First Session

Augmented Field Trips – You CAN Take It With You

The purpose of this presentation is to describe the concept of linking instructive, relevant information to a specific geographic location. We have developed a game designed for elementary school children to do in conjunction with a typical field trip. The game provides additional information that is normally unavailable to them out of the classroom. The information is presented to them when it is most relevant to them, based on their geographic location.

When a user logs into the Internet, they have access to almost limitless amounts of information. Much of this information is about the physical world around us. A user can study species of plants and animals, learn about monuments, or read about the history of a city or settlement. Unfortunately, as soon as the user steps away from their computer and into the outside world, their access to this information is severed. By creating augmented field trips, we can provide a way for learners to not only take that information with them, but also have selected information presented to them based on their current location, interests, and instructional objectives.

The objectives of this presentation are to describe the design and development of an augmented field trip, and to teach participants how to create similar activities.

Second Session

Hands-on Augmented Field Trip Demonstration

While the first section First focuses on challenges, solutions, and best practices used in the creation of the augmented field trip, the second session will demonstrate two tools we used in creating our game, and give users a chance to create their own augmented field trips.

Presenter

Marion Jensen

Marion Jensen’s interests and research includes collaborative composition, wikis, open content, instructional games, social systems, and geotagging content. He currently serves as both the director of Utah State University’s OpenCourseWare (OCW), and the Utah OCW Alliance. The latter includes seven universities in Utah that have committed to releasing their online courses in an open format. Marion teaches at Weber State University and Utah State University.

Tom Caswell

Tom Caswell seeks to improve and personalize learning for all by leveraging emerging Web 2.0 tools and technologies. He has project management experience, including coordinating development, documentation, translation, testing, training, and support for eduCommons (an Open Source OCW content management system). His specialities include Instructional Technology, eduCommons project management, OpenCourseWare development and outreach, professional blogging, technical writing, community-driven internationalization, and development of online learning communities.