Apollo to buy adaptive-learning company for $75-Million — from The Chronicle by Josh Keller
Excerpt:
The Apollo Group, which runs the University of Phoenix, announced on Tuesday that it plans to pay $75-million to purchase Carnegie Learning, which develops interactive math instruction that adapts to the needs of individual students.
Universal Design for Learning: It’s Not Just for Disability Experts Anymore (The Confessions of a First-Time Teacher) — from National Collaborative on Workforce & Disability for Youth (NCWD/Youth) by Amy Katzel
Excerpt:
All students, with or without disabilities, have different strengths and weaknesses. Early on, it was clear to me that I had a wide range of abilities in the room. Some students started out unable to consistently construct full sentences, while others were already writing complex prose. Some students raised their hand frequently to answer questions, while others preferred to stay quiet. When we did reading assignments during class, everyone read at different speeds. Some youth demonstrated they understood the material on quizzes, but then struggled with applying those concepts to their essays.
When I get up in front of the class, to which student am I teaching?
Also see:
Intel predicts Smart TV is the device of the future — from nyxiotechnologies.com’s blog
Chipmaker Intel believes that the Smart TV is the electronic device of the future, in the living room anyway.
Excerpt:
The Smart TV is already upon us, in its various forms from various manufacturers. It has arrived with 3D capabilities, web browsing and social networking and applications. Currently Samsung and LG seem to be two of the big players pushing the Smart TV to consumers.
Also see:
The future of TV is social and the revolution is coming ! | SOCIAL MEDIA NEWS | Digital Ministry — from Mark Mayhew
Ynon Kreiz, CEO of the Endemol group the largest independent production company in the world responsible for Big brother said Social TV is going to be huge.
“The ability to create content that will enable people to interface with each other, to connect, to recommend, to share and experience over television, is going to change the landscape of the industry.”
Excerpts:
What is social TV?
Simply put, it’s about merging your social media networks to the TV. It’s making TV social–again. It’s about taking the water cooler effect and making this virtual, it’s about the empowered consumer viewing content when and where they want, deciding who they want to share it with and being able to do this all in real time.In essence it is a term that describes technology that supports communication and social interaction in either the context of watching television, or related to TV content.Viewers are now using social media to connect with the TV with content that matters to them. Then, as the MIT study shows, they are engaging in massive real-time conversations around those shows and learning to be a part of that conversation and it is a participatory culture as well as a personalised one.TV always been social and on the face of it TV and social media seem like a natural fit but if the TV industry is going to make the most of the opportunities it is going to have change quickly and learn the lessons of the music industry.
…
It is time to rethink TV. It is time to imagine what it could be and redefine it for the participatory culture of tomorrow.
From DSC:
In the graphic below…what thoughts might arise if, instead of entertainment-oriented items, we thought more along the lines of providing materials relating to education, training, professional development?
What TV operators are missing — from Emma Wells
From DSC:
It may not be that long before the word “learning” can either be added to — or substituted for — the word “TV” below (emphasis mine):
Many of the TV tablet apps have taken a few tentative steps toward personalisation, but no one has fully embraced the potential of TV interfaces that can learn and change according to an individual’s preferences and tastes.
What a lot of these operators seem to be overlooking is the chance not only to offer content anytime, anywhere, but to personalise the entire TV experience.
While watching the main TV tends to be a group experience, watching TV on an app is much more intimate and personal.
-- excerpt from What TV operators are missing [Wells]
Addendum on 6/17/11
The Personal Cloud Will Be A $12 Billion Industry in 2016 — from ReadWriteWeb by Dan Rowinski
Excerpt:
P[ersonal] Cloud As The Third Major Client Software
Forrester says that the cloud will be the third major client software battleground. The PC operating system was the first, won early by Microsoft with niches carved out for Apple and Linux. Mobile is the second and remains fluid and volatile with Google’s Android leading in market share with Apple, Research in Motion and Microsoft figuring out how to gain ground. The personal cloud will be the third and will be built on top of the first two. Hence, the companies with strong infrastructure in operating systems and communications will be the leaders in the personal cloud as well.
Forrester sees the personal cloud as a disruptive force to the current online services market. It says to “prepare for major opportunity and turbulence selling to individuals.” That means marketers should explore the personal cloud as a new channel to reach eyeballs. IT managers should plan for personal cloud integration as consumers continue to want information stored in personal services at work and the major email providers should create a better experience to capture users from any email address in the company’s personal cloud net.
Future of Television – Video Podcast — from Phil Leigh’s Inside Digital Media, Inc.
Related item:
Here are some of the items on Apple’s recent announcements:
Apple updates shops with iPad displays and ‘Personal Setup’ service — from telegraph.co.uk
From DSC:
Speed, personalization, interactivity driving advancements in media today — I would submit that these trends are true for education as well.
See:
Excerpt:
Whether you’re talking about the future of television, news, or advertising, it’s all about speed, personalization, and interactivity. These three things are the driving considerations behind the advancement of all media today.
New Sony TV Ad: Television Redefined, Internet TV, 4/15/11 — from electrictv.com
New Samsung Smart TV Ad: Internet TV, 4/13/11 — from electrictv.com
[WATCH]: Interactive Video Conferencing at NCSSM
Daniel Christian:
A Vision of Our Future Learning Ecosystems
In the near future, as the computer, the television, the telephone (and more) continues to converge, we will most likely enjoy even more powerful capabilities to conveniently create and share our content as well as participate in a global learning ecosystem — whether that be from within our homes and/or from within our schools, colleges, universities and businesses throughout the world.
We will be teachers and students at the same time — even within the same hour — with online-based learning exchanges taking place all over the virtual and physical world. Subject Matter Experts (SME’s) — in the form of online-based tutors, instructors, teachers, and professors — will be available on demand. Even more powerful/accurate/helpful learning engines will be involved behind the scenes in delivering up personalized, customized learning — available 24x7x365. Cloud-based learner profiles may enter the equation as well.
The chances for creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship that are coming will be mind-blowing! What employers will be looking for — and where they can look for it — may change as well.
What we know today as the “television” will most likely play a significant role in this learning ecosystem of the future. But it won’t be like the TV we’ve come to know. It will be much more interactive and will be aware of who is using it — and what that person is interested in learning about. Technologies/applications like Apple’s AirPlay will become more standard, allowing a person to move from device to device without missing a beat. Transmedia storytellers will thrive in this environment!
Much of the professionally done content will be created by teams of specialists, including the publishers of educational content, and the in-house teams of specialists within colleges, universities, and corporations around the globe. Perhaps consortiums of colleges/universities will each contribute some of the content — more readily accepting previous coursework that was delivered via their consortium’s membership.
An additional thought regarding higher education and K-12 and their Smart Classrooms/Spaces:
For input devices…
The “chalkboards” of the future may be transparent, or they may be on top of a drawing board-sized table or they may be tablet-based. But whatever form they take and whatever is displayed upon them, the ability to annotate will be there; with the resulting graphics saved and instantly distributed. (Eventually, we may get to voice-controlled Smart Classrooms, but we have a ways to go in that area…)
Below are some of the graphics that capture a bit of what I’m seeing in my mind…and in our futures.
Alternatively available as a PowerPoint Presentation (audio forthcoming in a future version)
— from Daniel S. Christian | April 2011
Addendum on 4-14-11:
