"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For while knowledge defines all we currently know and understand, imagination points to all we might yet discover and create." -Albert Einstein
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.)
Those who follow me know that I'm an early adopter drawn to emerging technologies. As an educator I'm always on the look-out for educational applications of these technologies.
I've been fascinated by augmented reality (AR) for a couple of years now. Many of my AR blog posts have featured AR concepts that may or may not come to pass. A lack of standards and other issues means it will be a while before AR is ready for mainstream.
The video embedded below describes an educational AR project that sounds useful and doable. I also found it personally worth supporting.
One of the things I especially appreciate about this project is that the educators involved realize that not everyone will have heard of AR, and many will not personally possess the required hardware. They are proposing a project that would engage students in valuable learning activities and provide ways to make the technology available to those who have never heard of AR, don't have a device of their own, but who could still benefit.
Read about this kickstarter project, "The Civil War Augmented Reality Project," watch the video, and see if you agree. If you do, please consider supporting if possible.
For those new to AR, below is a two min. video introduction to AR
Below is the trailer to an important film. "The film is the product of a unique collaboration with visitors to the Digital Nation Web site, who for the past year have been able to react to the work in progress and post their own stories online." The film is available online and will also be aired Feb 2nd. From the press release:
In Digital Nation: Life on the Virtual Frontier, airing Tuesday, Feb. 2, from 9 to 10:30 P.M. ET on PBS (check local listings), FRONTLINE presents an in-depth exploration of what it means to be human in a 21st-century digital world. Continuing a line of investigation she began with the 2008 FRONTLINE report Growing Up Online, award-winning producer Rachel Dretzin embarks on a journey to understand the implications of living in a world consumed by technology and the impact that this constant connectivity may have on future generations.
The full press release is worth reading. I know there are challenges; technology can consume us and we must find balance. The film addresses the topic of schools and institutions of higher education using technology for learning. Parents and educators are challenged to keep children safe and to find ways to utilize technologies that are truly beneficial. Many believe those challenges must be addressed because there is so much potential for learning about ourselves and our world.
It's obvious to educators that technology is transforming us and the way we learn. There is little doubt that technology can and should be used to further learning in schools and in institutions of higher education (how, is less known). This post by a UK educator is an example of how easily children adopt and benefit from new technologies "What happens when you give a class of 8 year old children an iPod touch each?" And this post by Abby, a 4th grader, who recently posted on pandas, which her father, an educator himself, tweeted about to share. They were pleasantly surprised as comments from around the world were submitted on her blog.
Can you imagine children like Abby and the 8-year-olds in the UK post video and others like them in high-school or college? Will sitting and listening to lectures, writing papers and taking tests meet their expectation for learning? They are already creators of content, they are participators in a globally connected world. Can our education system build on that? Would society benefit if it did?
As an academic librarian I believe it's important that institutions of higher education understand that most college/university students of the near future will have grown up immersed in technology. And though there are challenges, the expectation for learning with these tools should be understood and technologies utilized when and where appropriate. I'm hopeful this program will help us understand the pros and cons of this digital revolution so we can better prepare. Again, one can view the program online here.
Update 3/2010: I'm including a link to a blog post that many feel is a fair criticism of the Digital Nation program speaking primarily to the segment on Second Life.
Lastly, a twitter buddy, @raymondpirouz, wrote a short blog post and alerted me to a response video by educators who felt that "Digital Nation" left out much of the incredible work related to education in Second Life. I agree (fairly typical of SL media reports) and am embedding the short response video below.
About a year ago I was asked by Professor Scot Headley, from our School of Edcation, to assist with a course he was preparing to teach that summer in Second Life (SL), an online 3D virtual world (VW) environment. I was honored to be asked and looked forward to the faculty/librarian collaboration. I also felt it fit my job description as Reference & Distance Services Librarian, and perfectly fit our library mission:
The mission of the George Fox University library is to support the instructional programs and research activities of the institution by providing access to recorded information in a variety of formats, and to provide instruction in the use of traditional and new information resources and technologies.
Having already been in SL for some time (mainly learning, networking for professional development purposes with other librarians/educators), I felt ready for the challenge of serving as a "SLibrarian." My prior interest/preparation stemmed from my belief that teaching & learning would continue to grow in VWs and I felt some librarians should be involved. I knew my university had already used SL for one class and thought there would eventually be more.
After meeting with the professor of the course to discuss my role and course needs, I went to work creating resources to address the information needs. I placed those resources along with a librarian office building on the skydeck George Fox University (GFU) leases from New Media Consortium.
The GFU skydeck space was ready before class started and was used for many purposes. Examples of how I assisted in my role as librarian include, helping to orient our graduate/doctoral students who were using SL for the first time by creating "how to" informational posters, attending the one hour per week inworld (inside SL) class to assist as needed, providing one-on-one help with students during inworld office hours or by appt., adding content to the course wiki, creating inworld subject guides, and meeting occasionally with the prof to discuss/assess learning outcomes related to the course assignments.
The professor and I continued to collaborate throughout the course and I learned a great deal working in the role I saw as a type of embedded librarian in Second Life. Or maybe I should say a blended librarian or a combination of both? Here is a flickr slideshow link of the class from last summer (click "show info").
This semester I was asked to teach my own SL course as an adjunct instructor for our School of Education (SOE) EDFL program. The one credit hour graduate level edtech course, "Intro to Second Life for Educators," has progressed nicely and has been quite the learning experience for all involved. This time I've really taken on two roles, one as the instructor and the other as the librarian. I created a course wiki where I link to many different types of information resources. Everything from blog posts to online news articles to shared links of searches I ran for scholarly peer reviewed articles in our Ebsco databases, and I've continued developing inworld subject guides.
As part of last week's inworld asynchronous assignment, I asked the class to watch the short YouTube video I created below on using Sloog for inworld subject guides (meaning subject guides of places in SL). (The assignment this past week was to use the Sloog website beginning with my Sloog user page in the way I describe in the video to visit Genome Island, explore and then write a reflection on our course wiki about their experience.)
(Click this link to view in larger format on YouTube site.)
Subject guide (sometimes known as resource guide, etc.) creation is seen as a fairly standard task amongst academic librarians. We create guides which include links to books in our catalogs, article databases, websites we've evaluated and feel may be useful, etc. Some librarians have also begun pointing out valuable Web 2.0 resources in their subject areas.
Virtual worlds (VW) are another platform containing new formats of information. There are over 150 VWs and their numbers are increasing rapidly. Those interested in VW growth projections can take a look at this post on Gartner's report and this site which shows large growth in the elementary school age demographic (our not too distant higher ed students).
Some virtual worlds, such as Second Life, are not only a platform in which educators can meet with students at a distance but they also contain what is often referred to as immersive builds. Below is a snapshot showing a number of these places. They are oftentimes interactive, immersive places, which have been designed and/or created by educators to assist students with their learning. As a SL librarian, who has been evaluating inworld immersive learning spaces, I am able to provide students with ways to find and access these places as an additional information resource beyond books, videos, articles and websites.
For those not familiar with VWs and/or SL, this site shows some of the institutions teaching and learning in SL (this is a partial list and many who are still in the exploration stage (such as my univ) are not listed).
Now back to the title of this post and questions for any readers who happen upon it--Should academic librarians provide assistance in virtual worlds?
Does my work as a SL librarian fit the role of an academic librarian? Obviously, I believe it does. I have presented and blogged on the role of the academic librarian in virtual worlds in the past, and belong to the ACRL in SL group where I network with incredibly innovative librarians in SL. I also closely follow the work of the ALA in Second Life and have attended their events when time allows. But I'm interested in what the rest of the academic community thinks. If I'm wrong about this, please comment and tell me why.
I'm not saying every librarian should be conversant in virtual worlds. Academic libraries typically have librarians who specialize in specific areas. Does it make sense to have a librarian who is conversant and able to assist when needed by faculty teaching classes in those worlds? Might some institutions consider this an asset?
Is creating inworld subject guides a role others see as fitting for an academic librarian? Should librarians be leading in this way or should we wait until virtual worlds are more mainstream? If we wait, is there a chance our role will be filled by others such as educational technologists? (I would argue that edtechs have the skills needed to lead as administrators/creators of our institution's spaces in virtual worlds and that librarians should be the main information need providers.)
Many of the library and information science graduate schools now offer classes on virtual worlds. Do academic library directors see the value in that when making hiring decisions?
I am an early adopter of technology (though not a techie) and have learned over the years that sometimes I can be too early, and sometimes I am wrong about a trend. But, I like to think of academic librarians as trailblazers and believe we should be leaders and not afraid to take risks. There is a digital revolution taking place and it's an exciting time to be a librarian. As we contemplate how the next five years will develop, how we prepare ourselves to remain relevant as academic librarians seems more important than ever. If our constituents are (or will be in the near future) teaching and/or learning in virtual worlds, I feel some librarians should be there.
The simple Common Craft style video below provides a clear explanation of connectivism. I believe it's an important learning theory for educators everywhere to understand in this digital age. I first heard the term some time ago and remember googling and reading the wikipedia entry. Then I read this article by George Siemens titled "Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. The quote below is from a paragraph in the conclusion of the article.
Connectivism presents a model of learning that acknowledges the tectonic shifts in society where learning is no longer an internal, individualistic activity. How people work and function is altered when new tools are utilized. The field of education has been slow to recognize both the impact of new learning tools and the environmental changes in what it means to learn. Connectivism provides insight into learning skills and tasks needed for learners to flourish in a digital era.
And here is an ELI Podcast session from Jan 2008 titled "Connectivism" presented by George Siemens. Would love to see comments on this. How important is this theory? How valid?
This video from TED Talks is worthwhile for those wanting to better understand Second Life and virtual worlds. I'm linking to it rather than embedding it here because the comments on the TED Talks page are worth reading.
Rosedale makes some strong statements at the end of the video on how he believes that virtual worlds are the future of the Internet. That's still difficult for most of us to imagine. Research reports projecting significant growth in virtual worlds over the next few years have been published by Strategy Analytics and Gartner . This blog post "The Future of Internet Is Virtual Worlds. Or Is It?" takes an opposing viewpoint.
I personally don't know whether virtual worlds will be the future of the Internet. Seems it would be awfully difficult to predict with how quickly technology is developing/changing. But I do believe virtual worlds will have an important part in the future of education. Those in higher education can take a look at my post on the Sept/Oct 2008 issue of Educause on virtual worlds.
This guide identifies five principles that represent the media literacy education community’s current consensus about acceptable practices for the fair use of copyrighted materials, wherever and however it occurs: in K–12 education, in higher education, in nonprofit organizations that offer programs for children and youth, and in adult education.
And here is yesterday's Chronicle post on this. It will be interesting to see how folks respond. I've only scanned the guide but I think the info shared in the video below makes a lot of sense. Though it sure can be difficult to make everyone happy when it comes to copyright & fair-use...
Today is my day off and I have a long to-do list (and this blog post was not on it). Included on my list was to attend a Metanomics Series interview at NMC campus in Second Life from noon-1pm. I did that and for the first part a woman named Alanagh Recreant shared about UTHANGO Social Investments and Virtual Africa in Second Life.
Of course links were shared to further information on Virtual Africa, which I decided to check out. One thing led to another and before long I found this video which I feel compelled to share. There is a 2 plus minute segment in this video on Virtual Africa. But that's not why I'm sharing this, though worthwhile. I'm sharing because this video is very well done and an example of yet another educational use of virtual worlds. From the website:
"Life on Life" is a 13-minute docu-narrative produced inside the virtual reality platform SecondLife, composed of vignettes narrating one avatar's path through her first year in the metaverse. From magical safaris and artificial lifeforms to hackers and virtual suicide bombers, the real world plays itself out around her in virtual space, and Life passes through with hope and wonder intact! The film explores an intersection of the first and virtual worlds--the drawbacks and the potential. "Life on Life" has been accepted to the Cambridge Int'l Film Festival, UK, had a scene screened on CNN.com, and has been promoted by the virtual worlds projects and presses: Orange (France Telecom), Dancing Ink Productions, Babel News, Koinup, Rockcliff University, New World Notes and massively.com. Thank you to each of these!
I've been interested in digital storytelling since attending the SLEDCC 2008 Conference in Second Life (SL) this past September. The session where I was introduced to digital storytelling in SL was related to work being done by Peggy Sheehy (SL: Maggie Marat) and others with teens in Teen SL. Their work incorporates a broader array of media than the narrative video above. I never did blog about this experience, partly because I couldn't quite figure out how to articulate the impact it had on me. It turns out she and others presented at other conferences during the past summer and a blogger (and SL friend of mine) Chris (SL Topher Zwiers) wrote an excellent post on this on his MUVE Forward blog titled "Ramapo Islands: Quality Learning in Second Life."
I attended as much as I could of the SLEDcc 2008 conference in Second Life (SL) this past weekend. I'm still processing what I learned, how I was impacted, and finding it difficult in some ways to put into words. Mainly I'm afraid I won't do justice to some of what I want to share. I'll try to give a brief acct. of the highlights for each day on what I was able to attend, and I'll write a separate post on one session that had an emotional impact on me. I'll post once for each day.
Friday - Due to my work schedule, I was only able to attend two events this day - First, the opening session: Education in Second Life with presenters Claudia Linden and Pathfinder Linden, the two main Lindens (from Linden Labs (LL), an American company and creator of Second Life) who are assigned to education/educators in SL.
The opening session keynote was streamed to three locations inworld. And the streaming video did not work - huge disappointment and rough start to the conference, which had me more than a little worried about how things would play out the rest of the weekend. We were quickly provided with Ustream and Veodia channels to watch the keynote live on the web. But of course, those of us who spend time in SL all know that that is not the same as being with a group of avatars in SL watching streaming video all together. Having said that, the content was there - Folks from around the globe heard that LL very much desires to work with educators, to do whatever they can to make SL a place where schools, colleges and unviersities can truly thrive. Both presenters assured us that LL is committed to listening to our concerns, prioritizing them based on our most pressing needs, and doing all they can to make SL an excellent teaching and learning environment. They also flattered us - pointing out that much of the most creative and innovative work taking place in SL is being done by the education community. I know this to be true.
The second presentation I attended Friday was by Sheila Webber aka SL Sheila Yoshikawa. Sheila is a faculty member from the Univ of Sheffield and someone I have been getting to know in SL and admire. She is an expert on information literacy, is widely published, blogs regularly here and here, and has created a beautiful island in SL filled with valuable resources, which she willingly shares with all. On top of that she offers discussions open to all almost weekly on her island, which I greatly benefit from professionally. Here is a link to Sheila's slides from her SLEDcc 2008 presentation, which she uploaded for us to slideshare. Her presentation was excellent and her research is always interesting so take a look.
Tomorrow I'll blog on the poster session I presented at the conference as part of the "Best Practices in Education" session held for three hours Saturday morning.
Here is a link to the wiki page for this conference, which now includes links to photos and volunteer videos of some of the RL sessions. I am hoping that someone was assigned to create a machinima of some of the inworld events, I'll keep an eye on YouTube for that.
I am continually amazed by the levels of creativity I see in Second Life. It doesn't matter whether you love or hate Pink Floyd or the message here. What matters to me is that Second Life is a platform where this form of expression can take place. And it will only get better. I am so glad that I can be a part. Incredible that some still do not see...
Thanks to all who contributed. And thanks for the machinimatography, editing, and sharing, Gary Hazlitt/Hayes. Wonderful work by all, I can't stop watching it...looking forward to the long version.
This video is a 2008 Atom Award finalist. It's about the journey of a property from book to stage to film to Second Life. And the value of each medium is clear.
This documentary devised and edited by Gary Hayes and co-produced with Physical TV.
Title of this 9 min. mini-documentary: SECOND LIFE -Best Multi-Modal Production Thursday's Fictions
From the YouTube More Info: "Thursday's Fictions is a fantastical parable about reincarnation by Australian writer Richard James Allen which has evolved over almost twenty years to become a cross media work for the stage, the page, the screen and most recently the new media creative platforms of Second Life (a 3D online immersive interactive story world) and machinima (cinema made inside a games engine)."
I've been a fan of Michael Wesch and his work since his first Web 2.0 video over a year and a half ago. He presented this at the Library of Congress, June 23rd 2008. I was shocked when I saw that it was 55 minutes long since most of his videos are under 5 minutes. But you know, some things are worth the time, and this is one of them.
If you work in education I think it's especially important to understand that there is a digital revolution taking place. The participatory culture that so many have embraced has changed and will continue to change how we live, work, learn, etc. Watch his video below to see if you agree.
I have been too busy to blog lately so I've been keeping a Google doc of links to some excellent news stories published recently on SL. I'm linking to this post today because every link I had saved to blog about is included in the post linked here and more.
Mr. Kingdon makes strong and verifiable comments on education in SL, which I'm happy to share and which confirms what many educators involved in SL believe. Below is the section from the post linked above on education. The entire post is interesting and a worthwhile read. It includes links to some other recent noteable articles on SL including info on the big topic of interoperability from the IBM/Linden Lab partnership. There are plenty of hard facts in this post. Yes, he shares his enthusiasm and some will say bias as well. But who wouldn't.
Using the virtual meeting environment for education is an even more exciting killer app. Dozens of universities are buying land from us or working with other inworld providers every week and the pace is accelerating. Seventeen of the top twenty universities in the US have land in Second Life.
To keep track with what’s happening in education in Second Life, check out the SLED Blog. A list of recent news stories are below
* The Christian Science Monitor discusses how students from all over the world are able to study abroad through Second Life. * Government Executive.com writes how government agencies like the center for Disease Control and Prevention are increasing their presence in Second Life to increase public awareness. * CNET reports that the San Francisco Exploratorium will be streaming live footage of a Solar Eclipse in Second Life expected on August 1st. * The Industry Standard reports that Cigna will try to make health education more accessible by creating its own island in Second Life. * ComputerWeekly.com discusses how the British Computer Society has launched an e-learning specialist group in Second Life. * The Dallas Morning News presents an article on using Second Life for higher education.
What makes Second Life so amazing for these things is the interaction between students and between universities. Voice is the key enabler. With a headset, residents can talk with other residents just as they would in the real world. With the 3D spatial voice in Second Life, residents can walk from one conversation to another as if they were actually hanging out before or after class. Serendipitous conversations just aren’t possible with other forms of online learning, teleconferences or videoconferences.
And since I'm highlighting the education/educators section of this post, I'll go ahead and include a snapshot of one thing that's been keeping me so busy these days. As explained in the post here, many universities are offering classes to students in SL. This summer I enrolled in a 3 credit hour intensified course from the Boise State University Education Technology program. My course is titled "Teaching and Learning in Second Life." And that's what I've been doing the past few weeks. That along with working full-time and assisting a prof from my own university with a course offered to doctoral students in our university's Education Program. More on that next week after my BSU course if completed.
The snapshot above (click to enlarge) I've included here is from my class fieldtrip today to Monash University in SL. We toured the facility and spoke with the owner/builder responsible for the work they are doing there to teach students the Chinese language and culture. It was one of the best examples I've seen yet of effective use of a virtual environment in teaching and learning.
I attended this roundtable event in SL yesterday. It was held in ISTE's brand-new four-sim auditorium (click photo). One official count was 143 attendees (amazing, and the sound was excellent). There was very little notice that this event would be taking place, my understanding was that it was put together in about 24 hrs (try that in real life (RL)!).
Panelists included: Suriawang Dapto (RL: David Warlick) from http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/ Kathy Dryburgh (RL: Kathy Schrock) from http://nausetschools.org/lighthouselearning/ Maggie Marat (RL: Peggy Sheehy) from http://ramapoislands.edublogs.org Bernajean Pinazzo (RL: Bernajean Porter) from http://www.digitales.us Eric Reuters (RL: Eric Krangel) from the Reuters bureau in Second Life Westley Streeter (RL: Westley Field) from http://www.skoolaborate.com/
Sarah posed the following questions, which panelists answered and discussed with the audience:
* What is the biggest change in education you would attribute to technology? * What is the biggest change in your own work that has been influenced by technology? * How has technology changed the way you define "learning and teaching"? * How has Second Life changed the way you teach and/or learn? * What one tech innovation would you wish for? How would it change education?
This event was interesting, informative, and well run. And it was also encouraging for someone like myself and others like me. Folks who see the potential of virtual worlds. People who are excited/stimulated/encouraged by what is taking place in Second Life, especially related to education and educators. People who see Second Life not only as another teaching tool, but something more. Something that allows us to connect in ways we have never been able to connect before - globally, quickly (as occurred here) - a way not only to enrich our experiences with immersive learning opportunities, but a way to collaborate with others on a deeper more immersive level.
It can be difficult to explain. Social networks are nice, and learning management systems can be useful, but SL goes beyond, far beyond. It allows us to socialize and work/create together - to produce things which in turn others can benefit from and build upon.
Second Life is not perfect. There are issues related to stability, ease of use, and the ability to run SL on light weight machines (cell phones/handheld devices, inexpensive computers, etc.). These issues are being addressed. I have learned to be more patient, and I have learned that SL is worth it. I left this presentation feeling hopeful and excited about the future of virtual worlds. They truly can have a positive impact on our world (and for me, they already have).
Steve Dembo is a genius. I won't go into detail about what he did, I'll simply link to his blog post titled, "Cell phone + Web cam + Second Life = Magic" and you can read his explanation and judge for yourself. More of a proof of concept at this point, but it's apparent it can be done and should only get easier.
If you're an educator who has spent much time in Second Life (SL) you'll quickly see the value. As the distance services librarian at my university, I can tell you that the ability to do what Steve accomplished is critical for those of us using SL to work with distance ed students.
IMO, Linden Labs (the company behind Second Life), should pay him for what he came up with, or maybe hire him.
This is another example of the incredible innovation taking place in SL and virtual worlds in general, much of it being lead by educators. It will only get better.
I know a lot of educators who are skeptical about Second Life (SL) and virtual worlds (VW) in general. And rightly so. I was one such educator, and I know how the skeptics think. And I still tend to watch with a critical eye as virtual worlds are sprouting from everywhere now, and educational uses of these worlds continue to develop.
VWs like SL are still in the early stages of development, and the technologies being used are newer, so there are tech problems and challenges, which can be frustrating.
Having said that, I have spent enough time, and participated in enough discussions and classes in SL to say that I am convinced virtual worlds are here to stay. And educators as a group are contributing in some of the most innovative ways.
Lastly, I will say this - if you're an educator wondering about SL, I would recommend you take a look at the link I've included above. I would listen to that just released podcast and/or take a look at the transcript (you can get the links to sites that way).
But I wouldn't stop there. I highly recommend you create a Second Life account and then spend some time there, (20-30 hrs. minimum attending educ. events, classes, tutorials, networking, etc.), and then judge for yourself. That part is key. One can not fully understand how teaching and learning in SL is very different from other online forms of teaching/learning without experiencing it yourself. I am more convinced than ever that it is just not possible any other way.
Good news for scientists and all who benefit from science, which of course would be everyone. Google will be providing a very large home for open-source scientific datasets. And free access for everyone! Take a look at this Wired Science post. And the quote I copied below excites me because I believe it's saying that Google will be creating Gapminder like visualizations of the data. I'm a fan of Gapminder because information is displayed visually in a way that is easily understood. If it's anything like the current Gapminder website, it will be quite valuable. And the fact that it will have YouTube like annotating/commenting features is icing on the cake. Another great educational resource for schools and universities everywhere. "Building on the company's acquisition of the data visualization technology, Trendalyzer, from the oft-lauded, TED presenting Gapminder team, Google will also be offering algorithms for the examination and probing of the information. The new site will have YouTube-style annotating and commenting features."
I was getting ready to send out a YouTube video plea to Mr. Negroponte and the OLPC to please bring the XO laptop G1G1 program back to the U.S. when I found this Washington Post story. "OLPC America plans to combat digital divide by distributing low-cost laptops to needy students in the U.S." Here is another link on this story from the BBC. This is great news. I wish them well. There is definitely a need to close the gap in the digital divide in this country as well. I am hopeful that the original intent of the OLPC, to bring education to children in developing nations, will also continue to move forward. And once again, I have to ask, are there implications here for higher education? Things that come to my mind: 1) Young students with access to these machines will grow up learning in very collaborative ways and this will have an impact on the types of learners they become. 2) They will have a foundational understanding of technology far beyond todays traditional college students and they will be open source program developers as well as users of these programs. 3) Their expectations regarding learning environments will be much different. I'm sure there is more. I'm still thinking about this. How about you?
This is my first attempt at creating a video. I was inspired by my little green and white machine. My XO and the One Laptop Per Child Education Project really is wonderful and well worth learning some new technologies to promote! Please take a moment to view my one minute video on the XO laptop. Let me know what you think about the XO or if you have any questions about it at all. I will be posting a video review of my XO later this week.
My new XO laptop in Powell's Books, Portland, Oregon, USA on Dec. 20, 2007. It is amazing. Beyond what I had hoped for. It works wonderfully. It cost under $200 to build and includes cutting edge technology (Mesh!) which doesn't exist in our most expensive laptops. It runs on Linux, a free and open-source operating system. And it's revolutionary interface, Sugar, promotes collaborative learning. I paid $399. for this machine as part of the OLPC Give One Get One program, in which I receive one machine and a second machine is donated to a child in a developing country. That feels pretty good as well. I can't imagine an educator who would not be excited about this. If you want to know more, here is a link to my YouTube playlist of videos on the XO Laptop and OLPC. It's not too late to order one, the deadline has been extended through Dec. 31, 2007.
Living and working in beautiful Portland, Oregon, USA--Senior Librarian / Assistant Professor--Online adjunct for GFU College of Education and the University of Oregon AIM Program--Learn more: My Online Profile
