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Top books and YouTube 2017 and other trivia

Goodreads Choice Awards 2017

Over 3.8 million votes cast – the only major book awards decided by readers. Winners and nominees for categories – fiction, mystery & thriller, fantasy, sci fi, horror, humour, non fiction, science & technology, autobiography, graphic novels, young adult, picture books etc  Winners include: Into the water – Paula Hawkins; Artemis – Andy Weir; Sleeping beauties – Stephen King; Fantastic beasts screenplay – J.K.Rowling; We’re all wonders – R.J. Palacio.

https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-books-2017

 

Top viral YouTube videos of 2017

Includes History of the entire world, I guess; In a heartbeat animated film; Children interrupt BBC News interview: Bad lip-reading of Trump’s inauguration.

http://time.com/5049496/top-viral-youtube-videos-2017/

Australia’s top 10 YouTube: Ping pong trick shots; Superwog skits:  https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2017/12/australia-these-are-your-top-10-youtube-videos-of-2017/

Top YouTube music videos:  Despacito; Shape of you…https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/6/16741044/top-10-youtube-videos-2017

 

40 best gadgets of 2017

Virtual bikes, smart speakers, toy robots, wireless earbuds….….

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/nov/19/tech-gadgets-toys-luxury-items-of-2017

 

The world’s highest paid celebrities

  1. Sean Combs 2. Beyonce 3. J.K. Rowling…..

https://www.forbes.com/celebrities/list/#tab:overall

 

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ICT and STEM news

STEM learning

Special edition of STEM articles from Teacher magazine. Includes virtual classrooms for Year 10s, STEM and gender and best practice for primary STEM.

Demystifying the AC Digital Technologies Curriculum P-6

Webinar with Dr Linda McIver; 19 June and 31 July 3.45-5pm.

http://email.acer.edu.au/t/ViewEmail/r/60882C5177B09AF02540EF23F30FEDED/F4AF64F35C0EDFC438A555EB6E97B45B

STEM learning: international best practice: Queensland science teacher Sarah Chapman gathered evidence from around the world. Essential elements include real world experiences, expertise from industry links, mentorships and cross-curricular integration.

https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/article/stem-learning-international-best-practice

Full report: https://cew.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Engaging-the-future-of-STEM.pdf

 

Australian Online Landscape Review (latest: April 2017)

Quarterly report produced by IAB/Nielsen. Top 10 brands: 1.Google 2.Facebook 3.YouTube 4.MSN/Outlook/Bing/Skype 5.Apple 6.eBay 7.Microsoft 8.Wikipedia 9.Instagram 10.Yahoo7.

Top 10 brands for streaming: 1.YouTube 2.Facebook 3.VEVO (music) 4.Vimeo (videos) 5.news.com.au 6.smh.com.au 7.MSN/Outlook/Bing/Skype 8.nine.com.au 9.Yahoo7 10. ABC Online

Smartphones are used more than desktops, which are used more than tablets.

file:///H:/Downloads/Digital%20Landscape%20Report_April%202017.pdf

 

Australians’ viewing habits

There are more screens (6.4 in each home) and most are internet-capable. Viewing is spread across devices but TV remains by far the most-watched screen. 86% of video viewing is on TVs – free-to-air or subscription; live or played back. TVs are also used for other tasks – gaming, DVDs, internet, music streaming, YouTube videos etc

http://www.nielsen.com/au/en/insights/news/2017/how-australians-viewing-habits-have-changed-over-the-past-five-years.html

http://www.oztam.com.au/documents/Other/Q4%202016%20AMSR_release.pdf

 

Australia’s internet speeds

According to the most recent Akamai State of the Internet report we are now 51st in the world for home broadband internet speeds (10.1 Mbps). However, we are well above the global average of 7 Mbps even with a large area to cover. Fastest is South Korea (26.1Mbps) 2. Norway 3. Sweden 4.Hong Kong 5.Switzerland. We are leading the Asia-Pacific region in mobile connectivity speeds (13.8 Mbps).

https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2017/03/australias-internet-speeds-are-a-global-embarrassment/

 

Why do adults think video games are bad?

The excellent news site The Conversation is running a series for children – Curious Kids, where children send in questions they would like an expert to answer. Recent research suggests that playing online games that involve puzzle-solving increases scores in maths, science and reading, whereas using social networking reduces academic achievement.

http://theconversation.com/curious-kids-why-do-adults-think-video-games-are-bad-76699

http://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/5586/1742

 

The science for and against video gaming

They can make your brain grow and they make you more self-aware and happier; but they can make you less empathetic and more violent.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/is-video-gaming-bad-for-you-the-science-for-and-against/

 

People could be genetically predisposed to social media use

One to two-thirds of variance in social media use is attributable to genetic traits; unique and shared environmental factors account for the remainder of variance.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-05/ica-pcb050217.php

 

NASA EarthKAM

“A classroom with the ultimate view” – students enrol in missions on the International Space Station and request images of specific locations on Earth. The program was set up by astronaut Sally Ride in  1995, initially on space shuttle flights. 8000 schools from 78 countries have now participated with over 500 000 students creating a library of 94 000 images.

https://www.earthkam.org/

Search the image gallery: https://www.earthkam.org/ek-images

https://cosmosmagazine.com/geoscience/capturing-the-earth-as-art

 

Google Maps street-view of Uluru

Just launched after 2 years of consultation with traditional owners. The interactive map includes audio stories from the Anangu owners about the significance of Uluru, traditional law and creation stories. Many sacred sections of the rock were not photographed. Viewers can zoom into crevices, walk along trails and view ancient art. Google plans to map other Australian cultural sites, including Kakadu.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-08/google-street-view-allows-visitors-to-experience-uluru/8599050

 

Live interactions with robots increase their perceived human likeness

We need to get used to a future where robots will be part of our everyday lives, but rarely do we see robots face to face. A recent study found that people who watched live interactions with a robot were more likely to consider the robot to have more human-like qualities. Robots presented in virtual reality also scored high in human likeness. Watching a robot on a 2D screen scored lowest. “Many people will have their first encounter with a service robot over the next decade. Service robots are designed to communicate with humans in humanlike ways and assist them in various aspects of their daily routine. Potential areas of application range from hospitals and nursing homes to hotels and the users’ households” (Schreiner).

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-05/ica-liw051017.php

 

The 2017 emoji list: emoji version 5.0

All those cute little emoji have to be approved by the Unicode consortium and will be launched this month. There are 69 new images; 24 have 5 additional skin tones and 10 are non-gendered. New emoji include a genie, an older person, a breastfeeding mum and broccoli. There are now a total of 239 approved emoji.

http://blog.emojipedia.org/final-2017-emoji-list/

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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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Wayback Machine, AI, YouTube Red and emojis

The Wayback Machine gets an update

An important part of the world’s cultural heritage now resides only on the web. The Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine is used by millions to access 19 years of the web’s history – offering access to over 439 billion web captures including old web pages, video and images (1 billion pages captured each week). The Wayback Machine will soon be updated. When completed in 2017, it will have more higher quality webpages that are easier to find. “Taking the Wayback Machine to the next level will make the entire web more reliable, transparent and accessible for everyone.”

Update features: http://blog.archive.org/2015/10/21/grant-to-develop-the-next-generation-wayback-machine/

 

Google is letting Artificial Intelligence run search

Artificial intelligence (AI) is developing a prominent role in search. For the past few months, a “very large fraction” of the millions of search queries per second typed into Google have been interpreted by an artificial intelligence system, nicknamed RankBrain. RankBrain uses AI to embed vast amounts of written language into vectors that the the computer can understand. If RankBrain sees a word or phrase it isn’t familiar with, the machine can make a guess as to what words have similar meanings and filter the result accordingly. This helps Google deal with the 15% of queries a day which it has never seen before. Google aims to embed AI into every aspect of its business. Facebook uses AI to filter our newsfeeds and Microsoft is using AI to increase the capabilities of Bing.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-26/google-turning-its-lucrative-web-search-over-to-ai-machines

 

YouTube Red

YouTube Red is a new $10 per month subscription service, starting in the US this week before going international. All ads are removed from all videos, everywhere you watch (however, this does not apply to paid content, such as paid channels or movie purchases). YouTube Red will be available for YouTube, YouTube Gaming apps, Chromecast, Android TV, Apple TV, gaming consoles. You can download YouTube videos to your phone or tablet and watch them for up to 30 days without a connection. You can also isten to videos on your phone when your screen is off (good for music). Subscribers will also get a free monthly Google Play Music subscription and access to members-only original shows and movies from top YouTubers. The YouTube Music app will start soon as a dedicated place to listen to music on YouTube.

http://www.cnet.com/how-to/youtube-red-details/?ftag=CAD3c77551&bhid=23787909704659446143753669728655

 

Will you heart Facebook’s new emojis?

Facebook is adding 6 more symbols to help 1.5 billion Facebook users express themselves. Along with the Like button, we will be getting Yay, Angry, Haha, Wow, Sad and Love. Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook did not want to add the negativity of a Dislike button. The new emojis are currently being tested in Ireland and Spain. Emojis originated in ancient Japan and Japanese cell phone makers were using them in texting apps in the 1990s. “e” means picture and “moji” means character.

http://www.cnet.com/news/will-you-heart-facebooks-new-emojis/?ftag=CAD1c318f6&bhid=23787909704659446143753669728655

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ICT news

Lots of interesting developments….HoloLens, Minecraft, Google & STEM, video games, the internet….

 

HoloLens by Microsoft

At the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in L.A. in June, Microsoft demonstrated its upcoming HoloLens, an Augmented Reality (AR) headset that allows players to visualise and manipulate digital images overlaid on the real world and to explore games in full 3D. Microsoft describes HoloLens as a “see-through holographic computer” that allows holograms to integrate with our world – an experience they call “mixed reality”. They believe it will unlock new ways to create, communicate, work and play.

In the demo, the player enters the world of Minecraft, playing first on a wall and then building a 3D world on a coffee table….awesome! He uses an Xbox controller and then voice commands and hand gestures. He can look around and through his creations by simply moving around in real space. HoloLens will probably be available in 2016, along with other Virtual Reality (VR) headsets – Sony’s Morpheus, Oculus Rift (owned by Facebook) and Valve.

Impressive 3 min. video – playing Minecraft with HoloLens: http://www.engadget.com/2015/06/15/microsoft-minecraft-hololens/

The possibilities of HoloLens – 2 min. video: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-hololens/en-us

More info: http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/hololens-release-date-news-and-price

 

Minecraft in education: can we change the way we learn?

The global phenomenon Minecraft, begun in 2009, has been owned by Microsoft since Sept 2014. More than 70 million copies have been sold across all platforms. Microsoft is now creating an online portal for teachers. “Minecraft in education is students visiting an ancient civilization and creating a setting for a story. It is exploring math concepts using Minecraft blocks. It is practicing collaboration, problem solving, digital citizenship and leadership skills while designing experiments and demonstrating mastery. Minecraft in education is teachers inspired by their students to explore and create, and students motivated to learn.”

Short video: http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/microsoft-launching-minecraft-program-for-teachers/0152049

http://education.minecraft.net (not fully running yet)

 

Minecon: the biggest Minecraft fan convention

10 000 players attended Minecon in London earlier in July. Whilst there are many younger players, the average age is 29. Guests included Stampy, a famous Minecraft YouTuber who now has Wonder Quest, an online animated Minecraft series, and Mindcrack, a community of online Minecraft players.

https://www.youtube.com/user/Wonderquest

http://www.engadget.com/2015/07/17/this-is-minecon-the-biggest-minecraft-fan-convention/

 

Google pledges $1 million to boost STEM in Aust.

Google will work with 3 Australian not-for-profits to inspire under-represented students to careers in science, technology, engineering and maths. Cash grants will deliver hands-on training and career programs. Aust. Indigenous Mentoring Experience will develop STEM content for Year 7 & 8 indigenous students; First Robotics Aust. will take robotics programs into 150 schools; Engineers Without Borders Aust. will give hands-on training to 5000 young people, focusing on young women.

Keep up with Google with their blog: http://google-au.blogspot.com.au/

 

Bond University Digital Australia report 2016 (DA16)

This report has been released annually since 2010 for the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association. Gaming is a massively popular activity for people of all ages and a growing industry. 68% of Australians play video games, with an average age of 33 years. 47% of gamers are female. Half of video game players are avid video game watchers as well. The International Defense of the Ancients 2 Championship (DotA2 – an online battle game) takes place next week in Seattle with many professional gamers and $22 million in prize money. Many will pay to watch the top players battle it out.

http://www.igea.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Digital-Australia-2016-DA16-Final.pdf

http://www.cnet.com/au/news/digital-australia-16-igea-pc-gaming-broadband-bottleneck/

 

Gamers on Twitch.tv and YouTube

People are more than willing to watch others play video games – and will even pay to do it. Twitch.tv (owned by Amazon) has 100 million visitors per month who watch others play video games online and “e-sports” (the big video game competitions). Sarah Pike has a full-time job as a gamer on Twitch.tv. Viewers pay $6.70 a month to watch her play games like Call of Duty – she keeps half of that. She also gets donations and tips. Fans even order home delivered meals for her when she’s playing. 9 million viewers a month watch Elliott Watkins play Team Fortress on YouTube. He gets between 60c and $1 for every 1000 views…..$108 000p.a.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/meet-the-online-gamers-making-big-money-just-by-letting-others-watch-them/story-fni0cx12-1227456740274

http://www.news.com.au/technology/home-entertainment/australians-play-video-games-for-15-hours-a-day-survey/story-e6frfrt9-1227459456488

 

Global Internet Report 2015

The second report by the Internet Society focuses on mobile networks and devices, because they “will be instrumental in bringing the next billion people online”(Brown). More than 90% of the world’s population is covered by at least one mobile network, with 3 billion internet users. The time spent using apps exceeds the time spent using browsers on mobile devices. 84% of tablets and 72% of mobile phones are Android. Tablet sales will exceed PC sales within a year. There is widespread concern about the mass sharing of personal data arising from location-sharing apps. Neutrality, copyright and low-cost access are also issues. Governments must ensure that enough spectrum is available nationally and internationally to support the growth of mobile usage. By 2019, 71% of the world’s population will be using mobile networks.

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/global-report-finds-mobile-rules-the-internet-and-android-rules-mobile-20150722-gicler.html

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YouTube for kids and ICT news

YouTube for kids launching 23 Feb 2015

Free new app YouTube Kids – currently for Android only. The app will be separate to the main YouTube service. The homescreen will have 8 options including choices from US kids’ TV; popular song videos; educational programs; links to top videos. Searches can be typed or spoken and the site will be free of comments with a timer for parents to shut down the app. No announcements yet about a similar Australian roll-out – maybe it will happen at the same time.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/02/19/youtube-for-kids-new-android-app-out-feb-23/23707819/

 

Google to revamp products with 12-and-younger focus

Google processes 40 000 search queries per second and many users are children, so it is planning to create child-specific versions of its most popular products –YouTube, Search and Chrome. Children of Google employees use the Kids Studio room at Google HQ where they are encouraged to tinker with prototype projects.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/12/03/google-products-revamped-for-under-13-crowd/19803447/

 

The end may be nigh for keyboard, mouse and monitor

Microsoft’s Windows 10 will incorporate voice, gestures and holograms. “When people can talk to their tech, see 3D representations in the air and interact with media or docs by waving their hands, the long-term survival for the keyboard, mouse and monitor suddenly seems precarious” – Adriana Lee. Microsoft’s voice feature, Cortana will be part of Windows 10 and people will be able to talk to their computers, maybe en masse. Windows Holographic will also be available, via HoloLens goggles. Currently 90% of personal computers run Windows. Windows 10 will be released mid-year and upgrades will be free this year.

http://readwrite.com/2015/01/21/hololens-windows-10-holographic-cortana-microsoft

Windows 10 Hologram trailer – impressive:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W97LCtOSXPY&feature=player_embedded

 

Google boss warns of “forgotten century” with emails and photos at risk

Google VP Vint Cerf (co-founder of the internet) warns that huge amounts of digitised material – images, videos, blogs, tweets, emails and official documents – may be lost forever because the programs needed to view them will become defunct. We face “a forgotten generation, or even a forgotten century” through “bit rot”. Cerf hopes that “digital vellum” can be used to preserve old software and hardware so that old files can be recovered. He says “if there are photos you really care about, print them out”.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/13/google-boss-warns-forgotten-century-email-photos-vint-cerf

 

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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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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/

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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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Wikispaces Classroom and Google Glass

Wikispaces Classroom
Many schools have learning management systems & social learning platforms – both commercial and free. Edmodo has proved popular at our school, due to its ease of use (often thought of as “Facebook for schools”). Some teachers use it ahead of the departmentally supplied LMS. http://www.edmodo.com/
Wikispaces recently announced its new free platform for education: Wikispaces Classroom.
“Wikispaces Classroom is a social writing platform for education. We make it incredibly easy to create a classroom workspace where you and your students can communicate and work on writing projects alone or in teams. Rich assessment tools give you the power to measure student contribution and engagement in real-time. Wikispaces Classroom works great on modern browsers, tablets, and phones”. It also incorporates a social news feed feature so that teachers and students can see what is happening in the learning space. http://www.wikispaces.com/content/classroom/about
See examples: http://blog.wikispaces.com/2013/04/announcing-wikispaces-classroom.html
How to – videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hS8iJYnFFE

Google Glass
Lots of tech people have recently trialled Google Glass, which won’t be generally available till next year. Apps (which must be free with no ads) are currently being developed by various companies to make Google Glass an intriguing & useful item of wearable technology.

Google Glass eyewear is a small glass screen above the right eye and a right arm that contains a trackpad that you can tap. It has 16GB of storage, Bluetooth & a 5MB camera. Bone audio technology allows the wearer to hear audio with no headphones (soundwaves go through cheekbones into the inner ear). You can give voice commands eg. “OK, Glass, take a picture” or use the trackpad. You can view emails etc in front of your eyes on the screen or ask for directions. You wake the glasses up by tilting your head upwards. Apparently the screen doesn’t obscure the line of vision. But there are privacy issues – people may not know they are being filmed or spied on! Cost $1500 – that will reduce. Don’t get ready to barcode a class set for the library just yet 

Excellent 3 min. video: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/google-glass-googles-wearable-gadget/story?id=19091948
Physics teacher uses Google Glass to take his online students on a virtual excursion to the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRrdeFh5-io

YouTube to launch paid subscription channels
Free-to-air TV and the main channels are certainly facing more competition each year from online video sources & IPTV (Internet Protocol Television), both free & subscription. Netflix will probably be here within 2 years. YouTube will soon offer some paid premium content – users will be able to subscribe to 50 exclusive channels that will have TV shows & films.
http://www.digital-media.net.au/news/digital/youtube-to-launch-paid-subscription-channels
http://www.iptv.com.au/how-to-get-iptv/
YouTube vs TV? The battle is already over
YouTube: 1 billion unique visitors each month. YouTube means more engagement than TV – it is the future.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/8625482/YouTube-says-battle-with-TV-is-already-over

10 top time-saving tech tips
10 simple tips for computer, web, smartphone and camera users.
http://www.ted.com/talks/david_pogue_10_top_time_saving_tech_tips.html