App Review
I
used my iPhone to download and demo the free mobile application Aug That. As I
opened the application for the first time, I read an introductory message on
screen that said, “Aug That! Bringing education to the 21st
century”. Next I was taken to the home screen. From my perspective, there were
clearly three main buttons to select from. As an elementary educator of five
years, I’ve tried many applications but without a simple interface, I quickly
give up on using the application in my classroom. Simplicity matters so much,
because I don’t have the time to sit around learning how to use an application.
This application had a simple user interface as well as buttons to help me
along the way if I ran into any challenges.
Having a simple user interface
doesn’t just benefit me it also benefits my students. I began by selecting the “about”
button. I was quickly annoyed by the obvious typo error. The work environment
was spelled “environament”. If my students are looking at this application,
they are sure to click on each button and it doesn’t please me that the first
thing they might see are grammatical errors. The about button just took me to a
page that described the mission statement of the application. This helped me to
clearly see that this application was developed for education.
Next
I moved to the demo button. At first I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do.
The application had opened the camera on my mobile device, but nothing was
happening. There was however a question mark button that I selected for help. Selecting
the question mark gave me directions. It stated to open up a website that gave
me images to scan with my phone. The first image I scanned was called “Giraffe”.
Immediately a 3D giraffe popped up on my device. I jumped back a bit because I
was surprised and excited by the experience. I was able to rotate my phone
slightly, as long as it still was still facing the image on the screen. The
details of the image were appeasing to my eye. I then scanned an image called
“Seahorse” and was even more excited to see the crisp details of the seahorse’s
spine and body structure.
The
next demo I tried out was the 360 Jurassic
Park image. I tried for a while but had difficulty scanning the image. Because
it would not work for me, I tried the second demo image, which was called Sand Bottom Racha Yai Island, Phuket.
Within seconds I was staring at a 360 view of the image. This was very
impressive. It reminded me of the first time that I looked through a pair of Google Cardboard glasses, but even
better. The image quality was outstanding. I’ve been scuba diving off the coast
of Okinawa, Japan and this was far clearer quality than I saw with my own eyes.
My students would get very excited about this. The final image I scanned 3rd Grade Math Fractions,
took me to a short video that gave a brief lesson on fractions. Overall there
were minor glitches I would fix, but I was impressed.
Recommendation
This application would be an excellent free application to try out in
classroom instruction. Proving the application to students to download at home
could enhance learning inside and outside of the classroom. The demo was enough to make me want to add
the bits I tried out into my classroom. Developments are still in the works but, exciting
things are to come. For more check out Aug
That! in the Google Apps store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.star.augthat&hl=en.
App Review
This
application has been around for a while. It launched in 2006. The applications
purpose is to translate one language to another to ease the challenges of
having a language barrier between two humans. Although this application was not
originally developed for education, over time it has adapted to serve a greater
purpose. The applications user interface is very simple. First you must select
the two languages that you are translating between. Next it is stated that you
should “tap to enter text”. Doing this brings up a keyboard. This feature is
only good if you are trying to communicate a message to someone yourself. If
you are trying to understand something in a different language, there are
several option for this. You can either take a photograph of what you are
trying to translate, record the message using your devices microphone, or write
the text by drawing on the touch screen. With the feature of taking a
photograph and selecting the text you wish to translate VR has become part of
this application.
I just moved to Korea and I do not
know the language. I was curious and excited to translate one of the first
words I saw written in Korean at the airport. I opened up my Google Translate app, scanned the word and selected the text that I wanted to be translated. Within
seconds the text had been translated to the words thank you. I was even given
the pronunciation.
Recommendation
I originally downloaded the
application when I moved to Japan. Communication barriers can cause a lot of
frustration. I witnessed it myself many times while traveling overseas. New
students who come into a school that do not speak the same language can very
quickly feel this same frustration and anxiety towards learning. Google
Translate makes it possible to ease the frustration that non-native language
speakers face every day. I highly recommend the use of this application in the
classroom, even if there are not students who struggle to understand the
language spoken in the classroom. Being given the tool to use and the educating
the awareness that students will face communication barriers is a powerful
lesson to be learned. Don't forget to download Google Translate if you haven't already:
