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Monday, May 20, 2002 |
He Only Knows Three Words of Computerese: Microsoft, PowerPoint, and *(&@*&#$!
"This article from the Lewiston, Maine, newspaper filled me with fear about the next generation's education. It should be hopeful. Maine signed a deal to bring tens of thousands of Apple computers to its students and educators, along with some kind of budget for training, maintenance, etc.
Of course, no cost-benefit analysis was performed comparing that one-time and then renewed outlay against hiring more teachers, offering teachers more training or smaller class sizes, or buying more textbooks or offering more in-class resources. A textbook might cost $50 and last 10 years. An iBook costs $1,100 (in its basic mode) and thousands of dollars of support per year in actual and staff costs. An iBook could hold thousands of textbooks, if they were available in that form, which most are not yet. Electronic textbooks rarely cost less than their paper counterparts, cannot be shared among students, and typically require annual fees instead of one-time purchases....
If I were trying to research butterfly migration patterns and numbers, as some scientists are doing in cooperation with school kids, the computer's use is extraordinary, unprecedented, part of real science, a thrill, and educational. But teachers, as in this article, conflate professional looking -- the clean electronic ASCII characters, the animation and sound in a presentation, the nifty bullets in PowerPoint -- with original, coherent thought.
I like to defer to Herr Professor Doktor von Weinberger, esteemed author of interesting things to read like Small Pieces, Loosely Connected. His point on modern education is: why are kids forced to work always in a solitary manner when, in fact, most of life is about collaboration. Think about any work environment, any project, and it's all about teamwork. Just like in sports, office life is about the collective, coordinated efforts of individuals.
In that sense, I'm very pro-computer: using instant messaging and email to collaborate, plus small wireless networks, plus face-to-face all seems like a set of multiple modalities that would be very powerful." [GlennLogs]
Go read Glenn's whole post, because he makes some interesting points about technology in education. While I agree with a lot of what he says, I also like the idea behind SchoolBlogs and similar initiatives. Not technology for technology's sake, mind you, but kids today grow up with different parameters than any generation before them. Yes, that's always been true, but Net Gens think of information differently (when they think of it as "information" at all), and they expect to do different things with it.
Sometimes using technology to teach helps them fit concepts into their worlds. Just as Sesame Street, The Electric Company, and SchoolHouse Rock were new ways to teach my generation such basic concepts as grammar and phonics, using computers can reach kids in new ways that - if nothing else - seem more relevant to them. Computers can actually come into the classroom and be part of the curriculum, whereas no teacher I ever had incorporated Conjunction Junction or I'm Just a Bill into any of my classes. (Of course, times have since changed!)
11:59:58 PM Permanent link here
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"New at The Virtual Chase
Current Issue of TVC Alert
While attending Information Today 2002, I had lunch with a (VERY) young Steven Cohen of LibraryStuff.net fame, who convinced me that email newsletters are rather passe. He prefers RSS feeds and wishes more sites would offer them. Like-minded individuals will now find two feeds -- one for major new content (articles, tips, guide chapters, etc.) and the other for current news appearing in TVC Alert. I will update the latter every weekday; the former once or twice a month. Also, important breaking news (happens between email issues) will appear first via the RSS feed." [TVC Alert, via Library Stuff]
11:18:35 PM Permanent link here
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I'm trying to make up for lost time and catch up on everything I've missed during the last 24 hours. Note to self: don't ever get sick on a Monday again. However, my news aggregator is helping me catch up pretty quickly, even though I do still have to go read the articles themselves.
It makes me realize how valuable my aggregator has become to me. When Denise Howell left me a comment noting that she's having trouble keeping up with all of my posts, I remembered a comment Ernie made that she was going to have to try to follow Rich Westling's site "manually."
I truly believe that we're starting to see a split in the way people aggregate information, and "manually" is as good a term as any for the "old world" way of broadcast surfing. I used to surf two dozens sites daily trying to keep up with new information by going to each URL on my own. Then I found Radio, and the news aggregator completely changed the way I view, manipulate, and consume web-based information. Now, I'm narrowcasting web sites, channeling them into one convenient (for me) place.
If you're not already using a news aggregator, you simply have to rectify this situation immediately, especially if you're running a blog. You have to start shifting the information you're seeking into your world. You don't have to go to where it resides anymore - you can bring it to you (wherever you are) automatically.
I've been waiting for Steven Cohen's article on this subject to come out, and I know it's on the near horizon, so I'm not going to write detailed instructions because his article should suffice. However, I will say that you could do yourself no greater favor than to follow one of these paths:
I promise - you won't regret it, and you'll understand much better why I rant and rave about this stuff.
10:16:07 PM Permanent link here
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Help Build the Web of Knowledge
"Altruistic programmers and word-nerds with an urge to connect the historical dots are needed to help build a website that will blend the best of old and new technology.
'Knowledge Web' is the pet project of James Burke, an Oxford-educated historian whose fascination with technology resulted in Connections, a television series that explored the strange links between technological breakthroughs and historical events.
Knowledge Web (K-Web) is intended to be the visual and virtual extension of almost three decades of Burke's attempts to show how all knowledge is somehow connected to all other knowledge.
The not-for-profit site is being built by about 100 volunteers from around the world, but more helping hands are needed.
K-Web project manager Patrick McKercher said K-Web currently could really use programmers who can work with Java, XSLT and XML. Experienced researchers and writers are also wanted. Volunteers can sign up here....
From each node a person will be able to travel to other nodes that are connected to the original node via some historical relationship. The system will allow the user to zoom out to see the entire constellation of nodes that relate to the original node, or zoom in and explore a topic in depth. Most of the nodes will also contain links to external resources such as multimedia files or other websites.
The site will also incorporate 2-D and 3-D visualizations, and visitors will be able to "interact" with people and objects." [Wired News]
I've been waiting for James Burke to pick up on the web. It's a natural... connection. :-)
9:47:43 PM Permanent link here
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I subscribe to the DVD Talk newsletter, and I was just reading through this week's edition. Tired eyes read a last chance pre-order as "MTV: Real World: A Decade of Bloggers." (The title is really "A Decade of Bloopers.")
Too bad it's not true. I wonder when they'll include the first participant that has her own blog. I know they show the episodes months after taping, but it would make for an interesting parallel to the TV show. In fact, if they were really smart, MTV would set up the entire cast with blogs.
8:21:30 PM Permanent link here
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Some other things I wanted to announce today before I try more heavy-lifting blogging later tonight.
Monsur Hossain worked his magic behind the curtain, and Bloglet now works with Radio blogs. That means that if you don't use a news aggregator, you can opt to receive my posts as an aggregate email once a day by subscribing to my Bloglet list. To do this, scroll on my home page until you see the box on the left-hand side.
Caveat: Bloglet picks up everything I post, not just the stuff I send to my home page. Because I use my site for as my own personal knowledge management system as well as a blog, I often post items without commentary to a specific category but not to my home page. (I notice Ernie the Attorney is starting to do this as well.) So the messages that go out through Bloglet pick up those secondary posts, too, which means you'll find more than just my commentary in your inbox. Don't subscribe if you're interested in my commentary only.
6:17:38 PM Permanent link here
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Did you notice the Best Buy ad in the Sunday paper? The theme is "go mobile," and the slogan on the front page is "summer's more fun when you're unplugged." Remember when it was a big deal to get plugged in? Now it's a big deal to get "unplugged." (Hey, just like in The Matrix!) Other interesting highlights:
- "Pick up a game piece for a chance to WIN 1 of 5 trips for 2 to see a SHERYL CROW CONCERT. Check to see if you've won instantly, then visit gomobile.bestbuy.com and use the WebDecoder for a second chance to win." [They're finally trying to use print to push folks to their web site.]
- There's a section of CDs by "Future superstars for under $10." [Five years ago, I would have paid $8 to sample some of these artists, but not anymore. I want to be able to preview them online and then purchase what I like. Then I want to be able to move the music around to my MP3 player, stereo, car, PC, etc. Hopefully the record companies will take notice of this change in buyer habits.]
- "Go! Camping. Pop a DVD into a portable player and watch movies under the stars." Plus, the Mintek CDV/CD player with MP3 playback is down to $299.92 after "instant savings and mail-in rebate." The full Mintek DVD/CD player is down to $59.92. [Everybody's going DVD now. I wish we'd gotten a DVD player in the minivan, rather than a VCP. Kids growing up today will grow up with DVDs as the standard for watching movies outside of a theater.]
- "At last! The new Tivo Digital Video Recorder is here." [Finally, a 60-hour Tivo is available. If I had the money, I'd still choose the ReplayTV 4000 with its 320 hours of storage space.]
- "Go! Wandering. Record the perfect summertime music mix and take it wherever you go with a portable MP3 player." [Is Michael Eisner going to advocate criminalizing retailer ads that promote this activity? How is this different from Apple's "Rip, Mix, Burn" slogan that Eisner portrays as evil?"]
- Targus PDA Mouse for Palm OS Handhelds - $19.99. [I'm pointing this one out because I had never heard of or seen it before. Since it's only $20, I'll probably try this to see if it adds any real functionality. The product page says it works with pretty much any PDA running the Palm OS.]
- A 512MB PC133 SDRAM DIMM chip is now only $89.99 after mail-in and instant rebates. [This is amazing, and I will probably upgrade my PC to 1GB of RAM in the near future. Remember when 1MB cost an arm and a leg and your firstborn child?]
- A 100-pack of 80-minute CD-R discs is $17.99 after rebates. A 50-pack of 80-minute CD-R discs is only $5. [That's about 10 cents a disc. Gee... I wonder why these things are flying out the door faster than stores can ring them up?]
- A 120-GB 7200 RPM drive is down to $189.99 (I think - it's confusing). The ad says it "stores up to 30,000 MP3 files or 20 hours of compressed video." A 60GB USB 2.0 external hard drive is down to $159.99 after mail-in and instant rebates. [More proof of John Robb's theories about storage and how increases in this area will affect how we manipulate our entertainment choices.]
- My Samsung phone for the Sprint PCS network that I would have paid $149 for is $19.92 this week after a $70 mail-in rebate. [Prices are coming down on older phones in order to make way for newer ones that will access faster networks. A year from now, we'll see the scales tip towards color phones with Java embedded in them.]
It would be interesting to compare this ad to one from a year ago to see how quickly the price of storage, processors, RAM, and media have fallen. It's all part of our march towards making our personal information shifted, but it could come to a screeching halt if the CBDTPA was to become law.
6:04:18 PM Permanent link here
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© Copyright 2004 Jenny Levine.
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