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Some great pieces of art here!

On 05/22/2015, in art, creativity, by Daniel Christian

Delicate Glass Sea Life Sculptures by Emily Williams — from thisiscolossal.com by Christopher Jobson

 

Seaweed
Glass Seaweed, 2014, Flameworked borosilicate glass, 20? x 20? x 20?

 

 

 

It’s Nice That : Immerse yourself in the colourful geometric creations of Andy Gilmore — from itsnicethat.com as posted by Rob Alderson

 

Andygilmore-itsnicethat-1Andy Gilmore

 

 

 

Walking on a Dream: Murals of People Staring into Portals of Color by Seth Globepainter — from by Christopher Jobson

 

 

 

 

Also related/see:

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Jobs & work of the future

On 05/21/2015, in 21st century, 3D, analytics, art, assessment, business, career development, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, creativity, data related items, education reform, emerging technologies, engineering, higher education, interaction design, interactivity, K-12 related, lifelong learning, robotics, STEAM-related, trends, user experience (UX), web design and production, workplace, by Daniel Christian

What’s next? GM predicts jobs of the future — from media.gm.com; with thanks to Norma Owen for the resource
Top 10 jobs of the future that will drive exciting technologies

Excerpt:

  • Electrical engineers
  • Analytics expert
  • Interaction designers
  • Web programmer
  • Autonomous driving engineer
  • Customer care experts
  • Sustainability integration expert
  • Industrial engineer
  • 3D Printing engineer
  • Alternative propulsion engineer

 

 

 

What work will look like in 2025 — from fastcompany.com by Gwen Moran
The experts weigh in on the future of work a decade from now.

Excerpt (emphasis):

Seismic Shift In Jobs
The jobs picture either delivers on technology’s promise or plunges us into a dystopian future. The same interconnected technology that will change how goods and services are delivered will “hollow out” a number of skilled jobs, Brynjolfsson says. Clerical work, bookkeeping, basic paralegal work, and even some types of reporting will be increasingly automated, contracting the number of jobs available and causing a drop in wages. And while more technology might create new and different types of jobs, so far we’ve seen more job loss than creation in these areas, he says.

…

Who wins? Specialists, the creative class, and people who have jobs that require emotional intelligence like salespeople, coaches, customer-service specialists, and people who create everything from writing and art to new products, platforms and services, Brynjolfsson says. Jobs in health care, personal services, and other areas that are tough to automate will also remain in demand, as will trade skills and science, technology and mathematics (STEM) skills, says Mark J. Schmit, PhD, executive director of the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) Foundation in Alexandria, Virginia.

However, this winner/loser scenario predicts a widening wealth gap, Schmit says. Workers will need to engage in lifelong education to remain on top of how job and career trends are shifting to remain viable in an ever-changing workplace, he says.

From DSC:
Tell me this…do today’s standardized tests produce these “specialists, the creative class, and people who have jobs that require emotional intelligence like salespeople, coaches, customer-service specialists, and people who create everything from writing and art to new products, platforms and services?”
Nope…I don’t think so either.
Given that…what changes do we need to make in order to better prepare our kids for the future they will inherit? For the skills and mindsets that they will need?
———-
Addendum on 5/22/15:

 

 

 

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Beautiful designs using layers of laminated sheet glass! [Ikuta & Jobson]

On 04/17/2015, in art, creativity, design, by Daniel Christian

Artist Niyoko Ikuta uses layers of laminated sheet glass to create spiraling geometric sculptures — from thisiscolossal.com by Christopher Jobson

 

glass-3

 

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A solid variety of tools & apps

On 04/07/2015, in Adobe, Apple, art, Augmented Reality (AR), creativity, digital storytelling, education technology, geography / geology, Microsoft, storytelling, tools, Uncategorized, vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, workplace, writing, youth, by Daniel Christian

Augmented Reality can be a reality in your art classroom — from theartofed.com

Excerpt:

Last fall, I attended a technology conference where I went to a session on augmented reality technology (AR) and how it can be used in the classroom. I was blown away by the possibilities of this tech concept and its ability to modify our students’ current reality into a compelling, virtual experience of interactive information.

AR in your Art Classroom
There are dozens of AR apps, programs and resources out there that can help encourage curiosity and inspire critical thinking and intense creativity in your students. Here are a few augmented reality options that you can start infusing into your art curriculum.

Aurasma

ARPhoto#2

 

 

Jaunt VR wants to (virtually) change the way we travel — from cntraveler.com
Gaming is just the beginning. The real future of virtual reality lies in hacking the global travel experience.

 

 

52 of the best apps for your classroom in 2015 — from list.ly by Terry Heick

 

 

Adobe’s Slate is  a [new] visual storytelling app for the iPad — from techcrunch.com; also an article at CampusTechnology.com on this app

 

 

The top 50 apps for creative minds — from theguardian.com
Our pick of the best tablet and smartphone tools to enable you to make video, music, art and more

 

[Microsoft’s] Sway is now collaborative—create and edit together with others! — from blogs.office.com by the Sway Team

Excerpt:

When we announced Sway, we knew that people would want to work on standout class projects, eye-catching business reports, engaging vacation recaps, or more, together—it’s the way things are done now, right? But Sway up until now has been a tool for individual authors to create polished content in a new and interactive way to share with their audiences. However, we know you’ve asked for shared editing in Sway in our feedback channels (such as UserVoice), and that Office has delivered real-time editing and collaboration features for years, allowing people to work together to share their collective ideas. On top of that, we can’t tell you how many times that we on the Sway team have said to each other, “I wish I could work on this Sway with you!” So now we’re rolling out co-authoring in Sway!

 

Microsoft debuts Office Lens, a document-scanning app for iOS and Android — from techcrunch.com by Sarah Perez

Excerpt:

Microsoft [on 4/2/15] launched Office Lens, a mobile document scanner app that works with OneNote, for iOS and Android smartphones. The app, which allows users to snap photos of paper documents, receipts, business cards, menus, whiteboards, sticky notes and more, was first launched a year ago as an application designed only for Windows Phone devices.

 

 

5 free (or low cost) tools for Flipped Learning— from Campus Technology’s April/May 2015 edition

  • Doceri
  • Explain Everything
  • Office Mix
  • Screencast-O-Matic
  • Verso

 

 

AppStudio for ArcGIS — with thanks to Dr. Jason Van Horn (Associate Professor Geology, Geography & Env Studies at Calvin College) for this resource
Your mobile mapping apps, built in a snap

Excerpt:

AppStudio for ArcGIS is a groundbreaking tool in the GIS app revolution. It lets you convert your maps into beautiful, consumer-friendly mobile apps ready for Android, iOS, Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, and publish them using your own brand to all popular app stores – no developer skills required.

 

 

Moodle Mobile 2 is coming: updated look and feel of the application, transition to Ionic Framework — from moodlenews.com

Excerpt:

A few weeks ago Juan Leyva introduced a demo site for Moodlers to check out the 2nd version of Moodle Mobile the ever improving official mobile application for the learning management system. The major changes include a shift to Ionic framework which will greatly enhance the developers’ ability to focus on new features development.

 

 

Some of the best storytelling apps for elementary students — from educatorstechnology.com

Excerpt:

The apps below are particularly useful for elementary students but they can also be used with other age groups. Elementary teachers often complain about the paucity of apps that are kids appropriate compared with apps for other age groups. So we thought it would be useful to create a section in this blog devoted entirely to apps specifically curated for elementary teachers. After we have covered math and writing apps, today’s post features some very good iPad storytelling apps to use with young kids. You can use these apps to help kids develop a wide range of basic literacy skills that include: writing, reading and speaking.

 

 

5 great writing apps for elementary students — from educatorstechnology.com

Excerpt:

The selection we curated for you today contains some  useful iPad apps to use with elementary students to help them with their writing. Some the things your kids will get to learn from these apps include: learning how to write letters, learning phonics and spelling, composing syllables by combining vowels and consonants, and several other basic literacy skills. Some of these apps also include tracking features which allow teachers and parents to keep updated about the progress of their kids.

 

Addendum on 4/8/15:

Addendum on 4/9/15:

Addendums on 4/13:15:

  • Six ways to make movies on a smartphone — from quib.ly by Laura Celada
    Excerpt:

    Have you tried using mobile devices to make movies? Film-making is such a great way for your children to express themselves and nurture their creativity and imagination. We’ve selected the most powerful apps and programs that can even the least techy kids become creative moviemakers.
    None of these require any special equipment, just a tablet or a smartphone. Children can take videos, edit their work and make professional quality movies on the go. Check out the list below and bring out the Spielberg in them. Maybe next year you and your little thinker might be walking down the red carpet…
    .
  • Nice for Every Device: 15 Tech-Agnostic Tools — from edsurge.com
    Posting included tools for:
    Student Response Systems
    Student Collaboration Activities
    English Language Arts/Social Studies
    Math/Science
  • 80 Twitter Tools for Almost Everything — from hongkiat.com

 

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Drawings in Space: Wooden Wireframe Sculptures of Everyday Objects by Janusz Grünspek [Jobson]

On 03/27/2015, in art, creativity, by Daniel Christian

Drawings in Space: Wooden Wireframe Sculptures of Everyday Objects by Janusz Grünspek — from thisiscolossal.com by Christopher Jobson

 

wood-4-new

 

 

wood-1-new

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Robots open up the world of art [CBS News]

On 03/05/2015, in 21st century, accessibility / UDL, art, robotics, technologies for your home, telecommunications, videoconferencing, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

RobotsOpenUpWorldOfArt-March2015

 

With a special thanks to Krista Spahr,
Senior Instructional Designer at Calvin College,
for this resource

 

Description:

March 1, 2015 | The De Young, one of San Francisco’s fine art museums, now has two robots that open the museum up to those who cannot attend, including the physically handicapped. John Blackstone reports on the state-of-the-art in museum tour guides, and interviews robotics activist Henry Evans, a former Silicon Valley executive who is now almost completely paralyzed, and who worked with the museum to make touring by robot a reality.

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4 solid pieces re: art & creativity

On 02/04/2015, in art, creativity, by Daniel Christian

Colorful New Architectural Watercolors by Maja Wronska — from thisiscolossal.com by Christopher Jobson

 

maja-1

 

 

maja-2

Polish watercolor artist Maja Wronska continues to paint explosively colorful depictions of European architecture, most recently in Pozna?, Poland. Wronska is an architect herself, a skill that greatly enhances her artwork. She first renders each piece as a detailed drawing and then adds layers of watercolor, an unpredictable medium that can be difficult to control, making her paintings all the more incredible. You can see much more over on Behance, and several of these are currently available as prints.

 

 

4 awesome arts apps for students of all ages — from thejournal.com by Graphite from Common Sense Media

 

 

Modular paper sculptures intracately formed by artist — from interestingengineering.com by Allison Blackburn

 

Richard-Sweeney_07

[Image Courtesy of Richard Sweeney]

 

 

Incredible 3D Optical Illusion Artwork — from icanbecreative.com

 

Beijing, China

 

Addendums on 2/5/15:

 

PowerOfArtsIntegration-Feb2015

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The difference between STEM and STEAM [Dunn; infographic by the University of Florida]

On 01/16/2015, in art, collaboration, communications, creativity, innovation, K-12 related, by Daniel Christian

The difference between STEM and STEAM — from dailygenius.com by Jeff Dunn; infographic by the University of Florida

Excerpt:

  • Students who study arts for 4 years in high school score 98 points higher on the SATs compared to those who study the same for half a year or less.
  • Students who took up music appreciation scored 61 points higher on the verbal section and 42 points higher on the math section.
  • Of the elementary schools with arts, the most common subjects revolve around music at 94% and visual studies at 83%. Only 3% offer dance instruction while 4% provide theater arts.
  • Training in the arts has been shown to improve creativity and innovation. Students learn to approach issues with a critical mind and a positive attitude towards problem solving. Exposure to the arts enhances communication skills, which are essential tools for collaboration. It develops flexibility and adaptability. The government recognizes these and, indeed, 48 states have adopted standards for art instructions.
  • 51% of art teachers are unhappy about what they see as the decline in art education brought about by the shift in focus. The difficulty in measuring art’s contribution to academic performance has led to its under appreciation.

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Future expertise to be required from those working in ID, UX Design, UI Design, HCI, Product Dev, Programming and more

On 01/07/2015, in 21st century, Apple, art, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, blended learning, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, education technology, human-computer interaction (HCI), hybrid learning, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, interaction design, interactivity, interface design, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, learning spaces, machine-to-machine communications, mobile learning, mobile technologies, Near Field Communication (NFC), personalized/customized learning, productivity / tips and tricks, programming, smart classrooms, tablets, training / L&D, trends, usability, user experience (UX), user interface design, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
We continue to see more articles and innovations that involve the Internet of Things (IoT) or the Internet of Everything (IoE). This trend has made me reflect upon what I think will be a future, required subset of needed expertise within the fields of Instructional Design, User Experience Design, User Interface Design, Product Development, Programming, Human Computer Interaction (HCI), and likely other fields such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR), and Virtual Reality(VR) as well.

And that is, we will need people who can craft learning experiences from the presence of beacons/sensors and that integrate such concepts as found in “If This Then That” (ifttt.com) whereby one is putting the Internet and cloud/mobile-based applications to work for you. Certainly, those involved in retail are already busy working on these types of projects. But those of us involved with learning, human computer interaction (HCI), and interface design need to get involved as well.

 

 

IfThisThenThat-Combined-With-iBeacons

 

For example, this potential scenario of a K-12 field trip might be fodder for such a learning experience.

So for those individuals who are involved with the aforementioned disciplines…we need to pulse check what new affordances are coming from the rollout and further development of the IoT/IoE.

 

 

 

 

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iPad Art: The Majestic Forgiver [ipadinsight.com]

On 12/15/2014, in art, creativity, faith, global / globalization, relationships, religion, society, by Daniel Christian

iPad Art: The Majestic Forgiver — from ipadinsight.com

Excerpt:

It’s titled ‘The majestic forgiver’ and is the work of Woon Tien David Chong. Here are the artist’s own words on this iPad painting:

Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

 

Majectic-Forgiver-iPad-Painting_thumb

 

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“Inside Kim Jung Gi’s mesmerising sketchbook”; plus “For the love of wood: 55 amazing wooden sculptures”

On 12/04/2014, in art, creativity, by Daniel Christian

Inside Kim Jung Gi’s mesmerising sketchbook — from creativebloq.com by

 

 

 

 

For the love of wood: 55 amazing wooden sculptures [photos] — fromhongkiat.com

 

Animal Sculptures from Wood Chips

 

 

 

 

Bough Houses by Rob Heard

 

 

 

 

 

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Reflections on “The University of Southern California, Condé Nast and WIRED launch Master of Integrated Design, Business and Technology”

On 11/18/2014, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, adult learning, Amazon, analytics, Apple, art, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business side of he, career development, changing business models, collaboration, competency-based learning/education, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, design, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, Google, higher education, IBM, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, MBA, Microsoft, new business models, pace of change, professional development, real-world assignments, reinvent, staying relevant, strategy, student-related, technology (general), workplace, by Daniel Christian

Following up on yesterday’s posting, History Channel bringing online courses to higher ed, I wanted to thank Mr. Rob Kingyens, President at Qubed Education, for alerting me to some related work that Qubed Education is doing. Below is an example of that work:

The University of Southern California, Condé Nast and WIRED launch Master of Integrated Design, Business and Technology — from qubededucation.com
New Learning Model Combines Network and Access of WIRED with Academic Strength and Vision of the USC Roski School of Art and Design

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

MARIN, Calif., October 1, 2014 – The University of Southern California, Condé Nast and WIRED today announced a partnership to create a new online Master’s degree in Integrated Design, Business and Technology. The partnership creates an unprecedented learning experience, combining the expertise of the editors, writers, and designers at WIRED with the academic rigor of USC, a leading research university known for its pioneering interdisciplinary programs. The aim of the 18-24 month degree is to educate creative thinkers and technologists to better equip them to transform the world of industry and enterprise. The first cohort is scheduled to begin in the 2015-2016 academic year.

…

“The pace of technology development requires higher education to continue to respond with programs that are flexible and adaptable, and that meet the needs of future cultural and business leaders,” said Dean Muhl.

“We’ve been thinking for years about what a university curriculum with WIRED would look like, and now we have a chance to build it with a terrific partner,” said Dadich. “Taking the best from USC and WIRED, we can teach discipline and disruption, business fundamentals, and the very latest innovation models from Silicon Valley. This is going to be thrilling.”

…

USC’s program development and build out will be powered by higher education partners Synergis Education and Qubed Education.

 

From Qubed’s website:

Qubed is the gateway for world-class, global brands to enter the education market with top tier universities.

 

From DSC:
I’ve long wondered if institutions of higher education will need to pool resources and/or form more partnerships and collaborations — either with other universities/colleges or with organizations outside of higher education. This reflection grows stronger for me when I:

  • Think that team-based content creation and delivery is pulling ahead of the pack
  • Hear about the financial situations of many institutions of higher education today (example1; example2)
  • See the momentum building up behind Competency Based Education (CBE)
  • Witness the growth of alternatives like Ideo Futures, Yieldr Academy, Lessons Go Where, ClassDo, Udemy, C-Suite TV.com and others
  • Hear about the potential advantages of learning analytics
  • See the pace of change accelerating — challenging higher education to keep up

For some institution(s) of higher education out there with deep pockets and a strong reputation, I could see them partnering up with an IBM (Watson), Google (Deepmind), Apple (Siri), Amazon (Echo), or Microsoft (Cortana) to create some next generation learning platforms. In fact, this is one of the areas I see occurring as lifelong learning/self-directed learning opportunities hit our living rooms. The underlying technologies these companies are working on could be powerful allies in the way people learn in the future — doing some heavy lifting to build the foundations in a variety of disciplines, and leaving the higher-order learning and the addressing of gaps to professors, teachers, trainers, and others.

 

 

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iBeacons give visitors to the Palmer Museum of Art a customized experience [Jacobs]

On 10/27/2014, in Apple, art, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, interactivity, love of learning, machine-to-machine communications, Near Field Communication (NFC), personalized/customized learning, play, by Daniel Christian

iBeacons-PennSt-Art-Oct2014

 

iBeacons give visitors to the Palmer Museum of Art a customized experience — from news.psu.edu by Katie Jacobs

Excerpt:

Soon, there will be new, high-tech additions to the Palmer Museum’s galleries — small electronic devices that will be stuck to walls behind paintings, hidden under shelves or concealed in corners. You won’t be able to see them, but your mobile devices will.

The devices ares iBeacons, small transmitters created by Apple that communicate with nearby smartphones. If a visitor has the correct mobile app installed, content will be automatically sent to the phone with more information about the nearby artwork.

…

“Sometimes I’ll lead tours with visitors and focus on the works of art I think are particularly fascinating,” says Kletchka. “I thought it would be wonderful if everyone could have that experience here — they can learn more about the objects they are interested in on their own terms.”

 

 

DanielChristian-Combining-Digital-Physical-Worlds-Oct2014

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How an interactive book, ‘Alice,’ is making $70K a week on iOS [Cheredar]

On 09/30/2014, in Apple, art, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, digital learning, digital storytelling, education technology, Google, interactivity, K-12 related, mobile learning, multi-touch, multimedia, participation, storytelling, user experience (UX), by Daniel Christian

interactivebook-alice-70Kweek-setp2014

.

Excerpt:

Alice is presented as a mobile app, but it’s technically a book that can be read on iPads and Android tablets. The story is based on the classic Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, and it features beautiful illustrations you can interact with by touching the tablet screen, as well as an engaging narrator reading each page.

“Regular e-books have limitations, and I wanted to create a new level of engagement. I wanted to combine interactive experience along with film ‘feel,’” Paletz said in an interview. “The application is an art book, a conceptual book, and an educational book all in one, so it has something for everyone.”

 

 From DSC: With a shout out to
Laura Devaney who posted this on Twitter.

 

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It’s Not Film. It’s Not TV. It’s Convergence. Here’s What It’s All About. [Bernstein]

On 09/28/2014, in art, communications, convergence, creativity, digital storytelling, innovation, media/film, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, platforms, play, story, storytelling, transmedia, by Daniel Christian

It’s Not Film. It’s Not TV. It’s Convergence. Here’s What It’s All About. –– from indiewire.com by Paula Bernstein
A new wave of creators is blurring the lines of storytelling to span multiple platforms. Here, a handful of those creators from this year’s New York Film Festival Convergence program explain what convergence means to them.

 

NYFFConvergence-Sept2014

 

 

Comment from DSC:
If this trend continues, I would guess that it would affect education as well.  That is, students no longer want to be passive consumers, but active participants.  Hmmm…sounds very familiar to me.  Aren’t we already there (i.e., active learning, project-based learning, makerspaces, and more)?

 

Also see:

 

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