Daniel S. Christian

Reflections on “Google’s Chromebooks make up half of US classroom devices” [Taylor]

On 12/03/2015, in Apple, Bring your own device (BYOD), Daniel S. Christian, education, education technology, Google, IBM, K-12 related, technology (general), vendors, by Daniel Christian

Google’s Chromebooks make up half of US classroom devices — from cnbc.com by Harriet Taylor

Excerpt:

Google, Microsoft and Apple have been competing for years in the very lucrative education technology market. For the first time, Google has taken a huge lead over its rivals.

Chromebooks now make up more than half of all devices in U.S. classrooms, up from less than 1 percent in 2012, according to a new report from Futuresource Consulting. To analysts, this comes as a big surprise.

“While it was clear that Chromebooks had made progress in education, this news is, frankly, shocking,” said Forrester analyst J.P. Gownder. “Chromebooks made incredibly quick inroads in just a couple of years, leaping over Microsoft and Apple with seeming ease.

From DSC:
I love Apple’s products and many of their philosophies. Their attention to detail and design is second to none — especially on things that Tim Cook and his leadership team really care about. I also appreciate Apple’s push into the enterprise — as evidenced by their partnership and collaborations with IBM.

In terms of Microsoft, Microsoft has designed and developed some excellent software through the years. Also, their current leadership seems to be far more innovative/effective than their former leadership (IMHO). This can be seen in endeavors like Microsoft’s push into augmented reality/mixed reality with their HoloLens product.

But from someone working in the education sector, it has felt like Apple and Microsoft have been blown out of the water by Google these last several years. So to see that Chromebooks now make up more than half of all devices in U.S. classrooms, it doesn’t surprise me at all. Their ease of setup and administration in addition to their low cost have made Chromebooks ideal for many K-12 schools.

If Apple and Microsoft want to be key players in the education space in the future, then they really need to majorly up their game — obtaining board level supported endeavors and investments. Otherwise, Google seems to be on a trajectory to dominate this space (at least until the next Google comes along).

From DSC:
Some of the items that I see at Singularity Hub — and the perspectives held and lifted up by some of the authors therein — are over the top…at least for me they are. Nevertheless, at other times I think that there are some pretty solid articles at the site. Along these lines, the following two postings are worth a read.

Automation is eating jobs, but these skills will always be valued in the workplace — from singularityhub.com by Alison Berman
If you’d asked farmers a few hundred years ago what skills their kids would need to thrive, it wouldn’t have taken long to answer. General skills for a single profession that only changed slowly.

Excerpt:

Finland recently shifted its national curriculum to a new model called the “phenomenon-based” approach. By 2020, the country will replace traditional classroom subjects with a topical approach highlighting the four Cs—communication, creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration. These four skills “are central to working in teams, and a reflection of the ‘hyperconnected’ world we live in today,” Singularity Hub Editor-in-Chief David Hill recently wrote.

Hill notes the four Cs directly correspond to the skills needed to be a successful 21st century entrepreneur—when accelerating change means the jobs we’re educating for today may not exist tomorrow. Finland’s approach reflects an important transition away from the antiquated model used in most US institutions—a model created for a slower, more stable labor market and economy that no longer exists.

In addition to the four Cs, successful entrepreneurs across the globe are demonstrating three additional soft skills that can be integrated into the classroom—adaptability, resiliency and grit, and a mindset of continuous learning.

These skills can equip students to be problem-solvers, inventive thinkers, and adaptive to the fast-paced change they are bound to encounter. In a world of uncertainty, the only constant is the ability to adapt, pivot, and get back on your feet.

From DSC:
I’m glad to see that they added 3 additional soft skills to the 4 C’s mentioned above: adaptability, resiliency and grit, and a mindset of continuous learning.

These skills can equip students to be problem-solvers, inventive thinkers, and adaptive to the fast-paced change they are bound to encounter. In a world of uncertainty, the only constant is the ability to adapt, pivot, and get back on your feet.

Given the pace of change, I think that one of the most overlooked competencies that is quickly becoming critical is the ability to scan the horizons to see what’s coming down the pike. We often have our eyesight turned downwards, focusing on the tasks at hand. But we don’t always do a good job of looking up, glancing around the various relevant landscapes to one’s job/position, and ascertaining which of the developing trends might impact us. We often either don’t know how to strategize or we don’t take the time to come up with plans for what we should do if those trends might adversely affect us. Instead, we move forward with our eyesight pointing downwards — then we suddenly get blindsided.

Also see:

How would today’s smartest teens overhaul education? We asked them — from singularityhub.com by Libby Falck
What happens when you gather 14 of the world’s brightest teenagers at Singularity University and ask them to design the future of education? During last summer’s Exponential Youth Camp, we found out.

Excerpts:

The first thing that became very clear during our conversation was that our group of “Generation Me” millennials expect their learning to be highly personalized. It should be “my choice” to pursue “my interests” at “my pace,” they argued. Although this may at first sound childish, these demands are far from selfish. Why? Because personalization is necessary to compete in today’s intricately specialized world.
…
Nonetheless, our XYC teens told us they are looking for more than hands-on practice in the classroom; they want opportunities to work on projects in the real world as well. For them, contributing to the local community sparked engagement and motivation in a way that classroom work couldn’t match. Furthermore, the teens told us that most tests “just don’t make sense.”
…
The teens told us online courses are “great for educated specialists” but don’t cater to beginners. They cited a lack of time to complete online coursework and internet connectivity issues faced by many schools as additional issues. Mostly, the teens didn’t like the idea of “going it alone.” The problem wasn’t that online learning content was bad, the students simply desired guidance in navigating the material.
…
The teens told us they value traditional subject matter, but opportunities to build more practical skills were lacking. Interest in learning more about money management and soft skill development — like teamwork, problem solving and conflict resolution — was mentioned multiple times.

Thank you LORD!

On 11/25/2015, in Daniel S. Christian, faith, hearts -- matters of the heart, Michigan, relationships, by Daniel Christian

Thank-you-LORD---thanksgiving-time

The future belongs to the curious: How are we bringing curiosity into school? [Gerstein]

On 11/23/2015, in attention, Daniel S. Christian, engagement / engaging students, ideas, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, learning preferences, learning theories, memory, motivation, participation, passions, student-related, youth, by Daniel Christian

The future belongs to the curious: How are we bringing curiosity into school? — from User Generated Education by Jackie Gerstein

Excerpt:

A recent research study found a connection between curiosity and deep learning:

The study revealed three major findings. First, as expected, when people were highly curious to find out the answer to a question, they were better at learning that information. More surprising, however, was that once their curiosity was aroused, they showed better learning of entirely unrelated information that they encountered but were not necessarily curious about. Curiosity may put the brain in a state that allows it to learn and retain any kind of information, like a vortex that sucks in what you are motivated to learn, and also everything around it. Second, the investigators found that when curiosity is stimulated, there is increased activity in the brain circuit related to reward. Third, when curiosity motivated learning, there was increased activity in the hippocampus, a brain region that is important for forming new memories, as well as increased interactions between the hippocampus and the reward circuit. (How curiosity changes the brain to enhance learning)

From DSC:
Jackie’s posting reminded me of what Daniel Willingham asserts: “Memory is the residue of thought.” | “We remember what we think about.”

So to me, if you can’t get through the gate — get someone’s attention — you have zero chance of getting into their short-term memory, and thus zero chance to get into that person’s long-term memory.

Is-it-getting-harder-to-get-through-the-gate-2

Along these lines, if a student is curious about something, their motivation level increases and they actually THINK about something. (What a concept, right?!)

But the point here is that what a student thinks about now has a chance to make it into that student’s memories…thus, creating a variety of hooks on which to “hang future hats” (i.e., make cognitive connections in the future).

CognitiveHooks-Hats

Addendum on 11/24/15:

Asking “Why?” Instead of “How?” — from er.educause.edu by Jack Suess
Thoughts from EDUCAUSE 2015

[Re: Emily Pilloton, founder and executive director of Project H Design] Her talk focused on three aspects of learning:

Seeking > Knowing. Pushing beyond your comfort zone is the way to challenge yourself. As mentioned above, Pilloton believes in experiential learning, in challenging students with big projects where they will learn new skills as needed to complete the project.
We > I. Teams and building trust in your teammates is critical. All of Pilloton’s projects are so big that no one person can complete them alone. By being forced to make decisions and learn to work as teams, group members realize that as a collective, they can achieve much more than they could individually.
Curiosity > Passion. Encouraging curiosity is more important than helping people find their passion. Pilloton argued that it is hard for many young people to know their passion. If we encourage curiosity and give students the opportunity to push the boundaries of what they think is possible, we provide them the opportunity to both build confidence and find their passion.

The need for ethics, morals, policies, & serious reflection about what kind of future we want has never been greater!

On 11/19/2015, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Asia, Augmented Reality (AR), Australia, business, Canada, change, communities of practice, computer science, Daniel S. Christian, ethics, Europe, future, game-changing environment, global / globalization, hearts -- matters of the heart, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, India, leadership, legislatures / government / legal, machine-to-machine communications, morals/values, Near Field Communication (NFC), pace of change, policy, political science, programming, psychology, real-world assignments, relationships, robotics, society, sociology, strategy, surviving, technology (general), the downsides of how people use tech, trends, UK, United States, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, workplace, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
This posting is meant to surface the need for debates/discussions, new policy decisions, and for taking the time to seriously reflect upon what type of future that we want. Given the pace of technological change, we need to be constantly asking ourselves what kind of future we want and then to be actively creating that future — instead of just letting things happen because they can happen. (i.e., just because something can be done doesn’t mean it should be done.)

Gerd Leonhard’s work is relevant here. In the resource immediately below, Gerd asserts:

I believe we urgently need to start debating and crafting a global Digital Ethics Treaty. This would delineate what is and is not acceptable under different circumstances and conditions, and specify who would be in charge of monitoring digressions and aberrations.

I am also including some other relevant items here that bear witness to the increasingly rapid speed at which we’re moving now.

Redefining the relationship of man and machine: here is my narrated chapter from the ‘The Future of Business’ book (video, audio and pdf) — from futuristgerd.com by Gerd Leonhard

.

Robot revolution: rise of ‘thinking’ machines could exacerbate inequality — from theguardian.com by Heather Stewart
Global economy will be transformed over next 20 years at risk of growing inequality, say analysts

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

A “robot revolution” will transform the global economy over the next 20 years, cutting the costs of doing business but exacerbating social inequality, as machines take over everything from caring for the elderly to flipping burgers, according to a new study.

As well as robots performing manual jobs, such as hoovering the living room or assembling machine parts, the development of artificial intelligence means computers are increasingly able to “think”, performing analytical tasks once seen as requiring human judgment.

In a 300-page report, revealed exclusively to the Guardian, analysts from investment bank Bank of America Merrill Lynch draw on the latest research to outline the impact of what they regard as a fourth industrial revolution, after steam, mass production and electronics.

“We are facing a paradigm shift which will change the way we live and work,” the authors say. “The pace of disruptive technological innovation has gone from linear to parabolic in recent years. Penetration of robots and artificial intelligence has hit every industry sector, and has become an integral part of our daily lives.”

First genetically modified humans could exist within two years — from telegraph.co.uk by Sarah Knapton
Biotech company Editas Medicine is planning to start human trials to genetically edit genes and reverse blindness

Excerpt:

Humans who have had their DNA genetically modified could exist within two years after a private biotech company announced plans to start the first trials into a ground-breaking new technique.

Editas Medicine, which is based in the US, said it plans to become the first lab in the world to ‘genetically edit’ the DNA of patients suffering from a genetic condition – in this case the blinding disorder ‘leber congenital amaurosis’.

Gartner predicts our digital future — from gartner.com by Heather Levy
Gartner’s Top 10 Predictions herald what it means to be human in a digital world.

Excerpt:

Here’s a scene from our digital future: You sit down to dinner at a restaurant where your server was selected by a “robo-boss” based on an optimized match of personality and interaction profile, and the angle at which he presents your plate, or how quickly he smiles can be evaluated for further review. Or, perhaps you walk into a store to try on clothes and ask the digital customer assistant embedded in the mirror to recommend an outfit in your size, in stock and on sale. Afterwards, you simply tell it to bill you from your mobile and skip the checkout line.

These scenarios describe two predictions in what will be an algorithmic and smart machine driven world where people and machines must define harmonious relationships. In his session at Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2016 in Orlando, Daryl Plummer, vice president, distinguished analyst and Gartner Fellow, discussed how Gartner’s Top Predictions begin to separate us from the mere notion of technology adoption and draw us more deeply into issues surrounding what it means to be human in a digital world.

Univ. of Washington faculty study legal, social complexities of augmented reality — from phys.org

Excerpt:

But augmented reality will also bring challenges for law, public policy and privacy, especially pertaining to how information is collected and displayed. Issues regarding surveillance and privacy, free speech, safety, intellectual property and distraction—as well as potential discrimination—are bound to follow.

The Tech Policy Lab brings together faculty and students from the School of Law, Information School and Computer Science & Engineering Department and other campus units to think through issues of technology policy. “Augmented Reality: A Technology and Policy Primer” is the lab’s first official white paper aimed at a policy audience. The paper is based in part on research presented at the 2015 International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing, or UbiComp conference.

Along these same lines, also see:

Augmented Reality: Figuring Out Where the Law Fits — from rdmag.com by Greg Watry
Excerpt:
With AR comes potential issues the authors divide into two categories. “The first is collection, referring to the capacity of AR to record, or at least register, the people and places around the user. Collection raises obvious issues of privacy but also less obvious issues of free speech and accountability,” the researchers write. The second issue is display, which “raises a variety of complex issues ranging from possible tort liability should the introduction or withdrawal of information lead to injury, to issues surrounding employment discrimination or racial profiling.”Current privacy law in the U.S. allows video and audio recording in areas that “do not attract an objectively reasonable expectation of privacy,” says Newell. Further, many uses of AR would be covered under the First Amendment right to record audio and video, especially in public spaces. However, as AR increasingly becomes more mobile, “it has the potential to record inconspicuously in a variety of private or more intimate settings, and I think these possibilities are already straining current privacy law in the U.S.,” says Newell.

Stuart Russell on Why Moral Philosophy Will Be Big Business in Tech — from kqed.org by Queena Kim

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Our first Big Think comes from Stuart Russell. He’s a computer science professor at UC Berkeley and a world-renowned expert in artificial intelligence. His Big Think?

“In the future, moral philosophy will be a key industry sector,” says Russell.

Translation? In the future, the nature of human values and the process by which we make moral decisions will be big business in tech.

Life, enhanced: UW professors study legal, social complexities of an augmented reality future — from washington.edu by Peter Kelley

Excerpt:

But augmented reality will also bring challenges for law, public policy and privacy, especially pertaining to how information is collected and displayed. Issues regarding surveillance and privacy, free speech, safety, intellectual property and distraction — as well as potential discrimination — are bound to follow.

An excerpt from:

THREE: CHALLENGES FOR LAW AND POLICY
AR systems change human experience and, consequently, stand to challenge certain assumptions of law and policy. The issues AR systems raise may be divided into roughly two categories. The first is collection, referring to the capacity of AR devices to record, or at least register, the people and places around the user. Collection raises obvious issues of privacy but also less obvious issues of free speech and accountability. The second rough category is display, referring to the capacity of AR to overlay information over people and places in something like real-time. Display raises a variety of complex issues ranging from
possible tort liability should the introduction or withdrawal of information lead to injury, to issues surrounding employment discrimination or racial profiling. Policymakers and stakeholders interested in AR should consider what these issues mean for them. Issues related to the collection of information include…

HR tech is getting weird, and here’s why — from hrmorning.com by guest poster Julia Scavicchio

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Technology has progressed to the point where it’s possible for HR to learn almost everything there is to know about employees — from what they’re doing moment-to-moment at work to what they’re doing on their off hours. Guest poster Julia Scavicchio takes a long hard look at the legal and ethical implications of these new investigative tools.

Why on Earth does HR need all this data? The answer is simple — HR is not on Earth, it’s in the cloud.

The department transcends traditional roles when data enters the picture.

Many ethical questions posed through technology easily come and go because they seem out of this world.

18 AI researchers reveal the most impressive thing they’ve ever seen — from businessinsider.com by Guia Marie Del Prado,

Excerpt:

Where will these technologies take us next? Well to know that we should determine what’s the best of the best now. Tech Insider talked to 18 AI researchers, roboticists, and computer scientists to see what real-life AI impresses them the most.
…

“The DeepMind system starts completely from scratch, so it is essentially just waking up, seeing the screen of a video game and then it works out how to play the video game to a superhuman level, and it does that for about 30 different video games. That’s both impressive and scary in the sense that if a human baby was born and by the evening of its first day was already beating human beings at video games, you’d be terrified.”

Algorithmic Economy: Powering the Machine-to-Machine Age Economic Revolution — from formtek.com by Dick Weisinger

Excerpts:

As technology advances, we are becoming increasingly dependent on algorithms for everything in our lives. Algorithms that can solve our daily problems and tasks will do things like drive vehicles, control drone flight, and order supplies when they run low. Algorithms are defining the future of business and even our everyday lives.
…
Sondergaard said that “in 2020, consumers won’t be using apps on their devices; in fact, they will have forgotten about apps. They will rely on virtual assistants in the cloud, things they trust. The post-app era is coming. The algorithmic economy will power the next economic revolution in the machine-to-machine age. Organizations will be valued, not just on their big data, but on the algorithms that turn that data into actions that ultimately impact customers.”

Related items:

Toyota, Tesla or Google: who’s spending the most on artificial intelligence in the car industry? — from techworld.com by Margi Murphy
Which businesses are investing in artificial intelligence? Read how artificial intelligence will change the car industry, and other sectors, as we know it.
Toyota Invests $1 Billion In Artificial Intelligence In US — from wtvox.com / Associated Press
Top 10 Emerging Technologies That Could Transform Our Future — from wtvox.com by E Aston
What Technology Will Look Like In Five Years — from techcrunch.com by Diomedes Kastanis
Welcome To Brain Science’s Next Frontier: Virtual Reality — from fastcompany.com by Tina Amirtha
Amy Robinson, executive director at the startup EyeWire, is making neuroscience into a playground for the hot tech du jour.

Addendums:

ABI Research Shows Augmented Reality on the Rise with Total Market Worth to Reach $100 Billion by 2020 — from abiresearch.com
‘Self-Driving Cars Will Dominate the Roads by 2030,’ Says Internet of Things Visionary — from coinspeaker.com by Eugenia Romanenko
Robots are learning to say “no” to human orders — from quartz.com by Kit Eaton
Excerpt:
It may seem an obvious idea that a robot should do precisely what a human orders it to do at all times. But researchers in Massachusetts are trying something that many a science fiction movie has already anticipated: They’re teaching robots to say “no” to some instructions. For robots wielding potentially dangerous-to-humans tools on a car production line, it’s pretty clear that the robot should always precisely follow its programming. But we’re building more-clever robots every day and we’re giving them the power to decide what to do all by themselves. This leads to a tricky issue: How exactly do you program a robot to think through its orders and overrule them if it decides they’re wrong or dangerous to either a human or itself? This is what researchers at Tufts University’s Human-Robot Interaction Lab are tackling, and they’ve come up with at least one strategy for intelligently rejecting human orders.

Addendum on 12/14/15:

Algorithms rule our lives, so who should rule them? — from qz.com by Dries Buytaert
As technology advances and more everyday objects are driven almost entirely by software, it’s become clear that we need a better way to catch cheating software and keep people safe.

8 characteristics of good online video — from ecampusnews.com by Meris Stansbury
Instructor-led video is a must in online learning, but not all videos are successes. Here are eight tips to help educators create effective online videos for their courses.

Excerpt:

According to a report published in the MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, instructor-generated video can have a positive influence on student satisfaction with, and engagement in, online courses. But not all videos are created equal.

Research conducted by the American Academy of Neurology also reveals that “watching videos helps boost brain plasticity,” or the ability of the brain to undergo physical changes at any age. Learners who were trained to perform a particular task through videos performed better than those who learned through images and text, the researchers found—and they concluded that video has a “higher impact on the brain.”

However, researchers emphasize that the format of the video, its platform, and the subject are all variables in the video’s effectiveness.

“Creating interesting, professional videos does take some planning and technical skill,” says eLearn Magazine. “There’s also a fear of perceived high cost. But none of these barriers are insurmountable. By employing … tips to know when to use it, how to maximize its effectiveness, and how to keep costs reasonable, you can make video a key part of your next online course.”

Here are eight tips to help educators create videos for their online courses…

From DSC:
A quick reflection here. Frame rates, compression, having the right equipment and recording facilities, how best to frame a shot, knowing about proper lighting and placement of microphones, and more…hmmm…and we expect the faculty member to know/do all this as well as keep up with their knowledgeabase of their particular discipline? Not likely in many cases. Time’s too limited — even if all of the required gifts and/or interest levels were there (which is asking a lot).

This is why I’m big on using TEAMS of specialists. Depending upon the quality of your products/services that your organization is willing to accept, flipping the classroom or using video in online-based learning requires a team of specialists.

Reflections on “Introducing Coursera for Apple TV: Bringing Online Learning to Your Living Room”

On 11/03/2015, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, adult learning, analytics, Apple, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, change, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, competency-based learning/education, content development, aggregation, repositories, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, distance education, education, education technology, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, interactivity, internet, K-12 related, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, online learning, online tutoring, using teams, vendors, videoconferencing, virtual tutoring, web-based collaboration, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Introducing Coursera for Apple TV: Bringing Online Learning to Your Living Room — from blog.coursera.org

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

We’re thrilled to announce that Coursera content will now be available on Apple TV.

Since our beginning, one of our primary goals has been to make learning more accessible for everyone. Our mobile platform brought an on-demand learning experience to people’s busy, on-the-go lifestyles, and now, we’re extending availability to your home. Regardless of where in the world you are located, you’ll now be able to learn from top university professors and renowned experts without the expense of travel or tuition.

TV availability isn’t only a first for Coursera—it marks Apple TV’s first ever introduction of online learning to its platform. Everything you can do online at Coursera, you’ll now be able to do from the comfort of your own living room: browse our entire catalogue of courses, peruse new topics, and watch videos from some of the top academic and industry experts.

From DSC:
Coursera takes us one step closed to a very powerful learning platform — one that in the future will provide a great deal of intelligence behind the scenes. It’s likely that we will be using personalized, adaptable, digital learning playlists while enjoying some serious levels of interactivity…while also making use of web-based learner profiles (the data from which will either be hosted at places like LinkedIn.com or will be fed into employers’ and universities’ competency-based databases). The application development for tvOS should pick up greatly, especially if the collaboration capabilities are there.

For example, can you imagine marrying the functionalities that Bluescape provides with the reach, flexibility, convenience, and affordances that are unfolding with the new Apple TV?

Truly, some mind-blowing possibilities are developing. In the not too distant future, lifelong learning won’t ever be the same again (not to mention project-related work).

This is why I’m big on the development and use of
team of specialists — as an organization may have
a harder time competing in the future without one.

7 items re: the new Apple TV and how application development now includes the “TV” as a platform

On 10/30/2015, in Apple, collaboration, communications, communities of practice, competency-based learning/education, computer science, content development, aggregation, repositories, convergence, cost of getting a degree, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, distance education, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interactivity, internet, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, participation, personalized/customized learning, platforms, play, programming, social learning / networks, streams of content, student-related, technologies for your home, telecommunications, telepresence, television, training / L&D, trends, TVs, ubiquitous learning, user experience (UX), by Daniel Christian

The New Apple TV Invigorates the Set-Top Box — from nytimes.com by Brian Chen

Excerpt:

I NEVER imagined I would get hooked on reading comic books on a TV screen. That changed last week after I picked up a new Apple TV.

The new device, which is similar to a set-top box and brings video and music from the Internet to a television, now has an app store. So I downloaded Madefire, one of the first apps available for the new device. Madefire adds a twist to digital comics with sound effects, music and motion, bringing the panels to life on the big screen. Within minutes, I was bingeing on a series about Superman turning into a corrupt dictator.

Playing with apps is just one new feature of the revamped Apple TV, which will ship this week. It’s that plethora of innovations and apps that leads me to conclude that the upgraded $149 box is now the best TV streaming device you can get for your money.

Apple TV challenges developers to take apps to the big screen — from http://finance.yahoo.com by Julia Love

Excerpt:

(Reuters) – Apple’s loyal army of software developers is joining the tech giant in its bid to conquer the living room with a new version of Apple TV, creating apps for the big screen that they hope will attract users and unlock a rich source of revenue.

A long-awaited update to Apple TV, which launched in 2007, will start shipping in 80 countries on Friday.

Apple views apps as the future of television. An App Store is the centerpiece of the new device, and hundreds of apps will be ready at launch, including gaming, shopping and photography.

Although developers have already been able to make apps for smart TV rivals, Apple’s vast base of developers will set the device apart, analysts say. And developers say they relish the opportunity to reach users in a more intimate setting.

tvOS > Developer information

Building Apple TV Apps > Creating a Client-Server App

Which Apple TV Should You Buy? — from wired.com

Excerpt:

Pre-orders for the new Apple TV have begun. Well, technically, the new Apple TVs; the latest model comes in two sizes. Oh, and the previous version remains available too. For the first time in Apple TV history, you’ve got options. Now it’s time to figure out which one’s right for you.

‘Aerial’ brings beautiful Apple TV video screensavers to your Mac — from 9to5mac.com

Addendum:

New Apple TV gets raves for the hardware, while some developers complain about app store design — from by D.B. Hebbard
Forget the early reviews, the important new feature of the new Apple TV is not its hardware, but its yet to be launched app store — from talkingnewmedia.com by D.B. Hebbard
Like the iPhone before it, the new Apple TV won’t realize its potential without the support of the developer community, and those digital publishers who see the new platform as an attractive place for their media brands
Siri adds voice to Apple TV but where’s the 4K? — from usatoday.com
Review: Apple TV brings iPhone-like apps to the big screen — from finance.yahoo.com by Anick Jesdanun
Apple TV solid for video, games, but other apps is where it can shine

Next Generation K-12: 10 Implications for HigherEd — from gettingsmart.com by Tom Vander Ark and Guest Author

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

There are a growing number of next generation models in K-12 as a result of new thinking about learning design and deeper understandings of college and career readiness, enabled by cheap devices, better tools, and foundation support. They personalize learning in blended and competency-based environments. These models revolve around students and learning, rather than teachers and direct instruction as the primary pedagogy.

We’ve chronicled the development of next-gen schools (here and here) and see hundreds of districts and networks adopting next-gen strategies. We’re optimistic that broader adoption of these strategies will produce better student outcomes. Following are 10 examples of next-gen learning in K-12.

…

These examples are not single course innovations, they are engineered solutions. The first half are districts or networks; the other half are schoolwide models. There are hundreds of examples and they have big implications for HigherEd.

We see 10 implications for HigherEd; some directly as a result of next-gen models, some resulting from next-gen policies, some from EdTech and consumer variables impacting both K-12 and HigherEd.

From DSC:
I post this valuable item from Tom Vander Ark because I’m constantly shouting “Heads up!” “Heads-up!” I shout it to those of us working within higher education, and I shout it to those working within the corporate world.

Why?

Because those of us working within higher education operate in a continuum — and so do you working within the corporate world (especially those of you working within corporate training and corporate universities, as well as those of you producing elearning-based materials).

What happens in the prior stages of a student’s/employee’s life directly impacts us/you. Expectations are at play here; which impacts engagement; which impacts learning.

DanielChristian-what-should-our-learning-environments-look-and-act-like

Why there isn’t greater collaboration between these spheres is troublesome to me. So I want to lift up those people — like Tom Vander Ark — who are trying to do something about it.

————

Addendum on 11/5/15 that nicely illustrates my point:

2 things you should know about Google ed evangelist’s vision [Educause 2015] — from educationdive.com by Roger Riddell
Jaime Casap says schools aren’t broken, but they do need to adapt

Excerpt:

While that topic was certainly touched on during Casap’s keynote at Educause, the issue at hand on Thursday was a much more generational one. The discussion was, after all, titled “The Digitally Native Generation Z Is Going to College: Are You Ready?”

“There’s a generation of students coming to college that are a little bit different from the ones that they’re used to, and they’re learning in a different way,” Casap said, adding that a lot of the innovation in education is occurring in K-12 and will likely have some impact on higher ed.

Will setting up nanodegrees become a competitive necessity for OS providers?

On 10/27/2015, in Apple, computer science, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, entrepreneurship, Google, higher education, Microsoft, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, new business models, platforms, programming, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Google teams up with Udacity to introduce a new tech entrepreneurship nanodegree — from thetechportal.in by Mir Juned Hussain

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Google, during its I/O 2015 developer conference in May had announced a partnership with Udacity to launch a six-course Android Development Nanodegree. The company wanted to allow developers to learn how to write apps for Google’s mobile operating system.

Surprisingly, these new Nanodegrees turned out to the most popular ones by Udacity, attracting more than 300,000 people to enrol in the courses. The web giant wanted anyone, technical or not, to learn not just the basics of how to build Android, iOS, and web apps, but also to explain what it takes to design, validate, prototype, monetize, and market app ideas.

As a part of that initiative, Google has now introduced a new Nanodegree, which will consist of a Tech Entrepreneurship certificate, access to coaches, guidance on your project, help staying on track and career counseling. If all you want is the content, quizzes, and projects, all of that is available online for free at udacity.com/google.

From DSC:
This item made me wonder:

Will setting up nanodegrees become a trend for OS providers? That is, will Google be more successful in the marketplace than either Apple or Microsoft if they develop a series of nanodegrees? In fact, taking that one step further…will doing so become a competitive necessity for OS providers? For other software-related vendors?

Hmmm….

tvOS: The days of developing for a “TV”-based OS are now upon us.

On 10/22/2015, in 21st century, 3D, A/V -- audio/visual, adult learning, Apple, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Bring your own device (BYOD), change, collaboration, computer science, content development, aggregation, repositories, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, disruption, distance education, e-books, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, entrepreneurship, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), hybrid learning, ideas, informal learning, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, internet, journalism, K-12 related, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, more voice more choice more control, multi-touch, multimedia, online learning, online media, online tutoring, participation, passions, personalized/customized learning, platforms, play, second screen apps, simulations, social learning / networks, story, storytelling, streams of content, student-related, tablets, technologies for your home, telecommunications, telepresence, television, training / L&D, transmedia, trends, TVs, user experience (UX), videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, webinars, by Daniel Christian

Apple puts out call for Apple TV apps — from bizjournals.com by Gina Hall

Excerpt:

The company put out the call for app submissions on Wednesday for tvOS. The Apple TV App Store will debut as Apple TV units are shipped out next week.
…
The main attraction of Apple TV is a remote with a glass touch surface and a Siri button that allows users to search by voice. Apple tvOS is capable of running apps ranging from Airbnb to Zillow and games like Crossy Road. Another major perk of Apple TV will be universal search, which allows users to scan for movies and television shows and see results from multiple sources, instead of having to conduct the same search within multiple apps.

Apple CEO Tim Cook hopes the device will simplify how viewers consume content.

From DSC:
The days of developing for a “TV”-based OS are now upon us: tvOS is here. I put “TV” in quotes because what we know of the television in the year 2015 may look entirely different 5-10 years from now.

Once developed, things like lifelong learning, web-based learner profiles, badges and/or certifications, communities of practice, learning hubs, smart classrooms, virtual tutoring, virtual field trips, AI-based digital learning playlists, and more will never be the same again.

Also see:

tvOS for Developers – Apple Developer
An Introduction to tvOS Development — from code.tutsplus.com by Davis Allie

Addendum on 10/26/15:
The article below discusses one piece of the bundle of technologies that I’m trying to get at via my Learning from the Living [Class] Room Vision:

No More Pencils, No More Books — from by Will Oremus
Artificially intelligent software is replacing the textbook—and reshaping American education.
Excerpt:
ALEKS starts everyone at the same point. But from the moment students begin to answer the practice questions that it automatically generates for them, ALEKS’ machine-learning algorithms are analyzing their responses to figure out which concepts they understand and which they don’t. A few wrong answers to a given type of question, and the program may prompt them to read some background materials, watch a short video lecture, or view some hints on what they might be doing wrong. But if they’re breezing through a set of questions on, say, linear inequalities, it may whisk them on to polynomials and factoring. Master that, and ALEKS will ask if they’re ready to take a test. Pass, and they’re on to exponents—unless they’d prefer to take a detour into a different topic, like data analysis and probability. So long as they’ve mastered the prerequisites, which topic comes next is up to them.

Switcher Studio: Be your own TV station — from switcherstudio.com with thanks to Mr. Doug Cuddihy for letting me know about this resource
Mobile streaming video production app

Excerpt:

Switcher Studio is a mobile video app that lets you sync up to four iPhones and iPads to record and stream LIVE video to services like YouTube and Ustream. Insert photos and graphic overlays, manage multi-view effects, and more.

From DSC:
Now let’s take this one step further.

If REMOTE learners could switch between cameras at any point, NOW we’re talking! That is, it would be great if we could set up 3-4 cameras in a face-to-face classroom, and let the remote learners switch between whichever viewing angle/feed that they want to see at any given point in time (i.e., the professor, the whiteboard, the computer, other).

Addendum on 10/15/15: also see:

Touchcast Studio in a Box:
Excerpt:
TouchCast Studio in a Box allows you to transform your iPad into a full, interactive video studio. The TouchCast Studio includes a green screen, lapel mic, mini-tripods, iPad and iPhone holders. Paired with the TouchCast App, you will be able to use the green screen to transport yourself.
…
And don’t forget to add video apps (vApps) to make your video interactive. Your audience can tap these to dive deeper into other videos, web pages and more.

Reflections on “Being a healthier teacher: Focus on your strengths” by Ian Byrd

On 10/14/2015, in Daniel S. Christian, K-12 related, psychology, teachers, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

Being a healthier teacher: Focus on your strengths — from byrdseed.com by Ian Byrd

Excerpt:

The Core Problem
Why is teaching so stressful? Teaching isn’t a job, it’s at least three jobs:

Lesson planner: design and deliver creative, meaningful learning experiences
Student caretaker: you can listen to, interact with, and inspire kids of all types (not just the ones you like)
Organizer: Your files are labeled, grades are up to date, and desk is cleared

You’re probably really good at (and really enjoy) one of these jobs. You might even have two bright spots. But I’ve never met someone who excels in all three roles. As a result, you always have that nagging feeling that you’re not doing your job well.

Reflections from DSC:
As we’re talking about stress and change here, the topic of resilience comes to my mind. (This is also most likely due to my currently teaching a First Year Seminar (FYS) course at Calvin College, where we recently covered this very topic.) From that FYS course, I wanted to mention that PBS.org offers some further thoughts and resources on resilience. I also want to pass along some of the (healthier) coping strategies that folks can use:

Active coping – doing something active to alleviate stress such as talking to the person causing the stress, or problem solving for solutions
Emotional support – seeking a way to balance emotions primarily through sharing emotions with others
Instrumental support – seeking out professional or expert advise on the situation
Positive reframing – seeing the glass as half full (vs. half empty)
Planning – reprioritizing responsibilities to keep stress more manageable
Humor – laughter at the situation if appropriate, but more effective when combined with more action-based coping
Acceptance – if a situation is unchangeable, being able to accept it allows you to move forward in a positive direction to take appropriate action to help cope
Religion – prayer, scripture, reassurance from God’s promises

Also, for further information re: focusing on your strengths and obtaining maximum impact from them, see the work of Marcus Buckingham.

Also see Ian Byrd’s related articles to being a healthier teacher:

Imagine what learning could look like w/ the same concepts found in Skreens!

On 09/29/2015, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, adult learning, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, blended learning, Bring your own device (BYOD), cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, communications, communities of practice, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, disruption, distance education, e-books, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), education, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, flipping -- inverted learning, future, global / globalization, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), hybrid learning, ideas, informal learning, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, internet, K-12 related, languages and translation, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, library / librarians, lifelong learning, media/film, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, mobile technologies, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, new media literacies, online learning, online media, online tutoring, participation, personalized/customized learning, platforms, play, podcasting, reinvent, smart classrooms, social learning / networks, staying relevant, storytelling, streams of content, student-related, technologies for your home, telecommunications, telepresence, television, training / L&D, transmedia, TVs, ubiquitous learning, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, workplace, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Imagine what learning could look like w/ the same concepts found in the Skreens kickstarter campaign? Where you can use your mobile device to direct what you are seeing and interacting with on the larger screen? Hmmm… very interesting indeed! With applications not only in the home (and on the road), but also in the active classroom, the boardroom, and the training room.

See
Skreens.com
&
Learning from the Living [Class] Room

From DSC:
Some of the phrases and concepts that come to my mind:

tvOS-based apps
Virtual field trips while chatting or videoconferencing with fellow learners about that experience
Virtual tutoring
Global learning for K-12, higher ed, the corporate world
Web-based collaborations and communications
Ubiquitous learning
Transmedia
Analytics / data mining / web-based learner profiles
Communities of practice
Lifelong learning
24×7 access
Reinvent
Staying relevant
More choice. More control.
Participation.
MOOCs — or what they will continue to morph into
Second screens
Mobile learning — and the ability to quickly tie into your learning networks
Ability to contact teachers, professors, trainers, specialists, librarians, tutors and more
Language translation
Informal and formal learning, blended learning, active learning, self-directed learning
The continued convergence of the telephone, the television, and the computer
Cloud-based apps for learning
Flipping the classroom
Homeschooling
Streams of content
…and more!

Addendum:

Check out this picture from Meet the winners of #RobotLaunch2015

Packed house at WilmerHale for the Robot Launch 2015 judging – although 2/3rds of the participants were attending and pitching remotely via video and web conferencing.

The future of education demands more questions, not answers — from edsurge.com by Jay Silver; with thanks to EDTECH@UTRGV for their Scoop on this resource

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

Technology alone can’t educate students. It’s not some mystical, magical ingredient one sprinkles over core curricula like salt on a meal. The magic is inside the child.
…
A Pedagogy of Answers
Too many schools apply a paint-by-numbers approach to tech: “Let’s cover this fixed information, in this exact way, in this set amount of time, and judge ourselves as educators and students based on standardized test results.”
…
A Pedagogy of Questions
Our national teaching model has for too long been a pedagogy of answers. In its place I’d like to suggest a new pedagogy of questions—one that prizes interest-driven, project-based, exploratory studies. Personal gardens of learning with no single pathway through them. More open play and less rote memorization. More learning by discovery than following set instructions.
…
As an inventor and father, my advice to those looking to make digital in-roads into our nation’s schools is this: promote learning that encourages kids to choose their own problems and solutions rather than a single, siloed system.
…
Tech isn’t the answer, but it can help us create a new pedagogy of questions.

From DSC:
I can relate to Jay’s thoughts and perspectives here — we need to provide our young learners with more choice, more control. More play. More time for experimentation. More project-based learning that’s based upon what students want to learn about.

How many parents wouldn’t give their left leg (well…almost) to hear their kids say, “I can’t wait to go to school — I love going to school! I love learning about new things that I want to know about!”? To see such excitement, engagement, and a love for learning would be mind-blowing, right? If your son or daughter has that perspective, I’d guess that you value that attitude and that learning situation a great deal.

This morning a faculty member said something that’s relevant here. [Paraphrasing what he said:] “There’s a paradigm shift occurring these days in how to get information. We need our students to understand and react to this paradigm shift and we need to help them make that shift. They need to be more proactive in how they get information; and not go along with the “Feed me! Feed me!” approach.”

A final comment here…my kids balk at having to learn so many things that they have little interest in; it’s force-fed learning surrounded by — and shaped by — standardized tests. The list of things they actually want to learn about is either very short or non-existent (depending upon their grade levels). I understand that they are at different stages in their ability to make judgments about what they need to learn about; they need foundational skills to build upon…and that they don’t know what they don’t know. That said, it would be an interesting experiment for each of them indeed, for them to be able to self-select/choose some more topics, projects, and assignments and then pursue them on their own or with other small groups of other students. How might that impact their engagement levels? How might that improve their views of learning? Perhaps I’m off here..and too Hallmarkish, too Pollyannaish; but I’m tired of hearing the moaning and groaning again about having to do this or that piece of homework.

————–

Addendums on 9/16/15:
I just ran across this item from Larry Ferlazzo out at edutopia.org that has a section in it — Autonomy — that addresses ways that more choice, more control can be introduced.

Strategies for Helping Students Motivate Themselves — from edutopia.org by Larry Ferlazzo
Excerpt:
My previous post reviewed research on extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, and described the four qualities that have been identified as critical to helping students motivate themselves: autonomy, competence, relatedness, and relevance. In this post, I’ll discuss practical classroom strategies to reinforce each of these four qualities.

The idea of asking better questions doesn’t just belong in K-12. Check out Jack Uldrich’s posting, A Framework for Questioning the Future.

Excerpt:

In today’s era of accelerating change, “answers” about the future are becoming more scarce. As a result, a premium is being placed on asking better questions about the future.

Unfortunately, because most business leaders, CEO’s and senior executives view themselves as action-oriented “problem-solvers,” they have a bias for “answers” instead of “questions.” As such, they don’t really know how to ask better questions.

In an effort to help individuals and organizations overcome this bias–and in the firm belief that it is better to have an imprecise answer to the right question than an exact answer to the wrong question,–I have put together a simple framework to help companies, businesses and organizations begin asking better questions about the future.

The eleven questions posted below are design to jumpstart the thinking–and questioning–process:

Learning Ecosystems

Thank you LORD!

Reflections on “8 characteristics of good online video” [Stansbury]

Will setting up nanodegrees become a competitive necessity for OS providers?

Switcher Studio: Be your own TV station; w/ applications for K-12, higher ed, & corporate training.

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