computer science

Robotics CEO: 12-year-old whiz as smart as Ph.Ds

On 11/09/2013, in computer science, Google, K-12 related, programming, robotics, United States, by Daniel Christian

Robotics CEO: 12-year-old whiz as smart as Ph.Ds — from Yahoo.com by Andrew Lampard; with thanks to Mr. Joseph Byerwalter and Jay Collier for the resources here

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

After hearing about Rohan’s very successful internship, we traveled to Silicon Valley to find out how Rohan learned so much about robots by such a young age. Watch the video to meet Rohan and some of his robots.

Per Jay Collier (@JayCollier) out in Maine, they are doing something similar with “The Hour of Code:”

The Hour of Code is coming to Maine — from ProjectLogin.com

Excerpt:

Sixteen Maine schools have already pledged to participate, and Project>Login will host an Hour-of-Code Dojo at the Augusta Civic Center December 14.

More than 5,000 Maine students will be joining a national campaign to demystify computer science during the Hour of Code week in December, according to the organizers at Code.org.

“Learning in the Living [Class] Room” — as explained by Daniel Christian [Campus Technology]

On 11/05/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, adult learning, analytics, animation, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, attention, blended learning, Bring your own device (BYOD), business side of he, career development, change, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, competency-based learning/education, computer science, consortiums, content development, aggregation, repositories, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, creativity, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, disruption, distance education, e-books, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), e-readers, education, education reform, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, entrepreneurship, expectations, experimentation, flipping -- inverted learning, formal learning, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), hybrid learning, IBM, ideas, immersion, informal learning, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interaction design, interactivity, interface design, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, learning spaces, liberal arts, lifelong learning, love of learning, machine-to-machine communications, marketplaces, media/film, Michigan, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, mobile technologies, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, motivation, multi-touch, multimedia, Near Field Communication (NFC), neurodivergent/special needs, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, new media literacies, online learning, online media, online tutoring, open courseware and systems, organizational change, pace of change, participation, passions, personalized/customized learning, platforms, play, professional development, programming, real-world assignments, reinvent, second screen apps, simulations, smart classrooms, social learning / networks, social media, society, staying relevant, STEAM-related, story, storytelling, strategy, streams of content, student-related, surviving, tablets, teaching & learning, technologies for your home, technology (general), telecommunications, telepresence, television, transmedia, trends, TVs, ubiquitous learning, universities, user experience (UX), user interface design, using teams, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, webinars, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Learning from the Living [Class] Room — from Campus Technology by Daniel Christian and Mary Grush; with a huge thanks also going out to Mr. Steven Niedzielski (@Marketing4pt0) and to Mr. Sam Beckett (@SamJohnBeck) for their assistance and some of the graphics used in making these videos.

From DSC:
These 4 short videos explain what I’m trying to relay with a vision I’m entitling, Learning from the Living [Class] Room. I’ve been pulse checking a variety of areas for years now, and the pieces of this vision continue to come into fruition. This is what I see Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) morphing into (though there may be other directions/offshoots that they go in as well).

After watching these videos, I think you will see why I think we must move to a team–based approach.

(It looks like the production folks for Campus Technology had to scale things way back in terms of video quality to insure an overall better performance for the digitally-based magazine.)

To watch these videos in a higher resolution, please use these links:

Alternatively, these videos can be found at:

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How can HTML5 compete with Native? [DeveloperEconomics.com]

On 11/05/2013, in business, computer science, platforms, programming, by Daniel Christian

Example slides/information:

Some great resources re: keyboarding! From Amy Ashline and the kids that she works with.

On 11/04/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, computer science, interactivity, K-12 related, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, student-related, writing, by Daniel Christian

Information from Amy Ashline and the kids that she works with

“…the kids thought of the brilliant idea to email you in the first place, because they wanted to share a resource they found: http://www.pc-wholesale.com/pc-wholesale-com-s-guide-to-keyboarding.html . They thought it’d be a great fit for your page and that maybe other visitors would find it fantastic as well.”

PC Wholesale.com’s Guide to Keyboarding

Excerpt:

With the increasing usage of computers, keyboarding skills have become essential. Children must learn keyboarding skills early on as part of using computers and in order to type lessons and reports. Parents need to encourage kids to practice typing outside of school as it takes a lot of time to become efficient. It is also important to teach the proper hand and body positioning as well as correct typing techniques in order to prevent things like carpal tunnel syndrome. Learning to type need not be a boring chore; today, there are many fun games, lessons, and tests online to help kids learn keyboarding skills. With entertaining games like this, kids will love to type!

Examples:

From DSC:
Typing/keyboarding has been one of the most useful skills I’ve ever learned.

Quick story:
I got a detention slip from my typing teacher in 7th grade for looking at my hands while typing. That seemed to help me quite a bit actually. After that, I practiced really hard at NOT looking at my hands. Anyway, if you’re still out there, thanks Mrs. Worthy for teaching me how to type!!!

Smart Machines: IBM’S Watson and the era of cognitive computing [Kelly &Hamm]

On 10/09/2013, in 21st century, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business, computer science, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, Daniel S. Christian, education technology, emerging technologies, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, K-12 related, learner profiles, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, platforms, programming, research, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Smart Machines: IBM’S Watson and the era of cognitive computing — from cup.columbia.edu by John E. Kelly III, Director of IBM Research, and Steve Hamm, writer at IBM and former business and technology journalist

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Computers today are brilliant idiots. They have tremendous capacities for storing information and performing numerical calculations-far superior to those of any human. Yet when it comes to another class of skills, the capacities for understanding, learning, adapting, and interacting, computers are woefully inferior to humans; there are many situations where computers can’t do a lot to help us.

…

But the goal is not to replicate human brains or replace human thinking with machine thinking. Rather, in the era of cognitive systems, humans and machines will collaborate to produce better results, each bringing its own skills to the partnership. The machines will be more rational and analytic-and, of course, possess encyclopedic memories and tremendous computational abilities. People will provide judgment, intuition, empathy, a moral compass, and human creativity.

From DSC:
Consider what Watson “read in” to come up with some recommendations:

Watson

Addendum on 10/14/13 (emphasis DSC):

Watson is being used to assist with the treatment of cancer patients. According to an article from medicalnewstoday.com, Watson is “revolutionizing cancer care and research and speeding up progress for patients.”

In that same article, it mentions that, so far, Watson has ingested:

Over 600,000 pieces of medical evidence
2,000,000 pages of text from 42 academic journals and clinical trials based on oncology research
A huge number of patients’ records spanning decades of cancer treatment history, including medical records and patient outcomes. Watson can sift through 1.5 million pieces of such records and provide doctors with evidence-based treatment options within seconds.

One of IBM’s General Managers who works with Watson said:

“breakthrough capabilities bring forward the first in a series of Watson-based technologies, which exemplifies the value of applying big data and analytics and cognitive computing to tackle the industry’s most pressing challenges.”

IBM’s big data education outreach [Booker]

On 09/23/2013, in analytics, career development, colleges, computer science, corporate / business world, data related items, global / globalization, higher education, IBM, platforms, universities, by Daniel Christian

IBM’s big data education outreach — from InformationWeek.com by Ellis Booker; with thanks to EducationDive for their posting this
In the last decade, IBM has partnered with more than 1,000 universities to increase the world’s pool of computer science graduates. Latest focus: Big data.

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

The scarcity of data scientists is a problem for platform and tools vendors like IBM.

Even with impressive improvements in data visualization tools such as dashboards, IBM’s customers need employees able to set up these systems, correctly interpret their output and discuss it with business-side colleagues.

IBM and other technology companies themselves need new workers, trained in the latest data-science concepts and techniques. Like many of its customers, IBM is having trouble hiring enough data scientists.

For both of these reasons, IBM has been working closely with colleges and universities. Its educational partnerships now number more than 1,000 globally.

Also see:

Gold in the data, but a shortage of miners — from fcw.com by Mark Rockwell

IBM adds another 9 universities to its big data training program [Roe]

On 08/21/2013, in 21st century, analytics, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, computer science, consortiums, data related items, game-changing environment, higher education, IBM, innovation, new business models, programming, workplace, by Daniel Christian

IBM cranks up big data analytics training programs as government continues cloud moves [infographic] — from cmswire.com by David Roe

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

IBM is clearly concerned about the big data skills shortage. It has announced the addition of another 9 universities to its big data training program. The economic importance of the program was also underlined this week by the announcement that it has just secured a US$ 1 billion federal contract for cloud computing.

Big Data, Analytics Skills Shortages

The problem for IT giants that are currently muscling into the big data market is that the development of the technology has been so rapid the number of big data/analytics projects currently underway far outweighs the number of people that have appropriate skills.

In fact between now and the end of 2015, IBM estimates that there will be 4.4 million jobs worldwide in big data support. At the moment it is not clear where all the people required to fill these positions are going to come from.

The New CTO: Chief Transformation Officer — from HBR.org by Daniel Burrus

Excerpt:

…the role of the CIO needs to shift from Chief Information Officer to a Chief Innovation Officer, due to the massive, rapid, multiple technology-driven transformations that are occurring today. And, just as the CIO’s role needs to change, so too does the CTO’s—from Chief Technology Officer to Chief Transformation Officer. This fundamental shift is necessary to elevate the position’s contribution and relevance.

While the CIO has historically been focused on the technology needed to run the company, the CTO has been responsible for the technology integral to products being sold to customers or clients. However, over the next five years every business process is going to undergo a major transformation. For example, IBM executives recently shared with me that over 40 percent of their profits are now coming from products and services that were impossible just a few short years ago. That reflects the transformative nature of business today as well as the speed of the transformation. This is just the beginning and someone has to lead that transformation.

From DSC:
What Daniel Burrus is saying here is what I’ve also been trying to get at when I say that technology needs to be used strategically. The organizations that will thrive in the future will have cultures that are willing to experiment and innovate. They realize that they will fail at times and succeed at other times. They also realize that batting a thousand is not an option — as there are too many targets moving far too quickly (and some targets appearing out of nowhere…while some disappear).

Also see:

Today’s CIO needs to be the Chief Innovation Officer –– from HRB.org by Daniel Burrus

edShelf: Find the right educational tools for your needs

On 08/13/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, biology, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, computer science, creativity, digital learning, digital video, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, homeschooling/homeschoolers, interactivity, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, love of learning, mathematics, mobile learning, multi-touch, multimedia, online learning, participation, personalized/customized learning, productivity / tips and tricks, programming, science, simulations, social learning / networks, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, tools, by Daniel Christian

With thanks to
Robin Good for curating this item

The battle of the ecosystems: Apple, Google, Microsoft, & Amazon.com [Christian]

On 08/12/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, Apple, business, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, computer science, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, Google, higher education, innovation, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning spaces, media/film, Microsoft, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, mobile technologies, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, music, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, programming, second screen apps, smart classrooms, social media, student-related, tablets, technologies for your home, technology (general), tools, trends, TVs, ubiquitous learning, vendors, videoconferencing, virtual K-12 schools, virtual tutoring, workplace, by Daniel Christian

The battle of the ecosystems: Apple, Google, Microsoft, & Amazon.com — by Daniel Christian with thanks to Krista Spahr, Michael Mandeville, Bill Vriesema, and Adam Tozer from Calvin College for their feedback/inputs on this.

PDF version here [1.35MB]

Also see:

A game of ecosystems: Measuring ecosystem performance — from visionmobile.com by Andreas Pappas

Addendums on 8/13/13:

Battle of the media ecosystems: Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft — from computerworld.com by Michael deAgonia, Preston Gralla, JR Raphael
Four large tech ecosystems are currently vying for our attention — and for our dollars. How well are they succeeding?
Apple still tops the App Store despite Google Play growth — from tapscape.com

The science-fiction world continues to develop — but it’s often for real!

On 07/17/2013, in 21st century, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Augmented Reality (AR), computer science, Daniel S. Christian, digital video, engineering, global / globalization, Google, interactivity, internet, learning ecosystem, robotics, society, telecommunications, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Some items that made me think of this posting:

DARPA unveils Atlas DRC Robot — from spectrum.ieee.org by Stephen Cass

Specs:

Six feet, two inches tall (1.88m)
330 pounds (150kg)
On-board real-time control computer
On-board hydraulic pump and thermal management
Tethered for networking and 480-V three-phase power at 15 kW
Two arms, two legs, a torso and a head
28 hydraulically actuated joints
Carnegie Robotics sensor head with LIDAR and stereo sensors
Two sets of hands, one provided by iRobot and one by Sandia National Labs

Drone Home — from time.com by Lev Grossman — also see TIME: “Rise of the Robots” Special Issue

Excerpt:

Flying a drone, even just a Parrot, makes you realize what a radically new and deeply strange technology drones are. A drone isn’t just a tool; when you use it you see and act through it — you inhabit it. It expands the reach of your body and senses in much the same way that the Internet expands your mind. The Net extends our virtual presence; drones extend our physical presence. They are, along with smart phones and 3-D printing, one of a handful of genuinely transformative technologies to emerge in the past 10 years.

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Bioengineers 3D print tiny functioning human liver — from wired.co.uk

Peek inside Tesla’s robotic factory — from wired.com

Image from
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/alternative/1206_2012_tesla_model_s_first_drive/photo_11.html

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From DSC:
And, if you are up to filtering through a great deal of content, create some Google Alerts on the following things to see what’s happening with them:
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Internet of Things
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Augmented reality
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WebRTC
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Artificial intelligence
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Self-driving cars
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Wearable technologies

Intereresting — Amplify’s “MOOC + MOOC Local: The first AP Computer Science MOOC with in-school support.”

On 07/03/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, analytics, Asia, computer science, game-changing environment, K-12 related, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, new business models, online learning, United States, by Daniel Christian

.

Also see:

Japan’s Schoo lands $1.5m to broaden its online learning service as it targets 1m users — from thenextweb.com
Coursera and its ilk in the US aren’t the only ones making big moves in the massive open online course (MOOC) space, over in Japan a series of companies are making progress — including Tokyo-based Schoo, which just raised $1.5 million, as Startup Dating reports.
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List of startups in the eduction/kids space — from the 2nd annual LAUNCH Education & Kids event

Here’s why the TV apps economy will be a $14 billion business [Wolf]

On 06/25/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, analytics, animation, Apple, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, blended learning, Bring your own device (BYOD), business, business side of he, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, communications, communities of practice, computer science, content development, aggregation, repositories, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, distance education, e-books, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), e-readers, education, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, entrepreneurship, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, heutagogy, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, interactivity, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, learning spaces, lifelong learning, machine-to-machine communications, marketing/social marketing, marketplaces, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, more voice more choice more control, multi-touch, multimedia, music, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, new media literacies, online learning, online media, online tutoring, open courseware and systems, passions, personalized/customized learning, play, podcasting, professional development, programming, reinvent, second screen apps, smart classrooms, social learning / networks, staying relevant, storytelling, streams of content, student-related, tablets, teaching & learning, technologies for your home, telepresence, training / L&D, transmedia, trends, TVs, ubiquitous learning, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, webinars, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Here’s why the TV apps economy will be a $14 billion business — from forbes.com by Michael Wolf

.

Excerpt:

According to new research published this week, the TV apps economy is forecasted to reach $14 billion by 2017.

…

Take for example today’s news that Apple will begin selling video advertisements served by iAd through iTunes Radio loaded on Apple TVs. This is only the first move for Apple in this space, and others like Samsung and Google are already investing heavily in connected TV app advertising.

From DSC:
Why post this? Because:

It lays out future directions/careers related to Programming, Computer Science, Data Mining, Analytics, Marketing, Telecommunications, User Experience Design, Digital and Transmedia Storytelling, and more
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It leads to “Learning from the Living [Class] Room”

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From DSC:
And if this does take off,
$14 billion won’t begin to capture the profits from this new industry.
It will be far larger than that.

Relevant addendum on 6/27/13:

The future of cinema is on demand — from bitrebels.com by Ben Warner (From DSC: Having just paid $32 for 4 people — 3 of whom were kids — to see Monsters U, I believe it!)
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Via: [The Verge] Image Credits: [Venture Beat] [Home Theater]

Some announcements from Apple’s WWDC

On 06/10/2013, in Apple, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, computer science, convergence, digital audio, digital video, multimedia, music, platforms, technologies for your home, by Daniel Christian

Also see:

Crazy iPad numbers from the WWDC 2013 Keynote — from ipadinsight.com by Patrick Jordan
.

The Best Features Of iOS 7 — from techcrunch.com by Sarah Perez
.
Everything You Need to Know about iOS 7 — from hongkiat.com
Excerpts:
iBooks is now available on the Mac, giving users access to 1.8 million books including interactive textbooks.
.
AirDrop Sharing Between iOS Devices <– potential uses in the Smart Classrooms…?
AirDrop is now available for transfers between iOS devices via peer-to-peer WiFI connection. Turning on the Share Sheet on an app, you can find users who are nearby and tap items to share. A notification will appear on their device and when they open it, it will open to the relevent app and show the content that you shared.
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Apple’s WWDC 2013 Keynote: Highlights, Summary & History — from hongkiat.com by Singyin Lee
Excerpt:
Multiple Display <– potential uses in the Smart Classrooms…?
Multiple Display support allow you to work on, multiple screens, even though only one device is physically connected, even if it means you are using Apple TV as one of your screens. Full screen spaces can be pulled from one display to the next and the dock and other menus will be displayed on each connected screen as well.
.

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Apple’s App Store hits 50 billion downloads, 900K apps, $10 billion paid to developers; iTunes now with 575M accounts — from techcrunch.com by Sarah Perez

Learning Ecosystems

How can HTML5 compete with Native? [DeveloperEconomics.com]

Reflections on “The New CTO: Chief Transformation Officer ” [Burrus]

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