Augmented Reality in Education: An Empowering Exploration at the Burris Lab School Workshop

This article was written by Dr. Josh Fisher with assistance from ChatGPT-4.

Students from Burris Laboratory School participate in an AR Workshop with Dr. Fisher and Mr. Robert Jones.

As technology’s role in education steadfastly expands, it falls upon us educators to pioneer the path toward the use of emerging media in our classrooms. In my journey as a researcher, I concentrate on using Augmented Reality (AR) as a tool to facilitate, encourage, and inspire community involvement. Recently, I facilitated a workshop at Burris Lab School, focusing on utilizing Adobe Aero to create AR experiences, and it provided compelling evidence that once students learn how to use AR, they will be motivated to use it to better their communities.

Delving into the Burris Workshop

During the school’s May term, a two-week program that allows students to explore a topic of their choice, we ventured into the world of AR. I had the opportunity to co-teach with Mr. Robert Jones of Burris. We were thrilled to have 18 enthusiastic students sign up for the AR workshop. Over ten days, these students engaged with AR technology, learning how to design and develop their AR experiences. 

The students were exposed to the workflow of AR development, experienced the iterative nature of design, and received constructive feedback. The culmination of the workshop saw these students testing their AR experiences within the Burris community and beyond.

Harnessing the Power of AR: Student-Crafted Experiences

The tangible outcomes of the students’ engagement with AR unfolded as a diverse portfolio of immersive experiences:

• Delving into mental health issues

• Envisioning the transformation of dilapidated buildings into parks

• Crafting scenarios to tackle social anxiety in school

• Celebrating their Dungeons & Dragons (DnD) and Call of Duty (CoD) communities

• Proposing the establishment of additional basketball courts around Muncie

• Carving out a serene space within the school

• Cultivating virtual friendships with other schools

• Designing a nap room at Burris

• Conceiving a new broadcasting education space and van

• Encouraging respect for sanitation and janitorial staff

• Honoring track and field athletes

• Uplifting their choral community through AR

The Potential of AR as a Research Tool: Looking to the Future

The teaching workshop provided an invaluable experiential journey for the students while also serving as an instrumental component of my research. The driving question behind my inquiry is whether students, having gained familiarity with AR, would be motivated to employ it within their communities and for their collective benefit.

As AR evolves from a primarily entertainment-oriented medium to a tool of practical application, it becomes crucial to gauge how future generations perceive its value and utility. With our world increasingly becoming a stage where digital and physical realms seamlessly intertwine to create new experiences, it is our mission to ensure that our students are prepared to become active and engaged creators in this novel landscape.

Continuing the Mission: A Bright Future with AR

This AR workshop at Burris Lab School seamlessly builds upon the initiatives I had previously orchestrated at the Muncie Public Library using Snapchat. The success and engagement of students in the Burris workshop affirm AR’s potential to foster unique opportunities for community engagement. It is my intention to continue leveraging AR’s potential to enrich the learning experience, preparing students to make the most of emerging media for community engagement and development.

The Burris Lab School workshop has shown that when students are empowered with AR tools, they rise to the challenge, creating imaginative solutions and experiences that not only enhance their personal development but also benefit their broader communities. As an educator, I believe we must continue to explore these emerging technologies, for they have the potential to redefine the dynamics of the learning process and shape the future of education.

Joshua A. Fisher, Ph.D. is an expert in interactive non-fiction storytelling through XR. He is an Assistant Professor of Emerging Media Design and Development at Ball State University. There he teaches classes on Immersive Media design and development at the Center for Emerging Media Design and Development.

Zainab visits Chicago to participate in the Three Minute Thesis regional competition

EMDD student Zainab Aamir visited Chicago to participate in the regional Three Minute Thesis competition hosted by the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools.

EMDD’s Zainab Aamir on her Three Minute Thesis experience in Chicago.  

Written by: Steven Donahoe

After placing first among Ball State students in the Three Minute Thesis Competition, EMDD’s Zainab Aamir traveled to Chicago to compete in the regional competition hosted by the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools. In addition to the competition, the three-day event also featured talks on designing graduate school curricula as well as improving graduate student life. Zainab’s thesis, titled “Users’ Privacy Considerations in Virtual Reality”, explores how users’ opinions of virtual reality (VR) change when they fully understand how their data is collected by VR headsets.

Zainab arrived in Chicago with her husband on Thursday, March 30, 2023, the day before the competition. The two spent the day exploring the city, with their most notable stop being the Art Institute of Chicago, home to famous works such as Grant Wood’s American Gothic, Van Gogh’s The Bedroom, and several selections from Monet’s Water Lilies series. Afterward they enjoyed a meal with a stunning view of the Chicago River at River Roast.

“Just walking through the city was amazing. It’s a far cry from Muncie,” she said.

To Zainab’s surprise, the majority of the Chicago competition participants were Ph.D. candidates rather than master’s students. Still, despite the highly-qualified competition, Zainab says she was not intimidated – instead she felt inspired by her competitors.

“Everybody was so awesome there,” she said. “They were definitely well-prepared – one judge said, ‘I’m never volunteering to judge again.”

The competition was indeed stiff. Of 50 participants, only 10 would move on to the final round. Zainab was the first to present, delivering her talk confidently and within the three-minute time limit. Unfortunately, she did not advance to the final round.

“Not everyone could advance in a group of 50, but I’m really proud of my performance,” she said.

Read more about the three-minute thesis competition here.

 

 

The Amazing Tong Li

Ta-Da! – Dr. Tong Li on his magic approach to teaching.  

Written by: Steven Donahoe

 

It’s 8 p.m. on a Wednesday night. You peak into the door of EMDD 392 where Dr. Tong Li is teaching his small group of second-year graduate students. Instead of drooping, tired faces, there are enthusiastic expressions of disbelief as Li performs yet another bewildering magic trick – this time making a feather levitate in mid-air.

“How’d you do that?” asks the giddy class of twenty-five to thirty-year-old professionals.

“Magic,” Li answers with a grin.

Long before he ever began performing for his students, Dr. Tong Li was an avid fan of the art of magic. His interest in magic began in 2010 when he was studying in his native China, where his college roommate taught him some beginner card tricks. After learning from his roommate, he continued to dive deeper, watching tutorials and learning from YouTube videos (now he has his own!). As he improved his sleight-of-hand and audience patter, he began performing for others – first classmates and then larger audiences in talent shows.

“I always enjoyed giving an audience a sense of wonder. Making people believe that something impossible just happened, even if only for a moment, is a, well, magic feeling,” says Li.

As a gamer, he draws a a parallel between a well-performed magic trick and an immersive video game world, in which the player is allowed to “live in a place without the limitations we have in the real world.” Self-described as “more of an introvert”, he appreciates the chance to come out of his shell and play the part of entertainer. Fundamentally, he views magic as a freeing force for both himself and his audience.

However, as much joy as magic had brought him in his life, Li had never full grasped the potential for magic to be utilized in an educational context until he worked as a teaching assistant at an elementary school in Connecticut in 2011. Li’s goal was to make his class as much fun as a magic show is for his students – no small feat. In a demonstration of how the world would be without gravity, he made a table levitate. The kids ooh’d and ah’d, completely captivated by Li’s lesson. Just as those adolescents were amazed in 2011, so too are Dr. Li’s current students and colleagues as he effortlessly weaves illusions and mind games into his lessons on design thinking.

“I love having Tong as a professor! He always finds fun ways to keep the class engaged but still teach the design/HCI principles,” says student Hailey Leonard.

“Tong’s magic tricks make me look forward to class and help me to visualize the concepts he’s explaining,” echoes student Hayley Burris.

From an EMDD perspective, Li believes that, “magic is similar to design thinking in that you learn equally from your failures as you do from your successes.”

 

 

Photographs by: Alexis Miller

Steven Donahoe

Steven Donahoe

Steven Donahoe is a second-year graduate student with EMDD and a graduate assistant for the School of Journalism and Strategic Communication and EMDD.

Meet Dr. Joshua Fisher

Meet Dr. Joshua Fisher

 

Written by: Steven Donahoe

 

EMDD’s resident augmented reality expert Dr. Joshua Fisher is a self-proclaimed workaholic, and Fisher channels the bulk of his energy and talents into inspiring his students to strive for excellence. However, he says that the journey to where he is today is “the opposite of a straight line.”

Fisher spent his childhood in Highland Park, Ill., a northern suburb of Chicago. He always loved video games (and still does), sinking countless hours into Quake 2, Doom, and Diablo. Still, despite appreciating the artistic and design elements of video games, Fisher never considered the possibility of working in the gaming industry. Instead, when he turned 18, he pursued a major in biochemistry at Illinois State University.

“I was sitting in my first class, and I thought to myself, ‘Oh my God, I hate this.’”

Fisher switched his major to English and began working on becoming a writer – more specifically, a poet. After winning a few poetry competitions, Fisher graduated from Illinois State and began doing freelance writing work – namely how-to articles. However, despite having achieved his dream of becoming a professional writer, he found the reality of his career choice to be less romantic than he had imagined.

“I spent eight hours a day in a room writing articles that I’m pretty sure were for Wikihow. I remember one was ‘How to Plan a Wedding,’ which I had no business writing about.”

Fisher eventually stopped freelance writing and began traveling the world, first participating in the Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) program in Portugal and later teaching English in South Korea. In his travels, Fisher took special note of how the young people in these countries used their devices for storytelling. This sparked his interest in digital storytelling, inspiring him to return to the US to earn a master’s degree in writing and publishing and a doctorate in digital media.

With a special focus in augmented reality, Fisher founded the Immersive Media program at Columbia College Chicago where he taught for three years before arriving at EMDD.

His current research examines how AR can be used in community workshops for cultural heritage, civic storytelling, and social change. Fisher wants to understand how participants end up using AR outside of the workshops and if they view AR as a capable tool for empowerment. Ultimately, his goal is to shift the view of AR from pure entertainment to utility.

 

 

Photographs by: Alexis Miller

Steven Donahoe

Steven Donahoe

Steven Donahoe is a second-year graduate student with EMDD and a graduate assistant for the School of Journalism and Strategic Communication and EMDD.

EMDD Students Featured in Ball State’s Top 100

“EMDD gives me the chance to expand on my undergrad in visual communication and my work as the student lead of the design team with the Ball State Digital Corps!” - Sunny Clark
“This program is full of some of the most incredible people I’ve ever met, and professors I keep in touch with on a daily basis!” – Kami Geron

Meet EMDD’s Top 100 Students Sunny and Kami. 

 

Written by: Steven Donahoe

 

Ball State’s Top 100 Student Awards recognizes outstanding junior and senior undergraduates who represent Beneficence both in and out of the classroom. All applications were reviewed and scored by BSU alumni across the country. EMDD is excited to recognize our very own Madison Clark and Kami Geron among BSU’s Top 100 Students.

Madison “Sunny” Clark comes from Brownsburg, Ind. She completed her undergraduate degree in Visual Communications at Ball State with a minor in Digital Media. She is enrolled in the Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute’s Gen:i program and is a student ambassador for the Excellence in Leadership program. Sunny chose to pursue an accelerated master’s degree in Emerging Media Design and Development because she enjoyed the undergraduate design thinking course (EMDD 216) that she took her sophomore year. This led to her promotion at the Ball State Digital Corps as student design team lead. During the upcoming 2023-24 school year, Sunny is excited to take her talents to the next level in the Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute program as a graduate assistant.

Kami Geron is a double major in Journalism and Studio Art, and is pursuing an accelerated master’s degree in EMDD, as well. Kami has been involved in a number of organizations on campus, including serving as vice president of recruitment and marketing for her sorority, Kappa Delta, art director for Ball Bearings magazine, and creative assistant at the McKinley Avenues Agency, to name a few. Kami is a true ambassador for the School of Journalism and Strategic Communication.

Kami has also been working hard to bring emerging media into her artworks. Her piece “Transmedia Experience” was featured in the 88th Annual Juried Student Art Show at Ball State. As she continues into her senior thesis project, she is excited to use her knowledge of EMDD to make her artworks come alive. Kami’s art can be viewed in the Ned and Gloria Griner Art Gallery, open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. until March 16, 2023.

All of Ball State’s Top 100 Student Award recipients will be recognized from 3 to 4 p.m. during One Ball State Day on April 5, 2023.

Steven Donahoe

Steven Donahoe

Steven Donahoe is a second-year graduate student with EMDD and a graduate assistant for the School of Journalism and Strategic Communication and EMDD.

The 2022-2023 David Letterman Learning Experience

The 2022-2023 David Letterman Learning Experience 

 

Written by: Steven Donahoe

 

The second-year EMDD project teams have hit the ground running as they forge ahead into their final semester in the program. The David Letterman Learning Experience (DLLE) team includes low-residency students Ruthie Grigoletti and Jennifer Criss and on-campus students Alexis Miller, Hayley Burris, Lydia Bertsch, Anshika Singh, Hailey Leonard, and Zainab Aamir. The DLLE is an annual project that tackles a new opportunity space each year, often inspired in some way by David Letterman, Ball State’s most notable alum.

The opportunity: Inspired by a quote from an interview with Dave — “we are all the same,” — the DLLE team decided to explore how to foster connections among Ball State students and alumni. Many students on college campuses can feel isolated, despite being surrounded by thousands of peers. This project seeks to show college students that their differences are fewer than their similarities.

The research: The group first dove into academic research to examine how to create a sense of belonging, how shared experiences affect people, and how immersive technologies like extended reality (XR) might foster a sense of connection and presence. They also interviewed BSU alumni and current undergraduate and graduate students to gain a clearer understanding of how best to engage the BSU community.

The solution: Based on this research, the DLLE team is developing several innovative storytelling platforms, including an augmented reality (AR) app, an interactive touchscreen wall, and a social media campaign. Through the app, users will explore Ball State history through an AR experience that allows them to scan campus landmarks and learn more about them. Users will see how campus has evolved, explore BSU traditions, and learn more about notable Ball State alums. Through the interactive touch wall passersby will explore stories contributed by members of the Ball State community. Stories will highlight the experiences that make being a Cardinal unique. Finally, both platforms will be promoted through a robust social media storytelling campaign. Follow the DLLE on Instagram and Facebook.

 

Photographs by: Alexis Miller

Steven Donahoe

Steven Donahoe

Steven Donahoe is a second-year graduate student with EMDD and a graduate assistant for the School of Journalism and Strategic Communication and EMDD.

Three Minute Thesis Competition

Emerging Media Design & Development students win in the 2023 Three Minute Thesis Competition

 

Written by: Alexis Miller

 

Each year, Ball State University graduate students compete in the Three Minute Thesis Competition. Initially developed by The University of Queensland in 2008, the contest now occurs worldwide at over 900 Universities across more than 85 countries. To compete, students must compete through multiple preliminary rounds to make it to the final competition. While a typical thesis could take hours to present, competing students have a 3-minute time limit. The competition challenges students by making them condense their research findings to be presented concisely to an audience who may not be familiar with the subject.

 

EMDD students Zainab Aamir and Matt Lowe competed against eight other contestants in the final round this year. Zainab placed 1st and won the People’s Choice Award, claiming $1500 for her efforts. She will also represent Ball State University at the regional competition – The 2023 Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools 3MT competition in Chicago, IL! Matt secured the 3rd place award and a $500 prize.

 

Zainab’s presentation discusses “Users’ Privacy Considerations in Virtual Reality.” Her research aims to understand user-centric privacy considerations when using VR headsets and assesses how being more informed affects users’ privacy attitudes. She is working with Advisor Dr. Joshua A. Fisher for this research. Zainab is originally from Lahore, Pakistan, where she majored in Management Science and Computer Science. Her motivation to pursue her graduate thesis on users’ privacy considerations while using VR headsets stems from her interest in usable privacy and extended reality (XR) technologies.

 

Matt’s thesis presentation is titled “Capitol Gains: Ethics and intent of transmedia, resulting from the January 6 Select Committee Report.” His research examines how transmedia is used by media outlets to influence their audience by looking at news stories published in the weeks surrounding the release of the January 6 Select Committee Report. For this research, he is working with Advisor Dr. Kevin Moloney. Matt is the Project Manager for the School of Journalism and Strategic Communication. His research is motivated by how effectively certain media outlets can spread stories among various media channels.

 

 

Photographs by: Dr. Kevin Moloney

Alexis Miller

Alexis Miller

Alexis Miller is a second-year graduate student with EMDD and a graduate assistant for the School of Journalism and Strategic Communication and EMDD.

Small Town, Big Stories

Small Town, Big Stories

I hoʻokāhi ka umauma, hoʻokāhi ke aloha (All abreast together, one in love. All united in harmony and love)

In Spring of 2021, three Ball State University Emerging Media Design and Development (EMDD) graduate students completed a class project about Wailuku’s ‘Īao Valley. This topic became the springboard for a year-long EMDD capstone project with a group of eight students and partner SMALL TOWN * BIG ART (ST*BA) to promote storytelling in Wailuku Town. The goal of this project was to implement an oral storytelling experience which aligns with the vision and mission of ST*BAMaui Public Art Corps, and Maui Historical Society. To accomplish this goal, the team designed a digital interactive storytelling activity including questions, locations to visit, and local stories to inspire others to share stories in a fun and engaging way to enhance a sense of community among Wailuku residents.


This project allowed the perfect opportunity for the EMDD team to leverage their graduate studies in the areas of design thinking, transmedia storytelling, and user experience. The team began by meeting with ST*BA to better understand the opportunity space. They then began with empathy research. They spoke to Wailuku residents, artists, and business owners to better understand the opportunity space and the culture. Elements of this research served as reminders throughout the life of the project, and the team created personas to represent typical users and a user journey map to visualize their path through the proposed experience. This part of the project created a great sense of deep respect and reverence for the community members, their rich history, and their values.

From there, the team worked with additional community members to brainstorm ideas that inspired the first low-fidelity prototypes. The team created those prototypes, evaluated them, and narrowed them (sometimes sadly letting go of beloved ideas) based on feasibility and adherence to the project goals and community feedback. Once narrowed, the team created a mid-fidelity prototype and heavily tested both the content and functionality of the storytelling experience with Wailuku residents. The feedback from this testing sparked continued functionality and content improvements.

A different group of Ball State University students, Digital Corps, created the digital experience based on detailed design and requirements. This early release version of the experience was tested a final time in Wailuku the weekend of April 2, 2022 as students observed and asked questions in person in Wailuku town. The experience is now live. Users can access the experience through the QR code on seven different cards that feature local murals. The team will hand the experience over to ST*BA for future enhancements.

This project was a fun and rewarding immersive learning experience that the team hopes will  engage Wailuku residents and encourage them to tell and listen to stories. Mahalo to all who helped with this project.

Lisa Kemp

Lisa Kemp

Lisa Kemp is the content writer for the Small Town, Big Stories project team.

Pitch Night 2022

Pitch Night 2022

“I attended Ball State, which is the Harvard of Muncie”

Each Spring, EMDD students and faculty meet to discuss possible Year 2 projects for EMDD 660/670. At our most recent pitch night on April 14, Dr. Kevin Moloney, Dr. Jennifer Palilonis, and EMDD students Spencer Ozbun, Alec Piggott, and Meredith Erwin pitched project ideas, including: The Future of Public Media, The Remnant Trust, The David Letterman Learning Experience, Kid Architect, and Personal Climate Action.

Year 2 EMDD projects must engage a project partner external to EMDD (which could be a company, non-profit organization or other academic unit on campus), define a clear problem or opportunity space, have a scope large enough to justify nine to 12 credit hours of work for participating students, include both an applied research component (3-6 credit hours), and a creative project development component (6 credit hours).

The following projects have been chosen as Year 2 projects: 

The David Letterman Learning Experience project team aims to leverage the rich storytelling potential of items in the Letterman Collection to explore intersections between storytelling, technology, and art through interactive storytelling, augmented and virtual reality, and more.

The Future of Public Media project team was created to help with the challenges faced in public media with the goal to develop    innovative approaches to storytelling and audience engagement, through design thinking, transmedia storytelling, and user-centered design and development. 

The Remnant Trust project team aims to bridge the gap between in-person teaching moments and the artifacts of The Remnant Trust using digital or other physical technologies.

The Kid Architect project team was designed to help the Vance family in continuing the growth of the Kid Architect brand through user-center transmedia storytelling and marketing. 

Following Pitch Night, students responded to a survey and voted for the project that they were most interested in working on. Stay tuned in to social media in the coming weeks to meet our project teams!

Alexis Miller

Alexis Miller

Alexis Miller is a first year graduate student with EMDD and a graduate assistant for the School of Journalism and Strategic Communication and EMDD.

It’s a Party with Teleparty

Stream with your friends and family with Teleparty

It’s a rainy night, and you want to watch a movie with your friends. However, no one wants to travelLuckilyno one will have to move off their couch or bed to watch a movie or show together with the FREE Chrome extension Teleparty (formally known as Netflix Party). 

 

Once you download the Teleparty extension on Chrome or Edgeyou can watch content simultaneously with friends while using the chat feature to discuss the movie. The extension is compatible with Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and HBO Max so long as everyone has a subscriptionAmazon Prime has their own version of Teleparty built into their services, and it is compatible with Fire TV and your web browser. 

 

The steps are simple: 

Leo Herrera

Leo Herrera

Leo Hererra is a graduate student of EMDD. He currently works as a graduate assistant for the program. His research interests include film and media theory.

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