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Critical Thought about Senseless Contradictions

Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category

The decade according to 9-year-olds. Watch this video for an educational perspective of technology

December 28th, 2009

Tue Dec 8, 8:51 pm ET

So much has defined this past decade, but imagine what it would be like if the past 9 years were the only years you had lived through. Yahoo! News editor Allison Louie-Garcia spoke to fourth graders in Orange County, Calif. to get some perspective on the ’00s from those who have only experienced it. From naming the biggest celebrities, to discussing computer habits, to explaining 9/11, these 9-year-olds’ answers–often funny, sometimes sobering, always candid–offered a clear snapshot of life in the 21st Century.

(For best quality please click ” target=”_blank”>here).

Special thanks to Ms. Lim and her wonderful 4th grade class.

via news.yahoo.com

Here’s a nifty interview of some West coast children and their ideas of the world from their 9 year old perspective.

A great lesson plan idea for teachers, no? Students consider what questions to ask, interview their peers, and record their answers. Would be interesting to map the trends of greatest hopes and biggest fears among various age groups.

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Posted in Critical Thinking, Education, Environment, Futurism, Internet, Media, Social Media, Sustainability, Technology, environmentalism

Tags: 21st century learning children perspectives Technology

World’s OS is about Conversation, not Information…

December 18th, 2009

: Image via Wikipedia

If we agree that the morphing networked world is about conversation, then we can picture the changes this way:

Web 1.0 was about stone tablets.
Web 2.0 is about smoke signals; recording our thoughts, ideas, and opinions and reacting to the thoughts, ideas, and opinions of others, whether synchronously or asynchronously.
Web 3.0 is about bridging the space-time gap to engage in live, direct, real-time conversation that is virtually – if not actually – face-to-face.

The new, real-time platform is unique because it will be enhanced by APIs that can mashup our interactions in order to shape new communities hitherto unattainable.

When we understand that technology is innovated to improve social communication, we become less device and application focused and more interactive. Hence, the social media phenomenon is here to stay and will increase in intensity as new mashup applications develop to aid our intrinsic need to share.

The challenge for education is that historically, assessment of knowledge is individually based. This makes perfect sense because it’s difficult to give a degree to someone who doesn’t demonstrate command of some particular knowledge-domain they have studied. However, the real-world of business does not run on individual talents as much as team efforts.

Pedagogical application has responded with case-based, project-oriented, and portfolio-developing lesson plans. But in the end, standardized testing still focuses on individual regurgitation of memorized facts. This is a senseless contradiction at best and reflects a broken system that needs to be redesigned to enter the 21st Century.

Web 2.0 Square (socialmediatoday.com)
Real-Time Web 3 (webwareforall.blogspot.com)
Real-time search (superfeedr.com)
Trackle’s New Trick: Human-Powered Discovery (gigaom.com)

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Posted in Education, Futurism, Internet, Social Media, Technology, pedagogy

Tags: Education Knowledge Management Mass media Standardized test Technology Web 2.0

Future of Business is Social Media driven…

December 17th, 2009

Extreme reputation model means you may not exist virtually!

via fora.tv

Gerd Leonhard makes some great points in three minutes. Mobile driven instant feedback mechanisms may mean your business no longer exists virtually. Are we allowing our customer eco-systems to be fed a balanced diet? Whether you believe in the value of crowd sourced data or not, it can make or break a business.

New models must be adopted that enable the crowd to have more control than is traditionally allowed by old business models. Nevertheless, it’s the open source, creative commons world we are entering. We don’t have a choice. We’re on a collision course. Brace yourselves.

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Posted in Futurism, Internet, Social Media, Sustainability, Technology

Tags: business future Internet Social Media Technology virtual

The Future of Business: Innovation and Sustainability based on what we love more than what we measure…

December 17th, 2009

via fora.tv

I’m reminded of the axiom that we measure what we value but what we love, we protect. This 3 minute video explains pretty well why that is and why new business models must reach for more than trust, performance, and respect. As Saachi advertising gurus brought out last year, trademarks must be replaced by lovemarks.

We live in an experience market more than a consumer market. Sustainable experiences are those experiences we love and to which we want to come back and invite others.

What about education? What model do we use in the design of our schools and the learning we deliver? Are we meeting the needs of stakeholders? We would do well to reconsider, rethink, redesign, and reconstruct from the ground up.

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Posted in Futurism, Sustainability, Technology

Tags: business future love measure values

Polar Sea Ice Cap and Snow – Cryosphere Today – iPhone friendly puts data in your hands

December 17th, 2009

recent Arctic ice area N. hemispheric ice area N. hemispheric anomaly seasonal sea ice

via arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu

Before jumping on the ice-melt bandwagon, we should arm ourselves with the facts. This university science center website offers visual data, both historic and current.

The adaptation to the iPhone demonstrates how education is being changed by hand-held devices. Just this past week, a school in the U.K. gave iPhones to every student. Imagine trying to argue and debate with ubiquitous access to data in the palm of our hands.

Of course, critical thinking skills are still needed to sort through the vast array of opinion and conjecture and to skillfully help others release their death grip on old ideas without losing face.

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Posted in Conservationism, Critical Thinking, Education, Environment, Internet, Social Media, Sustainability, Technology, environmentalism

Tags: apps global warming iphone polar ice cap Technology web2.0

‘We’ll Work for Free,’ Say Retired Professors, but Colleges Struggle With How to Use Them. Really?

December 17th, 2009

via chronicle.com

This is a good example of how the old business model is so entrenched within the educational institution, that we can’t see for forest for the trees. Experienced, retired professors are willing to teach for free. But we can’t figure out how to make that work. Hmm… perhaps because money interests outweigh education interests? Is that a crowded football stadium I hear roaring??

Where are our priorities? Look what Open University is doing (started by retired professors I remind you). With all our brains, we can’t figure out how to make a new model sustainable? I find that hard to believe. What is easier to believe is that the discomfort faced by the entrenched at the thought of losing their jobs, prevents them for doing their job which is to educate the next generation.

If our forefathers had this attitude when founding our Nation, we wouldn’t have a nation. Self sacrifice for the common and future good took precedence over personal comforts. Who wants to make a difference? really??

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Any student, any subject, anywhere (guardian.co.uk)
Current directions in educational repositories (slideshare.net)
The #Future of #Business: #Innovation and #Sustainability based on what we #love more than what we #measure (greenbananablog.org)

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Posted in Education, Futurism, Government, Internet, Sustainability, Technology

Tags: Add new tag Colleges and Universities Education Educators Open University

Libraries Evolving into Laboratories of Synergistic Learning through “Trends” as Information Commons.

December 17th, 2009

libraries seem to be evolving into laboratories of synergistic learning through “trends” as information commons.

via chronicle.com

I like this definition of libraries in light of how technology is transcending traditional space-time barriers within which they have existed. Technology is stretching the “boxes” outside of which we think; even eliminating the box altogether. Was it ever 2 dimensional anyway? Think outside the cube. Think outside the orb. Transcend the metaverse of space-time. The human spirit – the final frontier?

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Posted in Education, Futurism, Government, Internet, Media, Technology

Tags: future information overload Knowledge Management libraries Technology trends

Teaching Futurology…

December 12th, 2009

: Image via Wikipedia

The jobs for which our children will be educated do not yet exist. Technological change is emerging faster than we can adapt. The most needed skill is critical thinking. Students need to be challenged to think about their thinking. What makes good thinking and what constitutes poor thinking? Thinking out loud enables groups of learners to hear the reasoning process of others. Higher order thinking is engaged when students extrapolate from given information to consider future possibilities.

For this reason, Future studies (Futurology not to be confused with the artistic Futurism movement) will become an important branch of study in higher education settings. Futurology teaches students how to extrapolate from major trends, what might or could happen in the future. There are many trend researching techniques, many birthed as a result of World War II “what if” scenarios studied by war time analysts.

Today, Futurology techniques for research are used for disaster planning, energy shortage considerations, job market predictions, and the like. The bottom line for those considering becoming a Futurologist? Develop your critical thinking skills. Without quality thinking, futuring will be more dangerous than useful.

Google’s Famously Difficult Job Interview Questions (neatorama.com)
Tough Economic Climate (slideshare.net)
Should schoolchildren be made to listen to a President’s speech and analyze it? (althouse.blogspot.com)

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Posted in Critical Thinking, Education, Futurism, Internet, Technology

Tags: Critical Thinking Education Research Technology

Everything I needed to know wasn’t available in Kindergarten… – The Future of Education

December 12th, 2009

via futureofeducation.com

However, although information may help reduce risk, genuine learning increases capability. Education needs more information as badly as a certain golfer needs endorsements.

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Posted in Critical Thinking, Education, Futurism, Sustainability, Technology

Tags: Education learning society values

VoiceThread – Group conversations around images, documents, and videos

December 12th, 2009

via voicethread.com

Very likely VoiceThread is one of the best Web 2.0 tools for classroom use to come around in awhile. Very powerful and embeddable just about everywhere. Check out this short explanation and try one yourself. Family reunion? Old family pic you wanna post and encourage some comments from others? Too much fun.

But can it improve learning? Certainly fits the constructivist paradigm. How about a self reflection on a themed unit? Or a review of best practices for tech integration for diverse learners? Listening to others think aloud can boost our own critical thinking skills.

Powerful tool with lots of potential. Worth the time and effort to become skilled therein, don’t you agree?

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Posted in Critical Thinking, Education, Social Media, Technology, pedagogy

Tags: learning tools lesson plan ideas online education pedagogy resources voice thread web2.0