Defiance-FirstVideoGameTVShow-Feb2013

 

Excerpt:

It’s not unusual for a science fiction television show to spin off a video game. What is unusual is linking the show and the game together on an ongoing basis, with plot elements and characters from each crossing over to the other. In April, gaming company Trion Worlds and the Syfy cable television channel will unveil Defiance, the first such crossover massively multiplayer online game (MMO) and TV show.

 

From DSC:

Transmedia.

Multimedia.

Interactivity.

Participation.

Gamification.

Sounds like there must be something here for the next gen of learners — and learning from the living room.

 

 

Also see:

Collaborating via web conference — from campustechnology.com by David Raths
Advances in videoconferencing technology make it much easier for students and faculty to work together, regardless of where they are located.

 

 

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From DSC — with a special thanks to Mr. Michael Haan, Technology Integration Specialist at Calvin College, for this resource
Now we’re talking! The Mondopad from InFocus is starting to morph into what I thought the “chalkboard of the future” might look like. Now I’d like to see:

  • An entire wall offer this sort of functionality
  • More content from publishers flow into this sort of setup — i.e the kind of content that leverages the interactivity and flexibility that these sorts of technologies now make available
  • The ability of students and employees to transmit their content up to these devices/walls — have it be scanned for viruses — and then moved into a viewing area (with an option for folks to download that file if they want to)

 

InfocusMondoPad2-Feb2013

 

Key features:

  • Multi-touch high definition 55 inch display (From DSC: A 70″ version is also available I believe)
  • Flexible and expandable with built-in Windows PC
  • Digital interactive whiteboard and document annotation
  • Business-class video conferencing
  • Share, view and control from your tablet or smartphone
  • Full copy of Microsoft® Office ensures file compatibility

 

Also see the information out at Precision Data Products:

 

MondoPad-Feb2013

Largest multi-touch screen in U.S. installed at Cleveland Art Museum — from mashable.com by Lauren Indvik

Excerpt:

Museums are places we often go to connect with our pasts. The Cleveland Museum of Art , however, is also giving us a glimpse of the future.

The museum recently installed what it claims is the nation’s largest multi-touch screen, where as many as 16 visitors at a time can explore the 3,500 works in the permanent collection on display. Pieces are presented as thumbnails on a 40-foot-wide moving grid. Visitors can click on individual images to pull up more information, and to discover similar items by category (such as African art), artist, medium or period.

 

Also see:

ARTLENS-Clevenland-Feb2013

 

 

 

Also see:

 

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Extremely powerful ideas for new types of face-to-face & web-based collaboration [Tidebreak; Christian]

From DSC:
As a team of us have been charged with putting together a new collaborative workspace/conference room, I’ve been thinking about some ideas for a new type of interface as well as some new types of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) to be used in group collaboration/web-based collaboration.  I was thinking it would be good to not only display files from various devices but also to be able to share files/URLs/other resources with each other.  (Some type of storage device that processes files — and scans them for viruses would be needed in addition to a large display or an interactive multitouch surface/wall.)

People within the same room could contribute files/items to a variety of “areas” — and so could others who joined in via the Internet.  Here’s what I had wanted to be able to do and I had pictured in my mind:

 

New-types-of-collaboration--DChristian-2-1-13

 

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
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  • People could select which files/URLs/resources that they wanted to contribute
    .
  • People could select which files/URLs/resources that they wanted to download to their own devices (during and after the meeting)
    .
  • Could be powerful in the next generation of our Smart Classrooms as well as in corporate training/learning spaces
    .
  • Could be powerful in the what I’m envisioning in “Learning from the Living [Class] Room”
    .
  • Could be powerful in conference room situations
    .

 

 It’s very similar to what Tidebreak has created/envisioned in their product lines.
Check out their innovative work/products/concepts!

 


Transforming learning spaces: 3 big ideas — from Tidebreak


 

 

Also see:

 

Tidebreak-Jan2013

 

 

Excerpt from Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie – February 1, 2013 (emphasis DSC)

#760 – Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
55,887 Readers – www.masie.com – twitter: emasie – The MASIE Center.
Host: Learning Directions Blended Seminars

2. Logitech Business Camera – Skype for the Classroom! I almost never endorse or highlight a product, as Learning TRENDS is vendor-neutral. But, we have been on a quest for a simple technology that finally arrived.

We wanted a camera, with High Definition capability, that could [offer remote Pan/Tilt/Zoom (PTZ) capabilities] – and also worked perfectly with both Skype, Gmail Video as well as a capture camera for content.  Why? In all of our classrooms, we have multiple large Plama/LCD Screens and wanted to add cameras for both video conferencing, class capture and knowledge clips.  While we could mount a nice single focus camera, the PTZ capability was missing.

Logitech BCC950 Conference Cam Video Conferencing Camera is perfect! We have tested in multiple settings and are delighted with the focus, quality and ease of use in a classroom or meeting room.  It has extensions that allow it to be mounted apart from the base and it would be ideal to add video capacity to a classroom – in our effort to evolve to the “connected classroom”.  The price is around $220 and we have purchased several for our Center.

 

Also see:

 

Conference Cam

The object formerly known as the textbook– from The Chronicle by Jeff Young

.

Don't Call Them Textbooks 1

Holly Gressley for The Chronicle

 

Excerpt:

Textbook publishers argue that their newest digital products shouldn’t even be called “textbooks.” They’re really software programs built to deliver a mix of text, videos, and homework assignments. But delivering them is just the beginning. No old-school textbook was able to be customized for each student in the classroom. The books never graded the homework. And while they contain sample exam questions, they couldn’t administer the test themselves.

One publisher calls its products “personalized learning experiences,” another “courseware,” and one insists on using its own brand name, “MindTap.” For now, this new product could be called “the object formerly known as the textbook.”

 

From DSC:
Imagine how this sort of thing might fit into the “chalkboard of the future” — as applications and content flow onto the “board” from open source repositories and/or from the publishers’ cloud-based repositories of content…

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Daniel Christian: The Chalkboard of the Future

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or in learning from the living room…

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The Living [Class] Room -- by Daniel Christian -- July 2012 -- a second device used in conjunction with a Smart/Connected TV

 

Also see:

LG’s 55” OLED television is thin as a pencil and first to market — from singularityhub.com

 

 

 

Microsoft’s epic plan to turn your living room into a giant TV — from
How big is your TV? 40 inches? 50 inches? Well, what if it were the size of your whole room?

From DSC:
And if they can do that, what might the applications be for educationally-related applications? Perhaps something like this.

 

CES 2013: trends in connected TV — from guardian.co.uk
Michael Berliner on why all media professionals should be keeping a close eye on smart TVs in 2013

Specialty classroom technologies — from centerdigitaled.com

  • Kristy Chapman | Special Education Director | Union County | Board of Education, GA
  • Kyle Li | Full-time Game & Learning Instructor | School of Art, Media, and Technology | Parsons, The Newschool for Design, NY
  • Moses A. Ojeda | Principal (I.A.) | Thomas A. Edison Career & Technical Education High School, NY
  • Denise Spence | Magnet Lead Technology Teacher | Academy for Technology Excellence | Academy for Digital Excellence | Academy for Game Design and Programming Excellence | Dunbar High School, FL

Session was moderated by Tom Ryan, Ph.D. | Sr. Fellow, Center for Digital Education | Former CIO, Albuquerque Public Schools

Resources

 

Example slides:

 

Converge-1-17-13FullSteamAhead

 

Converge-1-17-13-2

 

 

Converge-1-17-13-3

 

 

Converge-1-17-13-4

 

Converge-1-17-13-5

 

Converge-1-17-13-6

 

Converge-1-17-13-9

 

Converge-1-17-13-10

 

Converge-1-17-13-12

 

Converge-1-17-13-13

 

Converge-1-17-13-14

VideoScribe HD by Sparkol — with thanks to Sue Gorman (@sjgorman) whose post on Twitter said, “VideoScribe HD -create Fast Drawing videos…awesome!”
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sparkol-jan2013

 

 

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A tale of two television strategies — from IEEE.org by Steven Cherry

Excerpt:

At the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show, back-to-back visits to LG and Panasonic reveal two very different approaches to selling, and maybe making, televisions. At LG the focus was on display technologies, picture quality, size, and form factors. Panasonic put its Smart TV features front and center.

I saw a voice-commanded Google search.

At yet another station, Panasonic showed a proof-of-concept of some friends all chatting by text message (like an old-style AOL chatroom), with the messages showing up on at the bottom portion of a television screen showing the program that everyone is watching.

LG had a few user scenarios—collaborative picture drawing between users of 5-inch tablets, for example—but they mostly weren’t very well developed, nor very smart.

 

 

.

 

 

 

 Also see:

CES2013SamsungKeynote

From DSC:
In this series of periodic postings re: experimentation (see here and here), this week’s Consumers Electronics Show prompts me to think about different types of experiments, prompting such questions as:
.

  • When will we see more educationally-related second screen apps?
    .
  • How might this type of setup dovetail with MOOCs provided by institutions of higher education? With MOOCs offered by the corporate world?
    .
  • What sorts of technologies will weave their way into what could be offered here?
    (The following possibilities come to my mind: Artificial Intelligence (AI), learning agents, recommendation engines, course or topic playlists, web-based learner profiles, data mining/analytics, videoconferencing, educational gaming, virtual tutoring, BYOD, and/or cloud-based computing. Other…?)
    .
  • Will Internet-enabled marketplaces and exchanges — between learners and teachers — become commonplace?
    .
  • Will technologies involved with endeavors like IBM’s Watson or with Knewton be deployed in this kind of convergent environment? If so, what sorts of doors/job opportunities/new skillsets would that open up or require?
    .

.

The Living [Class] Room -- by Daniel Christian -- July 2012 -- a second device used in conjunction with a Smart/Connected TV

 

.

Some relevant items on this include:

Flingo reveals Samba, a first of its kind dual interactive TV and second screen platform — from pandodaily.com byasdf

Excerpt:

This week at CES in Las Vegas (the Consumer Electronics Show), San Francisco-based Flingo will release the latest version of its platform, dubbed Samba, aimed at changing this. Samba will make four-year-old Flingo one of the first to offer a combined Interactive TV and Second Screen experience.

“We saw a surge of Smart TV and tablet adoption in 2012, but realized that a seamless TV experience across all screens was missing,” says Flingo co-founder and CEO Ashwin Navin, formerly of BitTorrent. “Samba will blur the lines between linear television and the Web.”

Flingo is unique in that it uses video, not audio to identify what content is being viewed…

Samba offers viewers the ability to actively engage with programming in real-time through their primary screen. This can take the form of polls, social conversations, recommendations, or consumption of related media. In the case of Second Screens, aka internet-connected laptops, tablets, and smartphones used simultaneously while watching TV, the company can offer an even wider array of complementary content and engagement, such as aggregated social feeds relating to live programming or an ability to watch past episodes of a live show. This can all be delivered across multiple screens, in concert.

 

Also see:

Smart TV Alliance adds Panasonic and IBM to its fold, lays bare new SDK features -- Sean Buckley

 

Also see:

 

samsung smart tv ces 2013

 

Kevin Smith/Business Insider

 

More tangentially, but still relevant:

  • McGraw-Hill to debut adaptive e-book for students — from blogs.wsj.com by Shalini Ramachandran
    Excerpt:

    The SmartBook…works like this: All readers essentially see the same textbook as they read for the first five minutes. But as a reader answers review questions placed throughout the chapter, different passages become highlighted to point the reader to where he or she should focus attention.

 

From DSC:
The other day, I mentioned how important it will be for institutions of higher education to increase the priority of experimentation. Clicking on the graphic below will give you an example of the kind of vision/experiment that I’m talking about.

(Though, more practically speaking, to operationalize this type of vision would actually require a series of much smaller experiments; I just wanted to present the overall vision of how these pieces might fit together).

 

DanielChristian--Jan2013-Experiment-with-Apples-Ecosystem

NOTE:
This 11″x17″ image is a 10MB PDF file, so it may take some time to appear.
Feel free to right-click on the graphic in order to download/save/print the file as well.

 

Also relevant is this upcoming event from educause:

 

1/8/13 addendum resulting from a Tweet from a great colleague, Mr. Travis LaFleur (@travislafleur), UX Designer at BiggsGilmore

 

 

5 ways TV will evolve in 2013 — from readwriteweb.com by John Paul Titlow

Excerpt:

If you were expecting the Internet to upend TV like it mangled the print media business, you may have noticed by now that things aren’t so simple.

The Web is very good at delivering text and static images, but when it comes to TV-quality video content, it turns out that cable providers are still much better at that. Internet TV has two serious handicaps: content and the user interface. In 2012, the status quo crept forward in both areas, albeit slowly. Next year, TV will continue its gradual evolution toward something completely different from what we grew up with.

Also see:

  • Living room tech in 2013 — from forbes.com by Tristan Louis
    While 2012 was the year of mobile, 2013 is going to be the year of the living room, with tablets, TV screens, and e-readers becoming a big part of the new battlefield.
    .
  • Turning screens into a television — from Inc. magazine by Issie Lapowsky
    Aereo, a New York City start-up, can broadcast live television to your iPad or a laptop. That is, unless a big lawsuit shuts the company down.
    .

Aereo

Courtesy Company

More Americans are watching TV shows minus the television set. Thanks to Hulu, Netflix, and other sites, there’s plenty to watch online. But there’s one thing missing, says Chet Kanojia: live television.

© 2024 | Daniel Christian