From DSC:
For those of us working in higher education, read this article and keep an ongoing pulse check on the changing K-12 situation. Those students will be on our doorsteps before we know it — bringing with them their own/new set of expectations for their learning experiences. These expectations will have major implications for our teaching and learning environments.
With iBeacon, Apple is going to dump on NFC and embrace the internet of things — from Hari Gottipati
Excerpt:
What is iBeacon?
Using Bluetooth Low Energy(BLE), iBeacon opens up a new whole dimension by creating a beacon around regions so your app can be alerted when users enter them. Beacons are a small wireless sensors placed inside any physical space that transmit data to your iPhone using Bluetooth Low Energy (also known as Bluetooth 4.0 and Bluetooth Smart).
For example, imagine you walk into a mall with an iPhone 5s (comes with iOS 7 and iBeacon). You are approaching a Macy’s store, which means your iPhone is entering into Macy’s iBeacon region. Essentially iBeacon can transmit customized coupons or even walking directions to the aisle where a particular item is located. It can prompt a customer with special promotions or a personalized messages and recommendations based on their current location or past history with the company. Smartphones that are in an iBeacon zone will benefit from personalized microlocation-based notification and actions.
Also see:
From DSC:
How can this sort of thing be used in blended/hybrid learning environments? Will this be a part of our next generation smart classrooms/teaching spaces? A new way to take attendance? Share/distribute personalized content?
“The main obstacle to an Apple television set has been content. It has mostly failed to convince cable companies to make their programming available through an Apple device. And cable companies have sought to prevent individual networks from signing distribution deals with Apple.”
— Apple, closer to its vision for a TV set, wants
ESPN, HBO, Viacom, and others to come along
qz.com by Seward, Chon, & Delaney, 8/22/13
From DSC:
I wonder if this is because of the type of content that Apple is asking for. Instead of entertainment-oriented content, what if the content were more focused on engaging, interactive, learning materials? More on educational streams of content (whether we — as individuals — create and contribute that content or whether businesses do)?
Also see:
Excerpt (emphasis DSC):
The communications landscape has historically taken the form of a tumultuous ocean of opportunities. Like rolling waves on a shore, these opportunities are often strong and powerful – yet ebb and flow with time.
Get ready, because the next great wave is upon us. And, like a tropical storm, it is likely to change the landscape around us.
As detailed by analyst Chetan Sharma, this particular wave is the one created by the popularity of over-the-top (OTT) solutions – apps that allow access to entertainment, communication and collaboration over the Internet from smartphones, tablets and laptops, rather than traditional telecommunications methods. Sharma has coined this the mobile “fourth wave” – the first three being voice, messaging (SMS) and data access, respectively – and it is rapidly washing over us.
Addendum on 11/25:
Description:
The Yearbook is a unique publication produced annually by the Center for Digital Education (CDE) that highlights some of the outstanding trends,
people and events over the past year in education technology. The first part of the Yearbook gives readers market awareness by outlining how much money schools spent on education technology, where the funding came from and what technologies have been garnering the most attention.
The second part features 40 education innovators who are using technology to inspire their students, improve learning and better the K-20 education system. We hope that this 2013 Yearbook issue provides inspiration to our readers to continue on their quests towards innovation in education.
From DSC:
My quote in the Center for Digital Education’s 2013 Yearbook reads:
“Educational technologists need to be bold, visionary and creative. They need to be in tune with the needs, missions and visions of their organizations. We have the opportunity — and responsibility — to make lasting and significant contributions within our fields and for the organizations that we work for.”
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:
.
From DSC:
I’d like to thank Mr. Cal Keen, an incredible technologist
and a great person from Calvin College, for this resource.
.
Also relevant/see this item from educationdive.com:
FROM THE CAMPFIRE TO THE HOLODECK
Author: David Thornburg
Release Date: Available now
Price: $21.64 (Hardcover)
With “From the Campfire to the Holodeck: Creating Engaging and Powerful 21st Century Learning Environments,” award-winning futurist and educational consultant David Thornburg sets out to provide schools with a guidebook for transitioning from traditional classrooms and lecture halls to the immersive, student-centered, technologically driven learning experience of tomorrow. That’s where the title comes in, if you haven’t picked up on it yet, as it takes teachers from being the “sage on the stage” dictating everything to students to being the “guide at the side,” facilitating the experience.
Addendum:
From DSC:
There’s something here for classrooms/education — even for the living rooms of the future!
Little Mermaid Second Screen Live makes iPads part of the movie world — from gigaom.com by Liz Shannon Miller
Summary:
Disney advertises the Second Screen Live experience as a rebellion: “Break the rules — bring your iPad to the movies!” But it’s less a trip to the movies and more a fully interactive experience.
…
As the film began, so did the games. Most second-screen experiences I’ve tried have been largely passive, but Little Mermaid demanded the audience’s attention right from the beginning with games, trivia questions and other forms of interactivity for all ages.
…
The action on the big screen even froze from time to time for more complex games, and there were moments of seemingly new animation inserted at key plot points, as well.
Introducing…the Learning Dashboard — from khanacademy.org
Excerpt:
The new learning dashboard is your personal homepage on Khan Academy. The dashboard gives you an easy way to find the best next things for you to do. It has a bunch of really cool things designed to help you learn math, and soon other subjects, really well on your own or with a coach. You can access it when you’re signed in by clicking on the Khan Academy logo at the top of the page.
From DSC:
Think of the power of this in a blended learning environment! Use the dashboard to gain more choice, more control. See your progress. Then go to your teacher, professor, trainer, supervisor, subject matter expert, etc. to get guidance, extra help, etc. It also plays into what I envision in the “Learning from the Living [Class] Room” environment that continues to form in front of our very eyes.
From DSC:
Many of our learning spaces — if not all of them — need to be completely interchangeable, flexible, mobile, adaptive. Putting chairs and tables on wheels is a great place to start! I also like what they did w/ the electricity here; very flexible.
Also see:
and
The Kinetic Desk from Stir
Circle Twelve introduces new video conferencing and immersive multi-user collaboration system — from businesswire.com
DiamondTouch Immersion is a new video conferencing system from Circle Twelve designed for connecting two remotely located teams. It combines a the multi-user DiamondTouch table with a second display for video conferencing. It features several patented technologies, including the multi-user DiamondTouch table hardware used for interacting with shared content and collaborative whiteboarding, a method for indicating which remote user is interacting (check out the virtual arms at 3:45), and a multi-camera system so you can see all the people at the remote table. More information at http://www.circletwelve.com/products/…
From DSC:
Can you imaging this type of web-based collaboration in blended learning environments?!!
Also see:
Hacking the classroom: Purdue U’s approach to augmented learning — from campustechnology.com by Mary Grush
A Q&A with Kyle Bowen
Excerpt:
A term more familiar in the competitive world of the television industry, “second screen” offers a simple way for viewers to access additional information relevant to a TV program. At Purdue University, researchers aim to put the concept to work in the classroom — making an enriched and interactive learning experience with classroom apps easier. Here, Kyle Bowen, Purdue’s director of informatics explores his latest research on “hacking the classroom”: how to leverage the second screen concept to help instructors and students negotiate the realm of multiple and varied classroom apps.
From DSC:
Reminds me of the underlying vision that I was trying to get at here:
True personalization is the next big thing in multiscreen TV — from .v-net.tv by John Moulding
From DSC:
Not a far stretch to see some applications of this in the future aimed at learning objects/learning agents/and personalized streams of content.
![The Living [Class] Room -- by Daniel Christian -- July 2012 -- a second device used in conjunction with a Smart/Connected TV](http://danielschristian.com/learning-ecosystems/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/The-Living-Class-Room-Daniel-S-Christian-July-2012.jpg)
Addendum:
(With thanks going out to Mr. Richard Byrne over at the Free Technology for Teachers blog for this item)
Bookless public library opens in Texas — from npr.org by Bill Chappell with thanks to Laura Goodrich/Don Tapscott for this resource
Excerpt:
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