Augmented Reality's Watershed Moment—Pokemon Go

Will a silly (and highly addictive) pocket monster game finally mainstream #AugmentedReality? Yes, it's happening :) https://t.co/1nqeHLYHQK

— Robin Ashford (@rashford) July 11, 2016

On July 12th I sent the following email message to my librarian colleagues.

Subject: This is happening

"So when the NYTimes wrote about it yesterday, I was pretty convinced something was going on beyond my small circle of weird in Portland, OR. And then the Chronicle piece this morning convinced me that yeah, this is definitely happening (and maybe even college campuses should pay attention)...at least for now.
Will the frenzy still be happening by fall? Who knows (If I was to bet, I'd say no. For one, the servers can not handle it, and USA was just added along with only two other countries so far though they say more to come very soon). (Note: The email was written four weeks ago, server and bug issues have improved with regular updates by Niantic.)

So what am I talking about?!  Below are a few links with my brief commentary :)
NYTImes: https://twitter.com/rashford/status/752616636780195840

Chronicle: https://twitter.com/rashford/status/752866421898522625

Finally, here's an amusing old guy's take (age 37!):
http://mashable.com/2016/07/11/what-is-pokemon-go/#Sy0.eYIl_qqy

So, maybe someday people will actually know what augmented reality (AR) is, and at that point maybe we can do something with it in education.
(Note: I've been following augmented reality in higher education for several years and explored and presented on the topic in 2010-11. However, AR never did mainstream or become widely used in higher education as predicted by the annual Horizon Report in 2010.)

Most in the US now know what a QR code is so anything is possible! Happy Tuesday!
And be sure to check out the Wheaton College President's IG post: https://www.instagram.com/p/BHsXezRDxXO/ "

 That night I went out and afterward I wrote and shared a few more thoughts with my colleagues...

"Oh my goodness, I went out walking throughout the main streets of Multnomah Village after arriving home from work. According to my stats I walked 2.89 miles. I have never seen anything like this in my lifetime, and I am old!
The weather was beautiful and the restaurants were packed with people eating at the outside tables as well as inside. People were walking up and down the four main blocks on SW Capitol Hwy and then down a block on the side streets and then walking down the four parallel blocks on Multnomah Blvd and then back all over again. There are many pokestops in the Village (and fabulous gyms!) and if you stop at one you can gather pokeballs and eggs and other paraphernalia and then 15min (turns out more like 5min) or so later, you can go back and do it all again. While you're walking Pokemon can appear from anywhere and you can capture them and level up. The streets were very busy, more like a Friday or Saturday night than a Tuesday, maybe because the weather was so nice, I'm not sure.

Pokemon in Multnomah Village, Portland, OR July 13, 2016

Multnomah Village is an interesting place because there are a lot of young couples with small children and the other primary demographic is older people like me. Not a lot of in-between ages like in the burbs but there are some teenagers as well. Anyway, I would honestly say that at least 90% of the people that I passed while walking were playing Pokemon Go (ALL ages from small children with their parents to many people older than me!). I passed young couples with small children, older couples walking in pairs and some with groups of friends, a couple of groups of teenagers, and older individuals like myself. All playing Pokemon Go! It was wild. Strangers were talking to each other, at least three times as I walked past people they looked over at me and said, Pokemon Go?! Everyone had their smartphones out and after a while it was easy to tell they were playing the game. A couple with small children just getting started asked me a few questions, an hour later I ran into them again and the two kids, age five and six were excited to tell me they had each captured a Pokemon. I asked a group of teens a power up question, they were super nice and glad to help. You could hear people talking about Pokemon Go everywhere. It was so strange and amazing. I eventually ran out of power and walked home."

Multnomah Arts Center Pokemon

The following day I read this piece Pokémon Go is an augmented-reality watershed and could not agree more. The fact that people are now fully aware of augmented reality is the most exciting part of the Pokemon Go phenomena. Now that AR has mainstreamed, it will be interesting to watch as AR and virtual reality technologies continue to develop in education.
The 2016 Higher Education Horizon Report has listed under the heading "Important Developments in Educational Technology for Higher Education" Augmented and Virtual Reality Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years. Thanks in part to Pokemon Go, this just might come to pass.

How Do You Think About Teaching?

Enjoyed this piece today in the Chronicle of Higher Education "These Videos Could Change How You Think About Teaching" - I'm a fan of  Mike Wesch  @mwesch , and especially appreciate his attitude about teaching. I had the privilege of hearing him speak at an Educause conference years ago. In person and online he comes across as genuinely authentic, and I'm sure his students sense that. 
I'm also glad to hear of his new site, My Teaching Notebook. The videos below and more can be found there. "He is working on more short videos – they're essentially visual op-eds – to post, all of them about his philosophy that college teaching should focus on transforming the learner." 
That last part, "college teaching should focus on transforming the learner," that is what resonates with me, that's what I believe.  

I'm a big fan of risk taking and failing, this one is my favorite so far:

Lastly, as an academic librarian I teach short one-shot library research classes (typically 45-60min), and as an adjunct I teach fully online courses. It can be challenging to connect with and "transform learners" in short teaching sessions or in fully online courses. I work hard at this in my teaching and have seen pretty good results so far. I hope to break new ground this year by reminding myself of the philosophy of Mr. Wesch.  
As always, comments are welcome.

Learning in Virtual Worlds -- #Minecraft #DigitalLiteracy

Years ago I served as a librarian and then as an adjunct instructor for graduate education courses taught in a virtual world, Second Life (SL). After teaching for a while, I took a National Library of Medicine grant funded position as a Consumer Health Librarian in SL. Both were remarkable experiences. the learning that took place for me in that virtual world was truly transformative.
However, with all SL had to offer, there were problems and challenges that, in the end, proved too difficult and costly for many colleges, universities and schools to continue to use SL for teaching. Many educators moved on to other virtual worlds but, in my opinion, nothing came close to what SL offered...until Minecraft. (Yes, Minecraft is very different from a real life like virtual world but it's the same type of open system that allows you to create whatever you can imagine.)

If you know nothing about Minecraft for education, this entertaining video can get you up to speed in five minutes. And, of course, there's the Minecraft wikipedia page, which includes excellent references. For those wondering about Minecraft research, here are Google Scholar results.

I've been working on an upcoming digital literacy presentation and have been researching ways we can develop digital literacy skills through inquiry, play and exploration. I agree with @EricStoller in this Inside Higher Ed article regarding our digital literacy development in higher education "...it seems that technology competency, digital literacy, social media fluency, online engagement, etc. are still areas that need some structured/intentional work."

In this post I want to showcase an excellent example (albeit quite advanced) of learning, and developing digital and traditional information literacy skills around a project using Minecraft. A short article, found through twitter, titled Students build Gallipoli in Minecraft, includes comments from the teacher and a few of the dozens of Auckland teenagers who spent thousands of hours recreating an awesome virtual version of 1915 Gallipoli. It also features a quality silent video of the student work.

I went hunting for a bit more about the project and found two of the short videos below, which include student narration, on this page.

The learning and engagement with history, technology, problem solving, and the research process itself that took place during this project is clearly evident.

Watch: The making of Gallipoli in Minecraft:

Description: Watch how students used the sketches from Percival Fenwick’s diary as a reference for the 'Recreating Gallipoli in Minecraft' build. 

Decription: Students from Alfriston College re-enacting the tragic events that Anzac troops had to experience on the Gallipoli peninsula from May 5th to May 7th 1915.


A couple of years ago I downloaded Minecraft and began playing. I mostly made a huge mess, it was fun and very reminiscent of my early days in SL. Like SL, I could create whatever I wanted, I simply had to learn how. There was a familiar feeling of empowerment that I often experience when exploring a powerful new digital tool that allows me to create and learn. I could take my time solving problems, make a huge mess and it wouldn't matter. I could make connections, collaborate with others, solve larger problems, etc., all while fully engaged and continually #learning.
Being overly committed I decided that, until time allowed, I would follow the development of Minecraft in education on Youtube. A Youtube search of Minecraft returns almost 60 million results, it's really quite a phenomenon.

Teaching and learning with online games and virtual worlds has been taking place for many years. It seems to be more popular than ever in K-12 (partly due to Minecraft and people like Jane McGonigal and others who understand the engagement and learning potential), I've been surprised that there hasn't been greater adoption in higher education. I wonder how students who learn about history, for instance, in such an active constructivist learning way, will fare in the more traditional "sage on the stage" type of lecture classroom.

I didn't fare well in traditional classrooms, I was painfully bored and could not remain focused no matter how hard I tried. I was also intensely curious and remember desperately wanting to learn. I would have loved to have had opportunities to learn in similar ways as the Alfriston College students. I'm thankful I can continue lifelong informal learning, and developing my digital literacy skills using many readily available technologies.

Thoughts About Educating for Responsible and Effective Social Media Use

My thoughts in the Google+ box below are on the New York Times piece about ThinkUp, a service that helps a person monitor his or her Facebook or Twitter account. Click the link under the image to read the article.

After my knee jerk reaction (as an educator, I feel pretty strongly that education is the answer to many of our problems), I've been reconsidering.  I suppose the founders of ThinkUp could make the argument that they are educating via their service as well.  And to be fair, the company does provide services (additional analytics) beyond helping people "act like less of a jerk online."

Still, my thoughts are that unless someone just doesn't want to think for themselves, and is unable to learn about the many free tools that are available to provide analytics for them in their use of twitter and facebook, most can manage without a service like this.

Perhaps I'm thinking too narrowly, I'd be interested in hearing thoughts from others on this topic. Feel free to comment.

(Full disclosure: I am beginning my fourth year as an adjunct instructor for master's level students on professional Identity management.)

The Internet of Things...will we get there?

I was first introduced to the Internet of Things (IoT) concept in 2008 while attending an experiment/presentation by a small tech team from France. The team was demonstrating spimes they had created; I was fascinated by the smart objects and have been following the IoT movement ever since. (And more recently, it's closely related and often used synonymously, Internet of Everything.)

Spimes aren't mentioned much anymore but the IoT seems to be picking up steam, in the news, and social media at least, the past year. Many are hearing about the IoT in 2014 for the first time. I remember a similar resurgence in mainstream interest around 2011/12.

In 2011 Cisco published this post and infographic showing that the number of devices connected to the Internet exceeded the number of people on Earth and more. Still, we haven't really scratched the surface yet of what is being predicted. Some of us who have been following the IoT movement for a while are wondering if/when the predictions will come to pass.

A recent post by TechCrunch titled The Problem with the Internet of Things takes a look at issues surrounding some of our not quite yet smart objects and connected homes. 

Below is a five minute video about The Internet of Things by IBM. Published in 2010, it was the time I felt the most optimistic about IoT development.

Emerging technologies and concepts with huge potential (a world of connected things is a life changing concept) always pique my interest. I anticipate all kinds of possibilities and applications, especially health and educational applications. Educational technology has been a focus of mine for years as an academic librarian and adjunct instructor. Education (and our lives) would not be the same if the IoT comes to pass as many are forecasting.

To better understand the IoT and the potential impact on our lives and society, view the excellent 17 minute video below by Dr. John Barrett, The Internet of Things. Dr. Barrett explains basics of how the IoT works, and how it could enable new ways of interacting and learning with things we encounter in our world. Six practical and educational applications are illustrated (starting at 4:57 in the video). Hint, remember the Star Trek Tricorder? 

The most sobering aspects of the IoT are related to security. Dr. Barrett states "Security under the IoT has been called a shocking vulnerability, but it's also a major opportunity." In my own non-techie mind, I feel the security challenge, and privacy concerns for some, has to be a major roadblock to the IoT moving forward. 

Kelly Brown, IT Professional and Academic Director for University of Oregon AIM Program, looks optimistically at the opportunities for those with enterprising minds in his recent IoT post. 

There are ample opportunities for entrepreneurs who can not only come up with a way to embed devices in everyday things but also those who can develop the interconnection between devices and who can do a deep dive in to the data to create meaning.

He goes on to list "three important steps that need to take place to make the Internet of Things a reality." I do hope our schools and universities are providing students the skills that are needed to move us forward. 

This post provides good background information for those who would like to know more about the history of IoT: Brief History of the Internet of Things

The Fow Community has created a nice simple visual of the IoT in this infographic (click to expand). Notice the experts' predictions of where we'll be in 2020. Who do you believe? Will we get there? Comments are welcome. 

Innovation + Disruption in Higher Education

I'm embedding the Google+ post below because I think it's important.
The symposium is three hours long and I honestly thought I'd watch about 15 minutes. I ended up watching two hours and hope to catch the third hour soon.

A four minute introductory video was uploaded to youtube that I've embedded below but it only barely touches on what Clayton Christensen was trying to get across to the higher ed leaders.
Scroll down and click the Innovation + Disruption Symposium by Colgate University link in the Google+ post and give it 15 minutes of your time, then decide if it's worth watching more.

Rethinking College - Exploring the Future of Higher Education

Update August 30, 2014: #Newshourchats for Rethinking College took place August 26th through the 28th. If, like me, you were too busy with the start of the Fall semester, you can catch the twitter chats that have been posted by PBS NewsHour on Storify.

Shared this earlier today on Google Plus (G+). Since it's easy to embed a G+ post in a blog, and because I want to keep this one for posterity (could be interesting to look back on a few years from now), I'm posting here as well.
The videos linked below seemed more balanced than some I've viewed on this topic. PBS NewsHour did a nice job working to cover different sides of the issues in an unbiased manner. Hoping for further insight from the upcoming twitter chats.

Library Publishing and Open Textbook Initiatives

"The cost of college textbooks has skyrocketed in recent years. To students and families already struggling to afford high tuition and fees, an additional $1,200 per year on books and supplies can be the breaking point."

- Fixing the Broken Textbook Market 2014 report by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund and The Student PIRGS.

In addition, according to the report "65% of students said that they had decided against buying a textbook because it was too expensive. The survey also found that 94% of students who had foregone purchasing a textbook were concerned that doing so would hurt their grade in a course. More than half of the students felt significant concern for their grade." 

Our university president recently commented to the faculty senate that the cost of textbooks has become a major factor for students in attending college. His comment aligns with the quotes and report above. 

Update: Open Textbooks: The Billion Dollar Solution - 2015 report by The Student PIRGS.

A couple of years ago I worked with my university's director of educational technology to help faculty create textbooks for specific courses. We demonstrated how to get started building ePubs in a couple of faculty workshops by using articles in our library databases (when license permitted), OERs, library e-book chapters (when permissible), and their own writings. We also chose a platform that would allow all students to access the books regardless of what type of device they might be using. From the Android OS to iPhones and tablets, laptops and desktops. A couple of our tech-savvy faculty gave this a good try. In the end they reported that the time and effort involved in getting the textbook ready for the course (with limited IT and library help), was simply too great. 

Shortly after my experience with creating our homegrown textbooks, I heard about the SUNY Open Textbook Initiative. “SUNY Libraries are working with faculty to reduce costs to students, promote authorship, invest in readership, and support teaching and learning."

-Cyril Oberlander, Director of Milne Library at the State University of New York at Geneseo and the Principal Investigator for the Open SUNY Textbook Project. 

Over the past year I've been exploring and learning about a variety of open textbook initiatives. I’ve curated a set of articles and videos on open textbooks and library publishing initiatives on Scoop.it for those who are interested.  

Academic libraries have been increasingly involved with this movement, and there are a number of initiatives around the country that are gaining momentum. A recent library publishing conference I listened in on via the #LPforum hashtag on twitter mentioned several initiatives that were making good progress (see link to curated articles above). I’m looking forward to reading the Library Publishing Forum 2014 proceedings when published later in the year. A couple of blog posts that were written about the event helped fill in the gaps from twitter, this blogger did a nice job summarizing.

Though it's still early, successful open textbook initiatives are beginning to have greater impact. Learn about Rice University OpenStax textbooks in the videos below. There are quality peer-reviewed open textbooks available now that I feel comfortable recommending to faculty as an alternative to costly textbooks. However, the numbers are still small.

It was encouraging to read that over 2,500 professors had signed the open textbook statement of intent to include open textbooks in their search for the most appropriate course materials. But we need faculty members to make a commitment to using open textbooks or OERs for their courses. We also need more quality peer-reviewed open textbooks from which faculty can choose. This is where involvement and participation in the open textbook movement by libraries like mine could help. 

Small universities do not typically have the resources to start an initiative for publishing open textbooks. However, we are part of a consortium of 37 colleges and universities in the pacific northwest known as the Orbis-Cascade Alliance (OCA). One of the OCA [library] directors, Faye Chadwell, the University Librarian at Oregon State University (OSU) and director of OSU Press, was a featured speaker at the recent Library Publishing Forum. This news piece was shared in the #LPForum twitter chat and alerted me to the work already begun at OSU: OSU open textbook initiative aims to reduce student costs, enhance learning. Another OCA member librarian, Karen Estlund, Head of the Digital Scholarship Center at the University of Oregon (UO) Libraries, also presented at the LPForum. 

I would love to be involved in writing a grant for an Orbis-Cascade Alliance Open Textbook Initiative. We could solicit one textbook from each institution, providing some cash to the lucky professor who gets chosen at each school, with half of it payable when the book is complete.  If we could get this rolling and get a batch of texbooks every year, we would soon have a collection that would matter, and that participating schools and others could use with pride.  

Definition and characterizations of Open Textbooks - simply put, college texts offered online under a license that allows free digital access and low-cost print options. 

Would love thoughts from others about library publishing and open textbook initiatives. How doable is it? Are the challenges too great? Would the benefits to students be worth overcoming challenges that arise? Seems to me they would. 

Embedding Google+ Post onto Blogger or Wordpress.com Blogs

Educause Connect: Portland

Portland, Oregon was the first of three test cities for a new model of Educause conference event known as Educause Connect. Tag line: Solve, Network, and Grow - Less "Conference." More Professional Development. Below are my thoughts as a participant and presenter (now known as "content leader").

Online pre-conference meetings were scheduled for content leaders and included our designated learning track facilitators. The meetings were designed to help us learn about the new learning format and how it was different from past conference events. We learned that changing to the Connect learning format meant our sessions were to be less about presentations and more about facilitated dialog, conversations. Like we often hear in higher ed, it's time to end the sage on the stage. And they really meant it. Before our second pre-conference online meeting we were notified to be ready to tell the group what specific interactive strategies we would use during our session. Preparing for that meeting helped my colleague and I to nail down a couple of tools to use during our session.

The first tool we chose was TodaysMeet along with the #EConnect14 conference hashtag for those on twitter as a back channel. (A benefit of TodaysMeet is that it works on most devices and no login or account is required to start using.) Participants were asked to introduce themselves in TodaysMeet at the start of our session to familiarize them with the tool. I asked a couple of questions during the second slide; after that the session participants led the way with questions and comments throughout (some raised hands to speak, some spoke out, and others posted on TodaysMeet). My co-presenter (or co-content leader?) was able to address questions being posted on TodaysMeet and those raising their hands, while I shared and forwarded slides, and conversation ended up flowing nicely.
The other activity for engaging the group was to participate in a rubric activity created by my colleague and co-presenter, Professor Anna Berardi. The rubric activity was well received. Unfortunately, due to the level of participation in discussion, we ran short of time and the activity had to be rushed. We would rethink that strategy for next time, perhaps mentioning a discussion cut off time at the start and beginning the rubric activity sooner.

In the end, I thought our session went well (evaluations coming soon, and we'll see :) ). It helped that the keynote speaker, Kevin D. Jones, talked about the value of failing, that it was okay to fail and if we weren't failing we weren't taking risks, weren't learning to trust, weren't really learning at all, and that was a negative fail. At least that's how I heard it. Bottom line, the keynote was encouraging and helped me relax as did the new format. I found it easier to share and have a conversation rather than the more traditional presentation format. Overall, I liked the new Educause Connect learning format and I'm looking forward to sharing takeaways with librarians and others at my university.

Regarding sessions: A session by ASU librarians has piqued my interest in digital badges and I plan to further investigate. I ended up jumping over to the Mobile/BYOE track the second day and was fascinated by CSUN's tablet initiative. And I thoroughly enjoyed the future trends in mobile session.

I attended the Educause Regional Conference in Portland in 2012 and have attended the larger Educause ELI conference in the past. The new Connect format helps in making connections and allows for deeper learning in a particular track. The last day of the conference, with the exception of the closing keynote, was mostly conversational led by our track facilitators. In our case, the facilitators for the online learning track, John Farquhar and Crista Copp, did an excellent job throughout. Their role in the event was helpful and important, they kept us on track. Good facilitators seem key to the success of the new format.

The PDF of our presentation is on the Educause Connect page in the box below with the exception of the rubric created by Professor Berardi. We're working on writing up our experience for publication and will include the rubric at that time. Our slides have been uploaded to Slideshare.

Thoughts - #HigherEd #Mobile #Libraries #SocialMedia

Below are the topics that have held my interest this past year. They more or less line up with the quote below from the number one key trend in the 2012 Horizon Report for Higher Education:

"People expect to be able to work, learn, and study whenever and wherever they want to. Life in an increasingly busy world where learners must balance demands from home, work, school, and family poses a host of logistical challenges with which today’s ever more mobile students must cope. Work and learning are often two sides of the same coin, and people want easy and timely access not only to the information on the network, but also to tools, resources, and up-to-the moment analysis and commentary. These needs, as well as the increasingly essential access to social media and networks, have risen to the level of expectations. The opportunities for informal learning in the modern world are abundant and diverse, and greatly expand on earlier notions like “just-in-time” or “found” learning."
View the 3min NMC Horizon Report 2012 introductory video on YouTube

MOOCs and the Future of Higher Education

Been following MOOCs since the early days when they were more about people and connectivism and less about companies and systems. This past year I took (and completed!) my first MOOC. I posted about my MOOC experience and showed off my "Statement of Accomplishment" on Google+. I also created a public Google doc with a few links to information on MOOCs to easily share with others who inquire.
If you're interested in this topic, (and if you work in higher ed, I hope you are at least following the developments), or curious to see what a "Statement of Accomplishment" from a Stanford prof looks like, here's my doc on MOOCs and Higher Education

Watch this TED Talk - Daphne Koller: What we're learning from online education

Mobile Everything 
The computer in our pocket. According to the 2012 Horizon Report for Higher Education linked above, Mobile and Tablets (for the first time two separate categories) were both listed in the top category (rated as most significant): Time-to-Adoption Horizon: One Year or Less

Mobile
"Mobile apps are the fastest growing dimension of the mobile space in higher education right now, with impacts on virtually every aspect of informal life, and increasingly, every discipline in the university."

Mobile - Relevance for Teaching, Learning, or Creative Inquiry
"Mobile apps embody the convergence of several technologies that lend themselves to educational use,including annotation tools, applications for creation and composition, and social networking tools. GPS and compasses allow sophisticated location and positioning, accelerometers and motion sensors enable the apps to be designed and used in completely new ways, digital capture and editing bring rich tools for video, audio, and imaging. Mobile apps encompass it all, and innovation in mobile device development continues at an unprecedented pace."

Tablets - "Relevance for Teaching, Learning, or Creative Inquiry
"Because of their portability, large display, and touchscreen, tablets are ideal devices for one-to-one learning, as well as fieldwork. Many institutions are beginning to rely on them in place of cumbersome
laboratory equipment, video equipment, and various other expensive tools that are not nearly as portable or as inexpensive to replace."

Recently Pew Internet released its first Mobile Connections to Libraries report (especially helpful as a reference point in years to come). More importantly for academic libraries and higher ed in general are findings from the 2012 ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology.
A statistic I see as especially important:

"A greater percentage of students in 2012 (62%) than in 2011 (55%) said they own a smartphone, and nearly twice as many in 2012 (67%) than in 2011 (37%) reported using their smartphone for academic purposes."

Academic Libraries
This past week myself and three other librarians visited with a library director who used to live and work in the Portland area and was back visiting during the holidays from out of state. Naturally, we discussed the future of academic libraries which to all of us boiled down to the future of higher education.

Google+ and especially Hangouts
Google+ really fits in the social media category below but I'm giving it its own spot as I believe it's about more than just another social network. I see it as all things Google integrated into all things online (especially if you use gmail and are logged into your account).

WSJ Update (Jan 2, 2013): Google executives say more integration is coming. "Google+ is Google," says Vice President Bradley Horowitz. "The entry points to Google+ are many, and the integrations are more every day."


Social Media - Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook Pages, Google+, etc.
I teach a course as an adjunct for my College of Education titled "Developing a Professional Online Identity." The course, designed for graduate Counseling Program students (soon-to-be therapists), started again in mid January. Each week I either cover a social network or focus on the broader topics such as ethics, methods and strategies involved with creating a professional identity online.

I learned a lot teaching this course last year and I'm hopeful this year will be at least as successful. The 15-week two credit hour course (change from 1 credit last year) will cover everything from LinkedIn to Google+ and the increasing importance of having an online social media policy for professionals taking the course. The Harvard Business Review Blog has a new related post: The Future of You

Other ongoing topics of interest...

Augmented Reality

Internet of Things

Surprised more hasn't developed along these lines. Blew my mind the first time I tried the experiment: HTML 5 Arcade Fire, Wilderness Downtown

Oh, and this is just flat out amazing, spend some time on this site if you get a chance: Snow Fall

There's more but I'm out of time :)

Mobile & Social, and Google+ Hangouts

The last few years have seen a good amount of focus and research on mobile in libraries and education in general. In the last couple of years social in libraries and education has also been picking up steam.

I'm including a couple of my presentations from 2012 below on these two topics.

What I'm especially excited about of late is Google+ Hangouts, (see slide 24-36 in presentation below). What may be of specific interest to librarians/educators like myself, who work with students and colleagues in ways other than face-to-face, is referenced in slides 29-33. (For those not familiar with Google+ Hangouts, it is arguably the most popular feature of Google+, Google's social networking platform and more.)

Bottom line, in the same way that twitter has become my single most valuable professional development tool over the years, though I was skeptical at first, I'm hopeful that Google+ Hangouts will make certain aspects of my job a little easier. At the same time I hope to be able to provide superior research help to students online using this tool.

Tomorrow I lead a reference tips session at our weekly librarian's meeting on the main campus, which will be all about Hangouts. This Saturday I'll be teaching my second library research class to students in another state via Google+ Hangouts (you can read about my first session here, from back when it was named G+ Hangouts with Extras). A week ago I joined our librarian's meeting on the main campus for the first time from my Portland office with positive results and will continue to attend at least one meeting a month using this tool. There'll be another blog post here soon focused on Google+ and Hangouts with some entertaining screenshots so stay tuned if this topic is of interest.

Handheld Librarian 7 Online Conference - August 15, 2012 from Robin Ashford

State of the Mobile Landscape: Mobile Literacy and What It Means for Libraries from Robin Ashford

Are you using Google+ or G+ Hangouts at your library? Are you an educator using Google+ Hangouts for office hours or in any other way? I'd love to hear about what others are doing with mobile and/or social, feel free to share in comments.

I'll end with a quote that resonates with me as I continue to follow mobile and emerging technologies "The most important thing we can do is to ensure that when the technology matures, we are ready to deliver content to it."  -Jason Griffey, Head of Library Information Technology at the University of Tennessee and author of Mobile Technologies and Libraries.

Teaching Library Research On An iPad

I recently taught my third library research class on an iPad and here’s what I learned.

     First, you may be wondering why a librarian would teach with an iPad rather than a laptop. In my case the answer is simple: GFU students who enroll in the Master's Degree in Teaching (MAT) and Adult Degree Programs are given new iPads. Professors from those programs felt it would be helpful to the students if I used the library's iPad to demonstrate how to access and download library resources. 

The equipment:
     Along with an iPad 2 or the New iPad (3rd gen), you need a VGA Adapter to connect the iPad to the classroom projector, and some kind of laser pointer since you will have no cursor. The picture above shows what I used: an iPad 2 with a smart cover (for easier viewing and typing during demo), my iPhone battery charger with built-in laser pointer, the VGA adapter, and a case for carrying the iPad and accessories. 


Class design, learning outcomes: 
     My one-hour library research session consisted of a brief overview of the library website, followed by demos of how to get articles from our subscription databases, how to find and request books, and how to use library e-books.  I also introduced them to their course-specific research guide (LibGuide), and used that for parts of the demo.

How things went in the classroom - (learn from my mistakes):
     Even though I had practiced in my office, the first class was a little rough. I did not have a laser pointer, and I hadn't realized that without a cursor students would not be able to follow along as I referred to links and various parts of pages on the projector screen. The students were quick to point this out, and now I always take a laser pointer with me.
     In addition, these students were in a new cohort, and had been handed their iPads at orientation only hours beforehand. Most were unfamiliar with the device, and this brought additional challenges. Fortunately many owned smartphones and were familiar with touch screens, mobile browsers and apps. Still, I needed to move more slowly than I had anticipated. Halfway through the class I realized I needed to focus more on exact steps so the new users could follow along.
     The two subsequent classes involved sessions with students who had been using their iPads for a few months. These graduate teacher education students were very adept at using the device. They easily followed along and even got ahead of me more than once (i.e., some began downloading e-books while I was demonstrating using e-books in the browser). 
     For the most part these classes went smoothly and felt more like teaching on a laptop. Nonethless, when on an iPad there are regular reminders that you are using an Apple mobile operating system (iOS) throughout. When pointing to anything built on Flash there will be either an empty space in the page or a small “broken link” icon. In the case of our library tutorials, we made sure everything had been uploaded to our YouTube channel so those on iOS devices could access them too.
     Another consideration is that many sites will detect your mobile OS and ask if you would like to go to the mobile version of the site. In some cases there is no choice and it will simply redirect you. It's important to test the sites beforehand to know which way to direct users when there is a choice. Most libraries now have a mobile site to accommodate smartphones. That may not be the best choice for iPad users, though, who could benefit from having access to the full website.

iPads and library e-books:
     The GFU library's two major e-book vendors, ebrary and EBL, are probably mostly used in the browser. They also allow e-books to be downloaded for offline reading, which may be attractive for iPad users. Digital Rights Management (DRM) ensures that these downloads expire after a certain amount of time, and limits their use in various ways. Consequently, the user must have a free Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) account, and will be prompted to create one if need be at the point of download.  In the case of ebrary, the user must also create a free personal ebrary account before downloading an e-book. Both accounts can be created on an iPad. However, Adobe Digital Editions is Flash-based and can not be installed on iOS devices. Instead the user must install the Bluefire app, which uses their ADE account. 
     Bluefire can be used for both vendors’ DRM-protected ebooks, but ebrary offers an app of their own, and there are some benefits to using it. I recommend installing both and authorizing them with the same ADE ID account.
     If you don't have time to walk students through creating ADE accounts, it may be best to simply demonstrate how to use these books in Safari—one can still search, highlight, take notes and more in this environment.  You could then point them to a link on the library website that will explain how to create an ADE account and download the ebrary and Bluefire apps. 

What I learned: 
1) Before teaching with an iPad the first time, practice in a room with your iPad hooked up to a projector

2) Always bring a laser pointer
3) Mobile sites are often not the best choice on iPads, since the screen size permits handling the full-content site.  However, sometimes there is no choice; be prepared and test beforehand (especially with e-books).
4) Be aware and prepared for workarounds when running into Flash on the iPad.
5) If a learning outcome is to have students successfully download a library e-book, have them create a free Adobe Digital Editions account before class.
6) If students are new to the iPad prepare a simpler presentation that covers less territory.
7) When working with students who are adept at using the iPad, relax and let them teach you a few tricks. 

     

     Finally, I'm noticing that students who own 2nd and 3rd generation iPads are beginning to use them as their primary devices. I have confirmed this with a show of hands whenever I work with students in our MAT program. Most eventually invest in some kind of case with keyboard so they can type as quickly and easily as with a laptop. They may have access to a desktop or laptop as well, but the tablet becomes their go-to device once they're comfortable with it.  See Forrester blog post from April 23, 2012 - Why Tablets Will Become Our Primary Computing Device 

Professional Online Identities - Academia Embracing Social Media

Below is an overview/summary presentation of the online adjunct course I completed teaching to graduate counseling students this week. It was a great experience all around, and especially rewarding for me in that students appeared to have enjoyed the course as much as I did. We all learned quite a bit.

Included in the slides below are student voices via twitter that I thought were most profound. Hearing attitudes change and the "ah-ha" moments throughout the course, it became clear that students were understanding the potential impact of social media on their careers. In addition, the professional development benefits afforded them by following experts and organizations who wisely utilize social media became apparent.

For most of the students, it was a revelation to learn the extent that freely available social networks could be used for professional as well as personal purposes. The course also focused on tips and tools that could help as they planned their goals and strategies. And though we focused on using social media for a positive professional impact, the misuse of these tools can also impact careers.

It seems this past year was a turning point and the debate over the ROI of social media is about over. Social media and TV integration has increased and it makes sense that most businesses and organizations are incorporating social media into their overall strategies. And that includes higher education, where there is plenty of buzz and implementation-- Social media in higher education literature review. Higher education institutions are also developing helpful social media policy guides.

It's becoming increasingly important that college and universities provide some type of training in this area for students as well as staff. (And not just for business programs, which may have a jump but are still lacking per this recent Forbes report.) Whether it's for-credit elective courses for those in professional programs, seminars, or informal "lunch & learn" sessions, we can all benefit from understanding social media's potential. In addition, raising awareness of how its misuse can cause significant harm.

Students uploaded their finals for the class and all can be viewed on Slideshare from this TRMA585 tag list. I'm proud of their work and the course. Hope you enjoy the slides. (Click TRMA 585 Instructor Ashford link below for larger view on Slideshare)

TRMA 585 Instructor Ashford

View more PowerPoint from Robin Ashford

Online Identities - Having An Impact

As an academic librarian and early adopter who follows new and emerging technologies, my blog posts are more about emerging and educational technology than they are about library work, though that distinction is blurring. Many librarians are ahead of the curve when it comes to new online tools, digital initiatives, social media, etc. An understanding of technology has become critical to our profession as the digital revolution continues to transform our world.

This semester I’ve been teaching a new online course as an adjunct at my university. It’s a one credit hour course offered to graduate Counseling students, TRMA 585 - “Developing a Professional Online Identity.”

I was pleased to be asked to teach the course by a Counseling Department faculty member with whom I've worked as a department liaison librarian, and who follows me on twitter and other networks.

The professor felt the topic was important for soon to be professional therapists to better understand the importance of personal branding and a professional online identity.

The 15 week course began with everyone in the class sharing where they currently stand with online experience and social media. Facebook naturally being the big winner and for many their only or most significant experience.

Due to the nature of the course, much of the work done by the 11 students in the class was completed on the web and is accessible to all. However, the course syllabus, weekly assignments, most posts and comments are inside Moodle, the Learning Mangement System (LMS) used by my university.

Each week’s assignment has explored ways to develop a positive professional online identity utilizing various tools and tips. Everything from LinkedIn to profile pages, google+, twitter, professional facebook pages, blogs, websites, domain names, and more. The course is winding down and we are starting week 13. This week’s assignment is on having an impact, and it’s partly what led me to write this blog post.

My belief is that anyone with access to the web can have an impact, and that we can all utilize and benefit from the online tools available to us. Whether that means creating a positive professional identity for yourself to help in your job search, utilizing social media tools like twitter for professional development purposes and to make connections, creating professional facebook pages, blogs or websites to promote yourself in your area of expertise, or for other ways to contribute to changing our world. The Internet and social media tools have enabled and empowered us like never before in our history.

An important technology I regret not having time to explore in this course has been the amazing impact online videos can have (often propelled by other social networks). Whether it’s using video to creatively promote yourself in a job search, to be recognized as an expert in a specific field, personally branding yourself, or to simply provide another fomat for valuable content to reach your audience, video is an increasingly important tool.

By now, with over 86 million hits on their single Youtube upload in less than one month (much more if you count others’ uploads), most have at least heard of the Kony 2012 - Invisible Children campaign. This post isn’t about that campaign (which I realize has its critics), but about how being innovative and using the Web and social media, the campaign spread beyond anyone’s dreams. As a TRMA585 student posted on twitter on March 7th:
 “The power of social media comes alive! Very moving. #TRMA585 should watch. KONY 2012: http://t.co/P60PuinC via @youtube”

What I find especially interesting is how others have been able to build on the original campaign. Two compelling related but unaffiliated examples having an impact are: How Technology Is Helping Kony Victims in Uganda and The Next KONY 2012? Invisible Children Co-Founder Releases ‘I Am Mother’

I think most will agree with this Read Write Web post that social media ROI doubts can be put to rest. As I've stated, the Internet has provided “A Way to Have a Voice That Matters.” It’s up to all of us to decide how/when/where and if we want to use that voice.

#SOPA #PIPA Congrats...But It's Not Over

Online political discussions are not typically where you'll find this librarian - but this is different, it matters too much to me, and to so many others - I can't fathom what it would be like to go back to being a passive consumer of information. I've been empowered and know how it feels, I won't give that up without a fight.

We stopped SOPA and PIPA for now. The hard thing, as well articulated in the video below, "get ready, more is coming" - Watch as Clay Shirky explains the backstory on SOPA and PIPA in the video, and then read this Post PIPA and SOPA piece to learn why many are not in the mood to celebrate in the wake of the news that SOPA and PIPA are dead.

As CNET reported, "the lobbyists and politicians backing the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, and Protect IP haven't given up."

Video Description: "What does a bill like PIPA/SOPA mean to our shareable world? At the TED offices, Clay Shirky delivers a proper manifesto -- a call to defend our freedom to create, discuss, link and share, rather than passively consume."



"Because until we convince congress that the way to deal with copyright violation is the way copyright violation was dealt with with napster, with youtube, which is to have a trial with all the presentation of evidence and the hashing out of facts and the assessment of remedies that goes on in democratic societies, that's the way to handle it. In the meantime, the hard thing to do is to be ready. Time Warner has called and they want us all back on the couch, just consuming, not producing, not sharing. And we should say no." -Clay Shirky

Using the Web and Humans to Do Amazing Things

Luis von Ahn found a way to digitize about 2.5 million books a year, at no cost--amazing, but that's not all, watch the two fascinating videos below.

YouTube description: After re-purposing CAPTCHA so each human-typed response helps digitize books, Luis von Ahn wondered how else to use small contributions by many on the Internet for greater good. At TEDxCMU, he shares how his ambitious new project, Duolingo, will help millions learn a new language while translating the Web quickly and accurately -- all for free



-- "With Duolingo you learn a language for free, and simultaneously translate the Web" - (a win-win, awesome!)

Innovative Academic Libraries...on a budget?

The library director and staff at my university library have been discussing ways in which we can implement innovative changes in our library space to better meet the changing needs of our users. These conversations have been happening for some time but space changes and innovative technologies come at a cost, and budgets have never been tighter for many of us in higher education.

I'm a believer in the value of the library as a hub of the university. The videos and links below showcasing the University of Calgary's new Taylor Family Digital Library (TFDL), exemplify what is possible when a university (and a city!) fully realize the value of investing in the library (to the tune of $205 million!). The University of Calgary and others see the library as the place that can help shape the future of learning. This is an extreme example, I'm sure it's a dream come true for many on that campus, and will surely be a major draw for the institution.

Many university libraries are looking at ways to meet changing user needs. Besides smart planning, we need buy-in from university administrators in the way of dollars to implement changes. A good deal of student, faculty, and staff time is now spent in digital space. How can our libraries, especially those on a tight budget, help meet the space and technology needs of our users? What can we do to facilitate learning, to help our users build the 21st century skills needed to succeed in our digital world?

Harvard has been holding conversations on the "Future of Libraries" as have many of us in higher education.

This topic is one I have followed for some time, the "Libraries of the Future" and "Academic Libraries As Place" are blog posts I've written in the past. I believe it's time for action.

Below is a video of the grand opening this past October of the University of Calgary's Taylor Family Digital Library. For those who want to learn more about the TFDL, I'll also link to a storify.com story I created to pull in information from various sources on University of Calgary’s Taylor Family Digital Library and how it's shaping the future of learning.

Please feel free to comment on how libraries with limited budgets might begin to implement change within their space.

"The Next Generation of Digital Books"

Earlier this month, I discovered Our Choice by Push Pop Press, Inc. and found it to be a pretty remarkable book. My past experience with book-apps came when the Vook was first released. I purchased the "The Breakaway Japanese Kitchen" by Eric Gower and was impressed. I enjoy vooks on my iPhone though, to me, a vook can seem a bit more like a website with embedded video in an app. "Our Choice" is a multimedia e-book that feels more like reading a slick print book with useful media added throughout.

As The New York Times Technology writer, David Pogue stated about Push Pop Press "...it didn’t create just “Our Choice.” It simultaneously created a platform, a technology, that will permit them and others to publish subsequent immersive book-apps much faster and more easily." That's what has me excited about this book-app.

Though "Our Choice" is without features available with less interactive ebooks (search, highlight, annotate, share, hyperlink, etc.), it's engaging and had me quickly engrossed. And I can only see the work being done by Push Pop Press, Inc. and others improving.

Learn more about the "Our Choice" book-app by watching the short 4min TED Talks below by Push Pop Press co-founder, Mike Matas. Then scroll down to view the 2min "Our Choice" video trailer and see what you think.

I'm not sure how popular books in apps like this will become, it seems they're best suited for certain types of books, but it should be interesting to follow as they and other e-books evolve.



"The Next Generation of Digital Books" from Push Pop Press, Inc.:

Our Choice will change the way we read books. And quite possibly change the world. In this interactive app, Al Gore surveys the causes of global warming and presents groundbreaking insights and solutions already under study and underway that can help stop the unfolding disaster of global warming. Our Choice melds the vice president's narrative with photography, interactive graphics, animations, and more than an hour of engrossing documentary footage. A new, groundbreaking multi-touch interface allows you to experience that content seamlessly. Pick up and explore anything you see in the book; zoom out to the visual table of contents and quickly browse though the chapters; reach in and explore data-rich interactive graphics.

Below is the Vimeo video trailer for "Our Choice"

Al Gore's Our Choice from Push Pop Press on Vimeo.

Google's New Think Quarterly > Think Data > Read Mobile

Data (and QR codes) done right, it's a beautiful thing:

Open publication - Free publishing - More data

Click above image to enlarge & scan QR codes to read each article on your mobile device. Get Think Quarterly 01 for eReaders and other devices by visiting this site to download EPUB or PDF versions.