2015 November

Gartner reveals top predictions for IT organizations & users for 2016 and beyond — from gartner.com

Excerpts:

By 2018, 20 percent of business content will be authored by machines.
By 2018, six billion connected things will be requesting support.
By 2020, autonomous software agents outside of human control will participate in five percent of all economic transactions.
By 2018, more than 3 million workers globally will be supervised by a “robo-boss.”
By year-end 2018, 20 percent of smart buildings will have suffered from digital vandalism.
By 2018, 45 percent of the fastest-growing companies will have fewer employees than instances of smart machines.
By year-end 2018, customer digital assistant will recognize individuals by face and voice across channels and partners.
By 2018, two million employees will be required to wear health and fitness tracking devices as a condition of employment.
By 2020, smart agents will facilitate 40 percent of mobile interactions, and the postapp era will begin to dominate.
Through 2020, 95 percent of cloud security failures will be the customer’s fault.

From DSC:
Some of these are pretty bold predictions. Is this the future we want? Do you want to be supervised by a “robo-boss?” Perhaps, perhaps not. Likely, given the pace of technological change, we will need to be flexible and be able to change/adapt in order to remain marketable. Lifelong learning has become a must have ingredient in our lives — for all of us in the workforce. Learning how to learn will pay off, big time.

I’m working on another posting that talks about the ethics, morals, and potential policies that need to be considered now before we get too much further down some of these pathways.

The pace has changed significantly and quickly

Lytro Shocks the World and Builds the Most Ambitious Virtual Reality Camera [Sonders]

On 11/06/2015, in creativity, digital photography, immersion, photography, vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, by Daniel Christian

Lytro Shocks the World and Builds the Most Ambitious Virtual Reality Camera — from fstoppers.com by Douglas Sonders

Excerpt:

Most of us know Lytro for their light field cameras that capture scenes in a way that allows you to refocus an image anywhere you want with the click of a button without having to take a new image. I’ll admit, I thought it was a neat trick, but as a commercial photographer, I never saw how it would apply to someone like myself. Well, Lytro has blown me away today with the announcement of their new virtual reality camera system that works much like their light field cameras and allows the user to move within a video environment (not a computer-rendered space) while wearing a virtual reality headset. They have officially changed the game.

Also see Lytro’s website:

Addendum on 11/89/15:

YouTube adds stereoscopic 3D support for 360º videos — from uploadvr.com
LucidCam VR launches stereoscopic 3D 180-degree virtual reality camera — from avinteractive.com

Telepresence robots to beam psychologists into schools [Nichols]

On 11/06/2015, in accessibility / UDL, health, ideas, K-12 related, psychology, robotics, special needs, telecommunications, telepresence, vendors, videoconferencing, by Daniel Christian

Telepresence robots to beam psychologists into schools — from zdnet.com by Greg Nichols
Researchers in Utah are experimenting with robots to solve a pressing problem: There aren’t enough pediatric psychologists to go around.

Excerpt:

Researchers in Utah are using an inexpensive robotic platform to help teachers in rural areas implement programs for children with special needs.

It’s another example of the early adoption of telepresence robots by educators and service providers, which I’ve written about here before. While offices are coming around to telepresence solutions for remote workers, teachers and school administrators seem to be readily embracing the technology, which they see as a way to maximize limited resources while bringing needed services to students.

Reflections on “Introducing Coursera for Apple TV: Bringing Online Learning to Your Living Room”

On 11/03/2015, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, adult learning, analytics, Apple, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Deep Learning / Algorithms, change, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, competency-based learning/education, content development, aggregation, repositories, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, distance education, education, education technology, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, interactivity, internet, K-12 related, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, online learning, online tutoring, using teams, vendors, videoconferencing, virtual tutoring, web-based collaboration, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Introducing Coursera for Apple TV: Bringing Online Learning to Your Living Room — from blog.coursera.org

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

We’re thrilled to announce that Coursera content will now be available on Apple TV.

Since our beginning, one of our primary goals has been to make learning more accessible for everyone. Our mobile platform brought an on-demand learning experience to people’s busy, on-the-go lifestyles, and now, we’re extending availability to your home. Regardless of where in the world you are located, you’ll now be able to learn from top university professors and renowned experts without the expense of travel or tuition.

TV availability isn’t only a first for Coursera—it marks Apple TV’s first ever introduction of online learning to its platform. Everything you can do online at Coursera, you’ll now be able to do from the comfort of your own living room: browse our entire catalogue of courses, peruse new topics, and watch videos from some of the top academic and industry experts.

From DSC:
Coursera takes us one step closed to a very powerful learning platform — one that in the future will provide a great deal of intelligence behind the scenes. It’s likely that we will be using personalized, adaptable, digital learning playlists while enjoying some serious levels of interactivity…while also making use of web-based learner profiles (the data from which will either be hosted at places like LinkedIn.com or will be fed into employers’ and universities’ competency-based databases). The application development for tvOS should pick up greatly, especially if the collaboration capabilities are there.

For example, can you imagine marrying the functionalities that Bluescape provides with the reach, flexibility, convenience, and affordances that are unfolding with the new Apple TV?

Truly, some mind-blowing possibilities are developing. In the not too distant future, lifelong learning won’t ever be the same again (not to mention project-related work).

This is why I’m big on the development and use of
team of specialists — as an organization may have
a harder time competing in the future without one.

Tools We Like: Spotlight on IDEO’s EE Lab [Breselor; IDEO]

On 11/03/2015, in design, engineering, experimentation, maker movement, by Daniel Christian

Tools We Like: Spotlight on IDEO’s EE Lab — from labs.ideo.com by Sara Breselor
Prototyping essentials from breadboards to toaster ovens

Excerpt:

Mark Harrison has been building stuff at IDEO for more than 15 years (see Mark’s post on his all-time favorite workarounds). He’s one of the most knowledgeable tinkerers around, and he’s just finished putting together an electrical engineering lab at IDEO Palo Alto, stocked with every useful tool and device he could get his hands on. He wants to encourage more people to start building, and the lab is open to anyone with an idea. “I don’t want people to think that it’s specialized. You don’t have to be an engineer to come use the lab,” he says. “We’ve stocked it so that anybody can come in here, pick up an arduino and start prototyping.”

Here’s a quick tour of the tools Mark considers essential…

6 ways work will change in 2016 [Lindzon]

On 11/03/2015, in business, career development, corporate / business world, curriculum, professional development, trends, workplace, by Daniel Christian

6 ways work will change in 2016 — from fastcompany.com by Jared Lindzon
Workplace trends for 2016 will be set in large part by what’s happening in the freelance world right now.

Some of the areas covered include:

Remote-First Businesses
The Rise Of Independent Consultants
Less PowerPoint, More Video
Consumer-Grade Design As The New Normal

From DSC:
Are our students ready to successfully freelance when they graduate? Whether they are right away or not, chances are they will be a contingent worker at some point in their careers.

Storytelling app a hit; launches a new chapter in transmedia — from blogs.vancouversun.com by Gillian Shaw

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Paul Pattison and Luke Minaker knew they were onto something when they got an email from the mother of a nine-year-old who read the first instalment of their interactive story, Weirdwood Manor.

“She wrote that she couldn’t get her son to pick up a book,” said Pattison, technical director of All Play No Work, producer of the iPad app. “She got the app for her son and he went through it in two nights. He finished both books.

“And then because we don’t have book 3 out yet, unprompted by her he went over to the bookshelf and pulled off a paperback and started reading chapter books again.”

While the storytelling app had already shot to ‘Best New App’ in Apple’s app store, chalking up 5,000 downloads in the first two weeks after it was released, the realization that it converted a reluctant nine-year-old to an avid reader confirmed for Pattison and Minaker they were on the right track.

“It is a common theme we have been hearing,” said Pattison. “They get to this age range of eight to 12 and they stop being interested in reading. Video games, Snapchat – all these other things dominate.

“Although we’re an app in digital, what we really wanted to do is re-engage kids in reading, tap into their imagination, have them rediscover that.”

10 items regarding wearables

On 11/02/2015, in education technology, emerging technologies, Google, health, higher education, trends, United States, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, wearables, by Daniel Christian

Wearables & Virtual Reality: Where Higher Education is Headed — from higheredtechdecisions.com by Jessica Kennedy
EDUCAUSE seminar predicts wearables and virtual reality solutions will take higher education learning to a new level.

Excerpt:

Even though fitness trackers like FitBit are increasing in popularity among college students, Georgieva and Craig predict wearables and immersive and virtual reality spaces will become must-haves on college campuses.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity for teaching and learning,” Craig says. “[It provides] headgear for the eyes, virtual and augmented reality, and wearables for the brain.”

Georgieva says that as technologies like wearables evolve, students’ learning styles and visual literacy shift.

Students are more immersed in a visual culture and rely on pictures to communicate, analyze and learn.

7 up-and-coming wearable technologies — from campustechnology.com by Leila Meyer
Sensory messaging devices, stress-reducing headpieces, biometric authentication bands and more — these cutting-edge wearables could soon be coming to your campus.

How the Internet of Things will revolutionise medicine — from techradar.com by Jamie Carter

Excerpt:

Anyone who’s been in hospital will know how long nurses spend taking hourly measurements for blood pressure, and much more besides. If a hospital could put a wearable device on each patient to automate the process, the time saved would be enormous – and that’s just the beginning of how the Internet of Things (IoT) promises to change healthcare.

Over the next five years the traditional ‘doctor-patient’ model will completely open up as self-monitoring devices do away with the need for routine check-ups and appointments, and IoT sensors in our homes and on our bodies increasingly allow us to look after ourselves.

1 In 5 U.S. Adults On Board With Wearables Now — from readwrite.com by David Nield
And smartphones are driving the change.

Excerpt:

Forrester released its annual report on US consumer technology use on [9/28/15], and the findings make encouraging reading for wearable developers, manufacturers and enthusiasts.

Twenty-one percent of all “online” adults in the U.S. now own a wearable device of some kind, with the younger generation leading the way in adoption.

Future wearables could be sensors you ingest and implant, Jawbone CEO says — from cnet.com by Shara Tibken
Hosain Rahman also says sales of his company’s fitness wearables haven’t been hurt by the Apple Watch.

Excerpt:

He added that wearables will play a key role in the move to connect everything to the Internet, known as the Internet of Things.

Blocks modular smartwatch hits Kickstarter for $285 and ships in May 2016
What you need to know about specs, prices and modules before backing Blocks

Basis Peak Fitness and Sleep Tracker — from humanplus.design

Google Glass 2.0 – Specs, Price And Release Date — from wtvox.com

Excerpt:

Everybody is talking about Google Glass 2.0. To paraphrase from Lavoisier’s “Traité Élémentaire de Chimie”. “Rien ne se perd, rien ne se crée, tout se transforme.” (“Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed.”)

I’m sure you’ve heard that Google Glass is dead. Believe it or not, it is still alive. Google Glass never died. Google Glass “reborn” into a second version. Like the phoenix bird.

There is much misinformation about Google Glass at the moment. Let’s get the facts straight. Here is everything you need to know about the new Google Glass 2.0.

Google Glass 2.0: Versions And Design
Google Glass 2.0 is in good hands. The old Glass team is now called Project Aura and behind the new team is Tony Fadell. You might now Mr. Fadel as the founder of NEST. But, few of you know that he designed the first iPod in 2001.

A Wearable Device with the Pitcher In Mind — from insightreplay.com by Graham Clark

Excerpt:

A wearable sensor that tracks strain on a pitcher’s elbow is making waves in major league baseball (MLB). The mThrow, by Motus Global, is a simple, lightweight sleeve, designed to be worn every time a pitcher throws. The smart throwing sleeve and companion iOS app collects and analyzes real-time biomechanical data from each game and practice, and uses that data to calculate workloads and recommend daily throw limits. This season, 27 MLB teams and their minor league affiliates are trying out the device, in the hope that it will help monitor pitchers’ workloads, improve pitching mechanics, and prevent injuries.

Wearables to U.S. adults: You’re putting me on — from news.investors.com

Michigan Radio’s Issues & Ale: College Affordability & Access [michiganradio.org]

On 11/02/2015, in colleges, community colleges, cost of getting a degree, funding / grants, higher education, Michigan, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Michigan Radio’s Issues & Ale: College Affordability & Access

Excerpt:

College affordability is a big issue, from the living rooms of anxious students and parents, to the presidential campaign trail . Over the past ten years, tuition costs have increased more than five times faster than the Consumer Price Index and the average class of 2015 graduate with student-loan debt will have to pay back more than $35,000. Michigan’s students leave college with some of the highest debt levels in the nation .

A recording of the October 27, 2015 event is available here.

Average debt for graduates in Michigan: Just over $35,000

Notes:

Michigan is below national average in # of adults that have a college degree. Need 300,000 more people to graduate with a college degree just to get up to the national average. (Doing so would add $7 billion to Michigan’s economy BTW.)
[Adjusted for inflation] Cost has doubled in 1 generation.
[Adjusted for inflation] Since 1975, cost at a public university is up 138%; at private 157%; but wages have only gone up 1.6% (flat lined basically)
Can’t work your way through college like your parents or grandparents might have done
Rising tuition
Rising textbook costs
Room and board
Need to have a talk about financial literacy; help a student know more about financial aid and what will need to be paid back and when
Scholarships, grants, funding
Transfer rates are sizable from community colleges
Community colleges are often a very good choice for students who are raising children and/or for students who are returning to college later on; can make a very good living on some of the jobs that you can get coming out of a community college
Students often don’t know how to advocate for themselves; don’t know how to navigate a campus and the services/resources therein; also don’t take advantage of office hours
Michigan State is pushing the idea of “neighborhoods” — like communities in the dorms; easier and less fearful to access services/tutoring/assistance
Other choices? Unions/trades such as plumbers; joining the military
Ingredients of costs; decreased spending at state level has had a significant impact on rising costs for students
…and more.

How to Publish an E-Book: Resources for Authors [Friedman]

On 11/02/2015, in digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, e-books, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), e-readers, education technology, elearning, multimedia, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, writing, by Daniel Christian

How to Publish an E-Book: Resources for Authors — by Jane Friedman

Excerpt:

About the only thing that remains constant in e-book publishing is that it changes—everything from the services to marketing strategies. Here, I’ve attempted to round-up all the good resources I know of related to (1) learning to publish an e-book, (2) finding the right e-publishing services, and (3) staying on top of changes in the industry.

Topics/areas that Jane provides resources for include:
Excellent Book-Length Guides
Getting Started & Principles
Producing a Solid Product
Sales, Marketing, and Promotion
Getting Reviews
Tools for Creating & Formatting E-Books
Tools for Creating Enhanced, Multimedia, or Full-Color E-Books
Major E-Book Retailers
Major E-Book Distributors & Services
To Find Freelance Help
Authors Who Blog About E-Book Publishing
News & Trends About E-Book Publishing

Project Loon is set to circle the planet with Internet balloons in 2016 [Dockrill]

On 11/02/2015, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, global / globalization, Google, internet, the downsides of how people use tech, by Daniel Christian

Project Loon is set to circle the planet with Internet balloons in 2016 — from sciencealert.com by Peter Dockrill
Around the world in 300 balloons.

Excerpt:

Google’s Project Loon is a massively ambitious plan to provide Internet connectivity to areas of the planet that don’t already enjoy good access to the web. How? Via a huge fleet of helium balloons that hang in the stratosphere 20 kilometres above the surface, assembling to form a high-tech communication network that beams the web to the surface.

And the undertaking is only getting more ambitious, with the company announcing this week that it plans to circle the planet with a ring of Project Loon balloons that will provide a perpetual data service for those living underneath its path.

Also see:

Excerpt:

Many of us think of the Internet as a global community. But two-thirds of the world’s population does not yet have Internet access. Project Loon is a network of balloons traveling on the edge of space, designed to connect people in rural and remote areas, help fill coverage gaps, and bring people back online after disasters.

From DSC:
I just reviewed Gerd Leonhard’s recent item — Redefining the relationship of man and machine: here is my narrated chapter from the ‘The Future of Business’ book . Gerd asserts that we need to put together a “Digital Ethics Treaty” as soon as possible. (I agree.) So my thinking is influenced by some of his work in that area as I write this. Gerd raises some solid questions and points about technology and what we should be doing with it (as opposed to what we can do with it).

Anyway, Project Loon could be a great thing for the world — i.e., getting more people connected to the Internet so that they can collaborate with, teach, and learn from others throughout the globe. But there can be unintended consequences to our “technological progress” sometimes. Who controls what? What are they doing with these technologies and can we trust them? What’s someone’s motivation? In this case, it seems like a good thing…but the questions are worth discussing/asking. Especially as we’re moving forward at breakneck speeds!

2015	2016
1. Evolving staffing models	1. Information security
2. Optimizing technology in teaching and learning	2. Optimizing educational technology
3. Funding IT strategically	3. Student success technologies
4. Improving student outcomes	4. IT workforce
5. Demonstrating IT’s value	5. Institutional data management
6. Increasing capacity for change	6. IT funding models
7. Providing user support	7. Business intelligence and analytics
8. Developing security policies for the institution	8. Enterprise application integrations
9. Developing enterprise IT architecture	9. IT organizational development
10. Balancing information security and openness	10. E-learning and online education

Learning Ecosystems

Lytro Shocks the World and Builds the Most Ambitious Virtual Reality Camera [Sonders]

Tools We Like: Spotlight on IDEO’s EE Lab [Breselor; IDEO]

6 ways work will change in 2016 [Lindzon]

10 items regarding wearables

Michigan Radio’s Issues & Ale: College Affordability & Access [michiganradio.org]

Project Loon is set to circle the planet with Internet balloons in 2016 [Dockrill]

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