TELL hosted workshop for Mizzou Youth Experience 2019
Middle school students from St. Louis area were invited to Mizzou to have an inside look at the college experience and all the benefits of pursuing a college degree.
TELL group members hosted the worshop entitled “Orientate Yourself in Virtual Reality” where students could experience a 3D virtual reality (VR) world developed by the group. Students used their avatars (virtual characters) to get to know SISLT professors and explore the virtual buildings of the College of Education.
1. Dr. Xu introducing TELL Lab to middle school students
2. Students changing the appearance of their avatars
3. Students controlling their avatars to locate their physical room in the VR world
4. Students having fun in the VR world
Virtual Reality Online Orientation (VRO2) – Fall 2019
Virtual Reality Online Orientation (VRO2), a recent VR learning environment developed by the Mizzou TELL research group, aiming to offer an online orientation for newly-admitted students to get acquainted with the school and the program. Also, to study how VR may facilitate learning and training.
In this VRO2, students utilize a viewer to take part in five guided activities. All the activities take place in two virtual buildings that resemble the real building where the School of Information Science and Learning Technologies (SISLT) located: Townsend Hall and London Hall.
Overall, students are able to explore the virtual SISLT buildings, interact with current SISLT faculty and students, and familiar with the documents regarding available resources to new students. Below are some screenshots of the activities:
Activity 1. Getting to Know SISLT professors
Activity 2. Locating the Eye Tracker
Activity 3. Learning How to Apply for Travel Funds
Activity 4. Getting Familiar with Various Resources
Activity 5. Activity Board
Poster Presentation for Celebration of Teaching at Mizzou
TELL members presented the poster entitled “3D Virtual Gallery: Engaging Students in an Online Digital Media Course” at the Celebration of Teaching event organized by the Teaching for Learning Center at Mizzou Jesse Hall last May 21st.
Mr. Hao posing in front of the poster
Ms. Minh explains the poster to visitors
TELL participates in Show Me Mizzou Day 2019
TELL members showcase ongoing projects to a group of visitors as part of the activities of Show Me Mizzou Day last April 13th. Show Me Mizzou Day is a campuswide open house organized by the University of Missouri – Columbia and designed to give members of the community the opportunity to attend presentations, tour labs and see research in action.
Hands on activities were held in a virtual world created as part of the project “Virtual Interactive Online Orientation” where new students can visit the SISLT buildings virtually.
From left to right: Gayathri, Jesse, Hao and Dr. Xu
From left to right: Dr. Xu, Hao, Jesse, and Gayathri.
Charlie and Ben Adam play with their avatars in the 3D Virtual Learning Environment created by TELL
TELL group leads roundtable at SITE 2019
TELL members presented a roundtable session at SITE 2019 – The Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education conference held in Las Vegas, Nevada last March 18-22, 2019. The session was entitled “Pedagogical usability in the design of a learning module on VR“. A paper with the same title will be pusblished in the conference proceedings. The paper deals with the pedagogical usability dimensions we employed in the design of a learning module for an online eight-week course on Digital Media for undergraduate and graduate students at a Mid-west university, USA. The paper was authored by Minh Pham, Dr. Xinhao Xu, Jhon Bueno, and Hao He.
Figure 1. Dr. Xinhao (right) and Jhon Bueno (left) lead roudtable session at SITE 2019
Dr. Xinhao Xu receives grant from the Research Council
The Research Council grant has been awarded to Dr. Fang Wang (PI) and TELL Director – Dr. Xinhao Xu (Co-PI) for the project titled, Virtual Lab: An Interactive 3D Mixed Reality Laboratory for Education and Learning.
The overall objective of this proposal is to build and test a 3D interactive virtual microfabrication cleanroom lab using the cutting-edge virtual reality and mixed reality technology, collect and analyze user experience and learning outcome data, and investigate its effectiveness in education and training. It is important to note that the VR labs would not be limited only to the cleanroom lab described herein, but have a great potential of being used in a variety of operation-intensive settings, as well as transforming vocational trainings. The purpose is to test whether such a virtual lab can deliver satisfactory quality of trainings as in a conventional physical lab.
Aim 1: To replicate a physical lab in a 3D interactive virtual lab environment. Using game engine and 3D modeling software, we will model the 3D lab environment including equipment and tools necessary to conduct the lab.
Aim 2: To develop a virtual lab curriculum. A lab curriculum will be designed and developed based on the tasks that students need to complete in a physical lab environment.
Aim 3: To test the user experience and learning outcome in a mixed reality setting. We will assess the performance of our VR lab design by examining user experience and learning outcomes.
Figure 1. Real Cleanroom Lab
Figure 2. 3D VR Interactive Lab
TELL director, Dr. Xinhao Xu, receives Dr. Richard Wallace grant
The Mizzou Alumni Association supports the development of faculty through its Dr. Richard Wallace Faculty Incentive Grants program. Since its initiation in 1994, the alumni association has provided start-up funds to more than 275 faculty members for the initiation of research or professional development projects.
Dr. Xinhao Xu, TELL Director, was proudly chosen as one of the recipients of the 2018 version of the program with the research project “Online Orientation for New Students in a 3D VR Interactive Mizzou Campus“.
Year in Review – Our Top 52 of 2018
STAR Grant Awarded to Three TELL Members
MU Office of Graduate Studies has announced the awardees of their grants for Student Teaching as Research (STAR) Projects in November 2018. Three TELL members (Hao He, Minh Pham, and Jhon Bueno) got a $1,500 mini-grant to conduct small research projects on undergraduate/graduate teaching and learning methods and impacts. A total of ten grants were awarded.
TELL members will be required to participate in teaching research workshops in November and December 2018, submit a report of their research findings, and participate in a poster session at the Celebration of Teaching at MU.