Extended Reality (XR) is a frequent topic among those in higher education. XR is about engaging students across a wide array of digital experiences, including: virtual, augmented, mixed, and haptics-based interactions.
Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience of the physical “real world” environment where the objects that reside in the real world are enhanced by computer-generated perceptual information, sometimes across multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory, and olfactory.
In the showcase we have multiple Augmented Reality experiences including the MERGE CUBE and the CURISCOPE AR T-Shirt. The Merge Cube includes multiple apps that can transpose various three dimensional holographic applications a user can experience, while the Curiscope T-Shirt pairs with an application named Virtual-tee to provide an anatomical visualization of the human body.
Justin Robinson, student assistant in the showcase, is currently developing an app for the Merge Cube to assist GVSU medical students in the study of Moro Infant Reflexes.
The app will project a “virtual” baby that will respond to the movement of the cube in the same way a baby would respond tilted in a given direction. This provide students with the understanding of infant reflexes without having to use an actual child.
Here are a couple of photos of the AR experience that Justin is developing in collaboration with Hunter Bridwell, digital media developer, in eLearning and Emerging Technologies.
“The Technology Showcase gives me and other students the ability to experience and develop the future of learning and entertainment and I’m blessed to be a part of it.” – Justin Robinson
It’s here! The 2018 NMC Horizon Report! Thankfully EDUCAUSE came to the rescue to help complete NMC’s work after the New Media Consortium declared bankruptcy. Always an outstanding trend report which identifies and describes the areas in highered that bring challenges and opportunities in educational technology – all with the focus on the impact on teaching and learning.
QUESTION > So where does GVSU fit into this report? What are the key areas that align with projects or initiatives that are occurring here at the university? This post will attempt to provide links to various activities and work happening that focuses on the current trends, challenges, and developments in this report.
According to the report, here are the key areas trends, challenges, and developments:
Established as a hub of high-tech experiences in the Mary Idema Pew Library Learning and Information Commons, the showcase has seen over 60,000 visitors since being open in August of 2013. The average visitor count is almost 2,000 per month.
The showcase intersects with the Horizon Report in the areas of:
TRENDS – Redesigning Learning Spaces, Advancing Cultures of Innovation
In the past 5 years, the showcase has been a beacon of emerging tech on campus, with the first accessible 3D printing, first pair of Google Glasses, first Oculus DK2 virtual reality headset, and the first true augmented reality device, the Microsoft HoloLens, that has been available at the university. A destination spot for campus tours, class visits, and the public at large, the showcase has been a place of “come and see”! Here is a list of highlights from the showcase over the year.
In the next 5 years, our vision for the Atomic Object Technology Showcase is transitioning from “come and see” to “go and do“.
By “go and do” we intend to dig deeper into the curriculum and to better connect students and learning – faculty and teaching to the technology. Integrating the technology more deliberately is key. In fact, the Digital Studio in eLearning and Emerging Technologies has begun work to develop 360 video, augmented reality, and virtual reality experiences. Here are a few examples of the Digital Studios past projects.
COMPUTER GENERATED MODELS
The Digital Studio along with the Atomic Object Technology Showcase created computer generated 3D models to be displayed in a Microsoft HoloLens with the Biomedical Sciences department to better understand molecules and compounds.
360 DEGREE FARM TOUR
Working with Cheryl Kaleka from the College of Education the Digital Studio created a 360 degree tour of Fellinlove Farms which aims to create a therapeutic environment for children with special needs.
AUGMENTED REALITY VISUAL FIELD CUT
With the help of Occupational Therapy assistant professor Carla Slabaugh, The Digital Studio created an augmented reality app. When used with a phone and an augmented reality headset, students can see what a patient with a left visual field cut would experience.
Established in August of 2014, the eLearning and Emerging Technologies team in Information Technology has been on mission and dedicated to:
…supporting faculty, contributing to teaching excellence, and enhancing student success through: exemplary instructional design, effective application and integration of instructional technologies, interactive digital media development, administration and enhancement of the university’s enterprise learning management system (Blackboard), and the deployment of innovative emerging technologies.
The eLearning team’s mission intersects with the Horizon Report in the areas of:
TRENDS – Redesigning Learning Spaces, Proliferation of Open Educational Resources, Advancing Cultures of Innovation
CHALLENGES – Improving Digital Literacy, Advancing Digital Equity, Rethinking the Roles of Educators
Our team has been centered on executing the following strategies:
Leverage exemplary instructional design and instructional technologies to: create pedagogically sound and learner centered instruction, improve and ensure coursequality, enhance faculty effectiveness, and to increase student success and retention.
Accelerate the evaluation, implementation, and application of educational technologies by coordinating resources, assisting, equipping, and empowering faculty and students.
Partner with faculty, staff, and students, to showcase, advocate, and increase awareness of the effective application of innovative instructional technologies through sharing best practices.
Develop interactive digital media courseware and resources to enhance teaching and improve student learning.
Advance the capabilities and adoption of the university’s enterprise course management system (Blackboard) to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of content delivery, assessment, and communication to support innovative teaching and learner engagement.
Build institutional capacity to: integrate and implement technologies into teaching and learning practices, generate economies of scale, and increase their deployment across the institution.
Investigate, acquire, test, prototype, pilot, research, and evaluate cutting-edge emerging technologies that have the potential to transform education, enhance teaching, and improve student learning.
Survey, collect data, analyze, and evaluate the effectiveness of instructional technologies, services, and support.
2018 Blackboard Catalyst Award for Professional Development
The eLearning team at GVSU was recently recognized by Blackboard by receiving the 2018 Catalyst Award for Professional Development. In short, the team was recognized for their creative suite of innovative professional development support and resources at Grand Valley State University.
“The eLearning team’s focus is centered on innovation in new pedagogies and the creative use of technologies at the intersection of teaching and learning. By leveraging Blackboard, the eLearning team provides high quality professional development through empowering faculty and students in the creation of the next generation of education.”
Active Learning and Technology Enhanced Classrooms
Through direct consultation with faculty, eLearning assists and helps to establish and accelerate conversations around active learning and redesigning learning spaces. Currently, GVSU has established a variety of student-centered classroom environments.
Active learning classrooms provide a unique faculty and student experience as the spaces include flexible and movable furniture and technology to support: 1) a student-centered design, 2) enhanced collaboration, 3) increased faculty/student engagement, and 4) improved interaction through dynamic group work and classroom communication.
The university has dedicated 12 spaces for active learning, a variety of informal learning spaces, group study rooms, and digital media classrooms as well. Here is a list of GVSU’s Technology Enhanced and Active Learning Classrooms.
Open Educational Resources
GVSU is seeing also a proliferation of open educational resources with increases in adoption and use by faculty at the university.
eLearning and Emerging Technologies provides faculty with support to:
Incorporate OER to make courses more flexible and effective
Explore learning object repositories and open textbook materials to discover effective OER
Learn tools and technologies for creating customized instructional materials with OER
Leverage OER in teaching by applying quality instructional design
Integrate OER into Blackboard courses, assignments, and assessments
$480,000+
Estimated student savings from OER use by faculty in Fall 2017 and Winter 2018
3,000+ The number of course sections each semester which require no paper textbook.
$135 The difference between the cost of a new hardcover OpenStax Chemistry OER textbook used in CHM 115/116 and the cost of a used copy of the formerly-used textbook.
Rethinking Education
Finally, on the topic of rethinking the roles of educators, the eLearning team’s slogan is: “supporting faculty pursuing innovation in teaching and learning”. As technology has impacted every aspect of our culture, so to has it shaped the classroom, teaching, and learning. Through a unique intersection of instructional design, emerging technology, digital media development, learning management system enhancement, and advances in teaching with technology, the eLearning team supports the rethinking of education.
Teaching and Learning with Technology Symposium
From a support and services perspective, eLearning provides consultations and coaching, on demand support, seminars and workshops, faculty learning communities, and the “Teaching and Learning with Technology Symposium“. This support and the events therein provide opportunities for the university to rethink education through the lens of technological advancement that supports student success.
Distance Education
In addition, the university continues to provide flexible learning options that meet students’ needs through online and hybrid courses. The eLearning team supports this strategic initiative by assisting faculty as they learn, prepare, and teach distance education courses at GVSU.
Here are a few stats about distance education at GVSU:
Winter 2018 Enrollment
Online and hybrid enrollment expanded this year by 17% (from 2016) to include over 5,318 enrollments in online and hybrid classes at GVSU.
Enrollment in online and hybrid courses has grown by 78% since 2013.
In addition, 17% of all students at the university are enrolled in at least 1 online or hybrid class.
Online/hybrid courses were taught by 173 faculty in 177 unique courses, representing 12% of the classes at the university.
Summer 2018 Enrollment
Overall enrollment for summer was up 4%
42% of all enrollment was online and hybrid in the summer (almost 4,000 students in total enrollment)
10% increase in online/hybrid enrollment between last summer and this summer
231 online/hybrid course sections
As we look further into the future, GVSU is focused on advancing education in a variety of ways. Specifically for the eLearning and Emerging Technologies team, we align most directly under the following 2021 Strategic Outcomes:
GVSU 2016-2021 Strategic Outcomes
Strategic Priority Area 1: Actively engage learners at all levels.
Institutional outcome D: Grand Valley supports innovative teaching, learning, integrative scholarly and creative activity, and the use of new technologies.
Objective 1.D.2: At least 93% of faculty members regularly use electronic course management tools, such as Blackboard, in their teaching. Baseline: 89% of faculty indicated either daily or weekly use of Blackboard in their teaching according to a GVSU faculty survey conducted winter 2016.
Objective 2.E.1: At least 75% of faculty and 75% of staff participate in professional development to expand, enhance or extend their competencies and capabilities within the context of the responsibilities of their positions. Baseline for faculty will be determined via Digital Measures in summer 2015. Baseline for Fall 2014 for staff is 50-55%.
Objective 3.D.2: At least 30% of undergraduate courses are offered in innovative approaches and formats, such as hybrid, online and competency-oriented. Baseline for undergraduate courses for Fall 2014 is 6%.
Objective 3.D.3: At least 30% of graduate courses are offered in innovative approaches and such as hybrid, online and competency-oriented. Baseline for graduate courses for Fall 2014 is 25%.
Objective 4.D.1: Effective technologies are integrated into every function and structure across the institution. Baseline: In 2013, IT implementation was above the median on 24 of 49 indicators across 7 functional domains.
This post by Hunter Bridwell, Digital Media Developer in eLearning and Emerging Technologies at Grand Valley State University.
Update: The app developed by Hunter Bridwell will be presented at the American Occupational Therapy Association AOTA Annual Conference in April 2019! Carla Floyd-Slabaugh, will present the left visual field cut app in a session entitled: “Augmented Reality to Simulate and Instruct on the Topic of Left Visual Field Cut and Left Neglect in Context” on April 6, 2019 at the conference from 1:30 – 3:00 in New Orleans, LA.
As Virtual and Augmented Reality technologies develop, the market for apps and their various uses has begun to broaden, particularly in education. Even two years ago, the selection of applicable programs was slim and considered by most to be very gimmicky. Faculty often have very specific needs from lesson to lesson and while the platforms are currently picking up steam, a prepackaged app often doesn’t have everything that faculty may need and can have a lot of things they don’t need. Instead of waiting for someone to make an app and bring it to market, I worked in Unity to create it myself.
First, I was presented with a problem. Students in Carla Slabaugh’s Occupational Therapy courses have no effective way to experience what a “Left Field Cut” is without putting tape over glasses. It’s a simple solution but it doesn’t really meet the needs of the lesson. A Left Field Cut occurs after someone has a stroke: a large, left part of their vision is essentially cut out, but the brain doesn’t register this as blackness like the tape on the glasses would. Instead, it realigns the vision altogether. This affects patients’ motor skills. It often causes people to run into walls and door frames when they thought they were walking through the door. By programing a camera with a visual field cut in the Unity software, I used augmented reality to help students bridge the gap of understanding from what is being described to them to what a patient is actually experiencing.
“It worked great to simulate the field cut,” said Carla Slabaugh, Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy. “With the fuzzy edge you made it let the student better understand how information on the left side can be missed. It is a huge improvement over the tape on glasses method.”
The Campus Technology conference was held this year in Chicago. Eric Kunnen, Associate Director of eLearning and Emerging Technologies, captured 9 blog posts from the conference on his blog. This post features a few highlights from the conference.
Pictured left to right: James Vliesides (Western Theological Seminary) Justin Melick (Digital Media Developer, eLearning), Eric Kunnen (Associate Director, eLearning), and Hunter Bridwell (Digital Media Developer, eLearning)
Highlight #1 – GVSU Professor, Andrew Topper, presented on Supporting Faculty in Distance Education
GVSU’s Andrew Topper, Associate Professor of Special Education, Foundations and Technology presented at the conference in the following session:
Supporting Online/Blended Learning – “Many institutions struggle to support faculty effectively as they migrate toward blended/online course formats. Andrew Topper will share experiences developing, implementing and evaluating a fully online graduate degree, and examine why traditional institutional support may not be effective for the successful transition to technology-based teaching environments. You will also learn effective practices for faculty development in support of hybrid/online courses.”
GVSU Professor Andrew Topper, Associate Professor of Special Education, Foundations, and Technology presents at the Campus Technology Conference
Highlight #2 – Inspiring Keynotes and Informative Sessions
Here are a few highlighted sessions:
Creative Leadership: A Human-Centered Approach to Building Technology Strategies – “Student and stakeholder engagement throughout the strategic development process is essential to creating technology that is relevant, effective and forward-looking. Taking a human-centered approach, the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism partnered with innovation and strategy firm MO Studio to redesign an annual Student Technology Survey. Initially designed as a tool to collect basic usage data, it is now being used as a platform to increase student engagement. By building student empathy, focusing on collaborative design and generating insight, the school is able to better understand how students learn and faculty teach and to use this understanding to drive better technology decisions. The team will share the story of the approach, outcomes and impact of this process on the school’s ongoing strategic effort to develop an innovative technology roadmap.”
Measuring Student Success: What #HigherEd can learn from @Fitbit – “What gets measured gets improved. We are tracking activity like never before using wearables to measure steps and sleep. This data leads to greater awareness, which, in turn, perpetuates positive changes in user behavior. What if we applied this same concept by measuring activity in the classroom? Research shows that the more a student is engaged in class, the better he or she does in the course. Hear how behavioral data from the classroom, like learning management system engagement during the first weeks of class, note-taking and reviewing recorded lectures, can offer real-time insights about student success and transform the teaching and learning experience.”
Adopting a Learning Object Initiative for Student Success – “The Digital Pathways initiative at Columbus State Community College enables faculty to create state-of-the-art digital content (learning objects) and to employ interactive delivery methods that enhance student engagement. As one of the largest community colleges in Ohio and a leader in distance learning, Columbus State has formed a collaboration with Apple that provides faculty, as curators of information, the tools and knowledge to enhance the overall teaching and learning process. You will hear the challenges involved in creating a college-wide initiative that will meet the needs of millennial learners and analyze examples of interactive learning objects used in courses to discover how they have impacted student learning”
Keynote: Privacy and Security in the Age of Algorithmic Spies – “Security experts often claim that people are the most unreliable part of their systems and that privacy is dead. Jennifer Golbeck, an expert in cybersecurity and human-centered technology design, asserts that the problem is not people behaving insecurely, but security systems that are designed with no concern for their users. She’ll discuss the risks organizations face when humans are not the center of their security plans, present simple changes that can make systems more secure and easier to use, and describe how we can educate people about simple steps they can take to regain control over their digital lives.”
Highlight #3 – Discovering the Future for #HigherEd and #EdTech
Keynote: The Decade ahead for #HigherEd – “Higher education is on the cusp of far-reaching changes over the next decade as technology plays a larger role, and as students, parents and educators ask what colleges should teach and how learning should be measured in an era of shifting needs in the economy. Drawing on research from his bestselling book, College (Un)Bound, and his follow-up report for The Chronicle of Higher Education, Jeffrey Selingo will discuss the attributes of a new era of higher education, demographic changes coming to campuses in the next decade, emerging learning pathways, and the roles of technology and the physical campus in the future directions of higher education.”
Current Trends for the Future of Educational Technology – “During this workshop based on his long-running Future Trends in Technology and Education report, Bryan Alexander will explore present trends to extrapolate the future of higher education technology. The workshop will present cutting-edge, longitudinally informed research and activities that encourage you to consider how policy, economics, demographics and educational technologies are shaping your institution, community and life. Alexander will also examine trends and developments including social media, mobile, blockchain, artificial intelligence, evolutions in learning management and more.”
Bryan Alexander – Bryan Alexander is an internationally known futurist, researcher, writer, speaker, consultant, and teacher, working in the field of how technology transforms education.
Read more blog posts from the 2017 Campus Technology Conference on Eric Kunnen’s blog.
This post by 
As Virtual and Augmented Reality technologies develop, the market for apps and their various uses has begun to broaden, particularly in education. Even two years ago, the selection of applicable programs was slim and considered by most to be very gimmicky. Faculty often have very specific needs from lesson to lesson and while the platforms are currently picking up steam, a prepackaged app often doesn’t have everything that faculty may need and can have a lot of things they don’t need. Instead of waiting for someone to make an app and bring it to market, I worked in Unity to create it myself.
eLearning Technologies @GVSU 