Keeping Up with the Technologies

What do you recommend that a colleague do to keep up with changes that relate to emerging technologies?

Perhaps the most important thing I learned from this class, ETEC 647 Emerging Technologies, is that technology will continue to evolve.  It is truly a beast that cannot be completely understood or tamed.  Even if I understood all of it today (impossible!), tomorrow it will have improved, taken on a new form, merged with other facets of life, and taken on a new purpose.  It could be exciting or it could be frustrating to keep up with this technology business.

So it is very important that we, the technology leaders, the users, all of us, stay flexible and be willing to evolve with the technology.  I mean, to evolve in the way we use technology and integrate it into our lives.  Tamarkin & Educase (2010) states that "it will be more important to be able to evolve with technology to contribute in a meaningful way to the institution and its mission." 

So how would one go about keeping up with new and emerging technologies?  Well, the honest answer is: you can't.  It's not possible.

Ok, another chance.  :)  For now, my two recommendations would be Google Reader and Twitter.  Be patient with them, learn to use them well, carefully select who you will follow and whose feeds you will read.  Take time to learn from them and it pays off handsomely.  I've talked about my use of Twitter in a previous post.  I have used Google Reader for a short while, but it is a wonderful place to organize and collect my favorite reads.  Here's a snapshot of one of my accounts (yes, I have a few Google accounts *guilty*).

This class examined very  relevant emerging technologies that would impact education in the near future, such as social media, augmented reality, and mobile devices.  Other large issues looming on the horizon are cloud computing and  open source movement, and many others.  How do we keep up?  Let us not give up:  after all, the technology is for us, we are not for technology.  Remind me not to watch Matrix. LOL.

As Steve Jobs once said, I need to remind myself and my colleagues to "Stay hungry, stay foolish!" -- hungry for continued learning and foolish to explore new, emerging frontiers of technology.

Thank you, Dr. Bert, for taking us on an exciting journey this semester.  As a teacher, I love hearing: "I learned a lot."  As your student, I say from my heart: I learned a lot!   Thanks to you too, Frank.

Tamarkin, M. and 2010 EDUCAUSE Evolving Technologies Committee. (2010 November/December). You 3.0: The Most Important Evolving Technology, EDUCAUSE Review, 45 (6). Retrieved from http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM1061.pdf

Twitter Story

It began with cautious baby steps last semester. Dr. Grace Lin wanted her ETEC442 to use Twitter for extra credit (for us) and for an experiement (for her). I couldn't understand why anyone would want to aimlessly broadcast the minutiae of his/her life in 140 words. But with a little guidance from Dr. Lin, I soon came to understand the value of Twitter. The "group chat" for the class was helpful and by following the right twitters I was kept up-to-date on the news, technology, and eduation. I soon started tweeting and re-tweeting about helpful tools I came across or interesting articles I'd read. It was nice to know that I could share the knowledge rather than just keeping it all for myself. Of course, the tweeting was even better when I got responses from Dr. Lin or other classmates. I even felt a little sad when the Twitter experiment was over, but forgot about it as life got busy.

The last ETEC 647 assignment, to microblog using Twitter while attending the TCC 2011 conference, was a chance to appreciate Twitter in a different way. For ETEC 442, we tweeted whenever and about whatever. This time our focus was narrow: pre-determined time period, topic, and group of people to follow. Looking back, I think I would not have gottten as much out of the online conference if it hadn't been accompanied by the microblogging activities in the background. I enjoyed the learning so much more because I knew that there were others who were also learning and sharing at the same time. I enjoyed the "meaningful information" as well as the casual conversations that were being exchanged. It was like going to a conference with a group of friends! (Lest you think that I'm a social creature -- I'm not; but maybe I am a social learner.)

I have been using TweetDeck (a third party Twitter interface) for a while and find it a lot more friendly and helpful than the Twitter page itself. Here's a screenshot of the full screen TweetDeck (you can reduce it to any number of columns you want).

Notice the circled buttons under the message window? TweetDeck has great features like "Auto URL shortening: on," language translation, and frequently used hashtags.

Here's one funny story: When I was adding "Mentions" column a few days ago, I noticed that someone had mentioned me as a provider of news on Augmented Reality (see the far right column). So I scanned @Perugini's tweets and links, and determined that he likes to keep up with AR developments. So I followed him. Guess what -- now I'm getting a number of tweets in Italian and I have no idea what they say! :) But his English tweets are useful.

I also added #edtech in 2nd column of TweetDeck to see what I would get. Lots of helpful links to Ed Tech information, but almost too much! I now know how to keep up with information and technology if I want to. IF I want to. Sometimes too much of a good thing can be too much. Maybe I should just stick with my selected group of friends. :)

TCC 2011 and Microblogging

Last week was an intense week of learning and new experiences.  Attending an online conference was a phenomenal experience, hearing so many speakers and topics was almost dizzy, and microblogging via Twitter while attending the conference was a fun and unique experience.  Now we are writing a report to reflect on all of that.  As part of the assignment, I created a storyboard using Storify, a new tool in its beta version:

Game-Based Learning

"Almost everything in life is like a game...we are always trying to 'game the system,'" said Dr. Bert Kimura at the beginning of our last synchronous class session.  That is so true.  We are born with instincts to compete, to win, and to extract the best deal (that's me).  It seems more pronounced in males.  That's why our culture spends so much time and money on sports of all kinds, from little league to kupuna league, and from being a pint-sized pitcher to being a devoted fan of professional sports. 

I personally have difficulty jumping on the bandwagon of game-based learning in education, but it seems like another  reality that can be carefully exploited for good.  A teacher should not use a game merely to stuff a lesson into a form of a game.  If it is carefully designed and integrated into teaching with clear objectives, keeping it challenging and rewarding, I can see that it will enhance learning. (http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/games/index.html)  

My reservations about games, especially video games, comes from personal experience of having raised three children.  We bought them a video game console when they were 8, 10, and 12.  They all enjoyed gaming but our two daughters loved reading books more and still love reading.  Our son on the other hand, immediately fell in love with the visual stimulation of gaming.  He is a decent student (a Regent Scholar at Manoa), but once he expressed to me his regret of not having spent enough time reading as a child.  Reading teaches love of words, love of learning, patience, the quiet soul-searching, the forbearance, and so many intangibles that can easily be pushed aside next to the shiny, noisy, heart-throbbing, engaging video games.  Especially for boys.  My fear is that game-based learning could push aside the more important task of teaching our students to read, to spend time communing with black words on white pages, to build all the character that they will need to become adults of tomorrow.

The Ethics of Wikileaks

It's been a few weeks since we had to think about Internet security, ethics, and Wikileaks in this class.  But recently I asked my CS Ethics class to view two TED Talks videos, one of Julian Assange of Wikileaks and the other of Wael Ghonim, the Google executive who triggered the Egyptian revolution by starting a Facebook page.  I asked them to compare and contrast the two videos and summarize their thoughts.  I was so thrilled to see them engaging in the current issues, attempting to divine the fine but uncertain line between the ethical and the illegal, but really thinking for themselves.  I have to share this post from Joshua:

"In many ways, the goals of Wael Ghonim and Julian Assange were the same - free people by giving them information. In the case of Julian Assange, he created and used wikileaks to expose the secrets of governments that he believed kept people from being free. On the other hand, Wael Ghonim's facebook page allowed people to share information that each of them had, the fact that they were all discontent with the status quo. I think this illustrates the largest difference between their approaches. Wikileaks put Assange as the arbiter of what should or shouldn't be released, whereas Ghonim merely facilitated the exchange of information. This is further borne out by the fact that where Assange was adulated by the crowd as a "hero", Ghonim said 'there were no heroes, because everyone was a hero.'"  I say amen to that.

Augmented Reality in the News

Happened upon this news about augmented reality research at the University of Washington in Seattle.

That's right.  They are working on contact lenses with embedded computer chips and graphical displays!  (SeattlePI.com)  "Terminator view" video on that site is quite appropriate.

Second Life Part 3

Based on my previous experience on college campuses late at night, I was apprehensive about going to another university site but I was required to visit UC Davis' Hallucination Island for our assignment.  It turns out, that this visit was more objective and impersonal, yet educational and effective.  It helped me to understand how the hallucinations might cause erratic or violent behavior in schizophrenic patients. I was not disturbed by this as I was disturbed by “real people” in other worlds whom without inhibition expressed violence and indecency.  

After visits to various sites in Second Life, and interacting with my teammates and with strangers, I'm concluding that Second Life has fairly high level of social presence.  What is social presence?

Social presence theory was first founded by Short, Williams, and Christie in 1976,¹ and has since come to mean "the perception that one is communicating with real people rather than with inanimate object."  Since the emergence of digital learning environment, social presence is also seen as "the ability of individuals to collaborate effectively through technology, even when they are located in different locations and time frames."²  Steve Wheeler of University of Plymouth states that "...social presence is an important feature of any successful learning activity, particularly within digital learning environments... when social presence is low, group members feel disconnected and group dynamics suffer.  Conversely, when social presence is high, members should feel more engaged and involved in group processes."³ 

For this assignment, our primary objective was to explore and gain some sense of the level of social presence in Second Life.  The secondary objective was to compare Second Life to the more traditional online experience such as Elluminate, Blackboard, and Laulima with respect to the level of social presence.   

I'm guessing that it's the social presence in Second Life that made me feel connected to my teammates as well as feeling apprehensive of strange strangers.

 

As a digital learning environment (DLE), Second Life offers visual layer and virtual reality which other traditional DLE tools do not.  With the presence of virtual world landscape, structures, objects, and people, the illusion of reality allows human minds to "manufacture feelings of connection and interaction, even when separated by distance." That is a remarkably powerful aspect of virtual world such as Second Life.

So why isn't Second Life used more as a teaching tool or as a digital classroom?  I venture to guess that it must be due to the challenges of building a virtual world tailored to each lesson, as well as the challenges of becoming an adept user.  It took me some time to become a functional citizen of Second Life, and I'm still not moving around with ease.  I can't even imagine how long it might take me to learn to build a world.  I also noticed that my quad-core processor occasionally warns of Second Life's high CPU usage.  This might mean that participants need to have powerful machines to make the SL experience relatively comfortable.  That could be a serious limitation.

¹Short, J.A., Williams, E., & Christie, B. (1976). The social psychology of telecommunications. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

²Sarbaugh-Thompson, Marjorie and Martha Feldman 1998. “Electronic Mail and Organizational Communication:  Does Saying ‘Hi’ Really Matter, Organization Sciences, 9(6), pp. 685-698.  

³Wheeler, Steve (November 2005), "Creating Social Presence in Digital Learning Environments: A Presence of Mind?", TAFE Conference, Queensland, Australia

Second Life Part 2

I don't know about this Second Life.  Or maybe something's wrong with me.

Last night I visited a few different places on our assignment list, two of which were college campuses.  Teleporting to Ohio University and Bowling Green State University landed me smack in the middle of characters that I did not care to hang with.  I listened to their drunken rantings and insults, talk of rape and indecent materials, and I had had enough.  I felt totally creeped out, especially when someone approached me.  (Duh, I thought I was invisible!)  I'm hoping that it was just the time of the day that attracted such characters.
I quickly teleported to the Genome site, hoping to find something more constructive.  To both my relief and my disappointment, no one was in that world, and I probably could've learned about the Genome project had I decided to stay and explore.  But my bed called.

Am I taking these virtual worlds too seriously?  Why can't I just say, "ha, this is just made up stuff!"  How would such encounters affect an impressionable young student?  Or is this a generation gap?  Or a gender gap? 

Tom and Elton said we are going to visit the UC Davis' Hallucination Island next.  They didn't say exactly what that place is supposed to be.  I'm a little apprehensive but I'm game.  At least I should have some good materials to write about, right?

Second Life Part 1

I signed up for a Second Life account last year and even made an avatar, but stopped there.  I really did not know where to go or what to do.  Being task-oriented, I needed a reason to spend a lot of time to explore and become familiar with Second Life.  So I'm glad that our new assignment is to explore life in Second Life!

When Tom said we should meet in Second Life on Thursday, I thought I should at least survey this new place before the team meeting.  So in the morning I briefly visited the UH COE campus and managed to walk and fly.  Then a "Vera Johnson" showed up and asked if I was interested in organic and fair trade products.  "No, not really," I said.  "Why not?"  "I'm here to look for my project team.  Nice meeting you."  I quickly left.  Then I got an email from her offering to sell me organic and fair trade products.  Social presence note #1:  you can be spammed and feel "harassed."  The email follow-up even made me feel as if she stalked me. Hmm.

At 4:30 pm, Tom, Elton, and I met at the UH COE campus.  Oddly, it felt a little awkward and odd just like when you meet someone new for the first time in person.  They helped me figure out the mic volume and other basic settings.  Then I went through the guided tour with Tom, a very patient mentor.  I learned to teleport, view using camera, sit, dance, purchase objects, change appearance, etc.  I read directions and followed the guided tour but Tom patiently explained almost everything.  (Thanks, Tom!)  I couldn't have asked for a better mentor.  It was fun to learn.  It was fun to explore a new place.

When the tour was over, and I had to leave SL to make dinner (in real life), I felt as if I had been out having fun and neglecting my job of taking care of my family.  Hmm.  Social presence note #2:  the virtual world had the power of creating emotions similar to one I would have felt in real life.  Now I think I understand what the objective of this assignment is.  I think I understand better what is meant by "social presence."

As for the educational value of SL?  I'll have to learn and experience much more before I can say.  Right now, I wonder about the power of SL being a distraction in a learner.  I can see how it could be addicting, just like a video game or social media.  Ask me again what I think of SL, in about 3 weeks when this project is done.

Intercultural Competence

It happens regularly in our ETEC 647 class:  inter-cultural exchange and collaboration of ideas using a Web 2.0 technology tool, Elluminate.  We have heard from Annie Saint-Jacques in Canada,  Jin and Ayako in Japan (although Jin is from China), and from Dr. Kumiko Aoki in Japan.  It seems to be a regular event in this class, that I never gave much thought to skills needed for inter-cultural exchanges.  But when I think about it, it is true that even in those short meetings, participants on both sides of the culture had to exercise patience, desire to speak in a foreign language or try to understand despite the heavy accent, and be open to new ideas or perspectives.  Those moments were good exercises for both the speakers and for us.

Here in Hawaii, the melting-pot of many cultures, intercultural interaction is a regular part of life.  We all had classmates and neighbors from another country or another state, and we tried to understand why they act, think, eat, or dress differently. We Hawaiians have been given the gift of learning intercultural competency from childhood.  Therefore, transitioning our youth to become inter-culturally competent global citizens should be easy and natural.   We can apply educational technology in classrooms to enable and enhance opportunities to collaborate internationally, beyond our own neighborhoods and social circles, so that the learners can become competent global citizens.

Internet vs. Horse and Buggy

How would you advise a colleague who says, "The Internet is unsafe and therefore, I will refer my students to only use traditional library reference materials"?

 According to the UN, 260,000 children aged 6-18 worldwide die per year from auto accidents.  363,000 children die per year from other accidents such as drowning, burn, fall, poisoning, etc.  (BBC News)  That's a staggering number of childhood accidental deaths.  Yet, no country has banned automobiles, swimming pools, or the playground out of fear that children would be hurt or killed.  We don't avoid using the necessary transportation or deny our children the pleasure of playing on the playground because of the possible dangers.  The  possibilities are always there, but we take precautions to minimize accidents, such as using car seats and supervising the children when they are playing in water.  We can also teach them skills to enjoy the water safely.  Sometimes however, parents try their best to protect their child and yet accidents still happen. 

Why would using the Internet or any technology be different?  The technology, and the Internet in particular, is a large and necessary presence in modern life, that it does not make sense to avoid it or deny access to it.  The Internet's advantage of offering resources that are current, relevant, and immediate cannot match the print materials found in the traditional library.  The Internet should not be the only source, and it is known for having some untrustworthy materials, but with some practice of safe searching and filtering, and safe online presence, the information one can glean from the Internet can be powerful and plentiful.  Unless the teacher wants to return to horse and buggy (wait, the horses cause accidents too!), I would encourage the teacher to include the Internet as a resource in teaching and learning.  There is abundance of materials (on the Internet -- where else?) on how to teach safe online behaviors, ethics, and web search.  Such education can precede any assignment that might send the students to the Internet.  Yes, we can continue to teach our children how to buckle up, how to swim, and how to not talk to strangers in real life and in cyberspace.

Perhaps  one is more likely to be run over by stepping out on the technology super-highway on a horseback.   :)

Styles

This week Dr. Bert responded to the class' concerns about the workload and other related issues.  He quickly adjusted the amount of work and the communication methods.  That got me thinking about different styles.

Dr. Bert from the beginning told us that this was an emerging course on emerging technologies and things could be fluid.  That was very difficult for me as this is my first graduate course in ETEC, I had no idea what to expect, how to think, how to plan, and whether or not I was even understanding what the course was about.  So I was a little surprised when many other classmates said the workload was too much.  I thought I was just spending a lot of time researching and thinking because I didn't know very much.  I appreciate the lighter workload, but oddly I also miss the forced late-night learning.  ;]

Back to the styles:  when I started teaching 10 years ago, I had no training on teaching (I was told "please teach these courses and here is the book.") and the only role models I could recall were my stern teachers from the 60's and the 70's.  So I began with my authoritarian, stern style and evolved from there.  My goal is to emulate Dr. Bert some day:  adaptable, personable, innovative, and very much involved.  He could be comfortably retired but continues to teach to learn new technologies and to inspire the next generation of educational technologists.  I wish I was 10 years younger so I could pursue a PhD in EdTech and teach like him.

Other classmates expressed that the group work has been the most challenging aspect of this course.  That got me  thinking about the various collaboration styles.  Different styles and different schedules make the collaboration challenging, yet as Dr. Bert assures us, that is part of our learning.  I hope I will continue to improve on becoming a better collaborator.

Don't Knock the un-Emerging Technologies

We've been immersed in identifying and learning emerging technologies.  It's been fun; I love exploring and discovering new tools and technologies: contemplating the possibilities, consequences, issues, and what all these mean for education and for the society.  Heady stuff.

Last Tuesday, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake crumbled buildings and killed many, in Christchurch, New Zealand.  It happened during the busy lunch hour of a work/school day, so many people were caught by surprise.  The city is now digging for hundreds still missing. Where was technology in all of this?  Could technology have detected  an impending earthquake and warned people?  Is technology being used to find and rescue survivors still trapped in rubble?  I hope so.  That, would be an amazing application of the Internet of Things.  A sensor might detect an impending earthquake and sends an alert to everyone's phone or some smart device.  The device might even direct them to a safe shelter.  Trapped survivors could send out a signal of their location if his smart device sensed an emergency situation (its owner might be injured or unconscious).  I can imagine many positive applications of technology.  Perhaps these tragedies will be catalysts for further development.  Christchurch's economy has been badly damaged along with a third of its buildings, and one article mentioned rebuilding with a technology-driven economy.  I'm not sure what that means, but it's encouraging to hear hope and vision already emerging while mourning for the loss.

On the personal side, my daughter's New Zealand Environmental Studies group is based in an old convent 95 miles north of Christchurch.  About an hour after we heard the news of the earthquake, the director of program in Auckland emailed to let us know that the group was still in Samoa on a field trip.  Good ol' email.  A wonderful technology for worried parents!  My daughter and her group returned to their home base on Thursday, and thankfully their "home" was not damaged.  But they will be emotionally and spiritually affected by what happened to their neighbors and neighborhoods in Christchurch.  An opportunity for growth.  For now, email is all we have to keep in touch with her.  I'm so thankful for the unemerging, unglamorous emails.

Internet of Things

I must confess that I had never heard of the phrase "Internet of Things" before this class.  Or could it be that it never registered in my mind because "Internet of Things" does not sound like it's some earth-shattering technology?  Maybe.  But this topic is fascinating.  I find it the most interesting topic so far.  Robots, sensors, tracking, coordinated automation, and autonomous devices in business, science, medicine, and technology.  Wow.  Truly the stuff of science-fiction that I used to love to read as a child.

But if we think about the current availability of amazing technology such as GPS, wireless, the Internet, smart phones and silicon chips, just to name a few, we know that the stage is set for the Internet of Things to become a reality.  One process, one industry, one person at a time, but I can't help but think of that day in the future when all those will be connected.  Pretty exciting and pretty scary.

Dr. Alvin Fuse, our guest speaker in class last week, surprisingly did not mention any new medical technology that most of us had not heard of.  He said imaging, such as CAT scan and MRI, is the biggest technological advancement so far.  After reading a few articles on the Internet of Things, I was expecting Dr. Fuse to talk about embedding sensors in human bodies for monitoring and for preventive treatments.  Dr. Fuse didn't say anything like that, so I was half disappointed and half relieved.

Why disappointed?  A family member was declared cancer-free last July.  Then in November she was in severe pain.  By December, an MRI and PET scan showed tumors all over her body.  No one expected her cancer to return so quickly and so aggressively. A very close friend's breast cancer returned for the third time, this time in the right brachial plexus, chest, and lung.  The large tumor in brachial plexus has incapacitated her right arm, a real challenge for a busy mom with three boys.  Such is life, but I wonder if my sister-in-law and my friend might have benefited from a monitor that tracked the body's cell activities.  Will such a device ever become reality?  I wonder.  (Ultimately, our life is in the hands of the Creator, but it's hard to see the suffering.)

Why relieved?  Would there be any price to pay in terms of privacy if we are constantly monitored?  There are many security, privacy, and legal liability issues that will arise as a side effect of the rise in this technology.  More on this later.

ScreenToaster is Toast!

When we were discussing the definition of emerging technology in class, I recall Dr. Bert mentioning that these tools might be here today and gone tomorrow.

When our group for Assignment 3 began looking for a tool to capture the tutorial on screen, that is exactly what we ran into!  ScreenToaster was highly recommended by many users, and the list of its features sounded perfect for our project -- except, screentoaster.com page would not load.  I assumed that its server was down for the day, perhaps.  But I had a funny feeling about it by the end of the day.  Sure enough, someone mentioned in her blog that ScreenToaster had closed down.  Alas.  Another good emerging tool gone.  Eventually we settled on Screenr, and think it will work well.  Hmm.  Life with emerging technologies.

Update:  Add Bubbleply.com to the list.  It worked last week but now their page says they have shut down. :(

Social Media: A Revolutionary Tool

As of today, Egypt is still in turmoil.  The protesters want President Mubarak to relinquish his leadership post, and Mubarak refuses to go.  If Mubarak did leave, no one knows what the alternative is.  It could be better or it could be worse for the democracy of Egypt.  We've been hearing that social media (Facebook and Twitter) has played a large role in instigating and in continuing of the protests. 

So today, the US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, held a town hall style meeting at Twitter headquarters, fielding questions sent in from around the world via Twitter.  The State Department is trying to make a point that the social media is an important tool for diplomacy.  ("US ambassador to UN hosts town hall at Twitter HQ")

Seems that our class discussion on social media is very timely.  Social media began as a way for people to network socially.  Now it is a tool for business, politics, education, and even diplomacy.  It's time we taught the next generation how to properly harness the power of social media.

What Web 2.0 Technology?

Dr. Bert's questions from the last formal class session were  1) what emerging technology am I currently using?  2) what emerging technology are my students/children using?  and 3) what 3 technologies do I think will have most impact in the classroom in the next 2-3 years?

I have two children in college.  When my daughter left two years ago, we asked, "why don't you email us?"  Because nobody emails anymore, she said.  So, what do you do?  Well, Facebook, IM, text, and Skype.  Mom and Dad very quickly had to learn the new ways of communicating.  She would also like an iPhone but we don't see why she needs it.  That's another story.  She is currently in New Zealand for a semester so we have a few months to think about it.   ;)

I began using Facebook Group and Laulima Forum for a class I'm teaching this semester.  I use them in lieu of classroom discussions, and find that those educational social networking tools can be very useful.  They seem to stimulate (force?) the students to think more before converting their thoughts into written words.  The added benefit is that even the shy ones have a chance to contribute and everyone listens.  Our class time is usually for guest speakers, topic introductions, and also for reviewing the written discussions.

I think another reason why those tools work is because my students were already using them. They were familiar with Facebook and Laulima, and they continue to use them everyday.  I think some are on Facebook 24 hours a day, and they are on Laulima for most of their classes.  So it's easy for them to just do another task for my class.  I like the social aspect of Facebook too, where I get to eavesdrop a little more about what they are discussing outside of class, and they get to "hear me" some times.  Of course there are downsides to Facebook.  I think I'll use this for the Discussion assignment so will talk about it more later.

What 3 technologies will have the greatest impact in the classroom?  For now, I'll pick social network, mobile technology, and augmented reality.  I'm just starting to learn about augmented reality, and think it's likely to emerge more quickly than virtual reality. I just might have to get an iPhone to explore these emerging technologies.  :)

Teamwork

Last week was busy.  Really, really busy.  A new HP desktop needed to be set up (finally replaced our 6.5-year-old Dell), my laptop died, our son's friend collapsed, BIIF swim meet took 2 full days, my dear hubby had a birthday and a dozen other things stretched me all in one week.  So I really appreciated my team who collaborated to come up with Assignment Proposal for ETEC647.  Especially Kim.  She came up with the idea and she wrote up a great proposal. I did very little.  Thanks so much, Kim!

I also found out how challenging it is to have a team meeting in Elluminate.  As wonderful as these emerging conference tools are, without video, it's very difficult to read body language.  I appreciate Skype even more now, and can't wait to try a multi-party Skype session.

I wonder if smaller groups might work better when we have to work together over distance?

Defining Emerging Technology

1/24/2011

A week ago, I tweeted a couple of web pages I wanted to bookmark after researching the term “emerging technology.”  You see, last semester I participated in Dr. Grace Lin’s experiment of using Twitter as an educational/professional development tool and I got hooked.  Whenever I came across an interesting fact or an article, I shared by tweeting.  When I came across someone else’s interesting tweet, I followed up and learned new things.  I’m not finding much time to tweet nowadays (actually tweeting is no problem; keeping up with others’ tweets takes time, so I don’t even go there), but I recently used it as a bookmark. 

Now I can pull up those pages and talk about them.  Here is the definition of ET that I liked: “Emerging technology is defined as a media that is coming into view, coming into existence, or coming to commonality. It is an innovative technology that is reshaping the nature of education.” (http://schoolcomputing.wikia.com/wiki/Emerging_Technologies)  This page also lists the 6 major emerging technologies as: blogs, RSS, podcasts, wikis, handhelds, and robotics.  Appropriately, this information came from a wiki page edited by several people over a period of many years.  Go figure.  The last edit was in September of 2010 so the list may be slightly outdated.

The other page was about “10 Internet technologies that educators should be informed about” (http://www.emergingedtech.com/2009/04/10-internet-technologies-that-educators-should-be-informed-about/).  Again, the list is from 2009 so it’s even more slightly outdated, but nevertheless interesting.

I want to close with the thought that the emerging technology is “innovative and is reshaping the nature of education.”  I think it’s reshaping the way the next generation will learn, communicate, socialize, do business, run government, and everything else.  It’s already happening.

Jaycutting

1/20/2011

The second assignment for ETEC647 was to introduce a partner using any tool other than PowerPoint or Keynote.  (The first assignment was to start this blog to journal the Emerging Technologies we learn throughout the semester.)  Carl and I work for the same department at UH-Hilo, so we partnered up thinking that it would be easier to collaborate.  You know what?  We met briefly to discuss how we might do it, but most of our collaboration happened through emails and Dropbox.  Carl provided great photos and we’ve known each other for a while, so that made things easier.  But really, it would have been just as easy to work with anyone from another island or country given all the communication tools we have!  I love technology.  I love Dropbox.

I found another tool that I’ve come to love: Jaycut.  http://Jaycut.com.  Carl and I looked at Jaycut and OneTrueMedia.  We’d already tried Voicethread in ETEC442, and Prezi was cool but just another presentation tool.  Turns out, that OneTrueMedia only allows 30 seconds of free video.  Jaycut was perfect!  I have made a few simple videos with Windows MovieMaker and iMovie before, and Jaycut was very similar.  But it was oh-so-easy to publish! It also uploads directly to Youtube.  The only downside is that you have to have a very fast Internet connection since every edit and preview has to be synched with the Jaycut site.  It would be a great tool for high school or even junior high students to use to produce a video.  It’s a keeper.

BTW, here is the link to the video intro of Carl:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKD4XPqw5Vs

I just realized that I mistakenly thought it had to be under 4 minutes, instead of 3 minutes.  That’s what I get for not checking my notes.  Sorry it’s over 3 minutes.