collaboration

WorkTech11 West Coast: A report from the trenches [Ware]

On 10/19/2011, in 21st century, collaboration, future, generational differences, mobile technologies, technology (general), web-based collaboration, workplace, by Daniel Christian

WorkTech11 West Coast: A report from the trenches — from thefutureofwork.net by Jim Ware

Headings/excerpt:

Randy Knox
Nokia Silicon Valley
Hamid Shirvani, President California State University, Stanislaus
Urban Design: Panel Debate
Kevin Kelly, author, “What Technology Wants”
Nathan Waterhouse, Ideo
Marie Puybaraud, Johnson Controls, and Sudhakar Lahade, Steelcase
Vwork: Michael Leone, Regus, and Philip Ross, CEO Unwired and the Cordless Group
Rational Mobility: Kevin Kelly, GSA (The “Other” Kevin Kelly)
Going Mobile: Dawn Birkett, Salesforce.com and Bryant Rice, DEGW
Mobility and Virtual Work: Panel Debate

Tagged with: 21st century • collaboration • future • generational differences • mobile technology • technology (general) • web-based collaboration • workplace

Polycom RealPresence Mobile brings HD video conferencing to the tablet

On 10/13/2011, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, Apple, collaboration, convergence, digital audio, digital video, global / globalization, Google, mobile learning, mobile technologies, tablets, videoconferencing, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Polycom^® RealPresence^™ Mobile — now for both the iPad and Android-based devices
Take video collaboration mobile with the first enterprise HD software solution for Motorola and Samsung tablets

Polycom® RealPresence™ Mobile is a new, free-to-download software solution that extends our legendary HD video collaboration technology, built on the Polycom RealPresence Platform, beyond the office and conference room to your Apple® iPad® 2, Motorola XOOM™ and Samsung Galaxy Tab™ tablet PCs.

Also see:

Addendum on 10/18/11:

Polycom CEO Andy Miller Announces the Polycom^® RealPresence^™ Mobile at Leading Mobile Conference

On October 12, Polycom president and CEO Andy Miller gave a keynote address during the CTIA Enterprise & Applications™ 2011 conference in San Diego, Calif., discussing video collaboration in today’s mobile society. During his keynote, Andy presented key industry trends, and share how Polycom is delivering video to mobile platforms, extending HD video collaboration technology beyond the office and conference room. The keynote included a live demonstration of a game-changing mobile video solution for enterprises – the Polycom® RealPresence™ Mobile.

Tagged with: 21st century • A/V • Apple • collaboration • convergence • digital audio • digital video • Global learning • Google • Mobile learning • mobile technology • tablets • tools • vendors • videoconferencing • web-based collaboration

Building Learning Communities 2011 Keynote: Dr. Eric Mazur [November Learning]

On 10/13/2011, in adjunct faculty, blended learning, collaboration, communities of practice, data related items, face-to-face, faculty/staff, higher education, hybrid learning, innovation, learning ecosystem, learning theories, physics, social learning / networks, strategy, teachers, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

Building Learning Communities 2011 Keynote: Dr. Eric Mazur — from November Learning

Excerpt:

Today, we are officially relaunching our opening keynote from BLC11 with Dr. Eric Mazur. Dr. Mazur is the Area Dean of Applied Physics and Balkanski Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA.

In his keynote, Dr. Mazur shares his vast research on teaching and learning. Students in Dr. Mazur’s class are moving far away from the traditional stand and deliver lectures given in many k-12 and university classrooms around the world, and they are gaining a much deeper understanding of the material being taught in the process.

As you watch this video, we invite you to take some time and respond to one or more of the following questions…

From DSC:
What I understood the key points to be:

Teaching and learning should not be about information transfer alone; that is, it’s not about simply having students “parrot back” the information. That doesn’t lead to true learning and long-term retention.
The more a teacher is an expert in his/her content, the more difficulty this teacher has in understanding how a first time learner in this subject struggles
Rather we need to guide and use peer instruction/social learning/collaboration amongst students to construct learning and then be able to apply/transfer that learning to a different context
Lecturing is not an effective way to create a long term retention of information
Peer instruction/human interaction creates effective learning
“The plural of anecdotes is not data.”
Eric is seeking data and feedback to sharpen his theories of how to optimize learning
Technology serves pedagogy — technology should afford a new mode of learning
Towards that end, Eric and team working on “Peer instruction 2.0”
How do I design good questions? Optimize the discussions? Manage time? Insure learning is taking place?
Eric is working with several other colleagues to create a system for building and using data analytics to give useful information to instructor about who’s “getting it” and who isn’t; about how we learn
Peer instruction not without issues — how people group themselves and who students choose to collaborate with can be problematical
Why not have the system do the pairing/grouping?
System uses algorithms, facial recognition, posture analysis; cameras, microphones
Surveys also used
The system is attempting to help Eric and his team learn about learning
The system being used at Harvard and by invitation only

Eric ended with a summary of the 2 key messages:

Education is not about lecturing
We can move way beyond the current technologies and use new methods and technologies to actively manage learning as it happens

From DSC:
After listening to this lecture, the graphic below captures a bit of what he’s getting at and reflects some of my thinking on this subject as well. That is, we need diagnostic tools — along the lines of those a mechanic might use on our cars to ascertain where the problems/issues are:

Tagged with: adjunct faculty • blended learning • collaboration • communities of practice • data mining • face-to-face • faculty-staff • higher education • hybrid learning • innovation • instructional design • learning and study strategies • learning ecosystem • learning theories • physics • social learning • strategy • teachers • teaching & learning

Vidyo: Video conferencing on the iPad, iPhone and Android tablets and smartphones

On 10/10/2011, in Apple, collaboration, communications, Google, mobile learning, mobile technologies, tools, videoconferencing, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Vidyo: Video conferencing on the iPad, iPhone and Android tablets and smartphones

Ad-hoc Room System

Vidyo HD Multipoint Video Conference iPad 2 Room System

VidyoMobile on iPad 2 joining an HD multipoint video conference at 720p with 4 other laptops and a room system. (Note: This picture has not been photoshopped in any way.)

Tagged with: Apple • collaboration • Google • iPad • iPhone • Mobile learning • mobile technology • tools • videoconferencing • web-based collaboration

Children’s Participatory Assessment Toolkit for Transitional Learning Spaces in Emergency Contexts

On 10/03/2011, in assessment, collaboration, education, global / globalization, society, by Daniel Christian

Tagged with: assessment • collaboration • education • global • society

iversity.org — The (new) collaboration network for academia

On 09/30/2011, in adjunct faculty, career development, collaboration, communities of practice, faculty/staff, professional development, research, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Tagged with: adjunct faculty • career development • collaboration • communities of practice • faculty-staff • professional development • research • web-based collaboration

From DSC:
This posting evolved after having read $500 billion TV market new battlefield for Internet companies (from forbes.com and the Trefis Team therein) as well as the posting at Future TV disruption – Forbes says it’s worth half a trillion dollars for Internet companies (from appmarket.tv).

As the convergence — and the movement of data/apps/content/services towards the cloud — continues, I wanted to jot down some thoughts re: the current field:

Apple, Google, Cisco and Microsoft seem to be solid players to watch in terms of cloud-based computing architectures, tools, and functionality — something to keep in mind when planning for the future directions of your organization’s set of tools and technologies.
Personally, I vote for vendors that “get the web.” Apple and Google have traditionally been very solid innovators on the web and have turned in solid report cards in terms of innovation, performance, and web-based applications. (Adobe — with their Macromedia purchase years ago and their current lineup of tools — has also done a pretty good job, but doesn’t have the arsenal to make my top 4 picks here.)
I don’t need to say much about Apple in terms of innovation — as they have out innovated every company on the planet while becoming the world’s most valuable company in terms of market cap. Apple is on the verge of adding enormously powerful, cloud-based functionality and apps to their ecosystem when they introduce iCloud this fall (and perhaps a web-connected/smart TV type of device in the future). They have proven themselves to be #1 in terms of working with multimedia-based content — its creation and distribution. Given the continuing trend of the convergence taking place with computers, telephones, and televisions, the ability to create and work with multimedia is key for many technology-related vendors, and, in my mind, Apple leads in this area.
Google has shown themselves to be solid innovators as well — and they “get the web.” Their current set of web-based apps — including Google Docs, Calendar, Hangouts, Reader, Alerts, etc. — provide a solid menu of web-based apps to choose from.
Cisco has proven themselves to be innovative as well, and owns some powerful technologies in their WebEx Meeting Center, Videoscape, networking infrastructures, and some of its other tools.
Though traditionally not a leader/innovator on the web, I think that Microsoft has deep pockets and they are a savvy business (having just purchased Skype as an example). So with SharePoint, Skype and Office 365, Microsoft is laying the foundation for a solid, web-based collaboration space.

Having said this, one can see that it is getting harder to practice the KISS principle in the IT departments out there. But where we can do so, it makes sense to do so — as there is less finger pointing and more accountability. It’s easier to support a fewer amount of tools and, often times, it seems that things simply work better with a reduced amount of vendors/technologies involved.

So I’ll wrap up this posting by listing some of the things that I’m trying to (simultaneously) keep in mind:

Web-based collaboration tools such as videoconferencing, shared interactive whiteboards, shared document creation, calendars/scheduling, form creation and reporting tools, chat, other
Cloud-based content/data/apps/services
Synchronization across multiple types of devices
Web-based updates (think publishers’ content in addition to apps)
Storage plans and pricing
Types of integration and tools a vendor provides on the cloud
The end user experience and the usability of proposed solutions
A vendor’s strategic direction(s) for the future

An item re: learning spaces from Abilene Christian University

On 09/26/2011, in collaboration, communications, higher education, learning spaces, by Daniel Christian

Photo by Tommy Metthe, Tommy Metthe/Abilene Reporter-News
Abilene Christian University students look over notes and study between
classes in the collaborative learning classroom Thursday at ACU’s Mabee School of Business.

Thomas Metthe/Reporter-News
Abilene Christian University students look over notes and study between classes in the collaborative learning classroom Thursday afternoon at ACU's Mabee School of Business.

Photo by Tommy Metthe, Tommy Metthe/Abilene Reporter-News

A before and after look at high performance office space [Harvard Business Review; Laing, Craig, & White]

On 09/26/2011, in collaboration, communications, corporate / business world, creativity, learning spaces, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Vision statement: High-performance office space — from Harvard Business Review by Andrew Laing, David Craig, and Alex White

Before:
The Tyranny of the Cubicle

After:
Flexible, Customized Space

Also see the slideshow — example below:

Wish You Worked Here: Beautiful, Productive Office Spaces

Some nice learning space innovations from Tidebreak

On 09/23/2011, in A/V -- audio/visual, collaboration, digital learning, education technology, innovation, interactivity, learning ecosystem, learning spaces, smart classrooms, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Core 77 Design Awards: Skype in the Classroom

On 09/13/2011, in collaboration, global / globalization, teachers, videoconferencing, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Also see:

Core77 Design Award 2011: Skype in the Classroom

Tagged with: global • Skype • teachers • videoconferencing

Way to go Kent ISD! (Kentwood, MI — USA)

On 09/08/2011, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, collaboration, education reform, education technology, future, innovation, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, learning spaces, Michigan, project-based learning, real-world assignments, smart classrooms, teachers, teaching & learning, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Also see:

Tagged with: collaboration • education reform • educational technology • engagement • future • innovation • K-12 • Keeping students engaged • learning ecosystem • learning spaces • Michigan • project-based learning • real-world assignments • smart classrooms • web-based collaboration

How I use Google Docs as a student [McAllister]

On 08/26/2011, in 24x7x365 access, collaboration, education technology, Google, productivity / tips and tricks, social learning / networks, student-related, tools, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

How I use Google Docs as a student — from Google’s Student Blog by Shep McAllister

Also see:

Uploading and converting PDF and image files with text to Google Docs — involves/relates to optical character recognition (OCR)

Tagged with: 24x7x365 • best practices/tips • collaboration • educational technology • Google • productivity • social learning • student-related • tips and tricks • tools • web-based collaboration

From DSC: To share my most recent learning involving Wimba Classroom

On 08/23/2011, in collaboration, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, productivity / tips and tricks, tools, vendors, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Yesterday, one of the organizations within our college hosted a conference call using Wimba Classroom. For those of you unfamiliar with Wimba Classroom, it’s really a set of web-based collaboration tools that offer such functionality as:

Videoconferencing
Audio-conferencing
Interactive whiteboard space
Chat
Application sharing capabilities

(Last summer, Blackboard purchased both Elluminate and Wimba Classroom and have since created Bb Collaborate 11 from these two product lines.)

What I’ve learned about Wimba Classroom is that it’s best used as a Skype-on-steroids type of setup. That is, when one remote person is communicating with other remote persons — and all parties use headphones with attached microphones on them for their audio outputs/inputs. It is best when none of the participants are a group of people sitting in one room. I say this because when you have a group of people in one location and you want to use VOIP-related technologies (i.e. for “free” communications), then you need to have a set of speakers powerful enough to cover the room. However, the audio output from the speakers can present some seriously-frustrating issues with the microphone in that room — especially if any participant has the Lock Talk feature turned on (feedback/echoing occur here).

I’m very disappointed with Wimba for not having innovated more here over the last 1-2 decades — they’ve been in the business quite a while before it was known as Wimba. Perhaps Blackboard Collaborate 11 will address some of these problems and introduce some noise-cancelling software to eliminate these sorts of communication frustrations.

Now, I’ve lost another internal customer and I’m forced into the “Have you driven a Ford lately?” mode with these folks; as any experienced Instructional Technologist or ID will tell you, this is a veeeeryyy frustrating and disappointing place to be in.

The bright side to this situation is our Implementations Consultant — who has been in my shoes before and knows what that’s like to be there. He’s been a big help through the last 2-3 years. He recommended some different microphones that may help better address some of these issues and I thought that I would pass this information along in case it’s helpful to someone else out there:

Phoenix Audio’s Duet Executive
or
BlueMic.com’s Snowball

I must be honest though — I’m seriously considering a lobbying effort to move our college away from using Wimba/Bb Collaborate 11 and towards WebEx Meeting Center or Adobe Connect. (Big Blue button and some others may be on the table as well, but my initial-but-not-completely-up-to-date guess is that other products don’t offer the same level of quality as WebEx or Connect.)

In retrospect (hindsight’s always 20-20, right?), I should have not been pursuaded by Wimba’s pitch that they focus solely on the education space — as that perspective may not be worth bragging rights these days (I’m constantly reminded that the education space doesn’t innovate as well as some other sectors/industries do).

Anyway…hopefully, this posting will help someone out there. Also, it is highly possible that my relevant skillsets need further enhancements here! So feel free to give me some further education — I’m always up for expanding my learning ecosystem! 🙂

Tagged with: best practices/tips • collaboration • Daniel S. Christian • digital audio • digital learning • digital video • productivity • tools • vendors • web-based collaboration • Wimba

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