3D in the classroom


The claim that 3D can result in higher test scores makes me cringe!!! Arghz

I had an interesting email today from our installs team leader, it read:

3D projectors are now priced at pretty much the same level as normal 2D units, and are of course backwards compatible. If we started offering them to schools, how much of a pain would it be to upgrade existing PC’s to be capable of projecting in 3D?

Naturally computers should begin supporting 3D natively, most Nvidia graphics cards already do and intel have it on their roadmap.

The life span of a projector is 3 to 5 years max, will there be enough 3D content within 3/5 years to warrant purchasing a 3D projector?

Yes and no.  So much interactive educational content will be provided as Flash objects and Flash simply can’t do it.  The thing is if a 3D projector is going to be the industry standard then that will increase the demand on 3D content creators and more 3D content will be created.  I would rather see a lower price point for projectors instead of trying to cram technology in that the consumer hasn’t requested.

Does a 3D projector have the same lifespan of the equally matched 2D projector?

In theory yes, although 3D bulbs will be way more expensive to replace.

Will the quality actually be as good from a DLP unit?

No, you are way better off with an LCD unit.

Does 3D matter in a classroom?

You decide.

What applications will be useful in 3D?

Interactive gaming, 3D story time.  Nasa released an immersive 3D game so content is coming, but it is all full of it’s own barriers IE registration, installation, bla bla.

Do these projector require glasses?

Yep.

How many bulbs are there?

2 bulbs would mean twice the cost.  3D projectors on the market at the moment have one bulb and it is likely to stay that way.

What about kids that only have one eye that works(monocular)?   Will we be excluding them?

Yes from any/all 3D content.  It will simply look awful.

What about kids that aren’t sat directly in front of the IWB?

3D viewing angles aren’t great.  That is why when you go to watch a 3D film at the cinema nearly everyone wants the top-centre seats.  On one of the videos below the teacher is literally stood 1ft to the side of the board and pretending to still be able to make out 3D content, this simply isn’t realistic as the below image illustrates:

How will the signal look if its passed over VGA not HDMI?

I would recommend using a HDMI cable to transfer the signal, that will probably mean running new cables and installing a new break out box.

I stumbled upon this blog post which included the below video, kudos to the author.  Sorry if I covered some items you already covered!

3D projectors have been at BETT for years and not caught on.

Should you buy a 3D DLP projector and hope to get a better experience or value than a 2D LED projector?

No.  Don’t do it.  Wait another year or two.  We need manufacturers to reduce the price of projectors, not try to sell us a technology we don’t really need/want.

Enhanced by Zemanta

what type of 3d is avatar?

Stereoscopic 3D,” – which mixes live-action and CGI imagery in a seamless blend. The film is shot with a Fusion 3-D camera. Don’t get too excited though, you still need glasses.
Cameron truly did break boundaries with Avatar so all I can say is, please make a new star wars with this tech, it would be amazing!
Maybe the most significant thing I took from avatar was the 3d experience. Let’s hope there is more of this calibre to come. P.S I watched it at the Imax, Bradford

Second Life or Virtual 3d Worlds in Primary Schools


Naace are running a conference on using 3d virtual worlds in education. I can’t help but feeling this is mostly focused on the secondary market but I guess it has some relevance to Primary.

Right now, even though I feel it has relevance I feel skeptical that this is a good idea but I could be wrong, it’s happened before 😛

Try to remember most primary school kids don’t even have email addresses provided by their schools yet and we’re going to open them up to a second life (be it walled or not)

I’m not going to rant about security or child safety. I want to focus entirely on the point. Right now, I just don’t get it.

I’m not going to download it or try it out, I don’t want to know if it feels good or clever. This isn’t a particularly new concept. Games have been used in Primary Education for years, mostly cartoony games that are very simple. Why do I need my character to walk to a piece of work to pick it up when its available on my VLE.. (I’m pretending I’m a kid…)

I do however think games is a great way to encourage kids to learn, Primary Games Arena is having huge success worldwide with engaging children in fun learning.

Virtual worlds should be all about engaging with other people, school mates for example.

Maybe the whole Digital Citizenship is what I don’t get. Being that I started with BBS, moved to IRC + LPMUD, now I have every possible way of being “Hailed” 24/7… Come to think of it I think I probably learned a lot of social skills through LPMuds (Multi user environments)..

I think I will go spend some time thinking about what Digital Citizenship is and how it will feel in 3/5 years time when virtual worlds MAY be at their peak. They certainly haven’t peaked yet and all the hype from Second Life is blatant hot air..

I may have just begun a revolution in my head.. Oh dear..

If you read this all the way through then you may wish to consider reading this article of Terry freedmans interview of Miller – its focused more at secondary but you get the picture..

3d Films fix the problems with film piracy

Lately Iv’e been thinking about piracy, this is a slightly hot topic as we have been dealing with Microsoft licensing a lot lately (for primary email and Bradford primary schools).

We went to see monster vs aliens at the Imax(Bradford) in 3d and it was awesome.

It is probably the most obvious fix to people pirating films that there is.

If more films came out in 3d at the Imax I would definitely be there.