* By Denise Harrison

* 09/03/09

For years, 3D projection has seemed a technology long on potential but short on practicality. Despite some promising-looking technology demonstrations in the past, manufacturers just couldn't pull 3D into the production stage. But all that has changed ... and in a huge way.

3D is here, now, and it's surprisingly accessible for a technology this early in the adoption cycle. One of the companies giving 3D a major push is Texas Instruments. Early in 2007, TI began shipping a new chipset, used for DLP's color wheel technology, in its DLP projectors. This year, TI released new firmware upgrade that, when applied to those post-2007 projectors, become 3D enabled.

If that isn't accessible and affordable enough, at this year's InfoComm, projector manufacturers introduced extremely low-priced DLP projectors--even a 2,500-lumen DLP for less than $550. So while DLP projectors can be upgraded to accommodate 3D, buying a new projector may cost less than paying a technician to travel, install firmware and travel back.

So how does 3D fit in with today's education technologies? To find out, Campus Technology's Denise Harrison posed the questions to one of the experts--Chris Chinnock.

Chinnock is founder and president of Insight Media, an emerging display consultancy and board member of the 3D@Home Consortium, an industry-led organization dedicated to the rapid commercialization of 3D.

Denise Harrison: What has been the evolution of 3D in education?

Chinnock: Modeling astrophysics or fluid dynamics or weather systems takes super computers--typically at university centers. To output this data with lots of pixels in 3D requires a very high end display (visualization) system. Desktop and conference room solutions have existed too, but the new wave is a new class of DLP projector that is being aimed at mainstream ... education markets. At InfoComm, we saw new products from Sharp, BenQ, Optoma, ViewSonic, and Mitsubishi, with some offering products as low as $649 for the education market (plus the cost of glasses and content). To open up the mainstream education market, we will need a lot more content, which will start to flow, I think.

Harrison: What are the applications using 3D technologies the most now?

Chinnock: The more obvious ones are anatomy, biology, astronomy, etc. But technical schools for showing engine design and maintenance are obvious too. Once Pandora's Box is opened, I think there will be a lot of creative uses of 3D in the classroom.

Harrison: Which additional applications will use it in the future?

Chinnock: 3D Excel charts.

Harrison: What are the benefits of 3D in education? (At the risk of stating the obvious, perhaps there is something here we need to share with campus technology executives.)

Chinnock: Some topics are just easier to teach if you can visualize it in 3D.... 3D may also be more helpful in engaging students and can create a marketing value proposition for the school.

Harrison: What are the different technologies currently vying for market share?

Chinnock: Two projector solutions can be crafted using LCD, LCOS, or DLP technology. These can feature polarization methods to separate the two images at the eye (and at the projector) or spectral filtering methods. If you want a single projector solution that works by doubling the frame rate to 120 Hz (60 Hz/eye), the only solution today is DLP. These require active shutter glasses to open and shut the electronic filter in front of each eye in synchronization with the L/R eye images.

Harrison: Who are the major manufacturing players driving the current trends and what roles are they playing?

Chinnock: New education players noted above. They are working with content creators to enable more use in the classroom.

Harrison: Which of those have the best chances of sticking in education? And why?

Chinnock: I think all of them see education and these 3D projectors as a big new opportunity, so all should aggressively focus on this. Hard to say which ones will be here in three years, however.

Harrison: What are the roadblocks of 3D's adoption in education?

Chinnock: Content and the cost of 3D active shutter glasses. Who will pay for it?

Harrison: Assuming standards was one of the answers, where are we with standardization?

Chinnock: Standards may be an issue, particularly with content format standards. There are also many ways to do 3D, but right now, single DLP using the DLP Link protocol for the shutter glasses control looks to be in the driver's seat.

Harrison: Anything else?

Chinnock: We need to educate the education community about the technology, the options, the content availability and the benefits. This will take some time and effort (but you are now starting it!)

One of the most difficult skills to master as a teacher is classroom management. Unfortunately, if you can not master this skill you are not going to survive as a teacher, especially as a middle school teacher.


However, when the school year starts, many first-year middle school teachers are pleasantly surprised. All through their teacher training they were told how difficult classroom management at the middle school level can be and how important it is to have effective classroom management skills in order to be a successful teacher.

Yet, during the first days of school there doesn't seem to be much of a problem...students seem fairly attentive, no one is really talking or passing notes, there certainly hasn't been anyone talking back or any fights during the first few days...but then things start to change.

You see, those first few days are the honeymoon period...students are nervous and many are a little scared so they sit back and wait. However, by the end of the first week of school, or certainly by the second week of school, middle school students start to feel more comfortable, they start to test the teacher's limits and classroom management becomes more and more difficult.

It is at this point that many teachers start to panic and immediately resort to various reward/punishment systems, or as Alfie Kohn refers to them..."carrot and stick" systems.

Unfortunately, these elaborate systems are a mistake. They provide only temporary solutions to an ongoing problem. Students who respond to the rewards begin to do their work and behave ONLY if a reward is involved, while at the same time many students who thrive on negative attention actually begin to seek out the punishment.

The better plan is the "proactive approach" to classroom management. The proactive approach is based on the premise that the best classroom management plan is a strong instructional plan...that the key to middle school classroom management is to keep all of your students actively involved in all of your lessons.

Unfortunately, there are times when teachers are still forced to REact. There are times when the teacher has used every proactive trick in the book and still a student does something that requires the teacher to react.

HOWEVER, just because a teacher must react to a situation does mean the teacher must punish the student. The teacher must still save punishment as a last resort only!

So, what's a teacher to do?

Well here's an idea...create a "behavior action plan". Better yet, have the student create the "behavior action plan".

The key to changing inappropriate student behavior is to have the *student* take responsibility for his actions. First, the student must identify the inappropriate behavior, and then determine why it is inappropriate, and finally, how he plans to stop the inappropriate behavior.

All the teacher needs to do is have the student complete a "behavior action plan". The plan calls for the student to complete the following three statements:

1. I am writing this plan because I...

2. This behavior was not appropriate because...

3. To prevent this from happening again, I plan to...

Then, at the bottom of the handout make sure to have the student sign his or her name. By signing their name the student is making a promise to follow through with their plan.

In the end, this classroom management approach is significantly better than simply punishing the student for the misbehavior. This classroom management approach has long-term results.

It is widely understood that, ideally, schools and parents should work together to ensure that children can succeed as students and citizens. But what is the right balance? And how much do teachers want parents involved in the classroom? A new study from North Carolina State University identifies ways that schools and communities can work with parents to give children the greatest chance of success.

Researchers at NC State say that the formation of "child and family teams" (CFTs) may be extremely useful in helping young people who are having difficulty with grades or behavior become more engaged and do well in school and life. Dr. Jocelyn Taliaferro, an associate professor of social work at NC State and co-author of the study, explains that a CFT "takes a 'village' approach. A child and his or her family decide who would be on the team – such as teachers, social workers, pastors or other community members – and then work with the team to develop a plan for helping the child succeed both in school and in the broader community. One advantage of this approach is that it removes the 'us versus them' mentality, by bringing in a broad support group and giving the child and family some control over the situation."

However, the researchers found in their study that some school personnel and community members are ambivalent about the prospect of involving family members in the decision-making process at their schools. For example, Taliaferro says, teachers think parental involvement is important, but they also are often concerned that the parents may be contributing to a child's problem rather than being part of the solution.

Addressing this ambivalence is essential, Taliaferro says, "because if school and community members, such as teachers and mentors, do not buy in to the CFT concept it is not going to work."

One way that school administrators and other leaders can address this concern is to "encourage parents to be involved and provide parents with opportunities to interact with the school," Taliaferro says. "You cannot change the feelings of people who may be skeptical, but you can change behaviors. And if there is more interaction, and you begin to see some success with the CFT approach, you will get more buy-in from those who may have been doubtful of the process."

Taliaferro says that another factor that can make the CFT approach more productive is for school leaders to accept broad participation in the program by extended family and friends of the children involved. "The involvement of extended family and friends can supplement parental involvement in supporting the kids and moving them in the right direction. It can also help school personnel better understand a child's background," she says.

Taliaferro notes that it is important for schools to take steps to give parents and children an active role in making decisions that affect them. "We say it is a parental right and responsibility to be involved in their child's education, but we have historically limited opportunities for their involvement."