On 08/25/2011,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, adjunct faculty, analytics, art, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, attention, Augmented Reality (AR), blogs / blogging / vlogging, change, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, computer science, convergence, creativity, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, disruption, drama/theater, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), economics, education, education reform, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, engineering, expectations, faculty/staff, game-changing environment, generational differences, global, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, intelligent tutoring, internet, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning theories, liberal arts, lifelong learning, machine-to-machine communications, memory, mobile learning, mobile technologies, multimedia, music, Near Field Communication (NFC), new media literacies, online learning, online media, pace of change, passions, pedagogy, presentations, productivity / tips and tricks, publishing, reading, reinvent, robotics, social learning / networks, social media, society, staying relevant, storytelling, strategy, streams of content, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, surviving, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, technology (general), telepresence, television, tools, trends, ubiquitous learning, United States, universities, videoconferencing, virtual K-12 schools, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, visualizing information, web-based collaboration, writing,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC:
Immediately below is a presentation that I did for the Title II Conference at Calvin College back on August 11, 2011
It is aimed at K-12 audiences.
From DSC:
Immediately below is a presentation that I did today for the Calvin College Fall 2011 Conference.
It is aimed at higher education audiences.
Note from DSC:
There is a great deal of overlap here, as many of the same technologies are (or will be) hitting the K-12 and higher ed spaces at the same time. However, there are some differences in the two presentations and what I stressed depended upon my audience.
Pending time, I may put some audio to accompany these presentations so that folks can hear a bit more about what I was trying to relay within these two presentations.
On 08/25/2011,
in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, Apple, business, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, communities of practice, computer science, creativity, digital audio, digital learning, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, education technology, emerging technologies, engineering, global, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, internet, liberal arts, lifelong learning, media/film, mobile learning, mobile technologies, multimedia, music, new business models, new media literacies, online media, pace of change, presentations, programming, quality, research, science, society, staying relevant, storytelling, strategy, student-related, technologies for your home, technology (general), television, tools, United States, usability, user experience (UX), user interface design, videoconferencing, vision/possibilities, visualizing information, workplace,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC:
I want to post a thank you note to Mr. Steven P. Jobs, whom you most likely have heard has resigned as Apple’s CEO. Some articles are listed below, but I want to say thank you to Steve and to the employees of Apple who worked at Apple while he was CEO:
- Thank you for working hard to enhance the world and to make positive impacts to our world!
- Thank you for painstakingly pursuing perfection, usability, and excellence!
- Thank you for getting back up on the horse again when you came out of a meeting with Steve, Tim and others and you just got reamed for an idea or implementation that wasn’t quite there yet.
- Thanks go out to all of the families who were missing a dad or mom for long periods of time as they were still at work cranking out the next version of ____ or ____.
- Thanks for modeling what a vocation looks like — i.e. pursuing your God-given gifts/calling/passions; and from my economics training for modeling that everyone wins when you do what you do best!
Thanks again all!
- Steve Jobs’s Best Quotes — WSJ
- Steve Jobs: The End Of An Era — Techcrunch
- Steve Jobs resigns as Apple CEO –– wired.co.uk
- Steve Jobs has resigned as Apple CEO “effective immediately” — arstechnica.com
- Steve Jobs resigns as CEO of Apple — engadget.com
- 10 iconic Steve Jobs moments [videos] — from mashable.com
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:
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! 🙂
On 08/22/2011,
in A/V -- audio/visual, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, emerging technologies, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, technologies for your home, television,
by Daniel Christian
Which streaming media device is right for you? — from cnet.com by John Falcone
Editors’ note: This story was originally published on December 15, 2010. It was updated on August 19, 2011 with updated product recommendations.
Also see:
- Streaming gains ground in the living room; Over 50% connected — from streamingmedia.com by Troy Dreier
But there’s a giant gulf between having the ability to stream and actually streaming, research finds.
On 08/18/2011,
in analytics, blended learning, change, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, content development, aggregation, repositories, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, digital textbooks, disruption, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, game-changing environment, hybrid learning, mobile learning, online learning, open courseware and systems, personalized/customized learning, publishing, trends, vendors,
by Daniel Christian
On 08/18/2011,
in digital learning, leadership, mobile learning, mobile technologies, new media literacies, strategy, student teaching/teacher education,
by Daniel Christian
Abilene Christian U supports teachers through Digital Learning Institute — from convergemag.com by Tanya Roscorla
Excerpt:
This summer, Abilene Christian University in Texas hosted its first K-12 Digital Learning Institute for teachers. And this school year, the university will observe teachers’ lessons as they apply what they learned about mobile technology to their classes.
On 08/17/2011,
in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, convergence, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, digital textbooks, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, technologies for your home, trends,
by Daniel Christian
Some updates on learning from the living room:
US cable and pay TV lose another half million customers in Q2, 2011 – cord cutting continues — from appmarket.tv by Richard Kastelein
According to Bloomberg, the six largest publicly traded U.S. cable and Pay TV providers are to lose 580,000 customers in the second quarter of 2011 – which is the biggest such decline in history.
‘TV textbooks’ bring access to low-income Florida students — from eSchoolNews.com by Jenna Zwang
Jacksonville officials introduce a program to raise reading scores
Prompted by lackluster reading scores, Duval County Public Schools (DCPS) in Jacksonville, Fla., is attempting to reach low-income students by turning students’ televisions into learning centers.
Time Warner cable head says company future is broadband, not TV –– ReelSEO Video Marketing by Jeremy Scott
Well surprise, surprise. The chief executive of Time Warner Cable, the second-largest cable operator in the U.S., says that broadband is the anchor service of the company’s future, not television. And while that may be a no-brainer for most of us observers in the industry, it’s still a pretty big deal for a cable company to admit their future isn’t in cable (emphasis DSC).
Research: Connected TV will be consumers’ portal to the Web by 2015 — from fierceonlinevideo.com
Google, Motorola deal may impact TV future — from bizreport.com by Kristina Knight
Add another destination for online giant Google – your living room (emphasis DSC). With the announcement that Google will purchase Motorola Mobility many in the space wonder what is next.
Addendum on 8/18/11:
- TV trends to watch at IBC 2011 — from tvgenius.net by Emma Wells
On 08/17/2011,
in Augmented Reality (AR), digital learning, education technology, educational games / serious games, Google, higher education, mobile learning, mobile technologies, research,
by Daniel Christian
MIT launches Center for Mobile Learning with support from Google — from readwriteweb.com by Jon Mitchell
Excerpt:
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has announced the creation of a new Center for Mobile Learning. The center will be housed at the MIT Media Lab. Google supported the creation of the center with a grant from Google University Relations. The center’s first project will be the adoption and further development of App Inventor for Android, a do-it-yourself tool for building apps for Google’s Android mobile OS with no programming skills required.
From the announcement
The Center, housed at the Media Lab, will focus on the design and study of new mobile technologies and applications, enabling people to learn anywhere anytime with anyone. Research projects will explore location-aware learning applications, mobile sensing and data collection, augmented reality gaming, and other educational uses of mobile technologies.
On 08/15/2011,
in creativity, digital audio, digital learning, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital video, innovation, journalism, multimedia, story, storytelling, tools,
by Daniel Christian
On 08/10/2011,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, biology, chemistry, digital learning, digital video, innovation, learning spaces, mobile learning, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, online learning, physics, science, smart classrooms,
by Daniel Christian
Stanford researchers designed software that allows a viewer to zoom and pan while streaming online courses. They recently released the code to the public.
On 08/10/2011,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, change, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, education reform, education technology, game-changing environment, K-12 related, leadership, legislatures / government / legal, policy, United States, using teams,
by Daniel Christian
Closing the loop in education technology — from The Journal by David Nagel
Excerpt:
K-12 education isn’t using technology effectively and isn’t investing nearly enough in IT infrastructure to enable next-generation learning. That’s the conclusion of a new report, “Unleashing the Potential of Technology in Education,” which called for a greater financial commitment to education technology and the adoption of a holistic, “closed loop” approach to its implementation.
See also:
From DSC:
We may continue to be disappointed in our overall results — even if we do bump up our ed tech infrastructure/investments — if we continue to use the same models/ways of doing things. That is, I wish we would move more towards a team-based approach and stop trying to load up our teachers’ and professors’ plates with tasks that they probably don’t have the time, interest, or training to do. Graphically speaking:
So…use teams to create and deliver the content — and allow for online tutoring from a team of specialists in each discipline. Like the healthcare-related billboard I kept driving by the other day said: “A team of specialists at every step.”
On 08/09/2011,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, convergence, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, streams of content, technologies for your home, television, trends, UK,
by Daniel Christian
How the BBC is quietly, confidently shaping the future of TV –– from FastCompany.com by Kit Eaton
[On Monday] morning the BBC launched a whole new version of its iPlayer app, destined for connected TVs that sport a Net connection. In essence this means the BBC has taken its TV content online, added on-demand features, advanced search powers, playability on multiple platforms both mobile and static, and then fed all of its lessons back into an app…for TVs.