This document discusses a teacher's experience using Microsoft Kinect in their secondary school classroom. The teacher found that Kinect helped engage students by allowing them to be active during lessons, especially as the last lesson before exams. All students completed the assigned tasks when using Kinect. The teacher explored using Kinect with large class sizes by having students take turns in teams. Kinect can be used with an Xbox console for commercial games or with a computer by developing custom educational programs.

1. Microsoft Kinect in
Education
Carlin Grieve
Secondary School Teacher
Melbourne, Australia

2. My School
Government
Secondary School (7-12)
Kinect Lessons used for
Year 7 and Year 9 Students

3. What is a “Kinect”
“Kinect is a motion sensing input device by
Microsoft for the Xbox 360 video game console and
Windows PCs”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinect)

4. Why did I start using the Kinect
• Last lesson for the semester.
• Didn’t want it to be “Just a video”
• Something engaging to keep them on task.
• Data collection & Graphing Kinect lesson was
created.

5. What I found out
• All the students wanted to be active in their last
lesson as a result of a game console was in the
room.
• Every student completed the task.
– Including the graphing component
• Engagement is a necessity with todays students.

6. How does it work?
• In a Classroom?
• With over 20 Students and only 1 Sensor?
• Xbox or Computer?

7. In a Classroom
• Students help each other and take turns
completing the tasks set (Games)
• Commercial games do need to have structure or
the students do not benefit.
• Answering questions whilst playing.

8. With 20 Students
• Form Teams
• Rotate students having turns
• Keeping the students not playing working

9. X-Box or Computer
XBOX Computer
• COT’S (Commercial Games) • Currently no COT’s
• Ready to go • Find, Test, or Create a Kinect
program to run (May need to
• Thoroughly Tested know how to code)
• Only have to structure a • Content is education based
lesson plan around a specific and more freedom can be
game. given to the students.

10. XBOX
• Available “School Activity Plans” already built for
Kinect COT’s
http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/products/pages/kinect.aspx
• Kinect Education
http://www.kinecteducation.com/

11. Computer
• Kinect SDK
http://www.kinectforwindows.org
• The Kinect “K-Team”
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/teachers/archive/2011/09/08/u
sing-the-kinect-sdk-the-k-team.aspx

12. Kinect Angles – (K Team App)

13. MOOC – FLOW & FIERO
• Flow
– It does have kids want to keep “in the zone”
– Am I achieving Engagement or Fun?
• Fiero
– They are proud by achieving the activity.. Bowling etc.
– “Body and Brain Exercises” – Experienced when their
brain age is given.