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Aussie Teens Online Report

ACMA (Aust. Communications and Media Authority) recently released a research snapshot: Aussie teens online (14-17 year olds).

Good infographic: http://www.acma.gov.au/theACMA/aussie-teens-online
Report summary: http://www.acma.gov.au/theACMA/engage-blogs/engage-blogs/Research-snapshots/Aussie-teens-online

• 69% of their mobile phones are smartphones.
• Mobile phones are increasingly used for online activities.
• 23% go online with a tablet; 74% with a laptop/computer; 56% with a smartphone.
• Wireless hotspots are increasingly used for internet access.
• 72% go online more than once a day.
• The top 5 internet domains visited (Dec 2013): Google (including Search, Chrome, Mail, Maps, Earth etc); Facebook; YouTube; Mi9 (including Skype, Xbox, ninemsn etc); Microsoft.
• 90% went online for entertainment activities – the most time spent online was at YouTube, then Facebook & Skype.
• Teenagers are not the dominant group in social media forums (other age groups outrank them) – they account for 7% of Australians who use social networking.
• Teens in Aust. and the US are moving away from Facebook (70% in 2012 to 58% 2013).
• Teens access a range of online forums – Wikipedia, WikiHow, Tumblr, Blogger, ninemsn Entertainment videos.

Not many surprises really….and 6 in 10 are going online for research and information! The internet is a natural and essential part of their (and our) lives….more support for BYOD.

Internet ethics?
You may have read about Facebook’s unethical experiment, where it secretly manipulated 700 000 users’ emotions via the Facebook news feed, in order to study “emotional contagion through social networks”. The researchers wanted to see if reading fewer positive posts made people less likely to post positive content (and the same for negative messages). They found that social networks can indeed propagate positive and negative feelings. And apparently we agreed to this “research” via the Data Use Policy when we signed up. A good article for discussion for psychology, sociology and legal studies classes.
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2014/06/facebook_unethical_experiment_it_made_news_feeds_happier_or_sadder_to_manipulate.html

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ed tech Facebook future Google human rights internet Internet of Things popular culture sociology

How good is the internet?!

In 2014, the Pew Research Center’s Internet Project, together with Elon University, are releasing 8 reports to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the creation of the World Wide Web by Sir Tim Berners-Lee.

 

14 May: The Internet of Things will thrive by 2025

Many experts believe the growth of the Internet of Things and embedded and wearable devices will have widespread and beneficial effects by 2025. Networking of everything and everyone continues through the proliferation of smart sensors, cameras, software, databases, massive data centres, tagging and analytical mapping of physical and social realms. People receive information from portable, wearable & implantable technologies.

 

There will be sensors that provide patients’ vital signs; devices giving feedback on our fitness; smart cities with GPS readouts for traffic and pollution; sensored roads & infrastructure that provide alerts when repairs are needed; smartphone apps for adjusting household heating etc; readings from forests, oceans, soil, resources.  Voice and touch commands will increase. However, there will also be privacy concerns with higher levels of profiling and targeting, as well as equity issues. Disruption of business models will occur – notably in finance, entertainment, publishing and education. But maintaining all this? “We will live in a world where many things won’t work and nobody will know how to fix them.” (gulp) – Howard Rheingold.

http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/05/14/internet-of-things/

 

11 March: Digital life in 2025

Experts predict the Internet will become ‘like electricity’ — less visible, yet more deeply embedded in people’s lives for good and ill.

Good things:

Effortless information sharing; more global relationships and less ignorance; Internet of Things; augmented reality; political awareness facilitated with more uprisings (Arab Spring); increased awareness of  massive disparities in health care, clear water, education, food, and human rights. The internet may even become “the internets”, with separate channels and layers of privacy.

An internet-enabled revolution in education will spread more opportunities, with less money spent on real estate and teachers – “the biggest impact on the world will be universal access to all human knowledge” (Hal Varian, Google). He states that cheap mobile devices and tools such as the Khan Academy will have a huge impact on literacy & numeracy. Access to the internet will be a human right and with global perspectives, there will be breakthroughs in many issues such as poverty, inequality and the environment (Tiffany Shlain).

Bad things:

Equity issues; loss of privacy; commonplace cyber-terrorism; mob mentality; governments will try to assert political and social control;  people will lose their grounding in the realities of life and work; too many superficial interactions (not face-to-face). Privacy may end up being only for the privileged. The increasing proportion of non face-to-face online human interactions will lead to less respect and integrity in our relations (Bob Briscoe).

http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/03/11/digital-life-in-2025/

http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/03/11/15-theses-about-the-digital-future/ 

 

27 Feb: The web at 25 in the US

The overall verdict: The internet has been a plus for society and an especially good thing for individual users.

Personally – 90% say it has been good; 6% bad; 3% both. For society – 76% good; 15% bad; 8% both.

The internet would be harder to give up then mobile phones, TV, email, landlines and social media. Most internet users thought online communication had strengthened their relationships and that the environment was kind.

http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/02/27/the-web-at-25-in-the-u-s/

 

Upcoming reports – net access & copyright; killer apps in the gigabit age; cyber attacks; security and privacy; artificial intelligence and robotics; corporations most likely to succeed:

http://www.elon.edu/e-web/imagining/surveys/2014_survey/default.xhtml

 

Imagining the Internet

Insights into the internet’s future and past:

http://www.elon.edu/e-web/imagining/#

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MOOCs

With the dreaded increases to university fees put forward in the budget, maybe now is the time to enrol in a free MOOC…

Massive Open Online Courses: 10 million enrolments globally

ANU, UNSW, Monash, Melbourne University, RMIT & University of Queensland all offer MOOCs, as well as many overseas universities.

University of Melbourne (via Coursera)

13 May: In just over 12 months, over 500,000 students from across the globe have enrolled in 11 MOOCs – “an exhilarating experience” (VC Glyn Davis). Upcoming MOOCs include: Assessment and teaching of 21st century skills (30 June); French Revolution (7 July): https://www.coursera.org/unimelb

http://blog.le.unimelb.edu.au/2014/05/university-of-melbourne-moocs-reach-500000-enrolments/

Australian National University (via edX)

Engaging India: the world’s first Hindi-English MOOC

This 10 week course started 29 April with over 10 000 enrolments. Presented by Dr McComas Taylor and other experts – a rich overview of contemporary India. Videos and readings will be available in Hindi and English.

http://asiapacificweek.anu.edu.au/news-events/all-stories/anu-deliver-world%E2%80%99s-first-hindi-english-mooc

Upcoming MOOC: Exoplanets – presented by Prof. Brian Schmidt, 2011 Nobel prize winner (24 June; 10 wks). Prof. Schmidt also presented Greatest unsolved mysteries of the universe (started 25 March).

https://www.edx.org/school/anux

 

ANU is the first Australian university to join edX, which was set up in 2012 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University as a non-profit organisation (unlike other providers such as Coursera and FutureLearn). The platform and source code for edX courses are freely available. Google was developing its own education platform called Course Builder, but has now decided to use the edX platform. In February 2014, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook would use edX for SocialEDU, the online educational system it is providing for Rwanda. Nokia will provide affordable smartphones, Airtel will provide free data to students (1 year); the government will provide free wifi to unis.

http://www.afr.com/p/national/education/anu_bilingual_mooc_hit_in_india_jNqzxkEBSn33Jw9G9Z2RII

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/facebook-is-bringing-moocs-and-facebook-to-rwanda?trk_source=features3

 

Benefits of MOOCs

Anant Agarwal, edX CEO,  talks about the transformative power of MOOCs and how they are set to democratise education (2 min. video): http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/news-events/video/power-moocs#.U12l3rS-Wzo

 

Completion rates of MOOCs?

Could be as low as 4 or 5%….but you could learn a lot even if you don’t formally complete!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/21/completion-rates-moocs-harvard-mit_n_4638911.html

 

MOOC List – MOOC aggregator:   http://www.mooc-list.com/

MOOCs Directory: http://www.moocs.co/

50 top sources of free eLearning courses:

http://www.teachthought.com/learning/50-top-sources-of-free-elearning-courses/

Coursera – largest provider; 80 top unis (Stanford, Yale, Columbia):  https://www.coursera.org/

edX – Harvard, MIT, Berkley, ANU, Uni of Qld etc:   https://www.edx.org/

FutureLearn – UK unis, Monash Uni, British Museum, British Library: https://www.futurelearn.com/

Udacity – IT and computer science (some have a charge): https://www.udacity.com/courses#!/all

MOOEC (Massive Open Online English Course) – Aust. site, supported by Qld Govt; teaches English language at all levels:   http://www.mooec.com/about

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Look up (and put your gadgets down)

Look up

You might have seen this  video doing the rounds recently….over 19 million YouTube views since 25 April…..good for class discussion. Writer and director Gary Turk produced his 5 minute “spoken word film for an online generation”, highlighting the social isolation resulting from constant online connectivity. Turk says “Look Up is a lesson taught to us through a love story, in a world where we continue to find ways to make it easier for us to connect with one another, but always results in us spending more time alone”.  

Yes…ironic that a film about putting down your gadgets goes viral….and it might be a bit sentimental but it’s sweet. Think about what you’re missing out on….look up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7dLU6fk9QY

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/look-up-video-lifechanging-film-about-quitting-social-media-ironically-goes-viral-with-tweets-from-andy-murray-and-jordin-sparks-9323510.html

Are you addicted to your smartphone?

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/reading-between-the-headlines/201307/smartphone-addiction

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ICT and popular culture news

Tis the season for lists!

Top 100 Tools for Learning 2013

Always interesting to see the results of the survey by Jane Hart’s Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies (C4LPT) – as voted by 500+ learning professionals from 48 countries. 1. Twitter 2. Google Drive/Docs 3. YouTube 4. Google Search 5. PowerPoint 6. Evernote 7. Dropbox 8. WordPress 9. Facebook 10. Google + Twitter retained #1 for the 5th year running. Pinterest jumped 14 places to #22. Coursera (MOOC platform) was a new addition at #38. http://c4lpt.co.uk/top100tools/ Analysis: http://c4lpt.co.uk/top100tools/analysis-2013/

Yahoo Year in Review 2013

Interesting videos and images from around the world: http://news.yahoo.com/year-in-review/

Top US searches: Miley Cyrus #1; computer game Minecraft was #4 (high also in Aust). Part exploratory adventure, part creative building tool, highly valued by gamers, teachers, architecture students…watch the YouTube documentary (1 hr 40m) about its development, founder Markus “Notch” Persson and its unorthodox success.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySRgVo1X_18

Facebook trends 2013

Most talked about topics worldwide: 1. Pope Francis 2. Election 3. Royal baby 4. Typhoon 5. Margaret Thatcher 6. Harlem Shake 7. Miley Cyrus 8. Boston Marathon 9. Tour de France 10. Nelson Mandela Short video: http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/12/09/here-are-facebooks-most-talked-about-topics-for-2013/

For Australia – 9 million daily users: 1. Vote 2. Princess Kate 3. Cricket 4. Kevin Rudd 5. Grand Final 6. Election 7. GST  8. Lions 9. Tony Abbott 10. Big Brother. The most checked in location was the MCG. http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/528860/20131210/facebook-trends-2013-australia-topics.htm

Top Bing searches in Aust. 2013

Various categories – from quinoa to Miranda Kerr to royal baby to Sydney Swans… http://news.ninemsn.com.au/technology/2013/12/02/18/46/kerr-tops-most-binged-2013-list

Top 10 ads viewed on YouTube in Aust. http://www.adnews.com.au/adnews/australia-s-most-popular-youtube-ads-in-2013

One minute on the internet today compared to 2012

The interwebs just keeps on getting bigger….75% increase in Google searches; 42% increase in Amazon revenue; 233% growth in YouTube video hours; 250% increase in Twitter tweets.

http://qz.com/150861/a-snapshot-of-one-minute-on-the-internet-today-and-in-2012/#150861/a-snapshot-of-one-minute-on-the-internet-today-and-in-2012/

National Geographic shares maps via Google Maps Engine

Google Maps Engine is a public data program that lets organisations distribute maps to consumers via Google. National Geographic is now sharing 500 of their maps via the program for free. They will overlay the maps with interactive features such as articles and photos about environmental issues, expeditions and historic events.

http://google-latlong.blogspot.ca/2013/12/national-geographic-shares-rich-map_6.html

Drones

Look – up in the sky! It’s your unmanned pizza delivery! The coming drone invasion will deliver everything from pizzas to Amazon products. In the US, Amazon aims for their drones to deliver within a 10 mile range and 30 minute time frame whilst the DomiCopter will deliver 2 Domino’s pizzas. The widespread use of drones has been approved by Congress, starting in 2015. There are of course, many associated privacy and surveillance issues. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-w-whitehead/amazon-dominos-and-big-br_b_4373867.html?ir=Technology

In Australia, a drone was (illegally) used during the NSW bushfires in October but may be used legally in the future. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/technology/drones-ready-to-fight-fires-if-allowed/story-e6frgakx-1226748464574

A textbook rental company will make deliveries by drone to customers in Sydney CBD, starting March 2014 – the first commercial use of drones in the world. The textbooks will be lowered on a cable to the customer. Short video: http://www.cnet.com.au/australian-textbook-delivery-care-of-drones-339345677.htm

“OK Google” voice search on Chrome web browser (desktop)

No need to type your search query. No need for a microphone either (currently needed in Chrome). Download the Google Voice Search Hotword plugin and say “OK Google, what is an ocelot?”. It will read out most answers. It can be used for searches, translations, reminders, setting calendar events and getting directions. The service is in beta and currently works only with google.com (not .au), but can still be downloaded in Australia. http://www.cnet.com.au/google-introduces-ok-google-voice-search-on-chrome-for-desktop-339346074.htm

Google barges

The 3 mystery barges being built in San Francisco by Google may be “interactive spaces where people learn about new technology”….or they might just be floating retail stores. They will eventually be docked in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York and will be “curious and visually stunning” exhibition centres with fish fin sails. Gotta beat those cool Apple stores somehow… http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/google-barge/

TED Books

TED Books are interesting short non fiction electronic books, produced once a month by TED Conferences. The books are less than 20 000 words – “long enough to unleash a powerful narrative, but short enough to be read in a single sitting.” Most can be read in less than an hour and are available for Kindle, Nook, iBooks. Price: $1.99 each. The TED Books app is free for the iPad and has audio, video and social features embedded into each book. For a yearly subscription of $14.99, you have access to the entire TED Books archive. http://www.ted.com/pages/tedbooks

 

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ICT news and the online world

Some ICT news…useful for sociology, media studies, popular culture, business studies, psychology and BYOD schools….

 Australian Online Landscape Review Sept 2013

This Nielsen report found 16.4 million Australians were actively online in Sept 2013.

Top 10 brands in order: Google; Facebook; Mi9; YouTube; Microsoft; Yahoo!7; eBay; Wikipedia; Apple; ABC Online. More hours are devoted to Facebook per person than any other site and people spend longer on eBay than Wikipedia.

Online video streaming – top 10 brands in order: YouTube; Facebook; Mi9; VEVO (music videos); CollegeHumor Network; Yahoo!7; ABC Online; smh.com.au; news.com.au; Vube (video sharing contests). Men streamed 30.1% more videos than women and most streaming was done by 18-24 year olds.

41% of daily browsers came from a mobile device or tablet and 58% from a computer.

http://www.nielsen.com/content/dam/corporate/au/en/reports/2013/Nielsen-Australian-Online-Landscape-Review-September-2013.pdf

http://www.nielsen.com/au/en.html

 Australian Multi Screen Report (Q2 2013)

This Nielsen report found 92% of all video viewing is on the TV set; 80% of homes have the internet; 33% of homes have tablets; 22% of homes have internet-connected TVs; 65% aged 16+ own a smartphone.

http://www.nielsen.com/content/dam/corporate/au/en/press/2013/australian-multi-Screen-report-media-release-october-2013.pdf

Australian tablet sales poised to eclipse desktop computers and laptops

Telsyte predicts tablet sales & use will eclipse PCs, Macs & laptops within 2 years. In the first half of 2013, Australians bought 2.3 million tablets – more than for the whole of 2012. Smartphone sales continue to rise, with 14 million users in Aust. By 2014 in Aust., more people will access the internet on smartphones than computers. Tablets will follow.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/aussie-tablet-computer-sales-poised-to-eclipse-those-of-traditional-desktop-computers-and-laptops/story-fni0cx12-1226710882032

Most popular websites on the internet for 8 Nov 2013

Top 12 in order: Google; Facebook; YouTube; Yahoo; Baidu; Wikipedia; Qq; Linkedin; Windows Live; Twitter; Amazon; Blogger. Click on the entries for interesting info about the companies – website review, news, traffic graph, website worth.

http://mostpopularwebsites.net/

Alexa top 500 sites on the web

Similar top 10 to above. Alexa ranks Bing at 19; eBay at 20; Pinterest at 26; Instagram at 40; imdb at 47.  http://www.alexa.com/topsites

Top 500 sites in Australia: http://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries/AU. Linkedin is 8; Gumtree is 12; realestate.com.au is 18; Seek is 26; Pirate Bay is 33.

Search top sites by country: http://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries

9 ways video games can actually be good for you

Mothers of gamers – stop stressing! Play games, increase your brain size & stop aging!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/07/video-games-good-for-us_n_4164723.html?ir=Technology&utm_campaign=110713&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Alert-technology&utm_content=FullStory

Video games represent the most powerful (and potentially dangerous) era in storytelling

Video games are expressive &  formative and, relative to other forms of storytelling, allow for choice.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-runge/video-game-violence_b_4067069.html

 

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coding Databases and journals ed tech Facebook Google human rights mobile phones

Free article access, Raspberry Pi & ICT news

More free access to online journal articles

Many more research papers are now openly available online. A recent report produced for the European Commission found that you have a 50% chance of finding papers published in 2011 for free, but some experts say it is more like 30%.

The proportion of free online papers is likely to increase in the next few years with moves towards getting government-funded research papers into the public domain. From 2014, the results of all research funded by the European Union must be open access. In February, the White House announced that government-funded research should be made free to read within 12 months of publication. A Science-Metrix study found that an average of 43% of articles published during 2008–11 were available online for free, with the results varying by country and discipline.

http://www.nature.com/news/half-of-2011-papers-now-free-to-read-1.13577

In Google we trust  (ABC, Four Corners, 9/9/13)

Who gathers the information, what are they doing with it and what are your legal rights? Examines online privacy, digital footprints, Big Data etc. and tracks the information trail of an ordinary Australian family. Excellent program for high school – social science, media, legal studies classes, general interest.

http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2013/09/09/3842009.htm

Raspberry Pi

The credit-card sized cheap programmable computer ($25 – $35) was developed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation in the UK to promote the teaching of basic computer science in schools. It was launched in Feb 2012, sold over 1 million units in a year & earned many awards. It has been used to create a coffee machine, doorbell server, robot, weather information system and many other things: http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=15

It plugs into your TV and a keyboard and can be used for word-processing, spreadsheets, playing HD video and games. It runs the Linux OS and the official programming language is Python or any language which will compile for ARMv6. Tutorials are available, including video.

“Developing countries are interested in the Raspberry Pi as productivity devices in areas that simply can’t afford the power and hardware needed to run a traditional desktop PC; hospitals and museums have contacted us to find out about using the Raspberry Pi to drive display devices. Parents of severely disabled kids have talked to us about monitoring and accessibility applications; and there seem to be a million and one people out there with hot soldering irons who want to make a robot.”

http://www.linux.com/news/hardware/desktops/676486-raspberry-pi-one-of-the-top-linux-innovations-of-2012/

Good article about using Raspberry Pi in schools for programming: http://www.dw.de/raspberry-pi-and-the-new-computer-science-kids/a-16699939

http://www.raspberrypi.org/

http://www.raspberrypi.org/faqs

Mark Zuckerberg announces Internet.org

The Facebook CEO believes that all 7 billion people on the planet deserve to be connected to the internet. Internet.org is a new partnership with some of the world’s top tech companies including Facebook, Samsung, Nokia & Qualcomm, and it aims to make internet access available to the two-thirds of the world who are not yet connected (5 billion people).

Zuckerberg posted a paper to his Facebook page titled “Is connectivity a human right?”. Internet.org plans to develop cheaper smartphones and tools that would reduce the amount of data required to run mobile apps. Connecting the world is beneficial to Internet.org companies and they have received some flak. However, Zuckerberg has already been involved in philanthropic projects. In 2010 he donated $100 million to FB stock to New Jersey schools. He also gave $500 million to a Silicon Valley charity that funds health & education projects. Earlier this year he launched Fwd.us, a political group aimed at changing US immigration policy, boosting education and encouraging investment in scientific research.

http://www.internet.org/

http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/524373/zuckerberg_mocked_doubted_praised_internet_org_plan/

http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/20/4642470/facebook-ceo-mark-zuckerberg-wants-to-bring-the-entire-world-online

Google: Project Loon

In June, Google launched Project Loon with the goal of getting everyone on Earth online. In New Zealand, they launched 30 giant helium balloons, 15m wide and 12m tall, with internet-beaming antennas on top. People connect to the balloon network using a special internet antenna attached to their building. The signal bounces from balloon to balloon, then back to earth. It might be possible to build a ring of balloons, flying 20 km high around the globe, providing internet access & mobile phone signals to the earth below.

Google is also involved in other projects that bring internet access to developing countries. Its Free Zone project with Bharti Airtel in India provides free access to Google, Gmail and Google+ for mobile phone users.

Interesting videos & info: http://www.theverge.com/2013/6/14/4432262/google-unveils-project-loon-ballon-powered-internet-for-the-entire

http://www.google.com/loon/

The web is dead and the app thankfully killed it – Jeff Stibel

In 2012 for the first time, time spent on the web started to contract. The web is being replaced by more functional apps. Smartphone users spend nearly double the time using apps rather than the web. “In an era of information overload, search is less valuable than filtering….and filtering is done best through apps….download the app and never search again.”

http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2013/09/ideas-bank/the-web-is-dead-and-the-app-thankfully-killed-it

Jeff Stibel’ s 2013 book: Breakpoint: why the web will implode, search will be obsolete and everything else you need to know about technology is in your brain.

Bing Schools

Bing has launched Bing Schools in the US, an initiative to bring ad-free, filtered search results to students. It’s currently in pilot mode.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/bing-launches-bing-schools-ad-100000326.html

 

 

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ed tech Facebook Games and gaming Google popular culture Wikipedia YouTube

Born to be wired

Interesting program on Catalyst last week – available online.

Catalyst special edition: Born to be wired (ABC 18/10/12)
Investigates how the digital revolution is changing us. Is digital technology changing the way we think, act and feel? Are our brains being rewired fundamentally? Is fast information like fast food? Can virtual experiences through avatars affect our behaviour & memories?

Extended interviews on the Catalyst website: Susan Greenfield’s concerns about digital technology, psychiatrist’s concerns about narcissism, how the internet changes the brain and many other interesting links from Catalyst/ABC archives and elsewhere.

http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/borntobewired/

 

 

Categories
ed tech Facebook iPads

Facebook; tablets; apps

21 May 2012
Facebook – now valued at $US104 billion
18/5/12: Shares were offered at $US38 each. The 8 year old company is now worth more than Amazon, Disney or McDonalds. Google is worth $200 billion, Apple $496 billion & Microsoft $246 billion. The sale of shares means more money to operate the data centres that hold all the status updates, photos etc shared by Facebook’s 900 million users.http://www.nydailynews.com/news/money/facebook-stock-slightly-big-wall-street-debut-article-1.1080799
And he just got married too! http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/marriage-caps-mark-zuckerbergs-week-to-like/story-fnb64oi6-1226361594407?from=public_rss

Zuckerberg the musical
Watch this 4 min. musical tribute to Zucks and the 8 year history of FB, using great showtunes!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_hkk6lFTb4
Interesting milestones in Facebook’s history….. was the best thing the “like” button?! http://www.smh.com.au/business/world-business/milestones-in-facebooks-history-20120518-1yuab.html

Why we like to brag on Facebook and Twitter
Harvard neuroscientists monitored brain activity using MRI and found that self-disclosure heightens brain activity in regions associated with reward and pleasure. People were even willing to forgo money to talk about themselves.http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-self-disclosure-study-20120508,0,7870124.story

Tablets will rule the future personal computing landscape
Forrester Report 23/4/12: By 2016, they expect global tablet sales to reach 375 million units, compared to 56 million sales in 2011, with around 760 million tablets in use worldwide in 2016 (people keep tablets for around 3 years). The iPad will dominate. Tablets will be the conductor for PCs, devices and personal cloud services at work and at home. Analyst Frank Gillett attributes the growth in tablets to a longer battery life, easy information consumption and their ease of use for sharing and working in groups – all great reasons for schools to implement and support iPads! More content-creation apps will arrive, using gestures and voice input. However, Gillett says there will always be a place for powerful PCs with large displays – and some people will always prefer them. http://blogs.forrester.com/frank_gillett
Apps and mobile devices
Australians love their apps and mobile devices and have downloaded one billion apps since they became available in 2008: 700 million for iPhones; 64 million for iPads; 230 million for Androids. In March 2012, Australians downloaded 66 million apps – making us 5th in the world (per person) – behind Korea, Sweden, UK and Denmark. More than half of all Austns have a smartphone. More proof that schools need to support mobile technologies and BYOT! http://www.news.com.au/technology/a-billion-apps-in-aussie-pockets/story-e6frfro0-1226357243036

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Horizon Report 2012 & 10 mega-trends for learning

Some people asked for the websites on my Mod Day presentation – What’s new in ICT, Media & Popular Culture? Here is the link to the Powerpoint. I hope the info is useful.

http://dckclib.wikispaces.com/Technology%2C+media+%26+popular+culture+updates

 Corning Glass released their first video in Feb 2011 about the future of glass technologies in ICT, education, work & life and how glass will help shape our world. It’s had over 18 million views:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cf7IL_eZ38

 A day made of glass 2 (Feb 2012)

5 min. video of Corning Glass’ expanded vision for the future of glass technologies in ICT, education, work & life and how glass will help shape our world: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZkHpNnXLB0

Info about the glass technology: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-GXO_urMow

 Horizon Reports

The Horizon Reports are issued annually by the New Media Consortium. They identify and describe emerging technologies likely to have a large impact on global education. 

10 mega-trends impacting learning: Horizon Project 10th Anniversary Report (coming soon)
1. The world of work is increasingly global & increasingly collaborative.
2. People expect to work, learn, socialize & play whenever and wherever they want to.
3. The internet is becoming a global mobile network.

4. The technologies we use are increasingly cloud-based & delivered over utility networks, facilitating the rapid growth of online videos & rich media.
5. Openness – concepts such as open content, open data & open resources, along with notions of transparency & easy access to data & information – is moving from a trend to a value for much of the world.
6. Legal notions of ownership & privacy lag behind the practices common in society.
7. Real challenges of access, efficiency & scale are redefining what we mean by quality & success.
8. The internet is constantly challenging us to rethink learning & education, while refining our notion of literacy.
9. There is a rise in informal learning as individual needs are redefining schools, universities & training.
10. Business models across the education ecosystem are changing.
http://www.nmc.org/ & Judy O’Connell

Just released: The Horizon Report 2012 – Higher Education

http://www.educause.edu/Resources/2012HorizonReport/246056

The K-12 edition will be available later in the year.  

Key trends:
1. People expect to be able to work, learn, and study whenever and wherever they want to.
2. The technologies we use are increasingly cloud-based, and our notions of IT support are decentralized.
3. The world of work is increasingly collaborative, driving changes in the way student projects are structured.
4. The abundance of resources and relationships made easily accessible via the internet is increasingly challenging us to revisit our roles as educators.
5. Education paradigms are shifting to include online learning, hybrid learning and collaborative models.
6. There is a new emphasis in the classroom on more challenge-based and active learning.

The areas of emerging technology to watch :
Time to adoption: One Year or Less

Mobile Apps
Tablet Computing

Time to adoption: Two to Three Years

Game-based Learning
Learning Analytics

Time to adoption: Four to Five Years

Gesture-based Computing
Internet of Things (all kinds of devices will be connected to the internet to receive/generate info)