computer science

TV apps: A dive into fragmentation [appmarket.tv]

On 06/07/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, computer science, convergence, Daniel S. Christian, human-computer interaction (HCI), Learning from the Living [Class] Room, programming, television, by Daniel Christian

TV apps: A dive into fragmentation — from appmarket.tv by

Excerpt:

Suppose you wanted to build an app for TV, where would you start? Admittedly, there is an enormous number of variables to consider for an app developer on where they might start the journey, even before that journey starts. These include areas like skill sets, funding, previous development, and relationships. This article is the first in a series that aims to shed some light on the current state of TV app development, as well as the exciting ecosystem that is forming around the connected TV. If you’ve identified an opportunity where developing a TV app makes sense, read on!

…

At this point, suppose you want to cover the market and develop for all devices and middleware platforms. That’s at least 72 middleware/OS, 122 devices, and 3 screen resolutions, which equates to managing over 26,352 experiences. A little overwhelming, right? Luckily, the picture isn’t quite this grim and in practice, no developer has gone to these lengths (we hope!). The next article in this series will go into how some of this fragmentation is being dealt with and some best practices that we’ve discovered along the way.

itv-image

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

Tagged with: 21st century • 24x7x365 • A/V • computer science • convergence • Daniel S. Christian • human-computer interaction (HCI) • interactivity • learning from the living [class] room • programming

Tagged with: computer science • K-12 • programming • robotics

Ten things you should know about WebRTC [McCafferty]

On 06/04/2013, in computer science, IT in HE, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, online learning, programming, telecommunications, web design and production, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Ten things you should know about WebRTC — from cioinsight.com by Dennis McCafferty

Excerpt:

Don’t you think it would be great if you could engage with customers, employees, and partners accessing voice, video and data-sharing apps on a Web browser without any plug-ins? Thanks to developments with WebRTC technology, this is becoming a reality. To lend greater insight into this topic, Constellation Research Inc. has come out with a recent report, Ten Things CIOs Should Know about WebRTC. In it, author E. Brent Kelly reveals that WebRTC has the potential to take concepts pioneered by programs such as Skype to the next level. Ordinary Web developers will be able to, for example, use basic JavaScript application programming interfaces (APIs) to craft fully functioning voice, video and data-collaboration apps, or embed these capabilities with other apps with just a few lines of code. As a result, CIOs can lead their organizations to greater levels of employee productivity and customer engagement. “WebRTC may prove to be as disruptive to communications and collaboration as the World Wide Web was for information,” says Kelly, a vice president and principal analyst at Constellation.

Tagged with: IT • MOOCs • online learning • telecommunications • web-based collaboration

From DSC:
It seems that The Walmart of Education has officially arrived — i.e. a 50%+ discount off normal prices! A $7000 Masters in Computer Science!

Are we going to see more partnerships/collaborations like this involving MOOC providers, more “traditional” institutions of Higher Education, as well as the corporate world?

Are we moving more towards the use of teams and consortia and pooling resources?

Are we witnessing the beginning of a more accessible infrastructure to support lifelong learning?

Is AT&T going to hire the top performers?

Georgia Tech announces Massive Online Master’s Degree in Computer Science — from online.wsj.com
Institute teams with Udacity, AT&T to launch first-of-its-kind advanced degree program

Excerpt:

ATLANTA, May 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — The Georgia Institute of Technology College of Computing announced today that it will offer the first professional Online Master of Science degree in computer science (OMS CS) that can be earned completely through the “massive online” format. The degree will be provided in collaboration with online education leader Udacity Inc. and AT&T.

All OMS CS course content will be delivered via the massive open online course (MOOC) format, with enhanced support services for students enrolled in the degree program. Those students also will pay a fraction of the cost of traditional on-campus master’s programs; total tuition for the program is initially expected to be below $7,000. A pilot program, partly supported by a generous gift from AT&T, will begin in the next academic year. Initial enrollment will be limited to a few hundred students recruited from AT&T and Georgia Tech corporate affiliates. Enrollment is expected to expand gradually over the next three years.

Massive (but not open) — from InsideHigherEd.com by Ry Rivard

Excerpt:

The Georgia Institute of Technology plans to offer a $7,000 online master’s degree to 10,000 new students over the next three years without hiring much more than a handful of new instructors.

Georgia Tech will work with AT&T and Udacity, the 15-month-old Silicon Valley-based company, to offer a new online master’s degree in computer science to students across the world at a sixth of the price of its current degree. The deal, announced Tuesday, is portrayed as a revolutionary attempt by a respected university, an education technology startup and a major corporate employer to drive down costs and expand higher education capacity.

Georgia Tech, Udacity to offer Master’s Degree — from edsurge.com

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

WHOA. Georgia Tech and Udacity today said that they would jointly offer an entirely online master’s degree in computer science with support from AT&T for less than $7,000, total.

That’s a game-changer.

Tagged with: 21st century • budgetary • change • collaboration • computer science • corporate / business world • Daniel S. Christian • game-changing environment • Lifelong learning • MOOCs • reinvent • student-related • Walmart of Education • web-based collaboration

The human face of big data

On 05/03/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, computer science, data related items, global / globalization, intelligent systems, internet, machine-to-machine communications, Near Field Communication (NFC), social learning / networks, society, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

About the book: (emphasis DSC):

The book contains more than 200 stunning images and compelling essays, created by a team of over 100 of the world’s most talented writers, designers and photojournalists, illustrating just some of the ways big data is already helping to shape and address many of the biggest challenges facing our planet. The concept of the book, and of The Human Face of Big Data project, revolves around the idea that our planet is developing a nervous system that many data experts believe will soon have a greater impact on our lives than the Internet. The book is accompanied by an interactive iPad app, which also launched [on 12/4/12]. This ambitious project, conceived by “Day in the Life” series creator Rick Smolan and his partner Jennifer Erwitt is made possible by primary sponsor EMC, along with support from Cisco and FedEx.

“Our goal is to help people better understand, visualize and navigate the wild and uncharted territory of Big Data,” said Rick Smolan. “Big Data is just that – BIG. But, it’s a term that is largely misunderstood and difficult to explain. This book and the accompanying interactive iPad app are designed to take readers on a journey of discovery about a topic that is going to completely transform the world our children will inherit. It’s already enabling our kids to live healthier and happier lives; providing our seniors with independence while keeping them safe; helping us conserve our precious resources like water and energy; allowing us to peer into our own individual genetic makeup, and soon may allow us to alter our own species. All this and we’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s possible.”

Making news: How software is disrupting media [Stein]

On 04/29/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, career development, communications, computer science, journalism, programming, by Daniel Christian

Making news: How software is disrupting media — from fastcolabs.com by Gabe Stein
Get out from under your rock and take notice; the news industry is in big trouble! The Internet is killing journalism. Craigslist is stealing all the classified ads. Digital ad revenues stink. Yet journalists are still working, getting paid, and breaking important stories. Here’s what you need to know to survive and thrive as a techno-savvy journalist!

Want to catch up on other news about
the convergence of technology and journalism?
This is an ongoing story we’re tracking;
read on for context…

Tagged with: 21st century • 24x7x365 • career development • communications • computer science • journalism

Your new lab partner? How about Baxter’s Research Robot? Hmmmm….

On 04/26/2013, in chemistry, computer science, engineering, entrepreneurship, higher education, robotics, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
There seems to be some potential here for Computer Science students, Engineering majors, Chemistry students, aspiring entrepreneurs in the Business/Economics Departments out there, and more…

Excerpts from transmedia storytelling presentation by Gianluca Fiorelli

On 04/25/2013, in career development, communications, computer science, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital video, e-books, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, entrepreneurship, experimentation, human-computer interaction (HCI), immersion, informal learning, innovation, interactivity, internet, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, media/film, multimedia, new business models, new media literacies, online media, participation, platforms, play, programming, social media, story, storytelling, strategy, streams of content, transmedia, trends, user experience (UX), Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, by Daniel Christian

Notes from DSC:

Some of the material in this presentation or the website may not be appropriate for a younger audience.
Notice how many potential jobs/roles/positions/skillsets can be explored here!

From DSC:
The word Bible is here not quite I think of as the Bible…but you’ll get the point if you review Gianluca’s presentation.
.

Questions from DSC:

What opportunities might be presented by this type of trend within the worlds of education/training? (i.e. within K-12, higher ed, the corporate world)
What sorts of streams of contents could be created for educational/training-related purposes?
What sorts of open doors are now present within the world of communications? For a church, a school, a college, a business?
How can we incorporate the use of story more effectively in our teaching and learning environments? (If we could do this, we could greatly increase our students’ ROI.)

My reflections on “Four Reasons Why Kids Should Learn Programming” by O’Dell

On 04/16/2013, in computer science, digital learning, educational games / serious games, K-12 related, programming, by Daniel Christian

DSC’s comments on “Four Reasons Why Kids Should Learn Programming” — from tynker.com by Jolie O’Dell

.I like this blog posting and others have discussed this topic before…but I respectively disagree with one of the assertions: Programming is not easy — at least it wasn’t for me. I think that’s true for others, as why else is it so hard to find good programmers and why are they paid so well? Most people I know do not think like programmers do — it’s a different way of thinking. I’ve tried a couple different languages (albeit at a beginning level!), and while I greatly appreciate what programmers do, I am the first to tell you that I am not a programmer. At least within web design and development types of tasks/careers, people tend to either gravitate towards the front end OR the back end — though there are exceptions to this rule of thumb who can do both types of tasks well.

So while I agree that students should learn some type of coding, we need more tools/services like this that aim to make programming fun, enjoyable, understandable, and relevant.

About
Tynker is a new computing platform designed specifically to teach children computational learning and programming skills in a fun and imaginative way. Tynker is inspired by Scratch from MIT. It is a completely browser-based implementation written using Open Web standards such as Javascript, HTML5, CSS3 and does not use Flash.
.

Also see:

Check out this learn-to-code platform just for kids— from venturebeat.com by Jolie O’Dell
Why your 8 year old should be coding — from venturebeat.com by Jolie O’Dell
Excerpt:
The startup is Tynker; it makes a web-based learning platform and a visual programming language for teachers and kids in K-12 classrooms. In a discussion with its co-founder, we found out why teaching kids how to code is so important to him.

Tagged with: educational gaming • engagement • K-12 • love of learning • programming

The tech industry’s massive marketing problem [Asay]

On 04/12/2013, in career development, computer science, marketing/social marketing, programming, workplace, by Daniel Christian

The tech industry’s massive marketing problem — from readwrite.com by Matt Asay

Excerpt:

The US has a skilled developer shortage, and it’s one of its own making. While Silicon Valley wrings its hands over H1B visa caps on skilled foreign workers, the bigger issue remains the U.S.’ inability to educate its own citizens. Actually, it may be worse than this: while we may educate a surplus of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) students for traditional STEM roles, we seem to fail to entice enough of them to get into technology.

Which is bizarre, if we stop to think about this for even a nanosecond.

Comments/reflections on this from DSC:

I think that the shock waves are still being felt from the decades’ worth of how the corporate world handled IT-related personnel and projects — that and the Dot Com crash.

A member from our CS department mentioned a while back that many of the high school career counselors were encouraging students not to go into a technology-related field such as programming. I think they were basing such a perspective on how quickly the tech-related projects and personnel were dropped when the economy started heading south.

Another tough thing about the tech-side of the house…
With the pace of technological change, choosing which technologies to invest one’s time in is very difficult. One can easily choose an incorrect path or a product line or a programming language that didn’t turn out to be the one in demand.

Tagged with: career development • computer science • marketing/social marketing • programming • workplace

The connected TVs are here… interactive programming & native apps will follow— from venturebeat.com by Habib Kairouz

Excerpt:

Innovative devices have always fueled new application ecosystems. The software industry was enabled by the WinTel PC platform; and hundreds of thousands of websites were built once the PCs became “connected.” In the last few years, we have witnessed the same trend in mobile; more than 700,000 apps have been created for Web-enabled phones. We’ll soon see connected TVs fueling a similar ecosystem of interactive programming and native apps. With nearly a quarter of all U.S. households currently using connected TVs (according to eMarketer), we have reached the tipping point of mass adoption.

As opposed to the disastrous impact the Internet had on the print industry, I see the innovation of the connected TV market as a tremendous, yet accretive, evolution as opposed to a threat. Here’s why:

Tagged with: career development • Daniel S. Christian • innovation • learning from the living [class] room • MOOCs • programming • smart classrooms • Smart/Connected TV • TV • Walmart of Education

My reflections on “MOOCs of Hazard” – a well-thought out, balanced article by Andrew Delbanco

On 04/10/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, analytics, animation, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Bring your own device (BYOD), cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, computer science, consortiums, content development, aggregation, repositories, convergence, cost of getting a degree, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, design, digital learning, digital storytelling, disruption, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interaction design, interactivity, interface design, internet, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, machine-to-machine communications, media/film, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, multi-touch, multimedia, Near Field Communication (NFC), New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new media literacies, online learning, online tutoring, personalized/customized learning, programming, real-world assignments, reinvent, second screen apps, simulations, social learning / networks, storytelling, streams of content, TVs, user experience (UX), user interface design, using teams, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, by Daniel Christian

From DSC: Below are my reflections on MOOCs of Hazard — from newrepublic.com by Andrew Delbanco — who asks: Will online education dampen the college experience? Yes. Will it be worth it? Well…

.
While I’m not sure that I agree with the idea that online education will dampen the college experience — and while I could point to some amazing capabilities that online education brings to the table in terms of true global exchanges — I’ll instead focus my comments on the following items:

1) Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are recent experiments — ones that will continue to change/morph into something else.
They are half-baked at best, but they should not be taken lightly. Christensen, Horn, Johnson are spot on with their theories of disruption here, especially as they relate to innovations occurring within the virtual/digital realm. For example, the technologies behind IBM’s Watson could be mixed into the list of ingredients that will be used to develop MOOCs in the future. It would be a very powerful, effective MOOC indeed if you could get the following parties/functionalities to the table:

IBM — to provide Watson like auto-curation/filtering capabilities, artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, as well as data mining/learning analytics expertise, joined by
Several highly-creative firms from the film/media/novel/storytelling industry, who would be further joined by
Experts from Human Computer Interaction (HCI)/user interface/user experience design teams, who would be further joined by
Programmers and interaction specialists from educational gaming endeavors (and from those who can design simulations), joined by
Instructional designers, joined by
The appropriate Subject Matter Experts who can be reached by the students as necessary, joined by
Those skilled in research and library services, joined by
Legal experts to assist with copyright issues, joined by
Other specialists in mobile learning, 3D, web development, database administration, animation, graphic design, musicians, etc.

It won’t be long before this type of powerful team gets pulled together — from some organizations(s) with deep pockets — and the content is interacted with and presented to us within our living rooms via connected/Smart TVs and via second screen devices/applications.

2) The benefits of MOOCs

For colleges/universities:
- MOOCs offer some serious marketing horsepower (rather than sound pedagogical tools, at this point in time at least)
- They are forcing higher ed to become much more innovative
- They provide great opportunities to build one’s personalized learning networks, as they bring forth those colleagues who are interested in topic A, B, or C
- They move us closer to team-based content creation and delivery
  .
For students:
- They offer a much less expensive option to go exploring disciplines for themselves…to see if they enjoy (and/or are gifted in) topic A, B or C
- They provide great opportunities to build one’s personalized learning networks, as they bring forth those colleagues who are interested in topic A, B, or C
- They provide a chance to see what it’s like to learn about something in a digital/virtual manner

3) The drawbacks of MOOCs:

MOOCs are not nearly the same thing as what has come to be known as “online learning” — at least in the higher ed industry. MOOCs do not yet offer what more “traditional” (can I say that?) online learning provides: Far more support and pedagogical/instructional design, instructor presence and dialog, student academic support services, advising, more student-to-student and student-to-faculty interaction, etc.
.
MOOCs are like drinking from a firehose — there are too many blogs/RSS feeds, twitter feeds, websites, and other resources to review.

4) It would be wise for all of us to be involved with such experiments and have at least a subset of one’s college or university become much more nimble/responsive.

Also see:

Delbanco’s interview in The Hedgehog Review

Tagged with: 1:1 • 21st century • 24x7x365 • A/V • adjunct faculty • AI • analytics • Bring your own device (BYOD) • cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related • computer science • creativity • cross-disciplinary assignments • customized learning • Daniel S. Christian • data mining • design • digital storytelling • faculty-staff • graphic design • instructional design • interaction design • interface design • Learning Agents • learning from the living [class] room • Media/film • mirroring / multiple devices • multi-touch • multimedia • online learning • online tutoring • personalized learning • programming • second screen apps • simulations • Smart/Connected TV • Using teams • vendors • virtual reality / worlds / learning • virtual tutoring • visual design • Walmart of Education • web design

Technology is eating your job (part 2) — For those who need more convincing [Martin]

On 04/08/2013, in 21st century, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, career development, computer science, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, dangers of the status quo, future, professional development, robotics, technologies for your home, the downsides of how people use tech, United States, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Technology is eating your job (part 2) — For those who need more convincing — by Michelle Martin

Excerpts:

The reason I’m harping on technology so much is because for most of us, I believe this is a ticking time bomb we are trying to ignore. Most of us want to keep our heads down and just keep working, hoping that we aren’t going to be the ones displaced by a piece of software or some other form of automation.

This will be a mistake. And it will blow up in your face. You need to start thinking now about how to future-proof yourself as much as possible so that you’re more prepared for this breaking wave of technology.

From DSC:
This is truly a troubling subject. I often ask myself the following questions:

Is an entire swath of people being left behind?
Am I in that swath?
(It sure feels like it at times; it feels like the tidal waves of change are washing over us and we’re all starting to flail about. Perhaps it’s too early to tell, but I think we’ll all feel this soon.)
What do we do about this developing situation? What does it mean for K-12? Higher ed? The corporate world?

Thanks Michelle for the important posting/heads-up!

For some solutions/thoughts here, see Michelle’s posting:

Reader question: Tech is eating my job, so now what?

Tagged with: AI • career development • corporate / business world • corporate universities / corporate training • dangers of the status quo • future • higher education • K-12 • professional development • the downsides of technology • United States • workplace

Some items re: how software and robotics are/might be impacting us

On 03/28/2013, in 21st century, career development, change, changing business models, computer science, corporate / business world, disruption, programming, robotics, workplace, by Daniel Christian

How the internet is making us poor — from qz.com by Christopher Mims

Excerpt:

Everyone knows the story of how robots replaced humans on the factory floor. But in the broader sweep of automation versus labor, a trend with far greater significance for the middle class—in rich countries, at any rate—has been relatively overlooked: the replacement of knowledge workers with software.

Also see:

Automation and employment–Posner – — from becker-posner-blog.com
.
How robots are eating the last of America’s—and the world’s—traditional manufacturing jobs —from qz.com by Christopher Mims — February 15, 2013
.
Race Against the Machine — by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee
.
Here’s the difference between repeating slogans and understanding a concept — by Andrew McAfee
.
Software is eating the world. What it means for your business. — from onesaas.com by Aaron Beashel
.

From DSC:
So…what courses aren’t we teaching in K-12 and in higher ed that we need to be teaching to help our students get prepared for this quickly-changing situation in the workplace? Now? In the near future?

What’s some good career advice (or resources) out there?

Dan Pink’s A Whole New Mind is one resource that comes to mind.

Tagged with: 21st century • career development • change • computer science • corporate / business world • disruption • new business models • programming

Desktop PCs less popular than ever [Martin & Swartz]

On 03/07/2013, in Bring your own device (BYOD), change, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, computer science, education technology, mobile learning, mobile technologies, new business models, programming, tablets, trends, by Daniel Christian

Desktop PCs less popular than ever — from Scott Martin and Jon Swartz, USA TODAY — with thanks to Mr. Rick DeVries at Calvin College for this resource

Tagged with: Bring your own device (BYOD) • change • cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related • computer science • educational technology • new business models • programming • trends

Previous Entries Next Entries

Learning Ecosystems

TV apps: A dive into fragmentation [appmarket.tv]

Ten things you should know about WebRTC [McCafferty]

Making news: How software is disrupting media [Stein]

Your new lab partner? How about Baxter’s Research Robot? Hmmmm….

The tech industry’s massive marketing problem [Asay]

Some items re: how software and robotics are/might be impacting us

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