eSchoolNews.com, Digital Divide

Here's an interesting publication people might be interested in:

eSchool News

http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=55665

Tue, Oct 21, 2008
'Digital Disconnect' divides kids, educators
Most principals think their schools prepare students for 21st-century careers -- but students disagree
By Maya T. Prabhu, Assistant Editor


he study found that 64 percent of K-12 students play online and computer games, and the average time spent playing is eight to 10 hours per week. Of the students surveyed, 51 percent said they would like to include gaming in school because it's easier for them to understand difficult concepts, 50 percent said they would be more engaged in learning the material, and 46 percent said they would be able to learn more in general...

twitter and football

Not really a mashup, but a fun use of twitter and football:
http://www.twootball.com/

Socialtext - Eugene Lee - Curiosity

As much as the great presentation on web 2.0 and enterprise, what I got from Eugene Lee of Socialtext was that he took the time to come and present to our class. He really embodies what he's talking about as one of the "nodes" of information, one of the people who has the connections and who adds value to organization by knowing people, by knowing where to look for something. The common factor I've seen in our presenters, is that they share an enthusiasm for their work and a need to put technology to use to help people. (I guess you have to be enthusiastic to make it 'till 10pm!)

Eugene asked us to think of a way Socialtext could could apply to learning in the workplace. We talked about the value of acquaintances, or "weak links" between people. If you want to find a job, you probably don't get it through your best friend, but through a friend of a friend etc. My idea is that these kind of social networks could more formally acknowledge "weak links of curiosity". Eugene seemed enthusiastic, passionate and curious about how to use technology. I think that the things I'm curious about and what I'm interested in are what I'll put a little time into investigating. These might be the things I have a good idea about how to use.

First, as with the phrase "soft skills", I'd look for a more positive way of saying "weak links", (or was it "weak ties"), anyway we've seen their strength, are they really weak?

Secondly, I think by keeping track of what a lot of people are curious about we can see what ideas are gaining traction, what's hot like the next meme, and we can provide a forum for a further investigation. Maybe it goes somewhere or maybe not, but often times people are thinking along similar lines. I think this is where learning and web 2.0 can come together. I was trying to see where this happens in the Socialtext software and I guess it happens in many places, but by enabling this collaboration, without having to make it into a major official project, by allowing it to be casual and possibly lead nowhere, without an agenda, we might learn a lot more than we think.

I'm also a musician and now am off to google Condi Rice on YouTube playing piano and send it to my friends...

International Journal of Design

This is a cool journal. They presently have articles on:
Special Issue Editorial: Cultural Aspects of Interaction Design

http://www.ijdesign.org/ojs/index.php/IJDesign/index

International Journal of Design
ISSN: 1994-036X (online); 1991-3761 (print)

The International Journal of Design is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal devoted to publishing research papers in all fields of design, including industrial design, visual communication design, interface design, animation and game design, architectural design, urban design, and other design related fields. It aims to provide an international forum for the exchange of ideas and findings from researchers across different cultures and encourages research on the impact of cultural factors on design theory and practice. It also seeks to promote the transfer of knowledge between professionals in academia and industry by emphasizing research in which results are of interest or applicable to design practices.

5 picture story

Nocycle
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eroksf/sets/72157608310731392/show/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eroksf/sets/72157608310731392/show/

Locative Learning

Tonight Leslie from KQED came and spoke about locative learning. It was interesting to hear her perspective on the difference between digital storytelling in the first person, where the storyteller gets really deep into a personal narrative and the type of stories people were telling using locative learning - going outside and making content with a sense of place. Maybe like apples and oranges I think.

There were a lot of ideas about how this new technology might be used. I'm trying to be open-minded and have fun with these ideas, but I feel like I've heard a lot of Utopian ideas before of how technology will, or could, change things. I think these ideas reflect a certain agenda which may or may not reflect reality. But I do like the new tech and can see that it opens up many different opportunities to learn and have fun with the technology. Leslie pointed out some cool applications and was enthusiastic about using the new tech which I appreciate.

Mobile, wireless, connected Information clouds and learning

Mark van ‘t Hooft's article gives a nice overview of the ways wireless technology might change education. I like that he touches on the idea of locaton-based and context aware applications which could bring learning into the world. Another idea I liked was that learning would be possible anytime and anywhere.

The article also points out that the user will become more in control and personalization will be more prevalent. I think the ability of the user to follow their own curiosity will lead to greater engagement with the subject.

The dislocation of learning from the classroom may make instructional designers more important. With so many options for learning and so much information, having clear instructional goals may become a critical piece to evaluating learning.

Critique of Flatworld Classroom Project

I enjoyed watching the videos from students around the world. I was impressed by their tech savvy with the video.

I think the instructional objective was to explain their chosen concept using video and wiki software as well as other web 2.0 apps. By using web 2.0 technologies to create their digital stories they obviously gained a level of familiarity with web 2.0 tools and tried their hand a creating multimedia as well as using collaborative sytems to communicate between classrooms and countries.

I think they must have learned a lot from having real world interactions with students from different environments. I like to think that travel is one way of opening up a person's mind to new ideas and new ways of thinking, perhaps this online collaboration can have a similar result. I was even struck by the different accents and use of the English language amongst the different students.

The students used video, wikis, online research, youTube. I looked at the video on work flow software. Although the videos weren't too complete, given the difficulty of editing video and concisely making a report I think they were very successful. Along with the info in the wiki I think they were able to make a fairly good report through their collaboration.

Freemind map