One Social Web

OneSocialWeb is a ‘free open decentralized social networking platform’ in development and will, undoubtedly, try and capitalise on the widespread dissatisfaction with Facebook’s privacy policies. [vodpod id=Video.3604307&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26] more about “YouTube – Why OneSocialWeb?“, posted with vodpod

Whatever Happened to the Book is Happening Now!

At great risk of appearing unneccesarily sycophantic, I need to say that Mark Pesce‘s post, Whatever Happened to the Book,  is clever, unusually clever, even for Mark. Everything that currently intellectually interests (read obsesses me) about literature and our hyperconnected age is explored. Please read it closely and tell your friends, especially if they are teachers still learning. […]

Anthill: A Novel

“The cycles of other species can be destroyed, and the biosphere corrupted. But for each careless step we take, our species will ultimately pay an unwelcome price – always” I have just finished Anthill, set mostly in Alabama and occasionally underground, by two times Pultizer Prize winner and first time novelist, aged 81, E.O. Wilson. Pre-ordered ages ago, it arrived […]

Social Media Explained Visually

@achurches tweeted this great visual explanation of social media video today [vodpod id=Video.3353602&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26] more about “Social Media Explained Visually“, posted with vodpod  

The End of Publishing As We Know It?

 [vodpod id=Video.3250505&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26] more about “The Future of Publishing – created by…“, posted with vodpod    Hat tip to John Connell who posted this at his blog this week.

Multitasking

The PBS public affairs series Frontline recently aired, Distracted by Everything, the first episode in digital_nation – life on the virtual frontier about multitasking. Henry Jenkins has a word of warning about the program though, he suggests the documentary ‘panders to the biases’ of viewers. His analysis of how students multitask is important and comments about the dangers of […]

Connected Pt 2

This 3 minute talk by Renny Gleeson gets to the heart of the matter. ‘Shared narratives’ are powerful and being hyperconnected can allow this to happen across, and despite, physical spaces. However, there is a potential cost and I’m sure we are guilty as charged by Renny. I remember my years, in the mid-90s, travelling […]

The Myth of a Golden Age?

We are in a Golden Age, by any measure, us, who reside in NSW in the first decade of the 21st century. Agree? However, it seems that I hear nothing but negativity from a diverse range of people – the media, educationalists, parents, my Mum and Dad – anyone would think that comparative to past […]

Will videogames become better than life?

The title of David Perry’s TED talk on videogames instantly reminded me of that Red Dwarf episode and novel, ‘Better Than Life’. Enjoy this amusing and sometimes challenging presentation. [vodpod id=Groupvideo.1638837&w=425&h=350&fv=bgColor%3DFFFFFF%26file%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fstatic.videoegg.com%2Fted%2Fmovies%2FDavidPerry_2006-embed-Autodesk_high.flv%26autoPlay%3Dfalse%26fullscreenURL%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fstatic.videoegg.com%2Fted%2Fflash%2Ffullscreen.html%26forcePlay%3Dfalse%26logo%3D%26allowFullscreen%3Dtrue] more about “Will videogames become better than life?“, posted with vodpod    

How the law is strangling creativity

Laurence Lessig’s new book, Remix, explores the themes discussed mentioned in this TED video. Some of the remixed clips are pretty funny, especially ‘Jesus – The Musical’. [vodpod id=Groupvideo.1449335&w=425&h=350&fv=bgColor%3DFFFFFF%26file%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fstatic.videoegg.com%2Fted%2Fmovies%2FLARRYLESSIG-2007_high.flv%26autoPlay%3Dfalse%26fullscreenURL%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fstatic.videoegg.com%2Fted%2Fflash%2Ffullscreen.html%26forcePlay%3Dfalse%26logo%3D%26allowFullscreen%3Dtrue] more about “How the law is strangling creativity “, posted with vodpod    

Picture this!

I love stats – even those that disturb. Watch this video to see how one can visualize some very challenging and important statistics about modern American life. I would like to show this to every student I teach and perhaps present them with, or even better allow them to research, some Australian stats and visually […]

Generation Z and Dad's Toys

My new iPhone really is a joy but I will not wax lyrical too much other than to talk about Lucy (4) and Sarah’s (2) perception of Dad’s new toy – and their lack of bias towards one medium or another. On Saturday morning both girls woke up early and all 4 of us ended […]

Assessment Using Games by James Gee

James Gee has written a many books on situated learning and what video games have to offer Education. This video explores how games are perfect considering the nature of assessment. Thanks to Kelli for the link. [vodpod id=Groupvideo.1526648&w=425&h=350&fv=flvPath%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.edutopia.org%2Fmedia%2Fjames_gee%2Fjames_gee.flv%26pPath%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.edutopia.org%2Fmedia%2Fjames_gee%2Fjames_gee.jpg] more about “Assessment Using Games by James Gee“, posted with vodpod  

Spooks Code 9

Spooks Code 9 is a new BBC drama set in 2013 after a nuclear bomb explodes at the London Olympics. The program has some interesting digital marketing ideas. You can: watch the first 10 minutes of each episode online before it screens be updated at Liberty News, a fictional online news site that invites viewers to enter this post-nuclear world where […]

Digital Natives Series: Open Source Reality

‘Today’s constantly evolving interactive technologies are having a profound impact on our culture, and the analog generation needs to look to its children to learn how to cope.’ The Library of Congress series on Digital Natives concludes with Douglas Rushkoff‘s presentation. I particularly like how he worries about the concept of ‘digital revolution’ preferring a ‘renaissance’. […]

An anthropological introduction to YouTube

Michael Wesch’s presentation (at the Library of Congress as part of a series on ‘Digital Natives’) should be viewed by teachers trying to understand the YouTube phenomenon. The musings on ‘why’ are particularly interesting. As a footnote, I follow the presenter on Twitter and was alerted to his upload minutes after he loaded it.   […]

Trends

Older internet users are catching up with Generation Y in the US it appears. Wonder what the Australian trends are in this area? Also, the latest data on German online habits reveals that 26 million German Internet users viewed more than 3 billion videos online in May 2008. That really is a staggering number of […]

Zeitgeist

Tuning in to the zeitgeist is a full-time job and one that educators are uniquely situated to both understand and interpret. How many other professions have such an opportunity to analyse the march of generations and the cultural climate of the times while reflecting on the nature of knowledge and learning? How can an educator […]

Growing-up online documentary

This PBS FRONTLINE documentary screened earlier in the year may be of interest. I found it pretty sensational but the chapter on high schools coping with the ‘revolution in classrooms’ and how many teachers were struggling to cater to this generation is worth watching. The anti-plagiarism site Turnitin must be doing a raging business in the USA. I loved […]