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Immersive learning and fun adventure with CoSpaces Edu

 August 6

I was looking for an idea of a web tool for my blog this week and I came across this one from reading my peer's post on using AR/VR for learning at school in this week's discussion. I have to give that student the credit and many thanks for opening up a new world of educational tools to me by exploring this site!

CoSpaces Edu for kid-friendly 3D creation and coding

https://www.cospaces.io/

This is a such a kids friendly and educational oriented site with amazing tools and resources for kids and teachers. It is an eye opener and probably the best web tool in the sense of its creative and educational content as well as ease and safety of use, that I have so far explored in this course! Considering that this site is all about AR/VR and resources that support teachers and students for learning in an safe environment, in context of this week's topic on AR/VR, this is a perfect choice for my blog.

CoSpaces Edu is completely free to use and access many features including learning resources and tools. It doesn't even require log in information. While it prompts the user to select cookies, you can choose "decline" to all cookies and still are able to use the site. All these seem too good to be true, given my previous experience of web tools. CoSpaces Edu refers to different laws and standards as basis for securing the learning environment at this platform. It states that "We're a global platform, which is why we follow various standards, such as COPPA, FERPA, Ed Law 2D and GDPR, and have taken the Student Privacy Pledge." In addition, CoSpaces Edu is COPPA and FERPA-compliant. I have not seen this kind of specification or clarification of the platform's position on protection of privacy in other websites. It gives me peace of mind and reassurance that my data is not collected for any purpose, and that my personal information is protected when I use this web tool because it's built on the foundation of compliance with legal mandates that protect privacy. I wish there are more websites like CoSpaces Edu!

The users get started for free to an impressive collection of tools and resources. In general, teachers and students can:
  • Teachers and students create immersive experiences
  • Students build their own interactivd digital content
  • Educators design engaging learning content
  • Kids get creative and demonstrate their learning
  • Children collaborate and program educational games 
Key features of CoSpaces Edu include the following tools that free to use:
  • Creation toolbox allows you to create virtual scenes with predefined environments in 3D models, create virtual exhibitions from vocabulary learning to scientific exhibits or art galleries, or create story with 3D tools and coding features whether for fun or as literary study.
  • Creation toolbox also takes you a step further to make your own objects using 3D primitives, simple building blocks from basic geometric forms.
  • With creation toolbox, you can add images, videos, sounds and even your audio narrative to personalize your work and add background music to create a special atmosphere.
  • Other examples of creative work with Creation toolbox are virtual presentation and 3D Infographic. Imagine giving a virtual presentation as opposed to a power point presentation or making a 3D infographic as opposed to a printed poster for a school project!
  • Teaching kids to code with CoBlocks which is a visual block-based programming language geared towards junior coders, coding scripts for more advanced coders. There are also free coding activities.
  • Creating games. This is a great way to have fun while learning coding. Students can create a game either independently or as as group. 
  • Transform the MERGE Cube with smartphone or tablet to turn projected creation into a hologram. 
  • Many activities around MERGE Cube include MERGE Cube games, MERGE stories which can use the 6 sides of the MERGE Cube for Choose-Your-Own-Adventure-Stories, and MERGE Cube simulations.
  • Step into the world of VR and providing students with immersive learning experiences that can be a major motivation factor for students to interact and get creative with the learning process.
  • Enhance the study material with VR and AR and giving it a new dimension of the traditional learning.
  • Teaching kids to become makers, creators and inventors, not just consumers, so that they have the options and power to make positive contributions to the world of multimedia.

There are such a rich collection of resources, I would not be able to go through all of them. I will briefly mention that under Resources tab, there are all kinds of learning materials for students as well as online courses and lesson plans for teachers. The lesson plans are divided by educational levels (K-12), subject area such as Makerspace and arts, and other criteria. One of the lesson plans is "Meet Your Teacher on the first day of class". I could see this plan used by teachers during the pandemic to introduce the students to their first class in virtual learning.

Another interesting feature of the CoSpaces Edu is the Gallery which contains a huge collection of VR works sorted by Social Sciences, Languages & Literature, Makerspaces & Arts, and Stem & Coding. Within each category, there are countless creative works to view, explore and play. I explored one titled "Around the world in 80 days in 360" under Languages & Literature. I enjoyed the experience of interacting with the scene by turning it around and zooming in and out. The only thing that was lacking was the background music. However the visual experience was powerful and pleasing.

I also delved into the AR & VR Museum, which was like a demo that showcased the product of AR & VR technologies while serving as a introductory course of the basic concepts of AR & VR. I had a valuable and fun immersive learning experience with this demo. I highly recommend it to new users to this site who have no previous knowledge of AR and VR. For me, it was an learning experience unlike anything I had and a thrilling adventure. 

The first thing that made a great impression on me was the auditory experience. The sound that surrounded me felt so real it was surreal. The sounds were more powerful than in real life partly due to the effect of wearing the headphone. The journey that followed as I entered the museum and went from room to room and examined the items displayed was full of wonders. The final expedition to the castle was a challenging task. 

Here are somethings I learned from my museum tour.

  • Virtual reality or VR is a medium letting the viewer explore virtual content in a 360 environment. VR is experienced with a VR headset, immersing the viewer in the content, and hence, making the experience free real.
  • The first basic VR head mounted display was created in 1960.  The first 21st Century saw a much faster development of VR, made possible by major technological advancements and by the rise of smartphones.
  • Here are some of the most famous VR headset:
    • Cardboard viewer
    • Samsung Gear VR
    • Google Daydream
    • Oculus Rift
    • HTC Vive
    • Playstation VR
  • You can use a cardboard viewer to view in VR. More advanced devices also track head and hand movements to give a fully immersive experience!
  • VR is used in many fields from video games and architecture to education or even medicine.
  • Augmented reality or AR is a medium that overlaps virtual content with reality by adding 3D images on top of the real world. AR is experienced through the camera feed of a smartphone or tablet.
  • Theoretically, there are no boundaries with these technologies! You know that the Statue of Liberty is not there, but with AR, you can simulate how it would look if it was.

Even as I had hours of exploration of this website, I was only able to view a few features and resources. There are so many to explore and experience! It might take weeks if not more to go through the site in some depth. I will certainly mark it down as a valuable tool for future use, whether for a lesson plan or a makerspace activity in the library.

CoSpaces Edu has been recognized for its educational value, and has won multiple awards. In my view, it deserves all the recognition and every award.
 




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