NEW EMERGING HIGH RESOLUTION IMAGING CURRICULUM CONTENT AND PRACTICES

New computational imaging and online technologies are emerging at an increasingly rapid pace. Each new feature and tool brings new possibilities but also new challenges for educators. We present here a guide to the vast landscape of imaging and online technologies with a specific look at best practices for engaging students, managing content, and real-world exercises in action.

Old and new technologies such as Gigapan, GIGAmacro, GoogleEarth, Sketchfab, IIIF, Fedora, RTI, and others are outlined to provide a current-day view of the landscape. During the talk we’ll highlight some of the successes and failures from past studies, implementations, and research of these technologies.

In recent years, Northern Virginia Community College has built one of the largest collections of gigapixel images and computational imagery of geologic content, including landscape-scale, macroscopic, and microscopic subjects. In tandem, GIGAmacro has been working with NVCC to develop new tools specific to the classroom that go beyond the basic sharing and exploration tools used with high resolution imagery. Specifically, we present a new viewing platform (hosted by GIGAmacro) for gigapixel images (hosted by various sources) that allows annotation of points, lines, polylines, and polygons (drawn by the user), as well as on-screen measurement. We further present some real-world curricular examples of how these technologies are being implemented in classrooms today. Looking forward, we present some best practices, suggestions, and opportunities for universities, research institutions, and enterprises to work together on common goals.