iPad's, Augmented Reality and Writing

iPad's, Augmented Reality and Writing? 

The ‘age old’ sentence starters on the board or rocket writing is something of the past. To stimulate and engage students to write we need to engage them with a ‘carrot’ that will enhance their digital minds. Augmented Reality is that ‘carrot’. The list of AR Apps in this document can be used to create narratives, comics, exposition writing, instructional writing and may even cross over into integrated curriculum. Students are taking screen shots and using these images from Augmented Reality Apps to build and plan their writing.

Apps such as StripDesign BookCreator, Pages, Keynote or something that allows publishing of written work, can have images from AR Apps placed into them. Allow students to screen shot the images that appear and create work that is original creative and stimulating to the students, enhancing their written skills through a digital augmented feel. 

The learning intention was to Empower, Enhance and Engage. The following list of Apps I have used to stimulate, engage and further enhance students imaginations in writing. The students downloaded the Apps and took screen shots or photos that involved them storyboarding a narrative story that incorporated the AR app of choice. For example one student used the ARDinoPark app to write a book in BookCreator about the dinosaur causing havoc in the school. The students also blended the images taken in with Wordfoto App to give the image a very artistic and appeal feel that made the reader feel apart of the story. 

The best part of this was seeing the students become 'Authors'. Publishing books created in BookCreator, sending this book to their peers, parents and others and having this book saved to the various iBooks on the receiving persons iPad.  Very powerful!

LIST OF APPS: 

ARDinoPark

This free App allows you to bring dinosaurs into your school/classroom. The students take screen shots and build story boards around the images taken.

String

You will need to head to Powered by String Website to print out the PDF triggers to see this app in action. The four triggers will allow images to appear in a 3D reference. The students take screen shots of these images and generate stories depicting what may happen or has happened. 

The Blob from String.

THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN AR APP:Within my class we have revived the excitement for comics and comic books, by using the App StripDesign and some of the above AR apps. But the one that really grabbed the attention of the boys was the The Amazing Spiderman App. You need to go to the Amazing Spiderman website to print the five PDF triggers out that allow the app to work. 

Using the PDF's and the app the students told a comic story by that screenshots of Spiderman attacking the villain, climbing the building and or shoot his web. 

The comics created gave a true indication of an imagination, telling a true narrative story and focused on a genre that students really have not seen before or been exposed to. 

Using Heart Cam App and seeing its Effects. 

These examples are from a student is a reluctant writer and someone who more than likely not engage in writing with a pen and paper. I was impressed with the fine motor skills and detail the students took to take screenshots in a precise manner. It is difficult to get an image of Spiderman oncer you point the camera at the trigger. But children are more capable of this as they are used to playing so many computer games.

I had huge success with this app and linking it to writing.

The following Link is to a Rubric I created to guide my students through creating an iBook in Book Creator it was another fantastic session and has created some create writing using ARDinoPark, String and the triggers associated with this app. and the new AR apps I discovered. LiveButterflies and 3D AR, Dragon Detector 3D and Virtual Snow. Using these Apps and a variety of Back grounds the students created some very good iBooks. Rubric for Book Creator assignment.