As a moderator for the Digital Frontiers: Copyright, Censorship, the Commons and Privacy panel at NAMAC 2012, I am tasked with generating introductory questions for the panelists. The panel description:
Can freedom of the press and the right to know survive the rough-and-tumble politics of lobbyist-ridden Washington, D.C.? Is your mobile device secure from search and seizure over whatever content you load onto it? Will the documentary-feature you’ve labored over even be accessible to your target audience if they lack access to broadband Internet services? The Digital Frontier is up for grabs — and your participation in the debate will make a difference.
Click headline to read more and watch video of presentation--
Radio Rookies and Common Sense Media came together to hold a one week Digital Literacy & Citizenship Workshop with teens from the McBurney YMCA Y Scholars from Aug. 6-13th. The teens learned how to use digital media responsibly and were given the chance to produce a video/audio/multimedia piece. Their stories will be used to inform their peers as well as to help give educators tools to teach young people across the nation about digital literacy and citizenship.
Common Sense Media asked us to pilot their Digital Literacy and Citizenship modules about issues such as online reputation, innovation, remixing and over-sharing online or TMI (too much information).
“I learned that over-sharing can become a problem that effects people who want to apply for a job or go to college,” one participant said. “I learned many ways to show myself in a positive light online.”
Here is an example of a module activity card:
Click headline to read more, watch the video clips and listen to the radio interviews--
Ideogenetic Machine is being exhibited at the OK Offenes Kulturhaus in Linz, Austria until October 6, 2012.
It’s wonderful to be included in the same exhibition that shows several projects I’ve always admired from afar, such as Occupy George by Ivan Cash and Andy Dao as well as the Free Universal Construction Kit by Shawn Sims and Golan Levin.
Many see small quadrocopters as the future of surveillance, aerial photography, warfare and even construction, but a new demonstration involving a world record-setting swarm of 50 quadrocopters has shown the aircraft can also pull off some pretty impressive dance moves.
Outdoing the efforts of the University of Pennsylvania's GRASP Lab, the quadrocopter swarm put on a choreographed air show over the river Danube in Linz, Austria, as part of the annual Klangwolke (Cloud of Sound) open-air multimedia musical event that kicked off on September 1st.
The aerial display was put together by a team from Austria’s Ars Electronica Futurelab and Germany’s Ascending Technologies GmbH. The Ars Electronica team was responsible for creating the computerized choreography and equipping the standard model Hummingbird quadrocopters supplied by Ascending Technologies with special radio receivers and modified firmware. The vehicles were also equipped with LEDs to put on an eye-catching nighttime display.
When representatives from the technology company Apple visited Megan Farnsworth's school in June, the Indiana State University graduate student was excited when she realized she knew what they were teaching.
Just weeks earlier, Farnsworth likely would've been meandering the digital wilderness trying to navigate a non-PowerPoint computer program.
Farnsworth, who is enrolled in the instructional technology and library media master's program at Indiana State, learned about a variety of computer programs and technology in a course taught by Yadi Ziaeehezarjeribi, a faculty member in the department of curriculum, instruction and media technology. Before she enrolled in classes at ISU, Farnsworth was unaware of many different programs she could use as a school librarian for grades ranging from kindergarten through 12th grade. After the class taught by Ziaeehezarjeribi, her familiarity with technology, which includes the Internet digital world Second Life, left several of her colleagues "ready to fall over."
"They were just surprised that I knew some of the things they were discovering," Farnsworth said of the training session. "They think I could help them with some of the technology in the classroom this fall."
While Ziaeehezarjeribi uses a wide variety of technologies in his coursework, his interest in the evolving digital instruction field extends beyond that. In his research, he focuses on how video games help students develop, and the lessons that gaming enthusiasts can learn.
Ken Morrison's comment,
September 10, 2012 3:13 AM
HI Carissa.
Thank you for the rescoop!
Ken
Ken Morrison's comment,
September 10, 2012 9:47 AM
HI Evelyn,
Thank you for the rescoop. I really appreciate rescoops because they help me find other people with similar interest. It looks like you have a nice site here. Best of luck to you.
Ken
Today’s Tech Savvy Guest is Steven W. White, President and CEO of ImageVision, and the creator of a visual recognition and image and video filtering technology that scans images at the rate of 720,000 per hour to detect and filter lewd content in images, text, and video. Steven is here to share technology that helps parents ensure that their kids are being responsible digital citizens.
As if parents don’t have enough worries, it's becoming more and more common for kids to receive or send inappropriate videos, images and messages through their smartphones and tablets. This growing threat is virtually impossible for parents and educators to monitor, much less prevent these types of behaviors.
As the unemployment crisis continues month after month, I'm tempted to climb to the roof of my house and yell at the top of my lungs, “The maker movement creates jobs.”
Homebrew Computer Club Newsletter, September 1976This so obvious a fact seems lost on national decision-makers. The entire personal computer industry was born when a small group of hobbyists, The Homebrew Computer Club, met at Stanford University in 1975. Other industries are on the verge of being born if only our nation did more to support hobbyists. What more could be done? Provide makers--hobbyists--spaces to gather and tinker.
The hobbyists shouldn't have to put up the full cost of renting such a space. The work that is happening at these hacker spaces is often of a public nature. The scope of public work should not be constrained by the limits of private, personal funding.
Here is what happens at hackerspaces: realizations and discoveries. A single realization or discovery can be worth a billion dollars or more. It stands to reason that our nation needs to be doing much, much more to promote the maker movement.
Not far from Washington, D.C., where I live, 13 Catholic high schools in Baltimore, Maryland, are vacant. These schools were sadly closed last year and are now for sale. Wouldn't 13 large hackerspaces serve our country very well? Think of how much learning, exploration, and discovery could happen in those buildings if the buildings were open seven days a week.
You could have high school robotics teams meeting there, elementary students learning Scratch computer programming, green tech inventors doing their thing, computer refurbishers fixing up old computers, media production people pushing the limits of community-produced videos, classes in Google SketchUp, classes in soldering, classes in 3D printing. The list goes on and on.
Click headline to read more and access hot links--
For many years, I have been interested in the way the media reports on the presidential campaign and the way the candidates manipulate the media. Three years ago I wrote a book about the role of mediain the political process.
Many people will say that this year’s campaign has turned negative, and they’d be correct. Negativity in campaigns has been a staple throughout our history as this recent news feature reminds us.
But negative ads have a purpose: they’re designed to get our attention and they provide candidates with opportunities not only to make charges and allegations but also to plant doubts in the minds of the potential voter.
Everywhere I go, teachers tell me that their students believe everything they see, read and hear. Many of our students are not applying the critical thinking skills to media messages, but we can help them. The websites that contain political campaign commericals, for example, make access and analysis easier than ever. So, I believe educators should use actual ads in instruction to help students dissect and understand how they work and why they work.
Click headline to read more and access hot links--
Ok, so I got my 1000th email from friends and/or associates across the tech, business and social community in the US, Europe and Japan et al asking “Have you seen this Korean video [Gangnam Style]?” or about Psy in general. Rather than explain again for the nth time, I thought I’d repost (with permission) a great article from a friend who runs one of the best Korea law related blogs in English today (imho), Korea Law Today. When the video first started making the rounds, we had a few discussions related to why this video has been a hit on a scale globally that arguably no other Korean pop-song ever has reached. It is certainly the first Kpop related one I’ve seen instantly hit internet Meme status (in English).
There is actually a lot to say on how “Gangnam Style” relates to Korea, the phenomenon of Korean pop music, entertainment content, and trends in the startup and tech industry in Korea; from internet, games, video, music, collective consumption, IP rights, etc., etc.
But before going down that road, I’ll leave it Nathan’s article to get you up to speed, so we can start that discussion on the same page.
So without further ado:
Click headline to read more and watch music video clips--
Much of the discussion about educational technology these days focuses on new ways to deliver instruction, through online videos and online courses. In our Lifelong Kindergarten research group at the Media Lab, we have a very different approach to education and learning, developing technologies not to deliver instruction but to open opportunities for people to create, collaborate, experiment, and express themselves.
With our Scratch programming software, for example, young people can create their own interactive stories, games, animations, and simulations, then share their creations with one another online. In the process, young people learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively – essential skills in today’s society.
Last week, we had an opportunity to see how this learning approach is taking root in different parts of the world, as we hosted our third Scratch@MIT conference. More than 400 educators, researchers, and developers from 31 countries came to the Media Lab for four days to share stories, plans, and visions about Scratch.
One unifying theme at the conference was the use of Scratch to encourage and support many different types of connections:
Welcome hackers, gamers, mixers, and tech-wizards! Presented here are the results of the first-ever interACTIVE! Media+Arts camp, developed by Access Humboldt for Dream Quest Teen and Youth Center in Willow Creek, CA.
]Explore our gifs, games, radio plays . . . [+much more]
Thanxx so much to the awesome creative team: Silas / Jules / Sariah / Angel / Maile / Adrian / Nathan / Freeman / + Timmy
Click headline to access digital projects created by the youth participants--
Shifting gears is never easy. But California's adoption of the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS) actually grants educators a good deal of flexibility and creative license in teaching students critical skills for the 21st Century. The introduction to the CCSS states:
"Just as media and technology are integrated in school and life in the twenty-first century, skills related to media (both critical analysis and production of media) are integrated throughout the standards."
Because the integration of media throughout almost all curricular areas is so strongly emphasized, KQED and PBS LearningMedia's vast selection of rich digital media resources provides a great opportunity for blended learning that can both engage students with compelling content, and directly align curriculum to the new standards.
Here are four central components of the CCSS for English-Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects, and examples of how KQED media can be used to to address them.
Despite some gains, the digital divide more broadly affects Latinos than nearly any other demographic group in the U.S. While public policy efforts and outreach campaigns seem to have had only a modest effect on improving the matter, a number of nonprofit organizations are working diligently to create a new generation of tech-savvy Latinos.
A recent report from the Public Policy Institute of California
(PPIC) shows Latinos lag significantly behind other groups when it comes to technology adoption rates. About six million Latinos in California aren’t online and large disparities among Latinos persist. Some Latino subgroups are similar to other racial/ethnic groups in their access to broadband. For example, relatively high rates of access are evident among those who are U.S.-born (76 percent), prefer to speak English (75 percent), and earn at least $40,000 per year (75 percent). But other Latino subgroups still lag far behind in their rates of Internet access, such as those who are foreign-born (48 percent), prefer to speak Spanish (46 percent), or earn under $40,000 annually (50 percent). Surveys of Latino populations across the U.S., such as this Pew study, have presented similar findings.
I truly enjoy when teachers reach out for help to better instruct their students. Especially when the instruction involves introducing video production and skills.Aaron, a high school multimedia teacher, recently wrote to me and said:
“I need a good storyboard lesson. I know they are important. Just not good teaching them. Any resources for me?”
I am a big fan of the storyboard. It allows students time to critically think about and plan their production before picking up a camera. Yet, I am not an artist and I don’t expect my students to be either. Stick figures and shapes work great to create a shot plan that can translate to their project.
So although I don’t take a lot of time to teach the storyboard per se, I do make sure students plan out what shots they think they will want and need.
Teaching people to code is the new hotness: startups like Codecademy and Bloc are all about helping people learn to program quickly and easily online, and they have helped spawn a cultural movement lauded by the likes of Tim O’Reilly and Douglas Rushkoff.
Some people are taking the idea a little further however.
Just look at Estonia, the tiny Eastern European nation (population 1.3 million), where a new project is being put in place with the ambition of getting every six year old to learn coding at school.
The “ProgeTiiger” scheme, according to reports, will begin pilots this year with the ambition of getting school kids of all ages to start coding. There’s no suggestion yet that the classes will be mandatory, but the organization behind the move the Tiger Leap Foundation, says it wants to produce more creative computer users.
“The first e-courses are meant for primary school teachers and they will take place at the educational portal www.koolielu.ee (Koolielu is Estonian for “school life”) that the Foundation maintains,” the group’s head of training, Ave Lauringson, told me. ”We expect about 30 teachers to take part in the first course. So we are just taking our first steps now, but we intend to expand the program significantly.”
2012 a planeeris Eesti õpetada 6 aastased programeerima ja selleks tehti esimsed õpetajakoolitused, millest tänaseks on välja kasvanud järjest põnevamad tegemised ...
On Colorado's education landscape, the "digital divide" looks something like this: While one classroom streams online coursework to students, others log off the Internet so a school's meager bandwidth can handle the load.
The gap between the technological haves and have-nots, once defined by access to the computer hardware that drives high-tech learning, now centers on an information superhighway that too often recedes to the digital equivalent of rutted rural back roads.
As a result, classes ranging from Advanced Placement to world languages to credit-recovery courses may not be available in areas with lagging local Internet connections — denying many students the same instructional options as their better-connected counterparts.
"If a kid on the plains has good broadband access, he can mitigate those differences with online courses," said John Watson, founder of the Durango-based Evergreen Education Group and co-author of a study for the Colorado Department of Education. "When you don't, it's difficult — or impossible."
And as the state moves toward online assessment, such as some high-stakes testing slated for 2014, questions remain about whether the technological infrastructure will be able to handle it.
"Without an adequate pipeline, information may not reach teachers or students in a timely manner," said Dan Domagala, chief information officer for the Colorado Department of Education. "I think access is no longer the issue. It has shifted toward speed and bandwidth and usage — and cost."
Amazon’s Kindle Fire took off like a rocket when it was introduced, and it is the first tablet that has offered significant competition to the iPad.
Kindle Fire is a mini tablet computer and was released late last year with full support from the extensive library that Amazon possesses. With an extensive collection of books, movies, photos, games and apps in their own library,
Amazon seems to have found just the right answer for the iPad, given the fact that Kindle Fire costs roughly half of what the iPad costs (depending on configuration).
Click headline to read more and access hot links--
“Money talks, but not loud enough for the 99%. By circulating dollar bills stamped with fact-based infographics, Occupy George informs the public of America’s daunting economic disparity one bill at a time. Because money knowledge is power.”
Occupy George by Ivan Cash and Andy Dao got a lot of press when they created stamped dollar bills to circulate during the Occupy movements ~ they also received an Honorary Mention in Interactive Arts at Prix Ars Electronica 2012 and are on display at the OK CyberArts12 exhibition!
This means they have huge prints of the stamped bills lining a hall way and a frame with 1$ bills stamped, along with a stamping station where you can stamp your own bills! So naturally shawn and i stamped through the US cash he had for fun… stamped some infographics on my arm… and Golan Levin happen to have a crisp 2$ bill in his wallet that ended up being perfect for the wealth stats stamp! Take a peek at the fun on the next page!
Click headline to read more and view the exhibit pix--
For a particular kind of creative person (specifically, the kind not afraid of soldering guns) modern DIY subculture is a wonderland for all ages. Central to that subculture is Make Magazine and Maker Faire, a publication and annual event (respectively) devoted to celebrating people experimenting with art and technology — and this summer, the Make team applied that same spirit of experimentation to a digital camp for kids: interactive, online, totally free, and powered by Google+ hangouts.
According to Maker-in-Chief Sherry Huss via phone, Google approached Make last May with the idea of setting up a day camp for those interested in Make’s unique approach to do-it-yourself. “Google was looking at growing their Google+ audience,” she said, adding that once they agreed to the project, people from Google came to the Make offices to help plan 30 days of content, featuring 30 unique makers.
While it’s great to know what Digital Literacy is, why it’s important, and how it affects us here in Canada, the real question is often how do I translate this into value for my learners.
Below are a number of links to sites that are geared towards activities and lesson plans designed to promote Digital Literacy. I hope that you find them useful!
Click headline to read more and access hot links--
Two years ago I was offered a great opportunity: to design and teach a middle school “digital literacy” curriculum at a public charter school in Southern California. CyberCivics at Journey School happened because the school’s administrator realized the importance of addressing his students’ rising interest in and use of digital devices head-on, preempting any possible negative behaviors (i.e., cyberbullying, ‘sexting’, plagiarism, hacking, etc.) by talking about these issues in the classroom. The end result has been very low incidence of unwise or unsafe digital conduct plus the kids are becoming literate citizens of their digital world to boot!
We spend all of 6th grade studying “Digital Citizenship” using a terrific curriculum from Common Sense Media. In 7th Grade we move on to “Information Literacy,” using Common Sense Media materials along with terrific lessons from the Google/iKeepSafe Digital Literacy Tour, Power To Learn, The New Media Literacies Casebook, the Media Awareness Network, and more.
Now it’s Year Three and we are preparing to study “Media Literacy.” Unfortunately, the very term “Media Literacy” makes ones eyes glaze over with boredom. And that’s too bad because knowing how to critically consume and produce media messages is more important now than ever.
Faith Rogow, author of “The Teacher’s Guide to Media Literacy” explained this to us as follows:
Click headline to read more and access hot links--
Mobile phones have historically been banned from the classroom and seen as a distraction to education. But with new developments in education apps, there are some very powerful mobile concepts that can be transferred the classroom.
In this new RSA Animate, Manuel Lima, senior UX design lead at Microsoft Bing, explores the power of network visualisation to help navigate our complex modern world. Taken from a lecture given by Manuel Lima as part of the RSA's free public events programme.
Click headline to view this RSA Animate of the full talk--
This week at the Alliance for Community Media conference in Chicago, IL, the Open Media Foundation will be launching a cloud-based media service that could change the face of community media. After 7 years and $700,000 contributed by the Open Media Foundation and other supporters, the open-source software will be launched as both a paid monthly service, and free of charge to organizations wishing to implement and manage it themselves.
“Our latest version of the Open Media Project (OMP), reflects a major step forward in our mission to put the power of the media and technology in the hands of the people,” says Founder and Executive Director Tony Shawcross. “For the first time, small stations with limited budgets and technical resources will have an opportunity to join a growing network of stations devoted to empowering their communities to run a new kind of media operation,” Shawcross adds.
“Our goal is to help community media stations modernize, getting all their content on-line and shared with other stations, establishing a network unlike anything we’ve seen before,” said Shawcross, who has been overseeing the OMP since the project began with OMF’s effort to revive Public Access TV in Denver back in 2006. “Unlike other networks” Shawcross added, “the programming of the OMP is created, rated, and scheduled by the community... its truly community-driven TV.”
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