Tag: Kickstarter

Computer Science, Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking, Education, Games, K-5, Parenting, Teaching Tools

cloudBoard

Terri Eichholz
GirlPlayingPrototypecloudBoard
A young girl reacts to solving a challenge on cloudBoard

I’m a big fan of crowd-funding campaigns. I’ve already backed a few, and I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of these products (2 of which should appear on my doorstep in December!!!!):

3Doodler

Robot Turtles Game

play-i

I recently found out about a new Kickstarter project from Digital Dream Labs that looks very promising to use at school and at home.  It’s called cloudBoard, and it combines the physical and digital worlds in a unique way that could dispel some of the criticisms many have about the prevalence of technology in today’s world.

cloudBoard’s Kickstarter site explains the product best, but I will try to summarize. Basically, cloudBoard is a platform that includes a piece of hardware that interacts with digital games through the use of plastic puzzle pieces that can be inserted into a board as commands for the game.  It’s compatible with different types of mobile devices (Android and iOS) as well as Mac and Windows computers.  (Be sure to check out the “Compatible Devices” heading on their Kickstarter page to verify compatibility with your device.)

What sets cloudBoard apart from many other products currently available is not only its combination of the physical and digital worlds, but also the way that it fosters collaboration. When you watch cloudBoard‘s Kickstarter video, you will see the joy the kids experience as they work together to problem solve while they play.

I got the opportunity to talk to Justin Sabo, one of the co-founders of Digital Dream Labs, and was very impressed with his philosophy.  All you have to do is read this sentence from their Kickstarter page to know how Digital Dream Labs feels about education, “We founded Digital Dream Labs because we know that curiosity thrives when learning is intuitive and playful, but too many children have to resort to memorizing rules to get by (and who can say that memorizing is fun). ”

Justin also acknowledged the need for more girls to get involved in computer science, and mentioned that this was in the minds of the team as they worked on designing a gaming platform that would appeal to both genders.

The first cloudBoard game is “Cork the Volcano”, which teaches the basics of programming.  Some other games they have in the works are: a music game, an engineering game, and a chemistry game.  Even more exciting is that Digital Dream Labs is designing cloudBoard to be open platform, and wants other people to contribute their own games.

The deadline to back this project is December 10, 2013.  As with all Kickstarter projects, there are various levels for backing the project.  $129 gets you cloudBoard and the “Cork the Volcano” game, with an estimated delivery of August, 2014.

I urge you to check out cloudBoard.  It has great potential!

CorkTitle
“Cork the Volcano”, the first cloudBoard game
cloudBoard-ProductShotNoText
cloudBoard with puzzle pieces and interactive game
Apps, Creative Thinking, Education, Fun Friday, K-12, Parenting, Science

Dino Pet

Terri Eichholz
Dinopet - a Kickstarter Project by Yonder Biology
Dinopet – a Kickstarter Project by Yonder Biology

I promise this blog is not supported by Kickstarter.  Well, it’s not supported by anyone.  At least not financially.  But, you might be starting to get suspicious if you are a regular reader, as I have done quite a few posts about Kickstarter projects.  (3Doodler, WaterColor Bot, GoldieBlox, and (just yesterday) Robot Turtles – to name a few.)

I can’t help it, though.  I am constantly amazed by the absolute brilliance and creativity of people who post projects on Kickstarter.  An-n-n-nd, it’s Fun Friday, so I get to write about whatever I want today, right?!!

This latest project is open for funding until September 15th, so if you want to pledge $40 so you can be one of the first to receive your own Dino Pet in April 2014, then act now!  The project has already met its funding goal, so it should be set to go!

The Dino Pet is, in the words of Yonder Biology, a “living, interactive, bioluminescent pet.”  Using dinoflagellates that emit a blue-green light from within their 3D printed dinosaur capsules,  the creators have managed to create a toy and biology lesson all rolled up into one.

And that’s not all!

Since they already met their goal of $50,000, Yonder Biology created a “stretch goal”‘ of $150,000.  If they reach this goal, then all backers of $30 or more will also receive an augmented reality app to further enrich their experience with the Dino Pet.  (There is a book available, too, but the app can be used with or without the book, according to the site.)

You know how I feel about augmented reality, right?  Click here if you don’t 😉

Art, Creative Thinking, Education, K-12, Motivation, Student Products, Videos

WaterColorBot

Terri Eichholz
from: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1894919479/super-awesome-sylvias-watercolorbot-0?ref=recommended
from: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1894919479/super-awesome-sylvias-watercolorbot

Sylvia’s Super-Awesome Maker Show was first featured on this blog in May of 2012.   Sylvia has continued to develop her super awesome making talents.  You can view her projects, videos, and blog here.  But, her most exciting project to date is the WaterColorBot.

Since she launched her Kickstarter campaign to raise the money to produce the WaterColorBot, Sylvia has already exceeded her initial goal of $50,000.  It looks like the first WaterColorBot kits are scheduled to ship in September to certain levels of backers.  I am not sure when they will go on sale to the general public.

Sylvia’s invention combines creativity and programming skills.  Basically, once you build the machine with the kit provided, you will be able to program it to paint your artwork.  Want to make the same picture for Grandma in Maine and Grandpa in Texas?  Use the WaterColorBot, and they will both receive the same exact masterpiece!  You can watch the video below to see how it works.

I find Sylvia to be a passionate, inspiring young lady.  What’s more, I love that she is not sitting around and waiting until she grows up to accomplish something.  Want to motivate your students to work hard, dream, and create?  Sylvia is a role model with whom they can identify.

Art, Creative Thinking, Education, K-12, Student Products

3Doodler

Terri Eichholz

Screen Shot 2013-02-21 at 7.31.53 PM

Oh, wow.  That is all I can say.  It’s Fun Friday, again, and you are not going to believe this super cool invention called the 3Doodler.  You may have heard of the revolutionary 3D printers that are taking the world by storm.  The only problem is that they are somewhat expensive (though smaller, less pricy models are starting to be introduced into the market), and it takes a little know-how to create designs to be printed.  The 3Doodler solves those problems.  ANYONE can use it, and the only limitations are your imagination and how much plastic you can afford to buy to make your dreams come true.  3Doodler is a project on Kickstarter, which means that it is not for sale, yet.  But the funding needed to start production was $30,000 – and they have already received over $1,000,000,000 in pledges.  If you head over to the site now, you can make your own pledge at one of the various price points.  Depending on how much you pledge, you could have your very own 3Doodler by December.  Can you imagine what your students could do with this?