Bringing History Class to Life

Augmented reality is a fantastic new technology that can be used in many different types of classrooms. There are a couple different types of AR apps out there, but the one I use the most is the app Aurasma. What Is like about this app is that it is FREE and it is duel-platform so it will work with Apple or Android devices.

You can download it here on iTunes or on the Google Play store.

Augmented reality allows you, and your students to make almost any object into a scannable interactive code. This is fantastic for history, art, english, science, and pretty much any other class out there. My classes and I have used this app to explore different cities, and create interactive museum exhibits that allow the students to analyze, evaluate, and explore different primary sources and their meaning. The app is very easy to use and allows teachers to create separate private channels for the information to be stored so that student privacy remains intact. Here is a tutorial video that I made for one of my classes to help them with the Aurasma creation process.

After the videos have been uploaded, and the auras created, the really fun part begins. Since my classes use private channels with Aurasma the students need to subscribe to the channel in order to see the auras and have the images come to life. I do this by sharing the channel URL with my students via email or our Canvas LMS. Once, the students are subscribed to the channel they are then free to explore and venture around the room to see the different videos linked to the images/objects. This is a different way to showcase and share the students' work and learning. It allows to student choice in exploration and is visual, auditory, and kinesthetic in nature.


The first time that I used this was in a 7th grade World Cultures classroom. We were doing a Trip Planing project where the students had to plan an entire month long trip to a country in the Eastern hemisphere. This included creating a day by day itinerary, cost analysis sheet, Google map and KML file with locations visited, "booking" airfare, and a digital story taking us through their country's capital city in a day. The final product resulted in the students making digital stories using the app Puppet Pals HD, with themselves as the tour guide. The students then linked there videos to a postcard from that country using Aurasma. Finally, the students used iPads to scan the different postcards around the classroom and traveled the world through their classmates' eyes. Here is a short video showing how it looked.

Augmented reality can also be used to create interactive museum exhibits. My U.S. History classes used Aurasma and the app Tellagami to bring our museum exhibits to life. Tellagami is another free and duel-platform app that allows students to dive in deeply to the analysis and evaluation of primary sources.

You can download it here on iTunes or on the Google Play store.

The students were tasked with creating a museum exhibit that revolved around the concept of equality and how it has evolved throughout our country's history. The students were allowed to choose a specific era, or movement, to focus on and then they had to create an exhibit that incorporated analysis and evaluation primary source documents and information about some of the individuals involved during the era or movement. During this project we also took a field trip to the Oregon Historical Society, where the students got to see how exhibits are made, learned about the different elements that make exhibits successful, and got to conduct research in the museum's library. The students then brought this new knowledge back to school and incorporated it into their own exhibits. We then had the students set up their exhibits in and allowed them to explore their classmates' interpretations with their own devices.

Here is the Tellagami tutorial that I made for the students, and an example video that they made and linked to an exhibit.

Digital Storytelling with Puppet Pals in the Classroom

This is a copy of the review that I did for The Teacher's Digital Toolkit.  A site run by Sol Joye where teachers share their digital experiences with programs and apps in the classroom.

9	Cost
8.5	Difficulty
9	Longevity
9	Versatility
10	Classroom Readiness

91.8%

Average Score (based on a weighted scale – SEE HERE)

Site Link:

iTUNES PREVIEW & BLOGSPOT SITE

	X
Website	iOS Apps	Android Apps	Standalone Software

Summary:	SUMMARY: Puppet Pals HD is an app for iOS devices such as the iPad, iPod Touch, and iPhone.  It is a digital storytelling tool that allows students to tell a story using pre-created characters, or their own with the Director’s Pass.  Students move their characters across different backgrounds and record their voices and movements.  Digital storytelling with Puppet Pals can be used in many different classrooms from History or Science, to Language Arts and Foreign Language.  It can incorporate many different topics and allows the students to create their own story and learning experience.  Here is a summary on how to use Puppet Pals. COST: There are two different apps that you can download from iTunes.  There is the Puppet Pals HD app, which is free, and the Puppet Pals HD Director’s Pass app that costs $2.99.  I recommend downloading the free app first, and then you can purchase the Director’s Pass inside it for $2.99 if you like it.  This is a one-time fee that allows you to download all of the character packs in the app, and also allows you to use any picture you want (from your camera roll or camera) in your story. DIFFICULTY: This app is designed to be used for many different ages from toddlers to adults.  The students (7th graders) found the app to be rather easy to use, which is what it is designed to be.  They were able to incorporate all of their images and record their stories with ease.  The first two lessons were spent with the students learning how to use the app.  Many thought that that was too much time, because they picked it up rather quickly. LONGEVITY: Students really enjoyed using Puppet Pals in class.  When they came to class students were always asking if it was going to be a Puppet Pals day.  Throughout the project they all seemed to be engaged.  After the project on world revolutions, the students used the app again during a trip planning unit as they took us through a day their capital city.  The students were engaged the second time through the process as well.  I wouldn’t do the project more than the two times that we did in our World Cultures class, but I could be incorporated into other curriculum and still retain its’ excitement. VERSATILITY: There were three issues that students found the most annoying were that once you started recording, you couldn’t go back and just re-do a section.  If you hit the back button, then you lose the entire recording that you were working on.  The second issue was when the students were cutting out their characters.  While the process was simple, some of the students wanted more accuracy in the tool.  The third was when they were recording.  The microphone can pick up background noise easily, so if they were trying to record in a room with other students there was sometimes “extra noise” included in their recording.  All of these items were easily worked around, as the students found solutions to the problems and shared their best practices with one another. CLASSROOM READINESS: Since the app is so straight forward, it is ready to go right out of the box for classroom use.  There is a short learning curve and the students gravitate towards using it.  During the unit I taught on world revolutions, I provided the necessary scaffolding for the students to understand the process of digital storytelling.  We went through the basic use of the app, picking and researching the topic, how and why to use historical images, how and why to storyboard, recording, editing, and how to upload / post their stories to their blogs.  The project was more about the process of creating a digital story, rather than just using the app.  For more information on digital storytelling and downloadable lesson plans please visit my site. by John Zingale @ihistorywmrjz ihistorywithmrjz.com
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Student Summary:	Letter Grade: Average student rating: 8.4/10: B
	Ease of use (1 easy – 10 difficult): 4.2 / 10
	Time needed / wanted to use: (1 less – 10 more): 5.8 / 10
	Level of “fun” involved (1 less – 10 more): 6.6 / 10
	Level of versatility (1 less – 10 more): 6.2 / 10
	STUDENT SPECIFIC THOUGHTS: “Puppet Pals is super easy and convenient to use! But like any other tool it takes an explanation and practice work.” “I think Puppet Pals is really fun! When I need to use it for a project it is fun and convenient. However I wouldn’t spend my free time on it when it is not for a project. But it is always exciting to hear I have a project on it!” “Puppet pals is very versatile. I could use it for a documentary with real pictures or I could make a cartoon about a bunny on it.” “I really like how you can make your own backgrounds and characters from photos with the directors pass. I really wish there were a part of it that let you put multiple clips together so you didn’t have to transfer it to iMovie or something like that.”

Storytelling 2.0

     There have been many different versions of storytelling throughout time.  It is one of the ways that we communicate and learn from one another.  The most basic form is simply through the words of another person, as they weave words into imagery.  I always think back to when I was very young and my mother would tell stories to my brother and I.  One of my favorites was the story of the Three Little Pigs.  My mom would change her voice for the different characters and interact with us as the story went on.  It created a lasting memory.

   
     I was reminded how powerful storytelling can be during the summer when I was in class at the University of Portland.  As part of one of my graduate classes, my classmates and I shared stories about our diverse and unique life experiences.  One of my classmates, Gabe, has an uncanny ability to hold the attention of everyone in the room with his words.  I’ll never forget how he was telling us a story of his time in Japan.  When he finished his story, half the class had to take a break and leave the room.  His words permeated throughout the air and affected us so deeply.  

     During the same semester, I also became engrossed in expanding my knowledge of using technology in the classroom.  Not being an Apple person, I purchased an Android tablet.  My use of that device lasted all of about three weeks.  I became frustrated with its’ interface and I was having issues with the screen.  I decided to break down and trade it in for the new, at the time, iPad 3.  To say that I have become an iPad fan would be an understatement.

     While exploring the uses of the iPad for use in the classroom, I came across Kathy Schrock’s website.  I became both ecstatic and engrossed with the myriad of possibilities that this device could offer students and teachers in the classroom.  Her page, Bloomin’ Apps, incorporating Bloom’s Taxonomy and device apps is mind blowing.  During my exploration of that page I came across the process of digital storytelling and how it can be used with students to help them explore and gain knowledge.  The idea of combining the art of storytelling with technology in the classroom got me extremely excited, and I knew that I had to explore this concept even more. Being able to put visuals such as images, maps, and charts, together with storytelling creates a much more in depth experience that involves and stimulates more of one's multiple intelligences.

     In the midst of my exploration, I felt like a digital Indiana Jones, I came across an app for the iPad, and other iOS devices, called Puppet Pals.  This was my Sivalinga Stone, Holy Grail, and Ark of the Covenant all in one.  This app could allow for students to explore, construct, and learn with ease.  After buying the the Director’s Pass for only $2.99 I could create a digital story about any subject I wanted.  The most exciting part for me was that I could incorporate myself, friends, family, and more importantly history into my stories.  With the Director’s Pass I now had the ability to research tell a historical story with ease.  The app allows you to take, or import pictures, from your iPad and make them part of your story. Being a visual learner myself, digital storytelling allows me to experience history in a new and exciting way.

     After seeing the movie Lincoln, I decided to explore the Civil War through my own digital story.  The Puppet Pals app gave me a welcoming interface and environment to express some of my ideas and thoughts about the Civil War.  This is what I came up with.

     During the course of the Revolutions! unit, students will be creating their own digital stories using the iPad and the Puppet Pals app.  As I transition to the next step of my student teaching at Catlin Gabel, I will be coaching the students on how to use the app, and how to create their own historical digital story.  I believe that the process of digital storytelling will create excitement, intrigue, exploration, and growth in both the students and me.


Pictures courtesy of:
http://www.watchthisspace.ca/pixelpost/images/20070825165040_around_the_fire_wales.jpg
http://www.indianajones.com/site/enlarge.html?filePath=media/photos/large/991130-photo-55.jpg