zspace in k12 education: thoughts on the revolution

Thoughts about the revolution

Gary Murphy, Educational Consultant

zSpace in K12 Education

Confidential 2013 © All Rights Reserved ⎥

The Traditional Solution - Science

• Science curriculum at every grade level combines lectures, text books & lab work

• Many elementary schools use pre-packaged science kits

• Budgets and Beliefs constrain “live” lab sessions

• Safety and environmental concernsincrease with the class size


Issues and Limitations

• Hands-on experiments can be challenging for teachers

• You typically get one shot at one experiment

• There can be environmental, safety & animal welfare constraints

• Many science concepts are too abstract or too complex for science kits. Video presentations of abstract concepts are passive

• Student engagement can be minimal


Key Trends in K12 Education• Digitalization of the classroom• Computers, graphing calculators, tablets, data projectors, interactive whiteboards

• Digital books, open courseware, online campus

• Online assessment provides immediate feedback

• Expectation that technology will play a significant role in solving problems• Individualizing instruction

• Increased class sizes, smaller budgets

• Flipped Classroom• “Brick and Mortar” and Virtual School applications

• Like everything disruptive, online education is highly controversial. But the flipped classroom is a strategy that nearly everyone agrees on. (NY Times, 10/9/2013)

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/09/turning-education-upside-down/?_r=1

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/09/turning-education-upside-down/?_r=1


Today’s Solution – zSpace Science Station

An interactive, virtual holographic (3D) device which delivers excitement and engagement to K-12 STEM curriculum


zSpace Science Station Instructional Settings

• 1 Station• Teacher or student driven demonstration and discussion.

• Mini Lab• Project based learning in small groups• Presentation creation by students• Enrichment/remediation for small groups

• 1-1 Lab• Hands on teacher led demonstration and discussion• Individualized learning• Small group learning, projects


The solution for K12 Education

• Content aligned to standards• Models should support what’s taught

• Various levels of model detail• More simplistic for elementary• Intricate for grades 7-12

• Adaptive functions• Audio capability• Text to Speech

• Provides for single student or multiple student use• Supports user login, saved work• Allows user to create off-line, and then run on zSpace Station


Supports Next Gen Science StandardsNext Generation Science Standards call for students to develop scientific practices

beyond understanding scientific content

PracticezSS support

directlyzSS support indirectly

Asking questions and defining problems ✓ ✓

Developing and using models ✓✓✓ ✓

Planning and carrying out investigations ✓ ✓

Analyzing and interpreting data ✓ ✓

Using mathematics and computational thinking ✓ ✓

Constructing explanations and designing solutions ✓

Engaging in argument from evidence ✓

Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information ✓ ✓


Supports Standards for Mathematical PracticeCommon Core Mathematics Standards call for students to develop expertise beyond

understanding mathematical content

PracticezSS support

directlyzSS support indirectly

Make sense of problems and persevere in solution ✓ ✓

Model with Mathematics ✓✓✓ ✓

Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others ✓ ✓

Reason abstractly and quantitatively ✓ ✓

Use appropriate tools strategically ✓ ✓

Attend to precision ✓

Look for and make use of structure ✓✓✓ ✓

Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning ✓ ✓


zSpace Science Station Use Applications

all subjects and are at times challenged to do a great job with science.

Students are far removed from a physical lab and do

much of their learning online. Sciences is a tough subject to

teach.

Home School

Teachers teach all subjects and are at times challenged

with science.

Elementary School High School Science

Teachers need tools to teach hard-to-visualize concepts.


zSpace Station Provides Stimulating Observation Opportunities

• Interactive 3D view of the concept • View simulations from any angle• Access more detail on request• Clarify areas of simulation by selection• Replaces passive videos• Supports mastering the concepts• Highly motivating!

http://aleciagardner.blogspot.com/


zSpace Science Station Facilitates Experimentation

• Perform highly realistic interactive, investigations • Explore things not possible in the physical world• Change variables within the same investigation• Provides a greater range of activities for a concept• Evolves or iterates based on the student progress• Easier for non-science teachers


zSS is Engaging for Students

• Teachers will use zSS to engage them to experience a phenomenon.• The interface allows students to manipulate objects and processes.• Students can use the models to create cause and effect connections.• The platform will allow teachers to provide more examples in which students can

experience phenomena.


Addresses Student Challenges

Students struggle to... zSS allows students to...

make sense of static two-dimensional materials

interactively experience phenomena in three dimensions

understand dynamic processes when they cannot see them

experience phenomena in a 4th dimension - time. Students will see processes move and change

in real time


Where’s the content?

• Numerous content providers in the marketplace such as • Cyber• Sensavis• Cubewiz• Designmate• 3P Learning• EON Reality

• Publically available data for weather, earthquakes, medical interpretations, etc• Datahub.org has 8943 datasets available• Data.gov, claims to have 400K data sets• LIDAR datasets

• And more….


zSpace Science Station