Take object-based learning online!

Did you know the Learning Media team in Digital Education can digitise physical objects and artefacts to make virtual replications, ready for online content delivery? It can even be embedded directly into our LMS so that students get a seamless experience.

There are some great advantages to this approach:

  • Non-destructive handing.
    You can grab an artefact, flip it around and not worry about dropping it, no gloves are needed, it’s all controlled by the user of how they like to access the content.
  • Accurate scale for measurements / dissection / annotation and other online tools.
    There are a series of tools within the platform that can be tricky to work with otherwise. Measurement tools (automatically to scale when using the Artec scanner), dissection (great for CT data and looking inside a model), annotations to highlight key points and angles of a model (great for student-led exploration).
  • Ease of access to artefacts.
    No longer behind a sheet of glass, or physically located in one place, or even a limit on who might have it. This is one of the clear winners of online delivery of 3D objects.
  • Assessment
    Due to the ability to embed directly into our LMS, this means you can also use these 3d objects in assessment. 

What size can you scan?

One of the tests of scanning lightning claw was to test out the ability to scan an object the size of a small car (seen here) right down to a coin (seen here).

Scanning lightning claw was an exercise in scanning certain components at a time and matching them up in the software. There were 9 dino segments, with over 2 billion points of data to reference and compile into one object! Wouldn’t that make it too large to download you might ask? We start with ALL the data and then start a process of downsizing getting to the consumer-friendly size. We also have the advantage inside Pedestal3D to deliver multiple-size formats.

A final render of Lightning Claw the dinosaur model.

What else can we do with 3D objects?

Other than Pedestal3D – the institutional software for 3D content delivery mentioned earlier – 3D objects can also be used in other 3D innovation domains. Virtual unit introductions such as GEOL210 where students can navigate a ‘gamified’ introduction. Virtual and Augmented reality – 3D objects are the essential building components when looking into custom VR and AR experiences ready for those platforms. 3D Printing is another avenue in which 3D objects can be used to be printed. This opens up other ideas like distributed printing locations around Australia and the globe to get access to certain printed 3D objects.

A screenshot from virtual unit introduction using the Lightning Claw scan.

Did I mention assessment?

We can take this example of rich media and bring it directly into digital assessment! Check out our post about different ways this can already happen.

Rich media assessment: taking digital assessment to the next level

Other ways to capture 3D objects.

There are other methods for capturing 3D objects. Have you seen our post about photogrammetry vs light-based scanning? Read about how 3D light scans out-shines photogrammetry in the digitisation process.

Would you like a demo?

Come see it in practice. Book in a time, bring an example and let’s look at what’s possible. Email mediarequests@une.edu.au to start that conversation.