CCULAA Conference

I spoke today at the CCULAA Conference and gave my iPod Generation presentation. It was a great crowd - very engaged and active particularly since it was at 4:00 in the afternoon on a hot muggy day. I plugged my humble little blog, so if you are reading this as a result, welcome!

Internet Crash

Some really startling news. Glad I had my blog backed up to a jump drive!

Keep it Simple

Pictured to the right is the remote control for my DVD player at home. Why post such a fascinating image for my two faithful readers of DigitalEdu to peruse? It is a great illustration of something I've been thinking of a lot lately. Simplicity.

There are 41 buttons on the remote for my DVD player. We use it maybe once or twice a week and we use it to simply play movies. I need buttons to play, stop and pause. I have no idea what the other buttons are supposed to do and I don't have the time or inclination to find out. All I want to do is play movies. I have a button to "Prog" and another one to "A-B". Because there is so much clutter on the device, I rarely hit the right button the first time. It's not like I'm a Luddite - I love technology but I just don't want to change my behavior to match their device. I want their device to adapt to me. Why can't there just be one button? When the DVD isn't playing, the button would start, while it's running it will pause, while it's paused, it would stop. That way I only need to hit one button and the device will change the behavior based on my current context.

It's obvious to me why the device is like this - the engineers were too lazy to put more effort into the user interface and the project manager didn't view it as the end user - he/she viewed it like an engineer. Compare this kind of device with the iPhone. There's a good reason people become so fanatical over Apple products. Apple puts an enormous amount of work into the user interface (the iPhone has one button on the front and the software adapts to the current activity the person is performing). They make it simple, they make it elegant and they make it fun. I have recently started using a MacBook Pro after being away from a Mac for a long time and it is a beautiful machine to use.

I also know why more devices are not like the iPhone. It is a lot of work to make complex activities appear simple. That's true whether it's hardware, software, or a teacher trying to explain a complex problem to her students. Last Monday we went live with a new registration system and we spent a lot of time working on the interface and trying to make it as simple and straightforward as possible. We spent hours going over every form widget and every word to see if we could make it cleaner and simpler. We conducted numerous focus groups with students and staff to find out what was important, and what wasn't. So far, the results look encouraging, but we're keeping a close eye on the statistics to see if students are using it with more accuracy and getting through the process faster.

I would much rather have our systems look like the iPhone than my DVD remote. Keep it simple.

Microsoft Surface

Microsoft announced today a remarkable new interface called Microsoft Surface. It is an entirely touch and gesture based interface and the demos look very impressive. Initially it will be out of the price range of your typical individual, but I'm sure that will come down over time.

At this point it's hard to tell if this is just marketing hype or a truly new innovation in computing. What always impresses me though is when systems adapt to the natural way that people behave. In the demo videos, people shrink and enlarge photographs by squeezing or spreading their fingers together. They download pictures by setting a camera on the surface, and the system automatically connects to the camera and "spreads" the pictures out for viewing.

It doesn't take much imagination to see how a system like this could be used effectively in education. Any time the interface doesn't get in the way, we have a much better opportunity for learning.

It looks very exciting and it's great to see something this innovative come from Microsoft. Check it out!

MAP Go-Live

I want to apologize to both of my faithful DigitalEdu readers for the rather sparse blogging of late. Both my professional and personal lives have been incredibly busy lately and it's been tough to to find any time.

Got a few minutes right now and I'm very pleased to announce here that we went live with our "My Academic Plan" project on April 26th. I am very pleased with how it turned out. Our design team did an amazing job on this project, and I can't say enough about them. It was one of the best experiences I have ever had on a project. Their dedication to creating a truly great academic planning tool for our students was amazing. It was a long road, but I believe our students are going to benefit from all the hard work.

MAP is now available for all students through our new MySite 2.0 portal, and available to any staff member by request. If you are not in our district, I created a MAP Information Page that gives you some information which includes a demo login you can use to check it out.

One question any developer always asks is "If we build it, will they come?". No one wants to put a lot of work into a system and then find out that nobody really wants it. That was answered for me when I checked our stats for the first week. We had 840 plans created in the first week of availability, and we have yet to do any promotion. When you count the over 400 plans that were created during the focus groups, it means we are already above 1,200 plans. That is the part I love about my job. When we first made the link live I was watching the stats, seeing students using MAP for the first time and realizing that we were truly helping them make better decisions about their course selection. Very cool!

A Great Week

I got back yesterday with my daughter from our annual trip to Mexico with the high school youth group from my church. This was my third year and each time it is different, and each time it has been an amazing experience. I am never more tired, dirty and fulfilled then during this week. We camp in an area provided by the sponsor - Amor Ministries - but have no running water, electricity, flush toilets or showers. You can imagine what it is like to take 27 middle class kids out of the South Orange County bubble and expose them to what life is like for a majority of the world. If you based your imagination on the image of teenagers on television then you would imagine a nightmare. It was anything but. Every year I am impressed by the quality of these young people. They spent the time digging trenches and leveling ground and sawing wood and hammering nails and mixing cement and framing walls and applying stucco and playing with the neighborhood kids. They did it all with very little complaining and with a sense of purpose that was admirable. It was truly an honor to be working alongside with them.

We have two major goals - one is to build a house in 4 days using nothing but hand tools. The other is to let the family know that God loves them and we are there to provide tangible evidence of that love. I can only imagine what goes through the mind of the family to see three vans pull up, a group of noisy, boisterous teenagers pour out, and in a few days, transform their life. I can't think of a better way to spend a week and coming back to my regular job seems so trivial in comparison.

Amazing Interface

Rob Hartman, the Saddleback College Webmaster, sent me a link to the video below. It shows an interface of the future that is pretty amazing. Imagine how this could be used in the classroom.

http://www.fastcompany.com/video/player.html?bctid=422563006

Immersive Environments

If you want to see what is happening with technology and young people today, then you should read this article that describes what MTV is doing with virtual worlds. I think there is a very exciting trend toward fully immersive environments and it's something that deserves the attention of those of us in higher education. There is a lot of potential here to create some very effective learning environments.

The other day I joined an interesting conference in Second Life. I listened to a live audio feed of an Educause conference that was taking place in Raleigh, North Carolina, but I listened to it while "sitting" in a virtual amphitheater in Second Life with about 20-30 other people, all represented by their avatars. The topic was Immersive Learning Environments so it was a very fitting way to listen in. Frankly, it was not very effective for a couple of reasons. The technology still has a ways to go - there was no live video (only rotating still pictures) and the audio kept dropping out. What was most irritating however was related to human nature (which unfortunately technology has yet to overcome). Just like in real world conferences, a lot of people arrived late, were disruptive, and kept asking stupid questions. I think the potential for creating a very compelling, interactive and immersive environment with this kind of technology is huge. I suppose it's inevitable that we'll have to let real people (with all of their annoying habits) use it.

Did You Know

Interesting video from Karl Fisch:

Bringing People Together

Every once in a while, something happens to people I know and love that puts life in perspective. This past week, Katie Holland, the 17 year old daughter of my good friend Dan Holland, was in a horrible accident while working on a horse ranch near their home in Montana. She lost her leg and is facing a long time of recovery - they have been told to expect a two month hospital stay. She was airlifted to a hospital in Seattle that has an excellent reputation for this kind of trauma. If you are the praying type, please pray for her and her entire family. As the parent of two kids, I can't imagine the ordeal this has been and they have a long road ahead of them.

A web site has been set up to keep people updated on her status:

www.caringbridge.org/visit/katieholland

It's a great example of how technology can be used effectively to bring people together during a time like this. The family doesn't have to relive the experience over and over again and get worn out by answering every call and email. Those of us who care about them can get the latest news on her status, and we get to read all of the wonderful comments that are being left by people all over the country.

Blackboard Scholar

I attended a webinar today on a new product from Blackboard called Scholar. It looks pretty interesting, but I have mixed feelings about their approach. Scholar is a social bookmarking service that can be completely integrated with Blackboard. It has all the usual capabilities of posting bookmarks, tagging, searching, browser integration, etc. Very much like Del.icio.us - which is the service I use every day. Services like del.icio.us are wide open to any content, where Scholar is intended to aggregate links related to specific pre-defined disciplines. Instructors can utilize this source to research the best sites on the web for the topic they are teaching. They created some pretty nifty interfaces into the Blackboard system, both for producing and consuming the content. They made it very easy for an instructor to incorporate the information in their courses.

Sounds great so far, right? A large software company is paying attention to Web 2.0 and integrating a free service into their product. So why my mixed feelings? Scholar is free to consume for anyone, but to produce content you have to access it through a Blackboard server. You can't create an account on Scholar.com - it has to be done through a Blackboard building block.

Now, Blackboard can obviously do anything they want since they are writing the software, and they are making it available for anyone to search and read at no cost. However, they seem to be making a big deal about this as a service to the higher education community. I think it would be a much better service if they didn't constrain the producers to only their paying customers. There are other services out there like Harvard's H20 and University of Pennsylvania's Penntags that perform a similar service without the restriction. Given the major black eye Blackboard has received from their patent issue, it would seem that opening up Scholar to everyone would generate some goodwill from the higher ed community.

Connected Classroom

Here is a really nice video clip that illustrates a lot of what I have been talking about in my iPod Generation talks. It's called Connected Classroom and I found it on the think:lab blog.

Teachers and Marketers

Kathy Sierra has written a very interesting article about the role that teachers and marketers play in society, and what they can learn from each other. As usual from Kathy, it is provocative and interesting.

NOAA in Second Life

I am growing increasingly intrigued by the possibilities of using Second Life in education. Just wish I had the time to play around with it more! Here is a nice video clip that illustrates how the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is using Second Life for educational purposes.

Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us

Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University, has created a very interesting video that explains the evolution of the web and what Web 2.0 really is all about. Check it out:

Universities and the "Virtual Future"

There is an interesting article on Cnet about the future of universities. I especially liked this quote from Charles Reed, the CSU chancellor, when talking about face-to-face versus the virtual world:

"It's not an either-or thing. We need the 'high touch,' but we need the high tech at the same time."

I think that is the right approach. Pure distance education is not for everyone, but a combination of face-to-face time augmented by a compelling, interactive virtual experience could be for just about everyone. The article also mentions some exciting developments in integrating virtual worlds like Second Life with course management systems.

iPod Generation (Reprise)

I did my "iPod Generation" presentation for the Saddleback College High School Guidance Counselors Day today. It's been a while since I did that spiel and it was good to get the slides updated (they are posted under "Recent Presentations" in the right column). Once again I made a pathetic appeal for people to visit my blog, so if you are here because of it, welcome! I'm glad you have joined my two faithful readers and hopefully the server will handle the increased load.

It was a great audience and I got a very positive response. There were a few requests to come visit the high schools for staff development, which I would really enjoy. All of us in education owe it to our students to stay on top of technology trends so we can serve them better. I love being part of that conversation - it's one of the best parts of my job.

I'm also speaking at the IVC HS Counselor Day in March. I did the iPod Generation speech last year for them, so this year I'll be talking about Web 2.0 and doing a demonstration of our new MAP (My Academic Plan) system.

Yet Another Sign of the Impending Apocalypse

Newsweek magazine has an article this week on the seemingly impossible merger of geek culture and hip-hop. It is known as Nerdcore and believe it or not has a growing list of "artists" (sarcastic use of quotes intentional) and followers. I'm sure that I'm just too old to understand the appeal of any variation of hip-hop. To me, it all sounds like semi-literate ramblings spoken to an annoying beat.

I particularly liked one quote in the article from Jason Tanz who has written a book on rap and white America:

"Nerdcore is expressing yourself and not apologizing for it. But they don't want to win over the streets - they're kind of scared of the streets."

I did a little bit of Googling to find some nerdcore lyrics and ran across this lovely little ditty from a rapper named MC Hawking. The title is UFT for the MC.

Trash Talk
Right now!
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

Verse 1
I am a scientist.
I am a physicist.
I know what I want, and I know how to get it,
I want to unlock the universe.

Chorus
Yes, I want a unified field theory.
It's the only one for me.

Verse 2
A unified field theory,
it's coming some day wait and see.
A theory to combine electromagnetivity,
with the weak and strong forces and gravity.

Chorus
Yes, I want a unified field theory.
Not Newtonian gravity.

Verse 3
Einstein tried, but he couldn't see,
the random state of the galaxies.
But quantum theory will be key,
to a unified field theory.

Chorus
Yes, I want a unified field theory.
Not relativity.

Verse 4
Right now the best bet seems to be,
the work being done in M-Theory.
Time will tell but I guarantee,
they ain't gonna find it at MIT.

Chorus
The institute won't beat me.
Ain't gonna happen G.

Outro
Cause, I want a unified field theory.
Yes, I want a unified field theory.
You know what I mean?
Yes, I want a unified field theory.
And a Nobel prize for me.

O yeah!
Uhh!

Only in America!

Second Life

There is a fascinating trend on the Internet that I have been wanting to post about for quite a while, but just haven't had the time. Some people believe that the next logical step for the web is to move from a two dimensional space using a book metaphor (i.e. web page) to a three dimensional space. One technology that might fulfill this prediction is something called a Multi User Virtual Environment (or MUVE for the acronym inclined). The most famous of these is called Second Life and it has been growing rapidly due to a lot of media attention recently. In a MUVE you are represented by an avatar, which you can usually customize to meet your particular whim.

I first started using Second Life about a year ago and, like many people, I quickly stopped because I didn't really see much use for it. The primary usage seemed to be for (how should I put this) non family-friendly activities. Evidently people think avatar-on-avatar action is kinda hot. I kept reading more about it, and a couple of months ago decided to give it another shot. It truly is a remarkable place since everything you see in this world is created by members of the community. A number of educators are starting to explore ways to use SL, and it's very exciting to see the level of creativity that is taking place. You can read more about the educational uses of SL on their education page. If you are interested I would recommend signing up for the email list that is on that page. It is very active and a lot of great ideas are being posted.

Be aware that there is a significant learning curve to using SL and you should not skip the orientation that is available the first time you sign on. It is run by a company called Linden Labs and they have had significant growing pains with the recent rapid growth. The site can be quite flaky at times so be patient if you want to learn how to use it.

I think this kind of site has enormous potential in education. It can make distance learning more personal and engaging (the average session time in SL is somewhere around 3 hours and it can be fairly addicting once you get started). The other day I was checking out the SDSU virtual campus that is in the picture and a person "walked" up to me and started chatting. She was a language instructor at a private school in Belgium and we "talked" for a while about how SL is being used in education. It was a pretty fascinating experience and was much more engaging than just a typical text-based chat. It is being used by professors at Harvard Law, SDSU, UC Davis, Ball State, Stanford, and many others. You can find a complete list here.

The Truth About Google Earth

I always wondered how they did it - now we know...