure that they are detail-oriented. Students often go into 'zombie mode' on day-to-day tasks. If they feel like they'll be rewarded, they will put much more effort into the little things. As teachers, we can do this in a lot of ways. I absolutely love online learning badges. They usually have an accompanying picture and description. Don't we all love being commended officially? These badges can help show students love for doing things that they are not usually rewarded for.

5) Online community - Online gaming communities show the social nature of our beings. Grouping and collaboration should absolutely be used in all classrooms, but online collaboration seems to be that much more appealing to students. Back channels or discussion boards can be used where students can respond whenever and from wherever they need to. They also aren't plagued by face-to-face social anxiety as students sometimes have.

Newsela

      Newsela is a news source geared towards students, but it is so much more than that. It creates a community of teachers and students.  It is an archive of primary sources and speeches. It enables teachers to create classrooms and monitor the progress of students. I am going to tell you how it can be used in the classroom and how I use it in my classroom.

      At the most basic level, newsela can provide you with news articles on all kinds of topics. It is arranged by topics of war and peace, money, kids, science , law, health, arts, sports, and opinion. You can also just search on a topic. News articles are listed
with info like suggested grade level, topic, subject, etc. A really awesome tool for teachers with these news articles is the ability to change the lexile level. Newsela allows you to change the complexity of the text so that you can differentiate based on your students' needs just with the click of a button. Speaking of differentiation, newsela also has a spanish mode which is great because teachers with ELL students know the importance of using their first language in acquisition of their learned language. Not only does newsela provide news articles, but they also provide speeches, biographies, primary sources, issue spotlight, info on careers, and myths & legends. Though news is its main draw, it is truly an informational source.

         Newsela provides an online program and activities that are already geared towards the classrooms. Teachers, we have very little work to do in using newsela. The wheel does not have to be re-created. With pretty much every article, there are accompanying activities. At the very least, there is a quiz, but there is also usually some kind of writing prompt and other various classroom activities. These activities are already geared towards reading and writing standards. In addition, newsela also has pre-organized text sets based on topics and they are arranged by subject. Access the text sets on social studies and you'll see topics such as the civil rights movement. Instead of searching the site for a civil rights article, you already have civil rights articles, speeches, primary sources, classroom activities, etc. already organized for you. Talk about an awesome resource!

     Newsela also provides a community for teachers and students. When registered by school, you are able to see what teachers at your school have saved as collections so that you can collaborate and capitalize on the ideas of your entire faculty. You are also able to create classes to sign your students up. Once your students are signed up, you are able to assign them texts by class. It is essentially like an online classroom. In doing this, you are also able to track the progress of students. You can see what texts that they have accessed. You can see how they scored on online quizzes and activities. You can read their responses to writing assignments. You can break their performance down by standards and see what areas you really need to work on in your classroom. Newsela is a fantastic collaboration and data-driving program.

How do I/would I use newsela in my classroom? My online classroom hub is google classroom so I branch students off from there. (1) Any time that we are talking about a particular subject in class, I would love to provide students more resources on the topic. Newsela allows me to do this. (2) When students are doing research, I suggest newsela as a source, especially for its primary and secondary sources in history. (3) Newsela allows me to integrate reading and writing activities in my content area. Newsela has already created these activities so this saves me time. (4) I use newsela to differentiate in the classroom as I vary the lexile level and, sometimes, language. (5) I use newsela to collaborate with peers and see what amazing resources that they've dug up, while sharing what I've enjoyed doing in my classroom. (6) I use newsela to provide ready made reading and writing data so that I know where my students are at and what we need to work on.

*For tech purposes, newsela has an app that works pretty well. If you are not in a place where you can go one-to-one when you would like, newsela works well with BYOD.

Games Can Make the World Better

         

 After watching Jane McGonigal's TED Talk entitled "Games Make the World Better", I see many benefits to using the model of gaming to make other areas of life more efficient. Gamers take risks and persevere in the virtual world in a fashion that would make a great impact in the actual world. If real life was like gaming, the average person would be more motivated to attain achievements and solve very difficult problems. This could definitely translate into the world of education.


She brings up four characteristics that makes us virtuoso (spending 10,000+ hours mastering a craft) and online games bring this out in us:

1) Urgent Optimism - Having the courage to conquer difficult tasks, while having belief that success is possible.

2) Social Fabric - Producing a level of cooperation and trust because you are working towards similar goals under a similar set of constraints.

3) Blissful Productivity - Achieving difficult and meaningful accomplishments in a joyful manner.

4) Epic Meaning - Going on missions that are of great magnitude and are much bigger than ourselves.




One of the biggest applications of gaming in the classroom is acknowledging progress play. Students only see achievements in the classroom as grades. Students very seldom notice their progress in mastering objectives from day to day, much less do they feel rewarded by it. If we can make students aware of the experience and growth that they undergo on a day-to-day basis, then they would be much more motivated. My fellow teachers often classify students as 'A' students, 'B' students, 'C' students, etc. so teachers are too wrapped up in just grades as a measurement, as well. Much like characters in a game earn XP, it would be great if students had a more tangible realization of their growth on a specific objective even if their grade has not necessarily changed.

                It is interesting that McGonigal mentions the parallel track of gaming and education. Many track more hours gaming before they hit twenty-one than they would if they were a perfect attendance student. The sheer motivation level and ability to stick with it would greatly benefit schools. Gamification may provide the answer to how do we make kids want to come to school. I have students go home and finish breakouts that we do online in class on a voluntary basis. If only, we could create all classroom content in such a format, students would want to learn and look for application outside of the classroom.



            Play and learning can absolutely be combined. Some of our most memorable moments come when we are competitively focused on an outcome. For this reason, mastering classroom objectives can be held even more strongly when mastered in a gaming format. With INST 6233, I am actually intrigued and excited to turn an assignment in. Although I have enjoyed my grad school experience, that is not the normal feeling that I have when I turn in an assignment. I could only imagine how much better our schools would be if students held that same feeling in completion of their assignments and activities.

GoSoapBox: Back channel and more

 

       Back channeling is a fantastic tool/activity to foster in-depth discussions from all parties in a room. Students can be unafraid to ask questions or pose comments on the back channel since they won't be interrupting the flow of the class. Back channels can also be used during socratic seminars so that students can provide input on a discussion without losing their thought since it isn't their turn to speak. Rest in peace to Today's Meet which honestly was my usual go-to for class digital discussions. However, I have found an app that provides a back channel with extra features for students. It is called GoSoapBox. It enables teachers to have polls, discussions, social q&a's, and quizzes online. It is available for free if only 30 students are using your event at a time. GoSoapBox provides packages for 6 months use for 75 students at $99 and $279 for up to 400 students. I am going to tell you how you can use GoSoapBox.

The first step is to sign up for a GoSoapBox account. It requires name, e-mail, and password. After signing up, I would highly suggest clicking on the 'getting started tour' as it provides a detail, but concise rundown of program features and instructions for use.

Next, it is time for you to create a new soap box event and name it. GoSoapBox refers to each new space created as an event. This event will allow to create a poll, quiz, discussion, or combination of these. I would also like to point out that you are able to see the access code for the event on this screen. This access code will enable students to access the event.

Once you've created a new event, you'll see a screen with sections for you to create a quiz, create a poll, or create a discussion.
1) Create a quiz - When you create a quiz, you add questions one by one. You are able to type in a question and add image url if needed. You decide whether the question will be multiple choice or short answer. You provide the answer to the question for scoring purposes. Lastly, you are able to provide
2)Create a poll - You are able to create a title for the poll with question/title and image url (if needed). You can give students up to 7 answer choices to pick from. Results can be displayed by pie chart or bar graph. You can make results visible to students or not visible to students.
3)Discussions - This is where your back channel can take place. You are able to create a discussion and students are able to respond and respond to each other. Fill in your title and description, then watch students communicate with each other.

Moderating - Through the 'moderate this event' button, settings can be changed. You can require or not require names. You are able to filter profanity. You can make polling instant or wait to post the results. This is also where polls and quiz information can be downloaded. You are able to create spread sheets with information on which questions were missed or able to show students survey data.

Ryver: the death of e-mail

         Ryver is a great messaging systems with many different features. Users are able to create threaded discussions by topic. They are able to react to posts and assign tasks. Users can share files and archive threads. Notifications are sent when someone reacts to your post, messages you, or mentions you in a post. You are able to have organize a private team/group set of messages, open forum threads or discussions, and direct message other users. Ryver's biggest market that they advertise to are teams, but Ryver can be used by all kinds of organizations. 

Ryver could be used as an effective communication method with parents. Teachers can post announcements to parents and share files with them. Our school is currently undergoing flu-pocalypse and so many parents have been requesting make-up assignments for students. With Ryver, I could make one announcement per day or per unit with attached information and not have to e-mail 40+ parents with file attachments (over the span of three weeks). Teachers are also able to direct message parents updating on student progress. Teachers can let parents know how awesome their students are doing in class. In the case of student lack of progress, teachers have documented evidence of communication with parents to resolve any issues. If planning a project or field trip, Ryver would also be great for assigning tasks to parents. I am a Beta co-sponsor and we attend Beta convention every year. There are thousands of students in one hotel and chaperones/student hotel rooms on any of the 10 plus floors. With Ryver, chaperones could be much more on the same page with what activities are going on and what tasks could be assigned to them. Lastly, Ryver can update parents on just general announcements. Teachers send home forms to be signed and these forms are shoved into middle schoolers backpacks never to been seen again many times. With Ryver, teachers can provide a quick reminder. 

 
   

  Ryver also can provide an effective venue for back channel chats. During a socratic circle, Ryver can provide the means to communicate for the 'outer circle'. The cool thing is that you can have multiple threads for different topics of conversation or different classes. You could also create different groups for different classes and then maybe review some of the ideas of other classes when beneficial. In addition, it can be used as a back channel for regular classroom sessions so that students who are less likely to speak out in class may be more willing to participate in discussions digitally. Lastly, ryver can provide a venue for student brainstorm sessions.

     Ryver can also contribute to a general means of online learning. Teachers and students can share files with each other. Students can turn in assignments. Teachers can provide students with assignments and resources quickly and easily. Teachers are also able to compile an archive of student progress without piles of paper work. Ryver can also serve as a communication system when students have a question. It can really serve as the hub that sends students out to the various programs that teachers would have them use. Ryver can be used in a one-to-one setting or used by students at home who have computers. To make things more convenient, there is a ryver app for iPhones and Androids so that students can keep up to date on class assignments, complete online learning, etc. simply by using their phone.  

Below is a short video on how Ryver works: