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Here is a great project based on Croquet that the reader may find interesting (Its called Edusim). The demo video shows how Croque and an interactive whiteboard can be used in the K-12 environment for 3D direct manipulation of virtual objects:

Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etBpUcNGVlU

Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9txgyhz1sDo

Edusim main project page:
http://Edusim.greenbush.us

Thanks for sharing that, Rich! This is particularly interesting stuff… especially since the University of Minnesota plays such a large role in the development of Croquet.

Now that you’re building these technologies, do you have any thoughts on WHAT will be taught differently??

Thank you for the feedback John! We have a pilot group exploring the concept, the group is made up of 30 6th and 7th grade student. Some of the things we are exploring with it are astronomy (creating, manipulating planets etc.), geography of Mars and our Moon (we use the Mars sim to explore and discuss the Martian terrain), and are working on geometry objects now.

We plan on releasing some student video next week (once we get parental consent forms returned) that show the students interacting with the technology… its wonderful to watch them interact with the technology. We also plan on releasing “getting started” video as well as our pre-built simulations for teachers who want to explore this technology in their classes.

Groovy. Please keep us updated! I’m interested in seeing if it is possible for this technology to help break away from “download” or “banking” pedagogies. Or, which technologies might be employed to better create co-constructivist classrooms…

Hi John!
I fully agree it is a great graphic but I honestly can’t remember where I found it. One thing I know for sure I came across it as a Google image search result for video games, games, classroom.

Education Futures has been a source of continuous inspiration. Thanks and congrats!
ATB, E.