learning spaces

Eight Great Explosions in Video

On 01/12/2011, in A/V -- audio/visual, convergence, digital video, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, learning spaces, smart classrooms, technologies for your home, the downsides of how people use tech, by Daniel Christian

Eight Great Explosions in Video — from futurist Thomas Frey

Excerpt:

Video is set to go through an explosive growth phase. The coming years of video development will be defined by what I call the eight great explosions.

1. Explosion of Television Apps

2. Explosion of Video Capture Devices

3. Explosion of Video Display Surfaces

4. Explosion of Video Projection Systems

5. Explosion of Video Content

6. Explosion of Holography

7. Explosion of Video Gaming

8. Explosion of Video Bandwidth and Storage

Final Thoughts
Not everything in the video world will be positive. Today the average child who turns 18 has witnessed over 200,000 violent acts on television. Every year the average child is bombarded with over 20,000 thirty second commercials. And the 1,680 minutes each day that the average child spends in front of their TV is making them increasingly fat, lazy, and prone to disease.

On one hand, television is the great educator, the center of modern culture, and a pipeline into everything happening around us. But at the same time, it is sucking up our time, infringing on our relationships, and keeping us from doing meaningful work.

Television is at once both a massive problem and a massive solution. However, as a medium, television has the capability of solving the problems it creates.

Tagged with: A/V • convergence • digital video • emerging technologies • future • games • holography • innovation • learning spaces • smart classrooms • technologies for the home • the downsides of technology • TV

Needed — new ways of presenting/collaborating with visual information

On 01/07/2011, in A/V -- audio/visual, education technology, emerging technologies, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, interactivity, learning spaces, presentations, smart classrooms, videoconferencing, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

Or perhaps something expanded on this vision:

Tagged with: A/V • educational technology • emerging technologies • human-computer interaction (HCI) • innovation • interactive whiteboards • interactivity • learning spaces • presentations • smart classrooms • videoconferencing • web-based collaboration

Why can’t more devices do this type of thing? Smart classrooms would benefit.

On 01/05/2011, in learning spaces, smart classrooms, by Daniel Christian

Beo6 remote control — from Bang & Olufsen (with emphasis below from DSC)

Navigate the seas of complexity
Now you can have touch-screen control of your TV, films, music and more – right in the palm of your hand. Beo6 knows which devices you own and presents just the relevant menus and controls on its intelligent hardened glass screen. You get all the visual feedback you need, without obstructing everyone’s view of the big screen. Menus are copied to the screen on the remote and even station logos appear here, eliminating the need to remember all those numbers. Link rooms are controlled by means of Zones, e.g. the living room or kitchen zone, so you are always sure to have access to the right products and functions in each room.

The functions that are common for several devices – like menu navigation buttons and the famous Bang & Olufsen sound volume wheel – have dedicated tactile buttons within easy reach on the aluminium ball that forms the lower half of Beo6. The two parts of the remote control complement each other to combine simplicity of operation with choice and flexibility of features. In a day and age when On and Off, Play and Stop are just not enough any more, it is good that someone is cutting through the complexity.

From DSC:
We are using some media controllers from Crestron that offer some of this functionality; but they are expensive and require a great deal of expertise to setup/reconfigure.

Tagged with: learning spaces • smart classrooms

eLearning predictions for 2011 and beyond — from Web Courseworks.com by Jon Aleckson

Excerpts:

This summer I attended the 2010 Distance Teaching and Learning Conference in Madison, Wisconsin. Some very interesting topics came up in the facilitated Think Tanks, and I wanted to share some of the predictions that were developed from these active group discussions regarding where eLearning will go in the next ten years.

…

Below you will find a table that summarizes the different opportunities and challenges that were predicted to arise in the next ten years by the participants in the conference Think Tanks and by [Jon Aleckson].

	Opportunities	Challenges
*Learner*	Bridging informal and formal education Movement between schools to obtain courses needed for custom degrees Increase in shared knowledge among students and learners Networking and learning from each other Resumes will include informal and formal learning experiences acquired via the Internet	Developing standards to gauge education and competency from multiple sources Providing an authoritative, reliable source for information (e.g. not just Wikipedia) Physical and psychological distance from other learners and instructors. Quality measures for informal and formal professional development attained on the Internet.
*K-12 Instruction*	Reducing barriers to funding, certification, credit and accreditation Increase access to quality education for all students Open “course” concept to new blends of delivery and teaching Providing for more game-based learning experiences and techniques for a variety of learning styles Using new technology in the classroom	Defining online and blended education Development of technical infrastructure, internet access and equipment Maintaining the custodial function of school Acquiring funding for bold Internet delivered experiences for the classroom Allowing use of new technology in the classroom
*Corporate Training*	Just-in-time learning Greater access to information Peer coaching Cloud training Ability to reach those previously unreachable	Intellectual property rights Resistance to using open content Peer review of resources Unknown impact of open universities Technical challenges related to size of offerings and rapidly changing technology
*Content*	Tools allowing for easier collaboration and interaction Richer media experience (videos and simulations) Content repositories & Learning Object distribution and searchability Movement away from static textbooks as primary resource	Growing tension between standard core content and differentiation of content Where will content for curriculum come from? What part will student-generated content play? More copyright issues
*Learning Environment*	Customized learning spaces, i.e. personal learning environments (PLEs) Customization of content presentation and access eReaders and eBooks providing better and more interactive content (just in time) Changing paradigm of “bounded courses” to unbounded courses where learning is a continuous process that can occur anywhere and at any time	Determining fit and purpose of new tools and pedagogical approaches Standards for smart phones/mobile apps Issues with accreditation, privacy and copyrights Universal access to technology, equipment, and the internet
*Faculty*	More involvement and collaboration with online and distance learning initiatives More part-time faculty teaching for several institutions Faculty practices and entrepreneurs Changing role of faculty and PD instructors	What will the primary role of faculty be? Faculty segmentation into master teachers, mentors, researchers, tutors, etc. Changing of promotion and tenure to accommodate different roles Changing pay structure
Administration & Management	Continued growth of open education with some program stabilization Improved learner focus Increased blending/blurring of traditional on-campus with online options More collaboration with other administrators to influence policy makers	Managing and maintaining growth How to blend on and off campus learner programs Regulatory and accreditation issues Student accountability issues (plagiarism/doctoring) Improving faculty/ instructor readiness
*International Perspectives*	Providing access to education even to remote, rural, and developing areas Promote intercultural mixing and diversity through education Improving educational access in segregated societies Sharing resources and co-producing content to reduce cost Serve new growing customer groups Informal learning, sharing own learning with others via internet (e.g. blogs, wiki)	Technological infrastructure of societies Understanding of different people and places Eliminating the “we and they” thinking Illiterate audiences International/cultural conflicts Developing culturally aware curricula Differences in cost of education and fees Selecting suitable types of content delivery Refiguring content for different learner communities

Tagged with: 24x7x365 • accreditation • adjunct faculty • blended learning • career development • content • Content aggregration • content repositories • copyright / royalty-free • corporate / business world • corporate training / universities • customized learning • e-books • e-learning • e-readers • faculty • formal learning • future • future of higher education • game-changing environment • games • global • hybrid learning • informal learning • leadership • learning ecosystem • learning spaces • online learning • open • personalized learning • PLE • strategy • training • trends • ubiquitous learning

Interesting concept! For future smart classrooms? For trade-shows? For public bulletin boards.

On 12/27/2010, in creativity, education technology, innovation, learning spaces, smart classrooms, by Daniel Christian

— from Tuvie.com

Also see:

http://www.red-dot.sg/concept/porfolio/o_e/IC/R139.htm

From DSC:
What if you could take your iPhone and aim it at a particular area of a “board” and then download that piece of information? As easily as when iPhones trade contact info via “bumping”, one could quickly obtain a piece of information on a bulletin board.

Tagged with: creativity • educational technology • innovation • learning spaces • smart classrooms • sustainability

How Steelcase redesigned the 21st century college classroom

On 12/22/2010, in learning spaces, smart classrooms, by Daniel Christian

How Steelcase redesigned the 21st century college classroom — from fastcodesign.com

Tagged with: learning spaces • smart classrooms • vendors

Keeping an eye on wireless electricity for Smart Classrooms

On 12/21/2010, in emerging technologies, learning spaces, smart classrooms, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
I’m keeping a pulse check on this for now…not necessarily supporting this yet.

Tagged with: emerging technologies • learning spaces • smart classrooms

MultiTouch Ltd. develops first multitouch Twitter Wall [relates to future Smart Classrooms]

On 12/13/2010, in A/V -- audio/visual, emerging technologies, Europe, learning spaces, multi-touch, smart classrooms, by Daniel Christian

MultiTouch Ltd. develops first multitouch Twitter Wall

MultiTouch to Produce Official 2011 International CES Twitter Wall; Visual, Moving Twitter Spheres Display Tweets in Real Time; Users Can Access Photos; Positional Speakers Deliver High-Quality Audio

FOR RELEASE ON: MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2010

HELSINKI –MultiTouch, Ltd., developer of the world’s first modular multi-touch LCD screen for large-scale displays, today announced the release of the industry’s first large-scale multitouch, multi-user Twitter wall application. The MultiTouch Twitter Wall consists of at least six MultiTouch Cell 46 Advanced displays, 46 inches wide, in a 3 x 2 (three long, two high) configuration that visually displays tweets from selected hashtags and keywords. Users of the MultiTouch Twitter Wall can open tweets, represented on a rotating sphere, by touching a profile image and moving, or resizing, the tweet on the display. The MultiTouch Twitter Wall offers alternate views on the spheres that enable images from Flickr to be displayed, searchable with a keyword, as well. Using Panphonics Sound Shower® directional loudspeakers, the MultiTouch Twitter Wall can further engage users with positional audio from tweets and other content displayed.

MultiTouch will produce the Official 2011 International CES Twitter Wall in Las Vegas, January 6-9, in the North Hall lobby of the Las Vegas Convention Center, with the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), which will incorporate Twitter feeds from CES – including the official #CES tag – as well as 2011 CES news from show attendees, bloggers, and exhibitors, and will curate stills and video content from the show as well. Photos and videos of the MultiTouch Twitter Wall are available, respectively, at http://multitouch.fi/about-2/photos/ and http://multitouch.fi/about-2/videos/.

Tagged with: A/V • emerging technologies • Europe • learning spaces • multi-touch • smart classrooms

How might some of this apply to the “chalkboards of the future”?

On 12/10/2010, in digital textbooks, game-changing environment, innovation, learning spaces, new business models, new media literacies, publishing, smart classrooms, textbooks, by Daniel Christian

— from Touch User Interface

Tagged with: digital learning • digital textbooks • emerging technologies • game-changing environment • innovation • learning spaces • new media literacies • new publishing models • publishing • smart classrooms • textbooks

From DSC: This is where the “chalkboards of the future” are (or should be) heading…

On 11/29/2010, in Daniel S. Christian, education technology, future, higher education, K-12 related, learning spaces, smart classrooms, web-based collaboration, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Surface computers linked via internet allow for new ‘mixed-presence’ collaboration — from ZDNet.com By Chris Jablonski

Researchers at Purdue and the University of Manitoba (in Canada) have developed software that enables users to use tabletop-sized touch displays to analyze complex datasets interactively over the Internet for business and homeland security applications.

The team created a software framework called Hugin that allows for more than one display to connect and share the same space over the Internet. They describe it as a “novel layer-based graphical framework for mixed-presence synchronous collaborative visualization over digital tabletop displays.”

The large displays of surface computers like the one Microsoft introduced in 2007 already allow for multi-user collaboration, but until now, they haven’t been connected for over the internet for mixed-presence interaction.

Tagged with: corporate training / universities • Daniel S. Christian • educational technology • higher education • K-12 • learning spaces • smart classrooms • training • web-based collaboration • workplace

What would an “Air Play”-based learning ecosystem look like?

On 11/22/2010, in A/V -- audio/visual, Apple, Daniel S. Christian, homeschooling/homeschoolers, learning ecosystem, learning spaces, online learning, tools, by Daniel Christian

Tagged with: A/V • Apple • Daniel S. Christian • homeschooling/homeschoolers • learning ecosystem • learning environments • learning spaces • lecture recording • technologies for the home • tools

Themes for next summer’s New Media Consortium’s (NMC) Conference

On 11/19/2010, in analytics, Augmented Reality (AR), change, dangers of the status quo, digital audio, digital learning, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, disruption, education technology, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, future of higher education, game-changing environment, geography / geology, higher education, immersion, innovation, internet, IT in HE, leadership, learning ecosystem, learning spaces, mobile learning, mobile technologies, multi-touch, multimedia, online learning, online media, open courseware and systems, social learning / networks, staying relevant, strategy, teaching & learning, tools, trends, ubiquitous learning, videoconferencing, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

The 2011 NMC Summer Conference includes four themes:

Threads in these themes include, but are not limited to, the following:

Emerging uses of mobile devices and applications in any context
Highly innovative, successful applications of learning analytics or visual data analysis
Uses of augmented reality, geolocation, and gesture-based computing
Discipline-specific applications for emerging technologies
Challenges and trends in educational technology
Projects that employ the Horizon Report or Navigator in any capacity

Challenge-based learning
Game-based learning
Digital storytelling as a learning strategy
Immersive learning environments
Open content resources and strategies
New media research and scholarship
Challenges and trends in new media and learning

Fostering/Supporting/budgeting for innovation
Supporting new media scholarship
Collaboration as a strategy
Learning space design, in all senses of the words
Use, creation, and management of open content
Experiment and experience; gallery as lab, lab as gallery
Challenges and trends related to managing an educational enterprise

Designing for mobile devices in any context
Social networking — designing, monitoring, maximizing social tools
Experience design
Creating augmented reality
Creating the next generation of electronic books
Optimizing digital workflows
Strategies for staying current with new media tools

Tagged with: analytics • augmented reality • change • dangers of the status quo • digital audio • digital citizenship • digital learning • digital photography • digital storytelling • digital textbooks • digital video • disruption • educational gaming • educational technology • emerging technologies • engagement • future of higher education • game-changing environment • gesture / gesturing • higher education • immersion • innovation • internet • IT • leadership • learning ecosystem • learning spaces • Mobile learning • mobile technology • multi-touch • multimedia • ocw • online learning • online media • social learning • social media • social networking • staying relevant • strategy • teaching & learning • tools • trends • ubiquitous learning • videoconferencing • virtual reality / worlds / learning • vision

The “21st Century Classroom” Finalists

On 11/10/2010, in 21st century, learning spaces, smart classrooms, by Daniel Christian

Also see:
Modernizing the American Classroom — at Digitized.com by David Pierce

Slate is holding a contest to redesign and modernize the American classroom. A ton of interesting ideas have come out, and they’ve whittled the submissions to the Top 10. All are incredibly smart, and most involve a lot of integrated and intelligent technology.

Tagged with: 21st century • learning spaces • smart classrooms