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National Science Week 12-20 August 2017

Interesting resources for National Science Week 12-20 August…..

 

National Science Week 12-20 August

Lots of events around the country.

https://www.scienceweek.net.au/

 

Australia’s biggest smartphone survey

Part of Science Week. It’s been 30 years since the first mobile call was made in Australia and 84% of us now own a smartphone, changing handsets every 3 years. We are the 4th biggest nation of smartphone users, using our phones around 30 times a day. How are smartphones changing our lives? Are they affecting our relationships? Can we live without them?

http://smartphonesurvey.net.au/

 

Wellcome Image Awards 2017

“Informative, striking and technically excellent images that communicate significant aspects of healthcare and biomedical science”.

http://www.wellcomeimageawards.org/2017/

Nature journal – best science images 2016: http://www.nature.com/news/2016-in-pictures-the-best-science-images-of-the-year-1.21156

Livescience – 100 best science images 2016: https://www.livescience.com/57301-best-science-photos-of-the-year.html

 

Australia’s Science Channel

Excellent information – news, articles, videos, podcasts and events. Topics: Culture; Innovate & tech; Our planet; Scinema (science films); Space; The body; Thought leaders; Careers.

http://www.australiascience.tv/

 

CSIRO blog

Lots of interesting news and information about research projects. Includes: Rise of the intelligent machines; Is Usain Bolt the greatest athlete ever? Do we trust robo-advice?

https://blog.csiro.au/

https://blog.csiro.au/rise-of-the-intelligent-machines/

 

Best and worst science news sites

The American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) supports evidence-based science and medicine and derides the ‘outrageous sensationalism’ often found in science journalism. Their interesting infographic ranks well-known science reporting sources on ‘fundamental trustworthiness’ and how ‘compelling’ they are as sources of information. The 2 best sources are the journals Nature and Science. Other top-rated journals: New Scientist, Live Science, The Economist, Smithsonian, National Geographic, The Atlantic. Lower ratings: Scientific American, Science News, Popular Science, New York Times, Huffington Post, Fox News.

http://www.acsh.org/news/2017/03/05/infographic-best-and-worst-science-news-sites-10948

 

Latest science news

Live Science: https://www.livescience.com/

ABC Science(includes Dr Karl): http://www.abc.net.au/science/

Science Daily: https://www.sciencedaily.com/news/top/science/

BBC Science & Environment: http://www.bbc.com/news/science_and_environment

Science News: https://www.sciencenews.org/

 

PLOS One and Scientific Reports open access journals

PLOS One is a peer-reviewed online open access science journal published since 2006 by the Public Library of Science, and formerly the world’s largest journal. In 2017, open access online journal Scientific Reports became the world’s largest journal – published by Nature Publishing Group. Thousands of articles are freely available from both journals.

https://www.plos.org/

https://www.nature.com/srep/

https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2017/04/06/scientific-reports-overtakes-plos-one-as-largest-megajournal/

 

ABC Splash science resources

Good resources added continually. Digibooks, videos, audio, games, articles, links… Filter for primary and secondary resources.

http://splash.abc.net.au/home#!/resources/-/science

 

ABC Splash science games

http://splash.abc.net.au/home#!/resources/-/science/all/interactive

 

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ed tech Facebook Google internet maths resources news popular culture sociology websites

Wootube maths tutorials and ICT news

Eddy Woo and Wootube maths tutorials

Head Teacher Mathematics at Cherrybrook High in Sydney, young and enthusiastic Mr Woo has been uploading his maths lesson videos to YouTube since 2012. He has attracted 4 million views and many grateful students. He featured on Australian Story this week – Channelling Mr Woo (iView until 24 May).

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-01/teacher-eddie-woo-changing-the-face-of-maths/8472522

http://iview.abc.net.au/programs/australian-story/NC1701Q012S00

https://misterwootube.com/

 

Google moves to demote fake news

Following increasing incidents of fake news and other flaws, Google is updating its algorithms and demoting misleading and offensive content in its search results. Algorithms will prioritise more “authoritative” content eg. affiliation with a university or verified news site and the quality of sites that link to the site in question. Users can now use a feedback button to report offensive and false results, including offensive autocomplete results that appear as you type in the search box.

https://www.recode.net/2017/4/25/15415428/google-updating-search-flagging-fake-news

 

China is creating an online encyclopedia

Known as the ‘Chinese Encyclopedia’, the national encyclopedia will go online in 2018. Twenty thousand scholars from universities and research institutes will contribute articles in more than 100 disciplines with 300,000 entries of 1 000 words each. These will showcase China’s science and technology developments, promote historical and cultural heritage and strengthen the core values of socialism.  The goal isn’t to mimic Wikipedia, which is blocked in China (though internet giant Baidu has its own online encyclopedia). “We have the biggest, most high-quality author team in the world. Our goal is not to catch up, but overtake” (Yang Muzhi, editor). China has the world’s largest internet population (720 million users) and some of the world’s most restrictive internet laws. The ‘Great Firewall of China’ is the world’s most most sophisticated censorship tool, blocking ‘unsavoury’ parts of the internet.

https://news.vice.com/story/china-is-recruiting-20000-people-to-write-its-own-wikipedia

 

Facebook ramps up its response to violent videos

Facebook will hire 3000 more people  to review violent videos and other posts (4 500 employees already identify questionable material for removal). Since introducing the live video feature Facebook Live in April 2016, many unacceptable videos have been uploaded. Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook wants to respond quickly when someone needs help or when an unacceptable post needs taking down.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/facebook-hire-3000-review-videos-crime-suicide-47178911

 

Amazon is coming….look busy

‘The everything store – fast, vast and low-priced’ – it will shake up Australian retail. Amazon is the fastest company in history to hit $US100 billion in annual sales and leading businesses such as Harvey Norman, Myer and JB Hi-Fi could lose half their earnings to Amazon. Amazon will offer “extreme convenience” and goods could be delivered within an hour of ordering online. Amazon Marketplace, for third-party retailers, will launch this year. Amazon is currently searching for a huge logistics facility.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/companies/fast-vast-and-lowpriced-amazon-to-shake-up-australian-retail/news-story/026ace527679086657bc156735863dc8

 

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Facebook future Google media news newspapers popular culture sociology

Fake news and other media news

Fake news

Politicians and the media have created a post-truth world and young people are easily duped. A recent Stanford University study found 80% of middle-school pupils could not tell an online news story apart from a piece of advertising and uni students did little better. The research covered news literacy, as well as students’ ability to judge Facebook and Twitter feeds, comments left in readers’ forums on news sites, blog posts, photographs and other digital messages that shape public opinion. Young people need to be taught digital literacy and learn about source criticism and cognitive bias and learn to mistrust the voice that says something must be right.

https://ed.stanford.edu/news/stanford-researchers-find-students-have-trouble-judging-credibility-information-online

 

News Integrity Initiative – countering fake news

Announced 3 April. Facebook, Mozilla, the Walkley Foundation (Aust.), Jimmy Wales (Wikipedia) and other tech leaders, non-profits and academics  have formed the $14 million consortium to counter fake news. The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism will administer the initiative and plans to make tools to help people be discerning about stories they read online and to increase trust in journalism around the world.

https://www.cnet.com/au/news/facebook-spearheads-14m-consortium-to-counter-fake-news/

 

Fake news, piracy and digital duopoly of Google and Facebook

“Google and Facebook, the 2 most powerful news publishers in human history, have created an ecosystem that is dysfunctional and socially destructive” (Robert Thomson, Chief Executive of News Corp). They do not distinguish between the fake and the real because they make a lot of money from both.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/wall-street-journal/fake-news-piracy-and-digital-duopoly-of-google-and-facebook/news-story/52784483d9650cdbf8624247a590c7f8

 

Google and Facebook should pay for content

Senator Nick Xenophon thinks news organisations, publishers and TV networks should be given the right to charge Facebook and Google a content fee for publishing their stories and videos. He believes protecting traditional media companies is a crucial part of safeguarding democracy and open debate.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/digital/xenophon-bid-to-charge-facebook-and-google-for-content/news-story/d5c5cdf7142b319ad7b8fd7c7bd9fc54

 

2016: the worst year for print

2016 saw decreased revenue from advertising for newspapers and magazines (so much advertising money goes to Google and Facebook). Readership in 2016: Sydney Morning Herald – decreased M-F and Sat; The Australian – increased M-F and decreased Sat; Aust. Geographic – 31% increase; Big Issue – 35.9% increase; New Scientist – 26.8% increase; Time – 18.2% increase; Rolling Stone – 11.5% increase; Frankie – 6.6% increase; Hyper – 6.9% increase.

https://mumbrella.com.au/2016-worst-year-yet-print-industry-new-smi-numbers-reveal-419898

http://www.roymorgan.com/industries/media/readership/newspaper-readership

http://www.roymorgan.com/industries/media/readership/magazine-readership

 

Newspapers – print or digital?

A University of London study reveals that online UK newspapers engage each visitor for less than 30 seconds per day, but readers of print newspapers engage for 40 minutes per day. Time spent reading print and online newspapers doesn’t vary much between countries. In Australia, Fairfax (The Age & SMH) was expected to switch weekday editions to digital only, but is continuing with daily papers ‘for some years yet’.

http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/study-national-press-online-readers-average-30-seconds-per-day-versus-40-minutes-for-print/

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/feb/22/fairfax-media-announces-half-year-profit-and-plan-to-keep-printing-newspapers

 

Digital news takes precedence at ABC

ABC News (the largest news organisation in Australia) is planning a major refocus away from TV and radio to concentrate on expanding its digital news output and this could affect the 7pm flagship news and other current affairs programs. The ABC has a declining and ageing audience for news and current affairs (the 7pm news has 82% of viewers aged over 50). Increasingly, younger viewers watch very little live TV and often don’t watch news programs. To reach younger viewers, the news division will increase production of digital videos and launch a mobile-first story-telling unit.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/digital-news-takes-precedence-at-abc/news-story/fc9f8cc6ced53f9dd5127ab3a6bb6cfa

 

Hilarious! Check this broken link and read comments from many well-known politicians eg. Trump: “Do you believe it? The Australian brought thousands of readers here and there’s nothing. Why? I will study this dumb broken link”. Someone had a lot of time on their hands J

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/fake-news-c hildren-of-the-internet-happy-to-live-a-lie/news-story/0045fccc 0724b8f8e1389202aef82c14

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Apple ed tech Facebook future iPads news popular culture robots and drones sociology

Interesting webcasts and ICT news

School Library Journal webcasts

Lots of good free archived webcasts here – Building a 21st century library; Hot new graphic novels coming soon; Pop literacy; Virtual reality and Augmented Reality….

You can also sign up for the following 3 webcasts in the Top Tech Trends Spring 2017 series (in association with ISTE) or access them later in the archives:

16 March: Information literacy in the age of fake news (now archived)
Critical thinking is more important than ever. Examines best practices for students to manage the digital firehose and considers perspective and bias.

20 April: 60 tools in 60 minutes
Explores the best applications and gear for your school or library, including must-have multimedia content, cool coding platforms, and top choices for your maker space.

18 May: Technology to aid the struggling reader
A resource-rich program with tips on how to leverage technology to help new and struggling readers. Learn about the best storytelling apps, digital sources of high-interest content for kids and teens, and more.

http://www.slj.com/category/webcasts/

 

Job hunting robots

Stephen Hawking , Elon Musk and Bill Gates are worried about our jobs.

Hawking: “The rise of Artificial Intelligence is likely to extend job destruction deep into the middle classes, with only the most caring, creative or supervisory roles remaining.”

Musk: “There will be fewer and fewer jobs that a robot cannot do better than a human.” A universal basic income would allow the economy to continue as millions of workers are displaced by automation.

Gates: Governments should start taxing robot workers.

Meanwhile, Uber has bought a self-driving truck company and Amazon, the world’s largest retailer, is testing a store with no employees. And you can get a coffee made by a robot barista in San Francisco’s Café X!

https://www.good.is/articles/automation-elon-musk-bill-gates-jobs?utm_source=thedailygood&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailygood

http://abc7news.com/technology/robot-baristas-serve-coffee-at-san-franciscos-cafe-x/1728812/

 

Preparing for the future of work

Lots of skills and attitudes here that we try to develop and encourage in our students!

People skills will continue to be in high demand – machines have no empathy and emotional intelligence (EI) plays a role in everything. Critical thinking will be crucial and creative thinkers will add value and new perspectives. Adaptability and insight will be more important than talent. Digital and media literacy and predicting trends will be paramount. Virtual collaboration skills will be essential to communicate with teams located elsewhere. Upsetting the status quo can be an asset!

https://medium.com/the-mission/how-to-prepare-yourself-for-the-automated-future-107ed5bc763#.bnlw1a486

 

Mark Zuckerberg’s robot butler Jarvis

Each year Zuckerberg creates a personal challenge for himself. For 2016, he wanted to develop a simple Artificial Intelligence to run his home – “Jarvis” (like in Iron Man). It took 100 hours. You can’t see Jarvis but you can hear him (voiced by Morgan Freeman!) and he is great at assisting with tasks. Zuckerberg controlled Jarvis from smartphones placed around the house and often used text (a Facebook Messenger bot that he built) rather than voice. Is it the future?

Fun videos – including wife Priscilla’s experience: https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/20/watch-mark-zuckerbergs-morgan-freeman-voiced-jarvis-ai-in-action/

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/innovation/mark-zuckerberg-shows-off-jarvis-ai-he-built-to-run-his-home-20161220-gtfgfq.html

His 2017 challenge – meeting and talking with someone from every state of the US: https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10103385178272401

 

70+ educational  iPad apps for the classroom

Useful categories: presentations, screencasting, video and audio creation, book creation, file storage, whiteboard, notetaking, mindmapping, speech to text…

http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2017/01/70-educational-ipad-apps-for-teachers.html

 

Apple Park

The new Apple headquarters (aka the “spaceship”) opens soon in Cupertino, California, with 12 000 employees moving in from April. It will be one of the most energy-efficient buildings in the world – run entirely on renewable energy and with walking & running paths for employees, an orchard, meadow and pond. Product launches will take place in the Steve Jobs Theatre on a hill.

http://www.macworld.co.uk/feature/apple/52-facts-about-apples-spaceship-campus-february-drone-video-3489704/

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Apple books ed tech Facebook films future Google Indigenous resources internet Internet of Things language literature media mobile phones news newspapers pedagogy popular culture robots and drones science fiction sociology TV YouTube

What’s new in ICT, popular culture, media and education?

Some interesting developments – artificial intelligence, robots taking our jobs, disengaged students, Generation Alpha, words of the year, great new films, TV and books….

Previous presentations about What’s New can also be found here.

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

 

 

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books ed tech Facebook internet iPads media mobile phones news newspapers popular culture sociology TV virtual reality

ICT and media news

RUOK? survey reveals Aussies spend more time with screens than quality time with family and friends

We spend an average of 46 hours of our weekly downtime looking at TVs and devices, compared to 6 hours engaging with family and friends. About half of all Australians spend 2 hours or less weekly connecting with those who matter to them. Obstacles include distance, being too tired, being busy, housework and long work hours. Finding time in busy schedules is crucial. Strong and caring connections provide a safety net to help people cope with challenging times.

https://www.ruok.org.au/new-survey-reveals-aussies-spend-more-time-with-screens-than-quality-time-with-family-and-friends

 

Deloitte Media Consumer Survey 2016

Their 5th edition- more than 2000 Australians aged 14 to 69 were surveyed. The survey provides a snapshot of how consumers are interacting with media, entertainment and technologies. Results include:

 

* Huge influence of social media – the #1 digital destination; 84% are on a social network

*61% use social media every day; 84% of younger millennials use it every day

*Most used social media sites: 1.  Facebook (92%) 2. Instagram (28%) 3. Twitter (24%) 4. (All equal) Snapchat, LinkedIn, Google+ (18%)

*18% use social media sites as their most frequently used source of news (14% online papers; 6% print newspapers); many younger people use social media as their primary source of news

*Word of mouth is still the main influence on purchase decisions, followed by recommendations on social media (which has surpassed the influence of TV advertising)

*TV viewing, on any device, is the most preferred entertainment activity (62% rate it in top 3)

*Using the internet for social or personal interests is almost as popular as TV (60% rate it in top 3)

*Millennials prefer using the internet as their top source of entertainment; watching TV is the most popular with other generations

*Live programming is the most used method for consuming TV (42% of viewing time)

*Watching streamed programming is increasing (22% pay for a subscription)

*Millennials lead the uptake of streaming services such as Netflix, Stan and Presto

*Almost everyone likes to binge-watch (74% millennials; 50% others)

* 88% multitask while watching TV

*66% own tablet devices

*86% of households own a smartphone and a laptop; 85% own a TV

*67% rank smartphones in their top 3 devices

*Social media apps are the most popular with millennials; banking apps are also popular with younger people; older people like weather apps!

*10% intend to buy a Virtual Reality headset next year

*21% own a fitness band and 11% own a smartwatch

*Millennials (age 14 to 32) lead the way in engaging with the digital media universe

 

Preferred entertainment activities of all respondents – including books!

  1. Watching TV (any device) 2. Using the internet 3. Listening to music (any device) 4. Going to the movies 5. Reading books 6. Playing video games 7. Attending live performances 8. Reading newspapers (print or online) 9. Listening to the radio (any device/format) 10. Reading magazines (print or online)

*Reading books (in any format) is rated by 25% of people as a top 3 entertainment activity

*Reading books (in any format) decreased in popularity by 8% compared to 2015, despite gains for the past 4 years.

*Reading books and playing video games are almost equal in popularity as a top 3 entertainment activity (25% for books; 24% for video games)

*Movie-going increased in popularity by 5% over the past year

*Aside from using the internet and watching TV, millennials also favour listening to music, going to the movies and playing video games

*Aside from watching TV and using the internet, boomers and matures also like reading newspapers and books

 

Good short video and infographic: http://www2.deloitte.com/au/en/pages/technology-media-and-telecommunications/articles/media-consumer-survey-2016.html

The report: http://bit.ly/2cV9Ml2

Summary: http://which-50.com/social-dominates-digital-reshapes-media-habits/

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books ebooks Facebook future Google internet media music news newspapers popular culture sociology

ICT and book news

Laptops a scandalous waste of money?

Sydney Grammar School has banned students from bringing laptops to school. Principal John Vallance stated “We find that having laptops or iPads in the classroom inhibit conversation — it’s distracting”. He believes in the benefits of a good teacher and a motivating group of classmates. Students will still have access to computers in labs and can use laptops for homework. Students must handwrite assignments until Year 10.

http://www.crn.com.au/News/417477,sydney-school-bans-laptops-labels-them-scandalous-waste-of-money.aspx#ixzz44XjzXPSb

 

Minecraft: the video game that builds kids’ brain cells

With 100 million users, Minecraft helps kids learn in an open-ended, game-based environment – programming, science, maths, architecture, engineering, art, languages and history. It fosters skills of creativity, curiosity, exploration and teamwork. Common Sense Media gives Minecraft a top “learning” score. WesterosCraft, built by hundreds of contributors over 3 years, could be the most elaborate Minecraft mod so far, recreating the Game of Thrones realm. The future? Microsoft’s HoloLens augmented reality headset can overlay Minecraft blocks in real-world surroundings.

Good article with videos: http://www.cnet.com/special-reports/minecraft/mindcraft-helping-students-learn

 

Cognitive computing and IBM’s supercomputer Watson

Last year IBM made 19 of Watson’s cognitive services available to the public, including natural language processing. The first Australian Watson Client Experience Centre was opened in Melbourne in October 2015. Australian firm MediaConnect is now using Watson to analyse the writing interests of Australian journalists by entering up to 50 000 stories a day from online news sources into the supercomputer. Watson then analyses the data and presents a taxonomy of journalists and the topics that interest them. This will help automate the delivery of media releases to journalists – bots will select information to be sent to each journalist based on their interests.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/personal-technology/mediaconnect-tech-conference-nbn-stem-and-watts-what/news-story/583436bba2a6822eb7f3f0e6f38aaddd

https://developer.ibm.com/watson/

 

Google and Facebook – should they pay old media for content?

Google and Facebook have made fortunes from advertising by not paying for content, accelerating the decline of old media, who cannot make enough money from advertising and sales to be profitable. Google and Facebook will make $4 to $5 billion from ads this year in Australia (35-40% of the total pool of ad revenue). Even popular digital publishers such as Buzzfeed and Daily Mail Online are concerned about how to raise enough revenue. The European Union is examining whether services such as Google News should pay to display article snippets. Why should newspaper publishers have to provide content for free?

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/opinion/google-facebook-need-to-pay-old-media-for-content/news-story/1c39a0dac14b816a4b5c5ef88ca8340d

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/digital/google-news-rejects-paying-publishers-for-content/news-story/68c6cfd511b265f65eff494416e0d95f

 

Music streaming tops revenue charts in US

For the first time, streaming is the top money-maker for the recorded music business in the US. Paid subscriptions to streaming services (eg. Spotify) narrowly beat revenue from digital downloads (eg.iTunes). CD sales and digital download revenue decreased. Sales of vinyl increased by nearly a third, reaching 1988 levels before CDs emerged. Japan and Germany (world’s 2nd and 3rd largest music markets) are CD strongholds. Spotify has 30 million paying subscribers across 58 countries.

http://www.businessspectator.com.au/news/2016/3/23/technology/streaming-tops-revenue-charts

 

Google Android most popular

Google’s Android operating system was used by roughly 54 percent of mobile devices sold in Australia in December, placing it ahead of Apple iOS at 38 percent. Rumours also persist that Google will merge Chrome and Android operating systems in 2017.
http://www.crn.com.au/News/414388,bonza-google-adds-aussie-twang-to-voice-search.aspx

http://www.crn.com.au/News/411273,google-to-merge-chrome-and-android-say-reports.aspx

 

The Book Depository now in Australia

Amazon’s The Book Depository is entering the Australian market. 25 000 Australian titles will be added and delivery time will reduce to a few hours, via a delivery partner in Melbourne.  However, Tony Nash, CEO of Aust’s biggest online book retailer Booktopia, is not fazed and expects Booktopia sales to rise from $52 million a year ago to $80 million in 2016 after the acquisition of Bookworld in 2015. Australian online book sales have risen 15.5% a year. The number of print book sales is rising; ebooks have 20% of the market.

http://www.smh.com.au/business/retail/amazon-steps-up-australian-book-sales-through-the-book-depository-20160201-gmitij.html

http://www.smh.com.au/business/retail/amazons-book-depository-stocking-up-on-australian-books-20160202-gmjlfl.html

 

Thriving societies produce great books: can Australia keep up?

What is Australia doing to protect its publishing industry? Should we allow parallel imports? Will cheaper books increase the amount of reading?

http://theconversation.com/friday-essay-thriving-societies-produce-great-books-can-australia-keep-up-54473

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ed tech Facebook future Google internet media mobile phones MOOCs news popular culture sociology Wikipedia YouTube

Internet Trends Report and The Conversation US

The Conversation launches US service

The acclaimed Australian news analysis website The Conversation launched its US service last week – following the UK launch last year. “The 3 newsrooms will work as one, sharing content and ideas from 14 000 academics. Australian academics and institutions will benefit from the increased global audience and opportunity for collaboration” – and readers will have increased access to quality information on current topics.

http://bit.ly/1wD90d0

https://theconversation.com/us

 

Technology improves higher learning – it doesn’t kill it

Gavin Moodie (RMIT) believes that MOOCs are unlikely to “disrupt” universities any more than print books did in early universities. Rather – “informal, open and online learning will be absorbed within exisiting universities to augment and improve their practices”. Interesting info about libraries and how they were changed by print…early libraries were closed to undergraduates – at Cambridge they were fined for entering them in the early 17th century! In the 18th century books were so numerous that a pedagogical role emerged for libraries, helping students navigate texts.

http://theconversation.com/technology-improves-higher-learning-it-doesnt-kill-it-29657

 

Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends Report 2014

The tech analyst’s influential report comes out annually mid year. She notes the biggest trend is towards mobile devices with sensors that enable users to share a huge range of information. This big data  can in turn be used to solve problems and create new products, but privacy and other rights could be compromised.

http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/business-it/mary-meekers-2014-internet-trends-report-is-a-must-read-20140529-zrrdf.html

http://torquemag.io/mobile-devices-are-the-big-story-in-mary-meekers-2014-internet-trends-report/

 

Interesting insights:

 

* Internet users globally growing at less than 10% a year, but initiatives like Google’s Project Loon and Facebook’s Internet.org hope to increase this

* Mobile usage continues to grow strongly – 25% of all web usage

* 30% of all mobile users are now smartphone users

* Tablets are growing faster than PCs ever did

* Unbundling of web and mobile apps – users now want simple apps that do one thing well

* New smartphone sensors (eg. accelerometers, compasses, barometers, heart rate sensors, GPS etc) are fueling the Big Data Age; it is hard to analyse all this Big Data

* 34% of the digital universe is useful but only 7% is tagged

* Cybersecurity is getting harder

* Mobile interfaces are changing everything – transport (Uber), restaurants (Yelp), accommodation (Airbnb), music consumption (Spotify)

* Many developing countries leapfrogged the laptop/PC era and went straight to mobile

* Social networking is changing from broadcast to private sharing – rather than sharing a little with a lot of people, we are sharing a lot with a few close friends. Giant international messaging apps have risen (Snapchat, WhatsApp etc)

* Music streaming up, digital song sales down for the first time (files are a nuisance; streaming is easier)

* Huge interest in cryptocurrencies (eg. bitcoin)

* Photo sharing is huge – we also upload fitness, events and computer code

* Decreasing cost of digital storage

* 84% of mobile owners use devices while watching TV

* Viewers are ditching traditional TV for online video content

* TV channels growing fast as mobile apps

* YouTube channels have huge reach and growth; YouTube stars are the new movie stars

* Rise of BuzzFeed (top Facebook news publisher)

* New genre of video – “Spectator gaming” – watch others playing – Twitch is top video streaming site

* Top 5 internet properties are from the US – Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, Wikipedia – but majority of their users are from abroad

* Top public tech market leaders – Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon, Tencent (China)

* China is becoming a tech superpower with many innovations eg. WeChat

 

Summary of slides (54 slides): http://techcrunch.com/gallery/mary-meeker-internet-trends/

Full report (164 slides): http://www.kpcb.com/internet-trends

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language news popular culture sociology

Word of the Year

Here are some words that dominated popular culture in Australia, the US and UK during the last year. Interesting for English, social science and popular culture classes.

The Macquarie Dictionary has just announced its Word of the Year 2013 and the winner is…..

infovore – (noun) a person who craves information, especially one who takes advantage of their ready access to it on digital devices.

So, an infovore is like a carnivore, but hungers for information. Smartphones provide us with instant answers and many of us are addicted to this rush of instant information. Libraries – a great place for infovores!

Honourable mentions:

firescape – (verb) to landscape an area with the possibility of bushfire in mind.
cli-fi – (noun) a genre of speculative fiction based on the premise that climate change will give rise to fundamental changes in the way humans live.

People’s Choice Award: onesie – a loose-fitting one-piece suit, gathered at the wrists and ankles. Please, can we just limit these to babies?  

Other category winners:
Arts – fanfic
Colloquial – facepalm
Health – enabler
Politics – marriage equality
General interest – watch and act
Communications – churnalism
Social interest – generation debt

http://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/resources/view/word/of/the/year/

Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year 2013
selfie – (noun) a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website. The frequency of the word selfie increased by 17 000% during the past year. It was first used in an Australian online forum in 2002. Spin-off terms include welfie (a workout selfie), belfie (a posterior selfie) and twofie (with 2 people).
Shortlist includes: binge-watch (watch multiple TV episodes); bitcoin (the digital currency); showrooming ( visiting a shop and then buying it cheaper online); twerk.
http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/press-releases/oxford-dictionaries-word-of-the-year-2013/

Global Language Monitor Top Word of 2013
The 14th annual survey of the English language across 5 continents and spoken by 1.83 billion people.
Top word is ‘404’, followed by fail!, hashtag, @pontifex, the Optic, surveillance, drones, deficit, sequestration, emancipate.
404 is the numeric code for failure on the internet, augmenting its original use as “page not found”.
Top phrase: toxic politics
Top name: Pope Francis.
Most understood word in the world: OK.
Top trending prefix: franken- (any human-instigated activity that spins out of control)
Number of words in the English language (1 Jan 2014 est.):  1 025 109.8 http://www.languagemonitor.com/category/words-of-the-year-woty/

American Dialect Society Word of the Year 2013
because x – used to introduce a noun, adjective or other part of speech. “Because”  is now being used in new ways in informal online use and doesn’t have to be followed by “of”. Usage includes “because science”, “because reasons”, “because tired” and “because awesome”.
Other useful words: slash (and/or eg. come and visit slash stay), ACC (aggressive carbon copy used to undermine the email recipient eg. cc’ing the boss), robo sapiens (robots with human-like intelligence). http://www.americandialect.org/because-is-the-2013-word-of-the-year

Merriam-Webster’s (US) Word of the Year 2013
Based on the greatest increase in lookups over the past year, the top 10 words were not new words, but rather they were the words behind the stories in the news.
Word of the Year is science, followed by cognitive, rapport, communication, niche, ethic, paradox, visceral, integrity, metaphor.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/info/2013-word-of-the-year.htm

Interesting info: http://theconversation.com/the-macquarie-dictionary-word-of-the-year-is-22522

Categories
Google music news popular culture Science resources sociology YouTube

Top Google and YouTube searches 2013

Google Zeitgeist 2013

Google processes 2 out of every 3 search requests on the internet – so what did the world search for in 2013?

Top 10 global trending searches of 2013

1. Nelson Mandela 2. Paul Walker 3. iPhone 5s 4. Cory Monteith 5. Harlem Shake 6. Boston Marathon 7. Royal Baby 8. Samsung Galaxy s4 9. PlayStation 4 10. North Korea

Cool video: http://www.google.com/trends/topcharts?zg=full

Top 100 searches picture gallery (good for a quiz):  http://www.google.com/trends/topcharts?zg=full

Google Trends Australia 2013

Most searched – Easter, Melbourne Cup, Movies…

People – Paul Walker, Cory Monteith, Nelson Mandela, Tony Abbott…. Athletes – Sonny Bill Williams, Federer, LeBron James…

Overseas destinations – Disneyland, Dubai, China, London…

What is….twerking, love, gluten… http://www.google.com/trends/topcharts?date=2013

YouTube Rewind 2013

Top videos 2013 (global) – Includes Volvo trucks with Van Damme; Harlem Shake (army); baby & me (Evian)… https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSTz8jpJdr5pn9LFw-pXbg0IOFy2Z_td_

Top videos Aust. 2013 – Ylvis the fox (What does the fox say?); How animals eat their food; YOLO (Adam Levine)…. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtrr-XW7pnGDOwdZ17JEGSFkOKdwRVQE2

Top music videos (global) – Psy; Miley; Katy; Pink… https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtrr-XW7pnGDUy4BaN4z62fL4aWAMtqd1

YouTubers star in a mashup of the year’s popular moments: https://www.youtube.com/user/theyearinreview

The 10 weirdest science stories of 2013

Dogs can tell left from right. Cats – they just don’t care. There are 10 smells – and popcorn is one. Compiled by the Aust. Science Media Centre, RiAus and CSIRO.

http://riaus.org.au/podcast/a-week-in-science-13-december-2013/