Cerating a series of 360 Tours for SEND students is one thing - providing the level of detail that will support their curiosity and interest is another. With reading, though not understanding, often the issues, wherever possible Immerserive Reader is used on text.
https://www.thinglink.com/video/1246837831456784385
https://www.thinglink.com/video/1244292101298978817
This is a piece of voice over recorded by one of our performing arts students
There are also simply video clips on how to swipe in and out of the centre, and how to login to a computer
https://www.thinglink.com/video/1244289378725920769
The idea is that anyone will find it easy to create interactive 360 tours such as this for all kinds of different reasons.
Where do you think the applications are going to be most powerful?
Using ThingLink to create a simple, clickable, 360° tour of the Learning Resource Centre (LRC) at one of our 5 sites at GB MET for SEND students (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) I simply shot this clip on an iPad, which uploaded to my Google Photos album. I could have edited but had no need to do so. Labelled and downloaded I simply added the clip which can play on a loop until the user clicks away. I clicked on a microphone 'audio' button and added a simple commentary and we're done.
What I did find however, is that using the text box with a video clip sees the clip severely cropped. Next time I will also shot some far wider frames, possibly with a bias to the right hand side of the frame, so that the automatic cropping complements the video playback rather than rendering it useless - It is hardly good practice to show someone the need to press the Ctlr, Alt and Delete buttons together if you can only see one button. The SEND students I am advised have the mental age of children under the age of 10.
Here's the link to this frame : https://www.thinglink.com/video/1244289378725920769
What do you think?
How might these be used?
Health & Safety training and tours of college workshops?
Visits to distance building sites?
Underwater interactive tours of underwater cave systems?
What happens if you shrink to the size of a pea and are then accidentally swallowed?
There are distinct limitations when using an 'off the shelf' platform. The design component is limited so you have to use your imagination to generate text that is large and accessible. For now this features my voice too. My prefered option will be to video a student doing this and either use them 'in vision' or as a voice over.
Watch this space.
Now I suppose I need to add some voice over narration to several dozen other such 360 tours.
Revisiting my skills at using the 360 camera to create a VR tour through the Learning Resource Centre and several things occur:
1) I had forgotten how tricksy it can be to set up.
2) Once connected between the 360 camera and my iPad I then had to remember how to use the manual settings for White Balance and Exposure, and using the self-timer so that you are not caught in the picture
3) The results were either soft, or, had this ring effect.
I hope it is a further quality setting that I need to engaged - i.e. High Resolution images. I did lend it out for three weeks.
The trials and tribulations of the learning technologist continue.
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