vr learning – ThingLink Blog https://www.thinglink.com/blog The easiest and fastest immersive content creation suite! Mon, 23 Oct 2023 19:56:10 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4 https://www.thinglink.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/cropped-App-32x32.png vr learning – ThingLink Blog https://www.thinglink.com/blog 32 32 ThingLink Honored as the Top Extended Reality (XR) Firm at the European Metaverse Awards https://www.thinglink.com/blog/thinglink-honored-as-the-top-extended-reality-xr-firm-at-the-european-metaverse-awards/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=thinglink-honored-as-the-top-extended-reality-xr-firm-at-the-european-metaverse-awards Mon, 23 Oct 2023 16:15:38 +0000 http://blog.tlsrv.net/?p=8737 ThingLink was honored to be named as Top Extended Reality XR Firm at the European Metaverse Awards. A record 123 top companies were short-listed as finalists in the 22 Awards categories at the awards and summit in Berlin last week.

The industry expert judges were impressed by ThingLink’s evidence-backed submission. It demonstrated that ThingLink is not only a trusted solution but has also evolved with emerging technology, guiding their customers to develop impactful training experiences.

“We’re thrilled for this honor and the recognition of the bridge we built from the 2D internet to the Metaverse with the easiest suite of immersive eLearning and content creation tools available for businesses, brands, and educational institutions.”

Ulla-Maaria Koivula ThingLink Founder & CEO

ThingLink – Top XR Firm

XR or Extended Reality is the perfect term to conceptualize what ThingLink is and offers. A fast and easy way to create Interactive and immersive learning experiences that can be delivered in highly impactful ways, and accessible on any device. Whether in-person or in synthetic spaces, on-site or off-site, ThingLink provides the tools to enable organizations to tailor content for every training scenario.

Get Started for Free Today

Start your free trial of ThingLink today. Ask for a call with our team of experts to guide your use of interactive media and immersive learning for training and more.

Customers consistently express their trust and confidence in ThingLink’s ability to enable them to deliver impactful training.

The platform has notably transformed education and elearning by reshaping how learning and training is created and consumed. ThingLink has made it incredibly easy for everyone and anyone to do this, from creating 360 photospheres of environments to creating real world contexts for scenario based learning with interactive content.

Think you know ThingLink? Think Again!

ThingLink’s Suite of Products in 2023 includes essential features for creating impactful employee training and essential assets for processes and information. 

  1. Advanced Multimedia Editor for adding interactive hotspots with layers of information on your images, videos, 360 media and 3D objects. 
  2. ThingLink Scenario Builder for creating branching scenario based learning experience, perfect for decision making in high risk situations, includes learner data and analytics. 
  3. New! Guided Tours, for creating virtual tours with single click with built-in narration. 
  4. New! Augmented Reality AR App for an in-person onsite experience to gain essential information by overlaying info on machinery or objects.
  5. Panoramic Images to 360 Photospheres converter, enabling anyone to create 360 images with their mobile device.
  6. AI Assistant Tools Via text prompts in the ThingLink Editor or through our 360 image generator with Skybox AI partnership

Three Essential Resources

Book a free consultation

If you’d like to learn more about how your company can save resources and effectively support employees with impactful trainining, schedule a free call with one of our transformation consultants.

Looking for more training and elearning inspiration?

For more inspiration, make sure you’re following us on social media. In particular, please do join our LinkedIn Community.

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How to Create Stellar 360° Images: Become an Immersive Learning Pro https://www.thinglink.com/blog/how-to-create-stellar-360-images-become-an-immersive-learning-pro/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-create-stellar-360-images-become-an-immersive-learning-pro Fri, 29 Sep 2023 09:37:04 +0000 http://blog.tlsrv.net/?p=8521 Unlock the Secrets to Crafting Mesmerizing 360° Visuals for a Game-Changing Learning Experience!

The future of immersive learning is not just about consuming content—it’s about creating it. Finding a school or team-friendly yet powerful solution for creating with AI can be challenging. Enter ThingLink’s integration with Skybox AI. Here’s why educators and students alike are raving about this dynamic duo, here’s some helpful ideas to making the most of it!

About Blockade Labs Skybox AI

Blockade Labs specializes in AI-assisted 360-degree image generation technology. With Skybox AI, Blockade Labs aims to make the world of 360-degree imaging more dynamic, interactive, and accessible to all using simple text prompts.

Activate Skybox AI through ThingLink

If you’d like to learn more about ThingLink and Skybox AI together for a whole school, campus or team, please click below to go to our dedicated page.

10 Key Pointers for Skybox AI 360 Generation Prompts

  1. Keep it simple for effective results.
  2. 3-4 phrase prompts are ideal; too long can override style.
  3. If prompts are too short, they may lack coherence; add descriptive phrases.
  4. Specify location context: “indoors” or “outdoors”.
  5. Adjust camera altitude with tags like “aerial view” or “street view”.
  6. For night time scenes, use words like “moonlit” or “bioluminescent”.
  7. Emphasize context in prompts.
  8. Clean up messy images using negative prompts with words like “blurry” or “broken”. (Negative prompts available only in SkyBox AI Interface currently)
  9. Explore presets for cleaner images,
  10. For sky presets, describe clouds and aim for flat horizons.

Even Better with Enhanced Prompts!

Using Enhanced Prompts is now available in the ThingLink Create with Sky Box Interface. Here’s an example with Enhanced Prompts

Helpful Tip for Teachers! Learners can copy paste the Enhanced Prompts into a ThingLink Info Tag to create vocabulary lists and further research. Original prompt simply ‘George Orwell 1984’. Enhanced Prompt – VR360: Ominous Big Brother billboards, giant telescreens in dystopian cityscape. Style: gritty realism, industrial bleakness, high-contrast light. VR360: Dead trees, gloomy skyscape, towering brutalist architecture.

Another Helpful Tip for Teachers – View in VR! Imagine learners and educators being able to create 360 worlds and view with your VR Headsets.

Click to download the PDF.

Common tips and tricks to getting the most out of your Skybox AI generations!

Free Demonstration

If you’d like to learn more about what ThingLink can offer to your school, organization or company, you are welcome to schedule an online meeting with one of our experts by clicking below.

More Ideas to Follow

Join our ThingLink and Skybox webinar or watch the replay! Sign up here We’ll be collating ideas for games based learning, storytelling and sharing all!

Connect and Collaborate

For more ideas, use cases and inspiration on content creation, join our communities on social media! Twitter / X ThingLink Education and Blockade Labs Skybox AI LinkedIn Community and ThingLink Education Facebook GroupDiscord Blockade Labs Community.

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Create Powerful Moments of Insight: A Masterclass in Creating Immersive Scenario Based Learning Experiences https://www.thinglink.com/blog/create-powerful-moments-of-insight-a-masterclass-in-creating-immersive-scenario-based-learning-experiences/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=create-powerful-moments-of-insight-a-masterclass-in-creating-immersive-scenario-based-learning-experiences Wed, 27 Sep 2023 10:39:25 +0000 http://blog.tlsrv.net/?p=8492 New Webinar! Masterclass in Crafting Immersive Branching Learning Experiences with ThingLink Scenario Builder

Now On-Demand
Sign Up for the Replay and Resources

In the world of eLearning, branching scenarios have emerged as a powerful tool to amplify employee engagement and real-world decision-making skills. By allowing learners to “pick their own path”, these scenarios mirror complex situations, making learning deeper and more memorable. Dive in with us to discover how the ThingLink Scenario Builder can be your secret weapon in designing these transformative learning experiences.

The Magic of Branching

Ever reminisced about those “Choose Your Own Adventure” books? Branching scenarios function similarly. Learners are presented with situations and make choices, with each decision leading them down a unique path. This interactive method boosts decision-making skills, critical thinking, and retention.

ThingLink Scenario Builder: Branching Made Easy

Navigating the terrain of branching might seem complex, but with the ThingLink Scenario Builder, it’s as intuitive as it gets. Its user-friendly interface supports the creation of intricate paths, ensuring that each learner’s experience is tailored and impactful.

Couldn’t join us?

Sign up anyway and we’ll make sure you receive a link to the action replay!

Check out this sample branching scenario!

By the end of this masterclass, participants will be able to:

  • Grasp Branching Fundamentals: Understand the underlying principles and benefits of branching, or “pick your own path”, learning experiences.
  • Navigate ThingLink with Confidence: Identify and utilize the primary features of ThingLink’s Scenario Builder, especially those that facilitate branching scenarios.
  • Design Engaging Branching Scenarios: Apply best practices to generate context-based learning modules with multiple decision points using ThingLink.
  • Incorporate Multimedia Elements Seamlessly: Embed 360 degree media, videos, images, and other multimedia components to support and enhance the branching experiences.
  • Evaluate and Iterate Branching Modules: Gather feedback on their branching scenarios, analyze learner paths, and refine for maximum engagement and effectiveness.
    Integrate into LMS: Ensure smooth integration of ThingLink branching scenarios into various Learning Management Systems (LMS).

Sign up for our Exclusive Webinar!

Other Ideas for learning about ThingLink you’ll love!

Connect and Collaborate

For more ideas, use cases and inspiration on content creation, join our communities on social media! LinkedIn CommunityTwitter Creative Learning Design Community and ThingLink Education Facebook Group.

Meet a ThingLink Expert

If you’d like to learn more about what ThingLink can offer to your company, you can schedule an online meeting with one of our product experts below.

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Discover Impactful Ways to Create Immersive Learning with ThingLink + Skybox! https://www.thinglink.com/blog/discover-impactful-ways-to-create-immersive-learning-with-thinglink-skybox/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=discover-impactful-ways-to-create-immersive-learning-with-thinglink-skybox Fri, 15 Sep 2023 15:16:46 +0000 http://blog.tlsrv.net/?p=8438 ThingLink and Blockade Labs Skybox AI 360 Image Generation = Infinite Uses!

Now On-Demand!
Watch anytime in comfort! Register to receive all the replay links.

We’re excited to extend an invitation to watch our special webinar that aims to bring new dimensions to interactive and immersive learning. Join us as ThingLink collaborates with Blockade Labs to introduce you to the transformative potential of Skybox AI technology.

Special Guests: 

– Marguerite deCourcelle, CEO of Blockade Labs

– Co-Hosts: Louise Jones, ThingLink & Dan Fitzpatrick, The AI Educator

Couldn’t Make It?

Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Sign up anyway for the action replay!

Webinar Outcomes

  1. Immersive Learning: Discover how text-to-360-image generation can be used to craft interactive learning materials that transcend traditional teaching tools.
  2. The Gamification Factor: Learn how to incorporate elements of gamified experiences or games design into your curriculum to boost student engagement and enhance learning.
  3. Ease of Technology: Learn how this is all pretty uncomplicated! We’ve simplified the tech aspects so that educators of all tech skill levels can integrate these new tools into their teaching methods effortlessly.
  4. Deep Dive into AI: We’ll be discussing the role of AI in educational technology and going through some compelling examples.

And! A Special Bonus: Stay tuned until the end for a chance to win in our exclusive giveaway!

Who Should Attend?

This webinar is tailored for educators, course creators, games-design enthusiasts and learning technologists interested in adopting new approaches to learning and teaching. Whether you’re new to tech tools or have years of experience, this session is for you!

Key Takeaways:

  1. Create learning assets with 360° interactive images for immersive experiences
  2. Unlock strategies for boosting student engagement through gamification.
  3. Gain insights into integrating user-friendly technology into your classroom.

Find out more about ThingLInk + Skybox Integration

If you’d like to learn more about the recent partnership announcement and how you can activate ThingLink + Skybox AI for your school please click below!

Don’t miss this opportunity to explore new horizons in educational approaches.

We look forward to seeing you there!

In Action: Case Studies

Sign up for our Exclusive Webinar!

Connect and Collaborate

For more ideas, use cases and inspiration on content creation, join our communities on social media! Twitter / X ThingLink Education and Blockade Labs Skybox AI LinkedIn Community and ThingLink Education Facebook GroupDiscord Blockade Labs Community.

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Elevate Learning: Unlock Skybox’s 360° Features on ThingLink Today! https://www.thinglink.com/blog/elevate-learning-with-skybox-and-thinglink/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=elevate-learning-with-skybox-and-thinglink Thu, 14 Sep 2023 08:18:18 +0000 http://blog.tlsrv.net/?p=8420 Unleash imagination to design unique environments inspired by literature, mythology, historical periods, and more. With Skybox AI and ThingLink, you’re not just creating stylised spaces – you’re building captivating experiences.

What is Skybox AI?

Skybox AI by Blockade Labs is a groundbreaking AI tool which empowers anyone to generate unique, high-quality and detailed 360 visuals from simple plain text prompts and a vast selection of styles. Creators can construct 360-degree immersive visuals ready for annotating in seconds, no coding required.

Why Choose Skybox AI and ThingLink? Benefits include:

  1. Secure and Supported Learning: Introduce educators and students to the dynamic world of text-to-image generation in a secure and supported manner. ThingLink account management is all that is required, no additional Skybox accounts are created. The ability to craft prompts and continuously annotate creations not only adds depth to the learning experience but also serves as an invaluable step toward digital fluency.
  2. User-Friendly Design: Creating interactive 360-degree worlds with ThingLink and Skybox is incredibly accessible, even for beginners. Kickstart your projects with  straightforward text prompts; no coding skills required.
  3. Scalability: Whether you’re crafting a single immersive scene or constructing an expansive, interconnected world, ThingLink and Skybox offer infinite possibilities in terms of size and complexity.
  4. Versatile Styling: Tailor the look and feel of your projects with a selection of styles—from “Whimsical World” and “Realistic,” to “Dreamlike,” and more.
  5. Make use of VR Headsets: ThingLink has long been the go-to solution for creating content for VR Headsets such as ClassVR, as well as creating real-life contexts, this package enables educators and students to create VR ready experiences from worlds yet to be imagined.

Creating Powerful Moments of Insight – To Kill a Mocking Bird

Next Steps

Complete the form below! Schools, universities and businesses with a ThingLink organization account can purchase Skybox AI as an add-on service for all their users. The entry-level package, priced at $1,000, includes 15,000 image generations per year. If you are an individual Teacher or Professional Individual ThingLink account holder, please go direct to Blockade Labs for a free trial and account.

Activate for your School or Organization!

In Action: Case Studies of ThingLink and SkyBox AI Together

How to Create Extraordinary 360 Spaces With Blockade Labs’ Text to Image AI Tool

How to Unlock the Awesome Power of AI in Education

Connect and Collaborate

For more ideas, use cases and inspiration on content creation, join our communities on social media! Twitter / X ThingLink Education and Blockade Labs Skybox AI LinkedIn Community and ThingLink Education Facebook Group. Discord Blockade Labs Community.

Connect News and Stories

ThingLink X (Twitter) Blockade Labs X (Twitter) ThingLink LinkedIn Blockade Labs LinkedIn

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Unlocking Creativity in Education: ThingLink Integrates with Skybox AI to Elevate Immersive Learning Experiences https://www.thinglink.com/blog/thinglink-integrates-with-skyboxai/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=thinglink-integrates-with-skyboxai Wed, 13 Sep 2023 13:07:33 +0000 http://blog.tlsrv.net/?p=8411 ThingLink, an award-winning immersive learning technology platform is announcing a strategic partnership with Blockade Labs, creators of Skybox AI, an innovative AI-assisted 360-degree image generation platform. Starting today, ThingLink’s organization account holders, schools and universities can purchase access to Skybox AI’s image generation technology for their entire organization directly through ThingLink.

Adding AI-assisted image generation to ThingLink’s creation flow

Since 2016, ThingLink has empowered educators and students to create virtual field trips, interactive walkthroughs, and engaging point-and-click games using annotated 360-degree images and videos.

Until now, users have had the option to download or purchase these images from libraries and photo services, or create their own. The integration with Skybox AI adds an exciting new dimension to ThingLink’s creative workflow. Educators and students can now utilize cutting-edge artificial intelligence to generate scenes for immersive learning experiences, storytelling and entry-level game development, further enhancing engagement and educational outcomes.

Embracing the next generation of storytelling

“We are empowering educators and students to become creators and embrace the next generation of storytelling. Using Skybox AI and ThingLink, it’s possible to both design and execute a visually stunning point-and-click game in the same study unit. It is like having a team of the world’s fastest and best illustrators helping visualize your ideas”.

ThingLink founder and CEO Ulla-Maaria Koivula.

ThingLink’s integration with Skybox AI helps streamline the immersive content creation process and saves time from creating visual assets in one service, and interactive projects in another. Previously, ThingLink has announced similar integrations with Canva and Unsplash.

In addition to the technical integration, ThingLink and Blockade Labs have agreed on a strategic partnership through which Skybox AI can be made accessible to entire organizations, instead of just individual users. This lets Blockade Labs quickly test customer interest in new market segments.

Creating 3D worlds from text prompts without coding is a powerful step towards unlocking human creativity. We are excited for our partnership with ThingLink and for users to interact with these incredibly imaginative easy-to-use tools”.

Marguerite deCourcelle CEO Blockade Labs.

Schools, universities and businesses that have a ThingLink organization account can purchase Skybox AI as an add-on service for all of their users. The entry level package, priced at $1,000, includes 15,000 image generations per year.

Check out our information page!

To find out more or activate the Skybox AI package or your school, University, organization or company now, please click the link below1

About ThingLink

ThingLink is a trusted immersive learning technology partner for leading businesses and educational institutions in Europe and North America. Thousands of companies, schools, and higher education institutions use ThingLink to create interactive 2D, 3D, VR, and AR learning experiences, such as virtual tours, guided field trips, employee trainings, and branched multimedia simulations.

About Blockade Labs 

Blockade Labs specializes in AI-assisted 360-degree image generation technology. With Skybox AI, Blockade Labs aims to make the world of 360-degree imaging more dynamic, interactive, and accessible to all.

Connect News and Stories

ThingLink X (Twitter) and Blockade Labs X (Twitter)

ThingLink LinkedIn and Blockade Labs LinkedIn

Press Contact 

For additional information or to schedule an interview, please contact

Louise Jones

Community and Engagement @ ThingLink

louise@thinglink.com

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Webinar! Unlock New Advanced Techniques for Crafting Next-Level Immersive Experiences https://www.thinglink.com/blog/webinar-unlock-new-advanced-techniques-for-crafting-next-level-immersive-experiences/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=webinar-unlock-new-advanced-techniques-for-crafting-next-level-immersive-experiences Wed, 13 Sep 2023 11:45:16 +0000 http://blog.tlsrv.net/?p=8403 On-Demand Webinar on Advanced Features of ThingLink!

Master ThingLink: Advanced Techniques for Crafting Next-Level Immersive Experiences

On Demand
You can view this webinar anytime! Register to receive an email with replay link!

The future of learning is immersive, interactive, and engaging. Are you ready to take your information and learning approaches to a whole new level? If so our upcoming webinar on ThingLink’s advanced features is just for you!

ThingLink has always been at the forefront of creating immersive learning experiences, making education more accessible and fun. Our platform has already transformed the way many organizations and educational institutions engage with their audience, and we want to help you do the same. That’s why we are thrilled to announce our upcoming webinar that will delve deep into ThingLink’s advanced features, designed to make your educational content more interactive than ever.

Couldn’t join us?

Sign up anyway and we’ll make sure you receive a link to the action replay!

What Will You Learn?

The webinar is carefully structured around four main learning outcomes to give you a comprehensive understanding of capabilities with ThingLink’s suite of tools. 

1. Advanced Settings: Optimize Your Content

Discover the hidden potential of your information or learning material by exploring ThingLink’s advanced settings. From tailoring user navigation to including personalized assessment elements, we’ll guide you through the options that make your content not just engaging but also effective.

2. Scenario Builder: Craft Realistic In-Context Learning

Learn how to use the ThingLink Scenario Builder to create realistic, contextual learning experiences. Understand how to set conditions, triggers, and responses that mimic real-world situations, creating a risk-free learning environment for your users.

3. Media Types: Diversify Your Content

The more varied your content, the more engaged your learners will be. Learn how to incorporate different types of media including video, audio, and text to appeal to varied learning styles and make your material more engaging and comprehensive.

4. Working with 360 Images: A Whole New Perspective

Get hands-on experience on how to integrate 360-degree images into your content. We will cover best practices and tips on how to make the most out of this immersive feature to create engaging spatial narratives.

Sign up for our Exclusive Webinar!

Meet a product expert

If you’d like to learn more about what ThingLink can offer to your company, you can schedule an online meeting with one of our product experts below.

Other Ideas for learning about ThingLink you’ll love!

Connect and Collaborate

For more ideas, use cases and inspiration on content creation, join our communities on social media! LinkedIn CommunityTwitter Creative Learning Design Community and ThingLink Education Facebook Group.

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How to Transform Canvas Courses with ThingLink Through LTI 1.3 Integration https://www.thinglink.com/blog/how-to-transform-canvas-courses-with-thinglink-through-lti-1-3-integration/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-transform-canvas-courses-with-thinglink-through-lti-1-3-integration Thu, 07 Sep 2023 14:49:55 +0000 http://blog.tlsrv.net/?p=8358 This article provides an overview of integrating ThingLink into Canvas courses using the Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) 1.3 standard. This integration allows for the incorporation of interactive media elements, enhancing course material and facilitating deeper student engagement.

Meet a product expert

If you’d like to learn more about what ThingLink can offer to your organization or company, you can schedule an online meeting with one of our product experts below.

The Importance of Integrating ThingLink into Canvas Courses

ThingLink provides a pathway for enhancing and amplifying course material by incorporating interactive images, videos, 360-degree media, and 3D models. By blending these various interactive components, educators can craft powerful educational experiences such as supplementary teaching materials, project-centered learning, situational contexts, virtual excursions, or educational field trips that bring a multi-layered, engaging dimension to course topics.

How to Add ThingLink Elements to Canvas Courses

Once your system admin has established the LTI 1.3 connection, instructors can easily insert ThingLink assets into their courses. To do this, simply use the “Add an activity or resource” feature within course editing. ThingLink will be listed among the available choices, enabling you to either incorporate pre-existing ThingLink assets or generate new interactive elements.

Monitoring Tracking Student Engagement

Employ ThingLink’s analytics tools, which are also accessible through Moodle, to gauge how students are interacting with the embedded media elements. This insight is invaluable for modifying both course content and instructional approaches. Additionally, any grades earned within ThingLink’s immersive scenarios will automatically be integrated into course grade books thanks to the LTI 1.3 link.

Embedding ThingLink in Canvas

2023 / 2024 ThingLink Unlimited Bundle

Unlimited seats on this plan mean that everyone in your school or organization can have access to our much-loved multimedia editor and ThingLink Scenario Builder with unlimited learner assessment capture in your LMS.

Advantages of Utilizing ThingLink in Canvas

  1. Boosted engagement: ThingLink adds an interactive overlay on various media formats, thereby enriching the learning experience for students.
  2. Resource amplification: The integration lets teachers link to external resources directly through media, offering a more comprehensive understanding of course topics.
  3. Data-driven decisions: The analytics provided by ThingLink enable instructors to fine-tune their teaching strategies based on actual student interactions. In ThingLink Scenarios student assessments / goals are written back directly to Canvas gradebooks
  4. Automated account creation: With LTI 1.3, students’ ThingLink accounts are automatically created, removing the need for any additional registration steps.

Would you like to know more?

Here’s our support article with a step-by-step walkthrough of setting this up for your organization.

Integrating ThingLink into Canvas courses via LTI 1.3 offers substantial benefits, particularly in the areas of interactive education and content amplification. Educators are encouraged to take advantage of this synergy to create a more stimulating and effective learning environment.

Connect and Collaborate

For more ideas, use cases and inspiration on content creation, join our communities on social media! LinkedIn CommunityTwitter Creative Learning Design Community and ThingLink Education Facebook Group.

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How to Transform Moodle Courses with ThingLink Through LTI 1.3 Integration https://www.thinglink.com/blog/how-to-transform-moodle-courses-with-thinglink-through-lti-1-3-integration/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-transform-moodle-courses-with-thinglink-through-lti-1-3-integration Thu, 07 Sep 2023 13:10:00 +0000 http://blog.tlsrv.net/?p=8336

Meet a product expert

If you’d like to learn more about what ThingLink can offer to your organization or company, you can schedule an online meeting with one of our product experts below.

This article provides an overview of integrating ThingLink into Moodle courses using the Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) 1.3 standard. This integration allows for the incorporation of interactive media elements, enhancing course material and facilitating deeper student engagement.

Relevance of ThingLink in Moodle Courses

ThingLink offers an opportunity to enrich and elevate course content by presenting interactive images, videos, 360 media and 3D Models. These interactive elements can be mixed and matched to create impactful learning experiences such as additional instructional materials, project based learning, contextual scenarios, virtual tours or field trips offering a multi-dimensional, immersive and interactive experience to subject matter.

Monitoring Student Engagement and Interactions

Utilize the analytics capabilities provided by ThingLink and accessible within Moodle to observe how students are interacting with the integrated media. This data can be valuable for adapting course content and teaching strategies. Due to the integration, scores attained within ThingLink immersive branching scenarios will be fed in course grade books.

ThingLink in Moodle

Adding ThingLink Content to Moodle Courses

After your system administrator has set up the LTI 1.3 integration, educators can add ThingLink media through the “Add an activity or resource” option in course editing. ThingLink will appear as one of the available options, allowing you to either link existing ThingLink media or create new interactive content.

2023 / 2024 ThingLink Unlimited Bundle

Unlimited seats on this plan mean that everyone in your school or organization can have access to our much-loved multimedia editor and ThingLink Scenario Builder with unlimited learner assessment capture in your LMS.

Benefits of the Integration

1. Enhanced interactivity: ThingLink allows for an interactive layer over media, providing students with a more engaged learning experience.

2. Content enrichment: Integration enables educators to offer a comprehensive understanding of topics by linking to additional resources directly through the media.

3. Analytics: Educators can leverage analytics data to adapt teaching methods based on how students are interacting with the course materials.

4. Account creation, with LTI 1.3 your students will automatically have their ThingLink account created for them, so no need for additional sign ups!

Would you like to know more?

Here’s our support article with a step-by-step walkthrough of setting this up for your organization.

The integration of ThingLink into Moodle courses through LTI 1.3 offers significant advantages in terms of interactive learning and content enrichment. Educators are advised to make use of this integration to facilitate a more dynamic and engaging learning environment.

Connect and Collaborate

For more ideas, use cases and inspiration on content creation, join our communities on social media! LinkedIn CommunityTwitter Creative Learning Design Community and ThingLink Education Facebook Group.

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What Is Immersive Learning? A Guide to Creating Amazing Immersive Resources https://www.thinglink.com/blog/what-is-immersive-learning-a-guide-to-creating-amazing-immersive-resources/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=what-is-immersive-learning-a-guide-to-creating-amazing-immersive-resources Wed, 26 Apr 2023 15:22:55 +0000 http://blog.tlsrv.net/?p=7402 What is Immersive Learning?

Immersive learning is a modern approach to education and training that aims to create a fully-engaging and experiential environment for learners. It’s a learning strategy that immerses learners in virtual learning environments or scenarios, allowing them to experience real-life situations and challenges in a controlled setting. This approach to the learning process has become increasingly popular in recent years, as it has been shown to improve knowledge retention, engagement, and overall learning outcomes.

With virtual reality technology becoming more accessible, and immersive experiences becoming popular as visitor attractions, immersive learning is set to become much more commonplace, and an even more important tool for anyone who is creating their own training or learning resources. In this blog, we look at some of the ways immersive learning is being used, as well as ways that anyone can easily create their own resources for immersive learning with no technical experience and at low cost.

Get started with immersive learning today

Create unique immersive experiences with a free ThingLink trial

Examples of immersive learning experiences

There are different types and levels of immersive learning which use a range of technologies.

Immersive learning can often include elements of extended reality (XR) technology. This term generally covers any technology which mixes the real world with virtual worlds. When used as learning tools, it generally refers to:

  • Fully immersive experiences using virtual reality VR headsets.
  • Augmented Reality (AR) experiences – where computer-generated images or other visuals(eg text) are added as overlays to on the user’s view of their real world environment, creating a new “composite environment”.

However immersive learning also includes technology outside the XR space, such as large format “edu-tainment” experiences using visual and audio media. The BBC Earth Experience in London, described as “a 360-degree audio visual journey” is one example of immersive media which simply uses large format screens and audio to create an experience that surrounds the viewer. Similar to this are the immersive experiences within the hugely popular Van Gogh Immersive Experiences which feature two-story projections of the artist’s greatest works.

Immersive learning also refers to fully interactive experiences which can be shared with learners on any device, using 360 images or videos which can be explored as a tour, expedition or other virtual experience. Often the immersive aspect is created by placing the learner into a scenario, where the outcome of the experience depends on the series of choices that they make.

Benefits of immersive learning

The reason immersive training and learning has gained so much ground over more traditional learning methods is its ability to place learners in real-life situations where they can apply knowledge, training, technical and/or soft skills in a realistic but safe setting. This has two main benefits.

  1. Allowing the learner to complete skills training using this type of experiential learning has been shown to promote deeper engagement with content, improved knowledge retention, faster skill acquisition and better problem-solving skills.

The evidence: In this paper, How effective is training using VR and AR?, we summarise the compelling evidence recently compiled by PWC to show just how effective VR training can be.

  1. By creating a virtual environment where learners can experiment, make mistakes and learn from them, educators can be confident that learners are ready to tackle the real-life situations in a way that is safer for them, for other people and for valuable and potentially dangerous equipment. For this reason, immersive learning methods are increasingly being used by organisations where safety is a high priority. These include the military, emergency services and medical environments.

Challenges of implementing immersive learning

Until recently, immersive learning technologies have been prohibitively expensive, technically difficult to build or code and therefore out of reach for many SMEs and other organisations.

Now, ThingLink is changing that with a new approach: Immersive learning made easy.

ThingLink is the fastest and easiest way to create virtual tours and simulations that work on any device, including tablets and mobile devices. There is no coding or experience required to create ThingLink content and its simple to use drag and drop interface can be mastered in minutes.

Quickly create and link interactive images, videos, 360 media and 3D objects to create virtual trips, walk-throughs, simulations or digital twins.

How do you create interactive immersive learning resources?

One aspect which can often be missing in Immersive learning environments is interactivity. ThingLink is founded on the concept that we learn by interacting with our environment – and that this environment can be either a real one OR a virtual one. Interactive learning is active rather than passive learning and therefore further encourages higher-order thinking skills such as problem solving and critical thinking.

In ThingLink, multimedia hotspots contain further text, images, video, audio, apps or external links. Learners can explore the immersive content in a number of ways – including free-form virtual tours, as scenario-based learning experiences, or even as guided tours.

Watch this short video to find out more:

360 image library

ThingLink have now made it even easier for you to create immersive 360 experiences with their free 360 image library of scenes and environments from around the world.

NEW! The easy way to create 360 images: Pano to 360

Creating virtual tours, exhibitions, escape rooms and other immersive content just got even easier! ThingLink has now launched Pano to 360 by ThingLink: an easy way to create a 360 photosphere from a panoramic image using any smartphone. For more information, including step-by-step instructions see this helpful support article. 

Try the free Pano to 360 converter

The Pano to 360 photosphere converter is free to use for anyone, no ThingLink account required! Upload a panoramic image to see it in action.

Creating immersive learning experiences in VR with ThingLink

Although ThingLink content can be viewed anywhere, one of the most popular and effective ways to share ThingLink interactive 360 tours is using VR headsets. In this way, the interactive content feels even more immersive, and the user explores each scene and the hotspots within it at their own pace.

ThingLink VR tours work with, amongst others, these popular headsets:

  • ClassVR
  • Oculus Go
  • Meta Quest (also known as Oculus Quest) & Meta Quest 2
  • Oculus Rift
  • Samsung Gear VR
  • HMD Odyssey (Windows Mixed Reality Headset)

You can read more at this article.

Immersive learning in the future

There is no doubt that the future of learning will see a huge increase in immersive, interactive content and in learning experiences that take place in the metaverse. However with accessible, easy to use platforms like ThingLink, this is a world that can now be explored by any learner, anywhere.

Further reading

Here are some more use cases where educators and trainers have used ThingLink to create immersive and interactive learning content.

Gradia creates virtual learning environments to train students in customer service

Three examples of virtual learning environments in the energy sector

A virtual escape room in ThingLink: a great example of how gamification can be used in learning and training, with a real-time virtual emergency room challenge created by university medical learning specialists.

Meet a product expert

If you’d like to learn more about what ThingLink can offer to your organisation, please schedule an online meeting with one of our product experts below.

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