Google Earth | Santa Tracker 2006

Google Earth | Santa Tracker 2006

Track Santa in the 21st Century :)

Technology key to stopping piracy - CNN.com

Technology key to stopping piracy - CNN.com

When are they going to learn? Technology won't stop anything. It is just going to drive more of a black economy. This is a war (not of the cold variety) that pits software/media companies against their potential customers. Dare I compare the US approach in Iraq to this mess. Throwing a bunch of soldiers at a problem only results in pushback.

Making it better for people to go the legal route than the illegal route is the only way to combat this problem for companies. I actually think that Microsoft is doing this, which isn't mentioned in the article. They offer easier rollouts of updates and access to bonus applications (i.e., PhotoStory 3) for authentic versions of their software. This value-added approach is how you bring customers into the fold. Not by going to war with them.

I have one of those Genuine Advantage stories that show how honest customers are hurt by these technological fixes. Just the other day I started up an old laptop that I hadn't used in a few months. Upon starting the computer I received a message that I could be the victim of software fraud. Oh, my! I'm a victim. The only thing that I am a victim of is an inept technological DRM fix.

That computer has an educational version of XP that was bought at my university bookstore as part of a legitimate Microsoft deal with the school. Not to mention the fact that the computer itself has another XP license that came with the system (no system disk, so it was easier to load the educational copy). Now, I get a message at startup, that I have to click through, saying that I don't have a Genuine copy. While it's not big deal because I'm giving it to my brother-in-law who needs to load it with a Korean OS, it frustrates me to no end that my legal copy is now flagged as being not Genuine and, is thus, of no use to me any longer.

These technological methods are anti-consumer. While they make it more difficult for pirates to do business, they also make it more difficult for honest consumers to do business as well. Anyone who thinks that there is a technological fix for the piracy problem is an idiot. Sorry, can't pull my punches on this one.

Dan

YouTube - real choctaw stickball

YouTube - real choctaw stickball

This is really an amazing video. I simply didn't know that it was played any more. This is the sport that lacrosse grew out of.

If you don't have time to watch this, just think about lacrosse mixed with a gang fight with everyone armed with sticks :)

Taming Baby Rage: Why Are Some Kids So Angry?: Scientific American

Taming Baby Rage: Why Are Some Kids So Angry?: Scientific American

At least this makes more sense than, "the darn video games made my boy kill" protests. Saying that video games or other media cause people to commit violence is simply not supportable. All of the studies that I've seen merely correlate violent media with acts of violence (and they don't even do this well). All that says is that people who are violent like violent media. Anyone with an ounce of research savvy can tell you that this means very little. Correlation and causation are very different, with the latter being very difficult to substantiate.

So, before you start bad mouthing the media, it might be a good idea to think about parenting, genetics, or other explanations that also correlate with violent behavior.

Be careful of the band wagon.

Dan

OUseful Info: How to Build Your Own Facebook App

OUseful Info: How to Build Your Own Facebook App

I can't believe that Facebook doesn't make it easier to embed widgets on your profile, but with a little elbow grease, you can make your own Facebook apps.

There are some great suggestions in this posting, with the most intriguing on being Popfly's tie in.

Dan

Why I bought the Radiohead album

R A D I O H E A D

Before today, I hadn't bought an album (DVD, CD, tape, record, 8-track, etc.) for the last 5 years and now that I think about it, it might have been more like 9 years ago--when I bought Radiohead's OK COMPUTER. Don't go jumping to conclusions based on this confession. I haven't been illegally downloading music either.

I had a large 200+ CD collection prior to the MP3 revolution. I ripped those years ago and now they are packed away in my parents attic. Maybe I'll put them out at family occasions in 20 years for laughs. However, that CD collection gave me a sizable MP3 collection, though it wasn't growing with the times.

Around the year 2000, I stopped buying CDs altogether. At that time, I discovered the growing number of online radio stations. It was at that point, when I gave up on "owning" music. I could legally and guiltlessly listen to just about any music that I wanted to: new, old, those that I know well and those that I'm discovering for the first time.

At that time, I had no MP3 player and everywhere that I was on a computer, I had an Internet connection. With that in mind, why buy? Times have changed though. I got my own MP3 player a little more than a year ago and I'm hooked. I primarily listen to podcasts, but I also like to flip through my music collection (most of which fits on the player) occasionally. Internet radio no longer serves my purposes.

However, I still refused to buy MP3's online. The DRM (digital rights management) got in the way of my moving files around to multiple computers and even multiple MP3 players (I use one just for the family stereo--mostly children's songs these days). When I first got onto iTunes, I was excited to buy music. I tested the waters with one of their free downloads and it took me a while to figure out how to get the damned thing on my player. DRM got in the way. I decided not to buy anything from iTunes, though I had (and still have) a $15 gift card collecting dust on my desk.

With iTunes now selling un-DRM'ed tracks, I might venture back. The problem is that I still see iTunes as part of the problem. Their proprietary files and services are walling me in and restricting my ability to interact with the content. This is not just true of music, but video and podcasts as well. Not to mention that the iTunes store is really a hulking mess of software that eats my memory and takes forever to complete tasks in (and I won't even mention the awful library functions---oops, I just did).

This is where I finally get to the new Radiohead album In Rainbows (linked to in the title). There has been plenty about this in the media (at least tech-media), but you might not have seen too much about it. They are a popular group with a very large fan-base and they decided to forgo the music companies and even the might iTunes store and sell their album on their site WITHOUT DRM. This isn't so surprising, but what is is that they let the buyer choose their price. Buyer could choose to pay nothing for the album (45p processing fee though). I really hope that this is the direction that media will be going in. I'd even be in favor of sliding scales depending on sales volume (low demand, low price; high demand high price).

So, did I buy the album because I wanted another folder on my computer full of music? NO. I bought the album because I want to support the movement. Actually, I probably paid too much, though a lot less than an (legal) album in Korea.

Now, I want to address the recent "controversy" over the possible reasons for releasing and the quality of the album. MTV news (http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1571737/20071011/radiohead.jhtml) reports that people are upset because of the 160 kbps bit rate. Give me a break! iTunes is at 128kbps and sells songs for much more than you can potentially buy them here. Even with their new DRM-free songs at 256kbps, what's really the difference? I haven't owned speakers bigger than those next to my computer for years. Might I hear the difference otherwise, possibly, but all of my listening in either on my computer, MP3 player, or in a car.....NO DIFFERENCE!

The article also bring up possible statements by their management saying that this was a way of helping them sell CD's....GREAT! Good for them. I love the effort. I hope they sell lots. However, they never would have sold one to me had it not been for this move.

Overall it's good for the fans and good for the industry as a whole (maybe not the big guys--change or die fellas)

By-the-way, I just finished listening to the album near the end of this post. It's really good as a whole. If I were to buy it song by song, I probably would have only taken 3 or 4 of them. With that in mind, maybe 2-3 pounds would be a good price to pay.

Dan

YouTube survey

SurveyShare YouTube Survey

Hi all. This is a survey that Curt Bonk is conducting on the use of YouTube in education/training. It's a quick (10 min) survey that includes watching 1 short education/tech-related video. Go help him and fill it out.

You can help me too. If you refer someone, you get some free time in the pro account for SurveyShare, so drop my email address in there (danielcraig@hotmail.com).

Dan

Teleport? No. Telecopy? Yes.

Beam me up: Just how close are we to teleportation? - CNN.com

Come on! This is just too cool.

I've heard rumblings of this experiments for a while, but this is the first article that I've seen with a good explanation for what's going on.

I have humble dreams of being teleported from Seoul to Chicago for birthday parties and anniversaries. This would give a new meaning to weekend getaways!

Unfortunately, this is not necessarily teleportation; it's more like telecopying. None-the-less, it's still very cool. At a minimum, just think of telecopying basic compounds from earth to bases on other planets or even from areas with to those without. Water in the Sahara anyone?

Read the article.

Dan

The New Rules Of Technology VC

The New Rules Of Technology VC

This isn't what I normally post on, but I find myself more and more interested in what it takes to launch a startup these days. The barriers to development and overhead seem to be crashing down. What is to stop someone with a good idea and a couple thousand bucks from running with an idea? Even if you can't code, outsource it. Heck, even college students are making a couple extra bucks coding. Just snag a couple outside some computer science class and make an offer they can't refuse.

According to this post, that's essentially what VC firms are finding out too. The competition has increased because lower investment requirements have enabled smaller funds to change the rules.

I bet there are thousands of folks out there who could get some site or service off the ground with just $20-30K. Seems like it could pay off better that the multi-million dollar crap tosses of old.

Dan

Guess-the-Google

guess-the-google

VERY fun game that takes results from Google images and makes you guess the word. The time limit to too short for English learners.

I only got a little over 200 my first time out. It's a tough game. Give it a try.

Learn to Speak Korean videos

Learn to Speak Korean

Here are a collection of videos from a series called "Learn to Speak Korean". This site has what seems to be season 1. After working through these, I might have to look into seasons 2 & 3 as well.

I really like video language lessons. I just find them so much more memorable and easy to follow. I just wish that I could get these on my iPod (easily). They would be nice to watch on the road.

Here is an example. I have to warn you that you need the Divx plug in to see this. Lesson 1 is good for basic greetings.



Dan

The REAL Superman suit

Photos: Tech visions of future from NextFest | CNET News.com

I thought that this was SOOO cool. There's a lot of neat tech at NextFest, but this is one that caught my eye. This suit by D30 Labs is made of a material that hardens on impact. Their market is now with motorcycle garb, but with a nod to police and the military.

Just think, though, in the near future children wearing coats made from this material. It would make playing king of the hill much more interesting.

Dan

Vintage Sesame Street - Rubber Duckie (Ernie)

YouTube - Vintage Sesame Street - Rubber Duckie (Ernie)

An absolute classic. Who could ever forget Ernie singing the Rubber Ducky song?



Dan

American Experience | Chicago: City of the Century

American Experience | Chicago: City of the Century

I feel a little bad about adding non-tech, non-education materials here. I've been using this site as more of a repository for everything that I don't add to the IUCALL blog.

However, this could certainly be a good resource to use in the classroom, including the teacher resources that come with the site. I always like to point to materials about my hometown. As a teacher in a foreign land, I find that it helps learners to identify we me as more than just an American. As most of us, I can not just my nationality; I also have regional, religious, professional, and even familial aspects of my identity.

Dan

Fan death - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fan death - Wikipedia

I rallied against the belief in fan death for a long time, but, for the most part, I have stopped pushing the issue. However, I am constantly surprised that even doctors and medical researchers hold this belief.

Still, I try to listen to all reasonable explanations, of which the hypothermia hypothesis seems the most reasonable.

Here's quick video about fan death



Dan

How to be the Perfect Girlfriend

YouTube - How to be the Perfect Girlfriend

This is a pretty funny video.



Dan

The Art of selling by Alec Baldwin - Video

5min - The Art of selling by Alec Baldwin - Video

Ok. This has nothing to do with technology or language learning, but I just came across this video clip and I had to post it. It's one of my favorite scenes from Glengarry Glen Ross. While some people in sales may not like what he has to say, it hits the nail on the head.

Take a look



Dan

Lemon Tree video

This was one of my favorite songs once upon a time. I'd never seen the video though.



Dan

Great phishing mail I just had to share

I recently received the old "The IRS wants to give you money" scam in my inbox. Usually, I just delete these things without thinking, but I took a closer look at this one.

I've posted the email below, but I want to point out some things first.

1. Note the first URL. This actually points to an image on the IRS site. This can help to assure even some savvy users that this might be legit. The first thing that I look for is a valid URL (not the link text, but the underlying URL). This one is legit. However, it is just a picture.
2. Now just look at the text. It doesn't seem all that strange, but it should make you think a little. Doesn't it sound too conversational for the IRS? IRS and government communications are usually rather dry sounding. Not to mention, they don't sign letters, "Internal Revenue Service".
3. Last, but surely not least, is the link to apply for your refund. I may be wrong, but given the current climate in Washington D.C., I don't think that they are going to name their server "tehran". Even if they did, how likely is it that the IRS's server is in Iran? The best thing is that these guys didn't even try to cover it up with misleading link text.
   

I'd suggest that you NOT follow this link. You never know what nasty stuff they have on the site. I just thought that it was a classic phishing email and that you had to see it.

---------------------------------------------------------

http://www.irs.gov/irs/cda/common/images/irslogo.gif
After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of $109.30. Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 6-9 days in order to process it.

A refund can be delayed for a variety of reasons. For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline.

To access the form for your tax refund, please click here http://www.tehran.agri-jahad.ir:84/irs.htm

Regards,
Internal Revenue Service

© Copyright 2007, Internal Revenue Service U.S.A..
ZCQMILQUUYYRJWNFBOLVPPVZNBWECCCWXNZUCR


----------------------------------------------------------

A N I M O T O: the end of slideshows

A N I M O T O: the end of slideshows

This is a pretty cool application. It turns your photos into an exciting video, complete with a large selection of music (pretty good music). 30-second clips are free, but longer ones will cost. The free clips will allow 15 pictures or more with warnings that extras may be cut off.

Here is my sample



Dan

JibJab - Starring You!

JibJab - Starring You!

JibJab is best know for their politically charged animated shorts, but this is your chance to personalize their videos.

Here is my quick attempt (I could make my head better).



Dan

PubCon Street Tips: Giving a Kick Ass Presentation

PubCon Publishers Search and Marketing Conferences 2007

This is a great article of giving good presentation. A lot of common suggestions and a few unique gems. The overall article is for presenters at technology conferences, but most of the advice is good for general presentations, including academic presentations.

Dan

Access blocked web sites at your Office, School or University

Tech Thoughts: Access blocked web sites at your Office, School or University

These are some more good suggestions for getting around those pesky school firewalls. I don't advocate breaking the law, but breaking some rule set by ignorant, authoritarian administrators (of both the tech and school sort) is fine by me. There are great materials out there on YouTube, Blogger blogs, and various evils that are often blocked. I've even heard of one school blocking del.icio.us! That's just nuts. You students are using these services to get to MySpace, why can't you? Just be careful and don't loose your job :) Dan

YouTube - 'Harold Buttleman, Daredevil Stuntman' FULL FEATURE FILM

YouTube - 'Harold Buttleman, Daredevil Stuntman' FULL FEATURE FILM

This was a fun movie and a good example of how YouTube is providing an alternative distrubution stream and revenue stream for films that would otherwise have been lost in time. Now, after watching, you might think that this one should have been left lost, but I'd disagree. It is a quiry yet intreging movie that kept me interested throughout. I really liked the ending too.

Take a look for yourself.



Dan

So Much Paperwork, So Little Time to Teach - New York Times

So Much Paperwork, So Little Time to Teach - New York Times

Time on task, time on task, time on task.... It's the only thing that seems to make a difference. Unfortunately, policies and those enacting policies seem to do nothing but take time away from instruction.

Dan

Venturing into North Korea - CNN.com

OK, not about technology, but I was excited to see an article on CNN.com about the Mount Kumgang tour in North Korea.

I went on this tour with my wife and son last fall and it was amazing. The accommodations and food were pretty bad (mediocre at best), but the mountains and scenery more than make up for it. It is a beautiful area.

Take a look at it on Wikimapia.

Yahoo! Pipes

How has it taken me this long to use this. I've heard about it numerous times in recent months, but I didn't think much of the descriptions.

This might make your eyes roll back when you see the interface, but the possibilities are incredible and it is well worth learning if you are interested in being a couple years ahead of the game. I only tested if for filtering so far, but it could be done for so much more.

One thing that this does is to create an RSS feed (even from a group of other feeds) that is SUPER customized.

I've been thinking about using an approach like this to deliver individualize feedback and tools for learners in both the CALL class and my EFL courses. I see some real potential in this tool (which is still in Beta).

All I can say is Wow!

Dan

Student Books on Lulu

Great posting on a student publishing project. How cool is this? It is so modern, yet a little retro at the same time. How about some new books for your library. How about your students as the authors?

Dan

Mathematicians set Chinese test

Ok, maybe they aren't comparing like to like in this article, but come on!

The British example is simply woefully easy, not to mention really unrealistic. The Chinese example is a more authentic question for many reasons.

I've long held that requirements for mathematics and science in the U.S. are really pathetic. Obviously, many in Britain have the same concerns.

I'm not one of those peopel who contend that we should foresake the many beneficial programs in schools that are not associated with the 3 R's, but I do think that we need to evaluate what we consider acceptable in the pursuit of these subjects. When high school students are graduating with basic algebra and geometry classes, how can we expect to be competitive within our own country, much less with the rest of the world?

Dan

BB FlashBack

This is easily the best screen capture utility I have used for recording full motion video.  I have been looking for a good free product for a long time, but I have given up.  I'm assuming that the developmental and licensing requirements are too great not to charge.  So, I've given up and started looking for alternatives.

BB FlashBack is not a cheap software, with a price tag nearing $200, but the functionality and ease of use are amazing.  In the limited time that I have used the software, I have been able to record basic screen actions, record high-quality audio, and even record high quality video of a video.  I have been extremely happy with all of these, although the audio and video when recording video isn't perfectly synchronize.  I have found this to be true with many conversion softwares as well.

Some of the most useful functions that are of note here are: auto-resolution adjustment, export in mutliple formats, and cursor-guided cropping.  The auto-resolution adjustment feature is really cool.  It will automatically change your screen resolution to a particular setting.  Why is this important?  This is important because people often make the mistake of recording at a higher resolution and then have to shrink the video to go onto the Web.  When this happens the quality of the video decreases significantly and it makes text nearly impossible to read.

Exporting in multiple formats is important for anyone wanting to use video for multiple uses and delivered via various means.  BB Flashback enables you to export to .AVI, .WMV, Flash, .EXE, and PowerPoint.  While these are not extensive, they are useful export options.  I find it a little frustrating that they don't offer a Quicktime format such as .MOV.

The cursor-guided cropping is probably the coolest feature that I came across.  This enables you to crop the outputted file to a particular size, only seeing a set area around the cursor.  This is of great importance when making videos for the Web.  Not only can you reduce the filesize with this method, but you can also better format it for services like Google Video and YouTube, which resize your videos to a smaller resolution.  This makes for a much higher quality video and can also focus attention on important actions better than a video of an entire screen or even window.

The price is likely going to keep me away from the full version, but I can't say that I'm not tempted to shell out the dough.

Scribd - They didn't study

As a teacher, this just cracked me up.

They have posted what seem to be real examples of students' answers on exams. If anyone was witty enough to make these up, cheers, but I think that they are real and you have to check it out

Picasa2 - a new look at an old program

I first used Picasa a couple of years ago (at least I think that it was that long ago). Google had just released it and I was interested in something to help be manage my growing image collections. At the time I found it nice, but too bulky to use. I removed it and didn't give it a second thought until recently.

Until you have had your head in the sand over the last year+, you have likely noticed that Google is making bold moves in providing numerous services online. These include email, word processing, spreadsheets, and calendaring not to mention acquisitions of services such as Blogger. Googles is now moving to integrate these more into suites, which is how I noticed an updated Picasa2. Google added it to a list of services that I saw when checking out my calendar. I was interested and decided to take a look. I have been very happy with the results.

Picasa2 is not just a client side application anymore. They have moved online, providing a social networking service like Flickr (not nearly a match yet), yet with 1GB of storage. Compare this with the 200 images that you get on Flickr for the free account and you'll be quite happy with that 1000's of images that you can get up for free. The storage upgrades are quite cheap as well. I don't think that this is a Flickr killer, nor is it the best free storage option out there, but it's very good and, most importantly, is somewhat integrated with Google applications and will likely be more so in the near future.

The Client-side application works rather well itself. It's a lot less clunky than the older version. The options are convenient, including the "Hide" option with password protection, are nice additions to the program. It also makes publishing to the Picasa2 website very easy. I really love the "collage" function. It will make a number of different collages based on chosen images. Here's one example.



The drawbacks are similar ones to previous versions. My biggest complaint is the speed of scrolling in the application. It's too darn slow, given the fact that I have well over 15,000 images. That drives me crazy. I could navigate using the folders menu on the left, but that's just not how I'm used to interacting with a window.

All-in-all, this is a great application combined with a nice online storage space. I look forward to using this more in the future.

Dan

Whip Learns to Golf

Even if you are not a golfer, take a look at this. Thanks to Bee for pointing this out.

This uses one person's experience with learning to play golf as a vehicle for discussing learning theory. It is a really interesting way to do this.

Confessions and plans for redemption

I like to see myself as a reflective practitioner (as many teachers likely do), but as with most people I tend to block out some of my inadequacies by basic justifications of what I can and cannot do.  Of course, these justifications are just me rationalizing not doing what I should be finding a way to do.

I have been teaching a computer-assisted language learning (CALL) class for a couple years now and I am constantly trying to persuade teachers (mostly American K-12 teachers) that no matter what their circumstances they can incorporate some use of technology into their classrooms.  While I am not blindly advocating technology for all situations, I do recommend that they use it when it can make a difference in student learning.  This often falls into the categories of social learning (interaction on the global scale), access to native speakers of the target language (we are language teachers though this could apply to those fluent speakers in a content area), availability of authentic content (newspapers, video, audio, and such), and the motivation of publication.  I, however, have fallen terribly short in my own practice.

Students in the CALL class are all over this, likely touching on each category throughout what they would likely describe as a grueling semester of technological and pedagogical assignments and activities that force them into unknown realms on a weekly basis.  I'm not worried as much about that class as I am the message that I send by not having more of this represented in my own teaching of language students (EFL in Korea).  As I convince one set of students that technology can be used in any class, I woefully underutilize it in my own classes because it is problematic and easier not to do it.

In some ways I might be a little too hard on myself.  I do utilize technology to an extent including: listening activities, online video, interactive quizzes, plenty of text on issues from culture to current events, blogs to provide extra information to some classes on content and/or language resources available on the Web.  While this seems substantial, it is not really the type of interactions that I encourage others to pursue.  These are really one-way activities.  I'm providing information to my students.  There is not impetus for them to communicate with me, other students, or anyone for that matter.

So, what do I need to do?

This is not a crisis that has struck me just now.  I've been pondering it for a while now.  I have begun a couple projects that attempt to get at this sort of interaction.  My presentation class (the recipient of most of my technology initiatives) is in the process of putting together a "picture story" using Microsoft's Picture Story 3.  I'm working out the specifics as we go, but this is generally what is happening. 

1. They are choosing a topic as a class.  We have taken a couple of minutes discussing possibilities in a previous class and we'll have to decide on one this week. 
2. The students will then write a script for the topic.  Depending on which it is they might have to collaborate or they may be able to write their own parts.  Regardless, the pieces will have to flow, so everyone is going to have to cooperate in some way. 
3. Then they will find pictures (I've told them that we'll have to respect copyright, but they didn't really get that.  It will be a mini-lecture in the future).  These pictures should help tell the story that they want to tell and they need to be digital (I'm not scanning anything). 
4. Then they'll have the opportunity to choose some theme music that will be used in the introduction, interim times, and the ending credits. 
5. Then they will record their own parts using my digital recorder (I've got a condenser microphone for better results, though not perfect).  The idea is for these to be as perfect as possible.  We'll work on their pronunciation, rhythm, and delivery style in a way that is difficult when they are all preparing completely different presentations.
6. Lastly, I will put this together using Photo Story 3.  I floated the idea of one of them doing them and got NO interest.  This is not a credit course.  I will have enough problems with everyone doing all of the above parts.

This is a term project (we have 7-week terms).  We have about 4 more weeks to complete it on top of other independent presentation projects that they have.  I'm hoping that by dividing up the work and spreading it out over a long period of time that it will be doable and enjoyable.

The point of this activity is multifold.  The first is for them to have an opportunity to have a polished product that they can point to and say, "look at this.  I did this."  It is difficult and often impossible for students to have presentations like this when working alone on a presentation.  Not to mention the difficulty in presenting in front of a group of people.  This project enables them to take a short text and perform it as well as they can away from a crowd and with as many retakes as they would like.  Notice there are also no pictures nor video of them.  This is an anonymous project that they can either choose to claim as their own or reject it completely with not hint that it is their work.  This is important for students of whom many are already accomplished professionals in their fields in a culture where people neither do nor speak until they are perfect at the performance of such tasks.

By now you may be saying, "Dan, it seems like this is pretty good."  You'd be right for one class.  This is only one class.  I have a number of others.  Shouldn't they be benefiting from the affordances of technology in their pursuit of language learning?  Of course they should and I do so little to promote this.  That is why I have decided on more projects that I might have to take control of in the beginning, but they should be self-sustaining after a while.

Most of my classes are "conversation" classes where this is a focus on oral interaction.  Anything beyond conversation would be met with scorn.  Korean students at this level have at least 10 or so years of English instruction under their belts.  This has been entirely (at least in the public schools from middle school on) grammar-based and focused on performance on English tests (grammar-focused, multiple-choice  or fill-in-the-blank, questions).  This has left little time for actually using the language in meaningful ways and this is where the language learning business comes in.  Teachers from English speaking countries are brought in to help student practice the language from birth to death (a representation of ages that attend language schools here in Korea).

This is where I come in.  I am part of that business that happens to have a big university name in their title to lend it more credence (as well as some degree titles :)

So, again, what can I do with these folks?  They have little interest in writing (online or in class).  They have little interest in reading.  They are only interested in listening and speaking to me.  However, there has be to more to language classes than this.  The one thing that I can get them to do (not reliably, but some of the time) is to do small tasks on their own time.  We can then use the products of these tasks in our conversations.  Their products can become the fodder for our discussions.  Those who do more work are better prepared and will, thus, be more visable in the discussions.  I'm hoping that the Korean academic competitiveness will come out in this situation.  Koreans, particularly those at my university, are extremely competitive in academics.  This has been burned into them from birth.  They have competed to attend the best middle schools, high schools, universities, and professions.  Medical doctors at this university represent those who won those competitions.

I picture most of these tasks being played out on a Wiki.  Not one for each class, but one for the entire program.  Each class can feed off of the work of the others.  Lower-proficiency learners' work can be edited by higher-proficiency learners.  Old students can continue to be part of the community through this wiki.  This both encourages them to continue their language studies, and also ties them to our program (I may be a teacher, but I have a mind for business as well).  All projects can be played out here to some extent.  This then forms a collective memory that can be mined and fed off of by current students (as well as anyone else looking in--another marketing opportunity).  Lessons and tutorials can be added or linked to the site providing assistance for both current students and others who find the site.

I will be starting this today with paper-based assignments that will be begun in class and then moved into the online spaces slowly.  I'll probably just touch the surface with this semester's classes, but the experiences that I gain from this group will benefit the next group.

Wish me luck and I appreciate feedback if you actually made it down this far.

Dan

4 Corners Broadband: You Only Live Twice

This is an impressive documentary by the Australian Broadcasting Company on Second Life. It is easily the broadest, yet most in-depth look at Second Life that I've ever seen. It is a must see for anyone interested in this phenomenon.

They hit on so many different aspects of the service and the culture growing up around it, I'm just amazed.

* NOTICE - There are some adult themes in the documentary when they discuss adult content in the 3-D world.

Why Peer-Reviewed Publishing?

Recently I was asked why academics (or at least tenure committees) respect peer-reviewed publications over other high-quality articles published in non-peer reviewed spaces (journals, newsletters, blogs, wikis, etc.). I have been thinking about this quite a bit over the last couple years, considering that I have a career ahead of me (hopefully) involving tenure review. However, I neither believe that traditional "high-quality" journals should have the power that they do over evaluation of academic prowess nor do I believe that they are the best place way to disseminate information. So, which direction do I go?

As journal subscribers, we count on editors to censor to an extent. We want articles that are on topic (as per the focus of the journal) as well as articles that meet generally agreed upon standards as far as method and presentation. These are generally accepted based upon the readership (they vote with their subscriptions). Publication/submission requirements change over time as the readership changes. This filtering for content and format results in publications that are easier to read in that readers know what to expect in both content and form. I like this. It allows me to quickly process many articles in a short amount of time

However, I don't agree that we should judge the value of an article by the journal in which it is published. While, I see this as a natural tendency for humans to identify with the familiar, I think that we need to be broken from this habit (or safe zone). For example, if I see that an article was published in TESOL Quarterly, I know that, in my experience, articles in this journal are generally of high quality. So, I'll assume that this one will meet my standards for quality. Whether it does or not will have to wait until I actually read it. This is where the real problem occurs. Most people will assume that the article is of high quality because it appears in the journal. Most often, they simply don't know how to judge high vs low quality (a somewhat subjective judgment) therefore they leave the decision up to the editors/reviewers. I would include many faculty in this criticism. They point to articles in specific journals when trying to strengthen their arguments that aren't much more than editorials. They take these statements of opinion as fact and pass it on to their students without disclaimer (or training) for them to make up their own minds.

So, now we are stuck in a vicious circle. Academics are required to publish in these journals and they are judged by the "quality" of the journal in which they publish. Those who don't want to go in this direction are driven out of the field, thus only those who tow the line remain.

I'd love to see an academic version of Digg (http://digg.com) in place of refereed journals. Let those in the field (everyone in the field) determine the quality of a piece of writing and take in out of the hands of a few. This would get research out to the public faster and with less editorial interference than the current system.

Add to this the ability to create collaborative documents that can be edited beyond publication and you get a system of ranking and improving on publications that goes far beyond the current , slow, closed system.

What do you think?

1984 Apple Ad parody for Obamo against Clinton

I'm not making a political statement here. I don't have anyone in mind for my next vote. What I see here is a really creative mashup video that I had to share.

They took the 1984 Apple ad and mashed it up with a (or some) Hillary Clinton speech. The result is a powerful political commentary that could have very well been carried out by a couple kids down the street but has the quality of a Madison Avenue commercial.

Virtual worlds set for shake-up

I find this very easy to believe. I think that virtual worlds have come of age. There was a lot of this hype with MUDs and MOOs in the 90's, but lack of authentic interaction (don't lecture me on the authenic language aspect) killed these spaces.

Realistic spaces like Second Life and World of Warcraft realistic spaces (with a great deal of fantasy) that enable users to interact in very authentic ways including rudamentary body language that will likely get better over time. Also, what I see as a missing piece of the puzzle, voice, is being beta tested in Second Life right now. These systems are only bound to get better, especially with the backing of large media companies.

Asian Universities Switch to English - Newsweek: International Editions - MSNBC.com

Great article on a phenomenon that is going on here in Korea. This is something that has hit Seoul National University (SNU) particularly hard in recent years. SNU has traditionally been the top university in the country, but it is getting heavy competition from other top universities in the country, which could explain why they weren't mentioned once in this article.

SNU is also instituting English-only classes in many of its programs. The problems with this system are varied. As pointed out in the article, these courses are rather weak given that neither the students nor the professors (on average) have a solid grasp of English. Another significant issue is that many of these courses have a policy that if ANY foreigner (non-Korean) is enrolled, the lectures will be in English. This is an attempt to attract more foreign students and, thus, improve their international status. The problem is that when you only offer classes in English on demand, professors never get a chance to practice conducting the class in English and the materials (those not already in English) need to be translated.

Lastly, it must be said that simply conducting classes in English isn't going to improve education at these universities. While these universities are populated with some of the best students in the country (based on exam scores), the style of teaching is largely a stand and deliver approach. I'm I saying that this isn't the dominant paradigm at Hardvard, no. I am saying that these schools aren't going to get ahead of the game by playing by the same rules.

English is not a measure of an effective school and until these universities realize this, students will continue to flock abroad.

Ira Glass on Storytelling

Ira Glass on Storytelling

International Symposium on Learning 2006 - Day 2 - Part 2

Day 2 - International Symposium on Learning 2006 part II

Friday, December 01, 2006

10:08 AM

 

International Symposium on Learning 2006 sponsored by KAST

 

http://learning.kast.or.kr/

 

Yoshihiko Nakamura

University of Tokyo

 

What do Humanoids Learn from Humans?

 

IRT Foundation for Man and Aged Society (project) to research a broad range of areas involving robotics

 

Humanoid - human-like (resemblance) robots.

 

Discussed the modeling of humanoids by looking at the human anatomy. In particular, the framework of bones, joints, ligaments, and muscles.

 

This is interesting, but where is the learning science connection? When do we talk about learning? If I wanted to build a humanoid, I would be loving this, but this isn't really about what humanoids learn from humans, it's about what robot designers learn from the human body.

 

 

 

 

International Symposium on Learning 2006 - Day 2 - Part 1

Day 2 - International Symposium on Learning 2006

Thursday, November 30, 2006

4:38 PM

 

International Symposium on Learning 2006 sponsored by KAST

 

http://learning.kast.or.kr/

 

Raja Chatila - Learning Robots: From spatial cognition to skill acquisition

LAAS-CNRS

Toulouse, France

Raja.Chatila@laas.fr

 

What is a cognitive robot?

o        Integration of perception, decision, and action

o        Learning concepts and interpreting the environment

o        Deliberation and decision-making

o        Learning new skills

o        Communication, interaction, and language

 

Robot companion - European Project COGNIRON

http://www.cogniron.org

 

Learning Requirements:

o        Objects

·         Multi-sensory, 3D, object modeling and recognition; from view-based to object based

o        Space

·         Maps, regions, concepts. Appearance, geometrical, topological labled models, landmarks

o        Situations

·         Spatial and temporal relationships

 

Spatial mapping requires a combination of object and topographical processing.

This involves incremental mapping that the robot learns over time.

 

Beyond spatial toward communication. Really talking about a sort of communicative competence. Takes signals from the environment and interprets them to devise appropriate responses.

 

Object modeling. First you need to recognize items in the environment. This requires constant processing of environmental data, including the use of 2D tracking and 3D representations.

 

A lot of training is required. This is similar to training voice recognition or even handwriting recognition. They started it with videos of people doing a series of actions. This is then interpreted by the robot via a 3D representation of the human.

 

Move to autonomous learning.

Learning concepts to learning skills

o        Open-ended

o        Common representations

o        Process guided by utility

o        Incremental learning

 

Interesting building of temporal knowledge. The robot stores information "maps" about an object from multiple perceptual angles. These maps are then combined to enable the robot to recognize the object at any angle.

 

Multiple object recognitions can be combined to recognize groups (scenes) of objects. This is similar to chunking in language learning. Learning to group items for easier production, or in this case recognition.

 

Provided a cognitive chart at the end, which would have been an hour discussion in its own right. I wish that he could have spent more time on it giving this audience.

 

Take away - Learning about ones environment is really a precursor to interacting with humans in any sort of naturalist way. To an extent, this is entirely possible at this point, but will require a lot of work. Also, autonomy is still a ways off, but it's as much of a question of time/information as it is about technology. The building of communal knowledge.

 

International Symposium on Learning

 

Day 1

Thursday, Nov 30, 2006, 11:14 AM

Hotel Grand International - Seoul, South Korea

Here are some notes that I took on my tablet using MS ONENOTE.  That might explain that terrible appearance because these are all based on MS handwriting recognition.

International Symposium on Learning 2006 sponsored by KAST

1st speaker = Daeyeol Lee

Neural mechanism of reinforcement learning and decision making

* Monkey video

-sound of brain activity with different movements/decisions

* Matching pennies-studied via game theory (ie, Nash in beautiful mind)

-No behavior is random

-Animal must randomize choices, otherwise computer will play off of strategy. This is the reinforcement model

* Dors-lateral prefrontal cortex-association with learning behaviors

IX Essentially, it seems that fewer neurons fire after repeated trials

* Sondheim-seems a little like and" no duh" town Supp J conclusion

This could indicate that once connections are made, future decisions

require less of a load on the brain.

Conclusion – Seems like a “no duh” conclusion.

Overall, a great speaker. He really made the topic interesting and engaged the audience. Interesting research.

Amy Poremba -Learning and Memory in the Auditory System

Testing auditory signals and learning behaviors In rabbits.

* what is the brain doing during learning

-removed brain segments to isolate areas necessary for learning

if tone is accompanied by shock received in animal's foot.

* Sensory modalities are used at the same time (auditory/verbal)

* environmental attributes can effect learning. I wish that this would

have been clarified better throughout the presentation.

panel discussion

Operant Conditioning (evident in previous speakers work)

-law of effect - the response is a function of its consequences.

-theory of mind. ability to build models and guess whet others are dtp thinking.

this into is the used to predict actions and counter-measures

can be taken.

-Moves from Operant Conditioning to more of a Cognitivist theory of a processing model.

-Operant Conditioning cannot explain the thought process in game theory

Would it make a difference if the experiments were done with 2 monkeys as opposed to I monkey Vs./ computer?

-Yes, but this will take awhile to do.

Can your research explain decision making? (improve. decisions-making)

Is there a universal learning process?

There are many Similarities in animal models.

She essentially stated the operant conditioning has a major place in learning.

A Quick 30 Writing Tips for the Start of an Academic Career

Thanks to Curt Bonk for this tips. If there's anyone out there that knows what's up, he does.

Podcasting through del.icio.us

Sometimes you have to get beat over the head to get the idea. Today, I had one of these moments.

People often ask me about podcasting and I've continually given advice that puts them through hoops to get a podcast up and going. There are services out there that make it rather easy to podcast, but all services have their limitations, whether it be content, storage, cost, advertising, and so forth.

Most of these people want to podcast for their classes and they aren't concerned with a snappy interface or "face" of the project. They are very practical. They want to get the audio out there to their students.

One podcast that I listen to occasionally is an edtech podcast (I'm not even sure of the name), but you can access their files from their del.icio.us account (http://del.icio.us/edtechlive/mp3). I've been looking at that for months but I never put it all together. All I have to do is tag links to MP3s in my del.icio.us account in a way that groups them logically, then add the feed to my iTunes....tah dah! Podcast.

Now for the cool part. They don't have to be my files. They can be any MP3 file out there that I think is interesting. I can provide (push) this content to my students without them going to a website (pull) to retreive it.

I can do this from my blog by simply providing the del.icio.us feed and therefore connect my postings to the podcast. I can bypass the blog altogether and simple fill out the comments section in del.icio.us to describe each file.

I wish that someone had told me this before. Though, they might have and I just wasn't ready to understand it until now. This, however, is going to change the way that I talk about podcasting with my students and anyone else who will listen.

To start this yourself, sign up for a del.icio.us account now at http://del.icio.us

KTF's Video Calling Service Takes Off

Dare I dream? Will I finally get a video phone? Oh, so close.

I've thought that this would be possible for years, but I don't think that phone companies saw a benefit for them. They might have noticed that people want to do everything on their phones and a video calling service is only logical.

Japan (at least in Tokyo) has had this for years. I remember reading about it with a significant amount of jealousy. I also know that the US carriers are going to do this any time soon unless Skype succeeds to open up the wireless carriers to 3rd party hardware/software developers.

Ah, but now I'm just rambling. I'll sit back a minute and dream about my first video call.......

Teens Can Multitask, But What Are Costs? - washingtonpost.com

I think that this is potentially a major issue that we will have to consider when using more open systems in education. For example, how to I ensure that my students are "on task" in Second Life when they could be doing 10 other things online.

This is true of classroom-based and distance courses. If I'm online discussing topics with students I want them to "listen" to what I and other students are saying. If they are off on other channels, they are simply going to miss it. There is no true "multitasking". Something is always hurting. I, for one, have always studied with the TV on. It's a terrible habit, but I've been doing with since I started school. I have trouble studying without it. However, I KNOW that I'm not studying as well (as efficiently) with it on.

So, can you multitask? Sure. Is it as effective as focusing on one task and completing it before you do another? Likely not.

Like the researcher in the article says, it's all about depth. Shallow activities (checking out Web pages, listening/wathcing TV, checking email/blogs/rss, and so forth) can be done more efficiently in many cases. Web pages take time to load and other things take time to process. During that time to you can flip through another email.

Deeper activities, like reading a academic article require much more attention and depth of processing. You are not just gathering bits of information in these activities. You are gather information, comparing it to what you already know, judging whether it's worth keeping or not, deciding how it applies to the rest of your learning, filing away relevant aspects for future use.

If you can do that effectively and efficienty while managing chats, TV, and so forth you are amazing....and really too good to be true.

Get a first life

How could I not add this here. A little cartoon poking fun at all of us getting lost in Second Life.

A New Learning Day

Wonderful. Welcome the hagwan experience to America.

A "hogwan" in a private institute in Korea. There are hogwans for just about everything you can think of including, language, math, science, and other academic programs. There are also more hobby-centric hogwans for things such as cooking and art.

The academic hogwans take up the slack for the public schools. With the all-important college entrance exam in their sights, Korean students (and parents) put in long hours at these institutes. While the necessity isn't contested very much, Koreas still truly resent the necessity.

Now I guess it's our turn in the states. It's not that a question the necessity, it's that I resent the necessity :(

Dan

'World English' Remains Theoretical - Forbes.com

This article confounds "World English" with "World Englishes". Non-the-less, it is interesting that the mass media has picked up on this issue.

The distinction here is that World English, in this article, refers to some kind of standard that will emerge. Though they also seem to mix in other issues of comprehensibility, dialect, and locality.

World Englishes, is the study of different Englishes around the world. For example, a study of native speakers of English (and even NNES) in countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, India.....