Learning

This Perspectives article looks at a virtual learning environment for manufacturing engineering. From the article: "Already as an undergrad in Beirut, Ziad (the real person on the picture) was passionate about manufacturing engineering and member of the Institute of Industrial Engineers student chapter at the Lebanese American University.

Ziad came to France for his graduate studies. In September 2010 he defended his Master project at Nancy University. The project completed his Dassault Systèmes internship.

The Immersive Education Initiative opened early registration for iED SUMMIT 2011 which will be hosted at the Boston College from May 13-15. From the press release: "The Immersive Education Initiative today opened early registration for iED SUMMIT 2011 ("iED 2011"). Boston College will host the three-day iED Summit from May 13-15 through special arrangement with the Woods College of Advancing Studies at Boston College. Early registration, and associated individual and group discounts, will close this December.

This FYFF4.com article reports a new training center in Greenville will offer students and teachers the chance to learn about emerging virtual technology. From the article: ""The purpose of SimHub is to provide a space where people can explore, investigate and discover the new technology of the 21st century," said SimHub Director Steve Bronack.

The center, located at University Center in Greenville, opened Thursday night.

The technology on display at the opening fell into four categories: virtual worlds, simulations, serious games and augmented reality. Educators found uses for virtual worlds immediately.

"I think the students really are engaged with it, and it holds their attention a little bit better than just the dry normal delivery," said Tim Ellis, an engineering professor at University of South Carolina Upstate.

From the Washington Post website: "Diane McFarland injected oranges with shots during nursing school until she felt confident enough to prick human subjects. Then she and her classmates took turns on each other.

Nurses at Inova Loudoun Hospital can now practice on SimMan 3G, a life-size patient simulator in a virtual reality lab that opened Monday on the first floor of the Leesburg facility.

From this Telepresence Options article: "A social robot can operate autonomously with children in a preschool setting. One long-term goal is to engineer systems that test whether young children can learn a foreign language through interactions with a talking robot.

Education is on the cusp of a transformation because of recent scientific findings in neuroscience, psychology, and machine learning that are converging to create foundations for a new science of learning.

From Positive Technology Journal : "Testing the effects of educational strategies on comprehension of a genomic concept using virtual reality" Patient Educ Couns. 2009 Apr 29; Authors: Kaphingst KA, Persky S, McCall C, Lachance C, Loewenstein J, Beall AC, Blascovich J

OBJECTIVE: Applying genetic susceptibility information to improve health will likely require educating patients about abstract concepts, for which there is little existing research. This experimental study examined the effect of learning mode on comprehension of a genomic concept.

Have a look at the Cobalt - Edusim project. It is a 3D multi-user virtual world platform and authoring toolkit intended for your classroom interactive whiteboard (but equally powerful on the students laptop or desktop computers !).

This stuff.co.nz article talks about a project designing virtual work environments to give students practical experience. From the article: "Students will be able to peek inside chemical reactions and explore three-dimensional models of ear canals in virtual technology being developed at Canterbury University.

The university has received $1.77 million from the Government's Encouraging and Supporting Innovation Fund for a three-year project designing virtual work environments to give students practical experience.

Canterbury University HitLab director Mark Billinghurst, who is leading the project, said New Zealand is lagging behind in virtual technology.

"There's not much government investment in the area, so this will allow us to catch up with some of the teaching and technology trends internationally."

This LA Times Travel article takes a look at a high-tech show based on a virtual map of the ancient Rome. Frome the article: "It’s back to the future — or is that forward to the past? — at a theater near the Coliseum where “3-D Rewind Rome” opens on Nov. 20. The high-tech, virtual-reality program is aimed at introducing visitors to ancient Rome in a vivid and exciting way to prepare them for touring the 2,000-year-old city.

Spectators don special 3-D glasses for the 30-minute program that uses some 60,000 virtual characters — senators, plebeians, even vestal virgins — brought to life using some of the same kinds of technology that created “The Lord of the Rings.”

This Journal article takes a look at augmented reality games that require students to uncover solutions in spaces where the real mingles with the virtual. From the article: "Researchers are ramping up traditional MUVEs, developing games that require students to uncover solutions in spaces where the real mingles with the virtual.

NOAH PATEL REMEMBERS the first time aliens descended on his math class at Thomas A. Edison Middle School in Brighton, MA.