I recently designed and developed a portfolio website for a friend of mine who also happens to be a very talented, up-and-coming special events photographer. The final design of this site is very clean and modern-looking, drawing focus on the photography rather than the site design itself. It’s a departure from earlier design concepts and the previous site layout.
More news in the mobile tech world – Google is now opening up the Android app development platform: App Inventor.
Some info: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/12/technology/12google.html?ref=technology
Besides the obvious – competition with the world of iPhone apps – it’s definitely an interesting thing to note about opening up app development to the masses, promoting active engagement and involvement from end users, and indicating just how ingrained mobile tech, namely our phones, have become in our every day lives.
What’s the latest trends in the Internet?
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/5_key_trends_of_2010_half-year_report_for_the_web.php
In the world of learning management systems, it seems that Google is joining the bandwagon with cloudcourse.
The LMS space is filled with so many proprietary systems that cost and the risk of over-specializing may be impede and/or limit many organizations from really engaging and participating in an organized approach for their learning goals. I’ve worked a little bit with other learning management systems, namely, Moodle, and it’ll be interesting to see how the space of more open-source systems may impact on how we manage and approach educational needs from a system’s perspective.
Not too long ago, I transitioned into the world of non-profits. Recently joining an organization to help support and manage the transition towards upgrading its online presence, updating its digital media solutions to showcase and highlight its projects and research, and providing a more integrated network to meet its many operational, communication, and strategic needs, has introduced me to an area of technology that is focused on the non-profit world.
How one approaches not only their web design, but also how they reach out to their target audience (or constituents) is very different. A non-profit’s brand is closely intertwined with its identity, and in turn, its identity – what it does, what it stands for and represents, what it creates and produces, what it defends – speak directly to a certain group of individuals. And it is these individuals who will provide the kinds of brand-building, presence-developing, and ultimately, fund-raising, that most, if not all non-profits depend on.
The ownership of ones’ brand is extremely important, but in some respects, I find that the need to truly own one’s identity, to truly identify what one actually does and specifically, provides and offers, is of particular significant to a non-profit organization.
Certainly, it is increasingly easier and cheaper to spread the world about non-profits. The lack of resources (both personnel and monetary) are no longer barriers that are insurmountable. Twitter and its kind (twitpic)
An example of using YouTube to support non-profits (it’s a dated video, but I think still relevant):
I’ll elaborate more about how digital media (and all its fun, related aspects such as online marketing and campaigns, community building, etc.) come into play as non-profits seek to expand their networks, fundraising capabilities, and brand presence. For the time being, I’ve listed some information here that could be a helpful start.
Useful links:
NTEN: Nonprofit Technology Network
Wild Apricot: a non-profit technology blog
Big Duck: communications for non-profits blog
Mobile Active: global network of non-profits applying mobile tech to serve their needs (this is definitely something I’m very interested in exploring)
It doesn’t surprise me that universities and other institutions of higher education are pursuing strategies and projects to bring the courses, curriculum, and programs from their on-campus settings to the Internet. As someone who has engaged in on-line learning – taking credited courses in topics such as cognition and ethics in educational technology – I’m not surprised by this topic, but it is certainly interested to see not only how and where online learning stand in higher ed, but that may mean for other areas of learning (e.g. corporate training).
Perhaps, though, it challenges some current perceptions of higher education (and education, in general) and the sorts of practices that both learners and instructors/teachers/other educational professionals engage and participate. I remember the perplexity and confusion that rose from M.I.T.’s announcement of their Open CourseWare project. The thought of posting curriculum and courses for free, enabling individuals from all over the world to access content and information from such a prestigious and arguably, exclusive, institution – what does that mean? Would people even bother to pay and physically attend a college anymore? Obviously, this project has not made M.I.T. seem any less desirable for thousands of prospective students each year, but it does bring up some interesting considerations.
Still, how does the Internet and open learning impact, influence, and inform the kinds of ideas we have on learning, information and knowledge acquisition, and content creation? In a broader, perhaps more far-reaching scale, how does this entire process impact the lives and livelihoods from social and economic perspective? I’m only in the beginning of this conversation, but I welcome the opportunity to probe further at how the changes in the educational arena will, can, and are currently impacting our world.
Additional info: here
A recent article describing how today’s children, having been immersed so deeply with an environment filled with incredible advancements in technology, brings to mind memories of my own childhood experiences of play. Surrounded by influences of environment, education, and parental guidance, paired with a child’s individual personality and interests, I am reminded of the sort of spirited pursuits of adventure of yesteryear. There was this inventive curiosity and carefree exploration that seemed to percolate through childhood. Think about how almost anything could be turned into a toy. Think about the look of complete wonder on a child’s face when they see a colorful object, a stuffed animal, heck, even a pencil.
Learning the English alphabet with today's technologies
There’s been research probing the role of technology among today’s children and young adults. What does it mean to have grown up during a time where there was always a cell phone and the Internet? Moreover, how has the inclusion and use these technologies and games, as well, inform the practices, actions, thought processes, and assumptions that both children and adults make?
At some point, it stopped. Suddenly, there was all this so-called grown-up concern of things called feasibility, practicality, marketability, and profitability. How do we address all those things, but still come up with innovative products, tools, and services that achieve these market and profit-driven goals while simultaneously embracing a sense of marvel and open possibility.
I’m reminded of lab experiments conducted during physics classes that involved working with slinkies and using plastic toys and coins (purchased at one of those 99 cent stores) as props for constructing projects. In graduate school, non-digital game prototypes developed in game design classes stretched my imagination how to use seemingly rudimentary and ordinary items to create and simulate a play experience. Perhaps as our society continues its rapid and constant transformation and evolution, making use of these sorts of imaginative and creative processes that we seem to situate only in childhood, could play a larger role in how we think about technology – its function and role – in our lives.
Here’s a question that I’ve pondered about – what are the implications of real-time web information and accessibility towards knowledge acquisition and learning? There’s been a lot of research into studying the role and influence of technology and media in the educational process and experience of children. What does it mean when a student is working on a school research paper and is referencing information from wikipedia? What sort of research and analytical skills are we trying to develop as technology increases accessibility (whether or not the information is accurate and correct)? How does this inform the types of so-called 21st century skills not only school-age children, but adults are supposed to develop and utilize?
I find these all to be interesting questions, many of which have already been explored by researchers and educators. Moreover, with the current economic environment in the U.S. (and perhaps, collectively, around the globe), what does it mean to be adaptive not only to how one consumes, creates, and critically analyzes information and content, but towards how one relates and uses that information?
And, thus, this leads to even further questions regarding the increasingly widening gap between the countries that “have” technology and those who do not. Beyond the issues of hardware and software accessibility, how does one even begin to address those challenges of effectively and productively using these tools to obtain, understand, and create knowledge and information? There are times I feel that so many countries, companies, and communities are speeding ahead in all this creative experimentation in technology, while basic, core challenges are only expanding and deepening in so many other places. How do we start and/or continue to create a more even playing field?
Different ways to “see” health information: infographics.
Moreover, Google apparently has a new tool called Google Public Data Explorer, which is meant to support different ways to visualize and present data. Instead of simply reciting facts and statistics, or displaying a generic line or bar graph, you can now jazz up data and transform them into something that can be more relevant, contextual, and something of which folks can relate. Well, at least that’s the idea.
For more reference on learning and thinking about how to effectively present information, there is always Edward Tufte himself. A snapshot:
