Derek's Blog

I've blogged a few times in the past about Quintura and Quintura for Kids - and have been privileged to be a part of the beta testing programme of this exciting new search engine.

Today I received notification from Yakov and his team announcing the release of their Quintura for site search. As you'll note, I've added this feature to the left hand menu of my blog site. It's easy to do for any web site - simply visit the Quintura site, click on the "embed" button and copy and the paste the generated code into the appropriate place on your website. I had to do a little playing around to make it fit the menu on my blog - some sorting to do with the sizing of the column and a stray div command, but it works now - wahoo!

Thanks to Jacov and his team for this brilliant product - making search so visual appeals very much to the way I like to go hunting for things.

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 12:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The blogosphere is active with people making comments on the release of the the fifth editon of this annual Horizon Report which is a collaboration between the New Media Consortium and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative, and having now read it myself, I thought I'd add my penny's worth (before its official release at at Educause in San Antonio tomorrow).

It's a very timely read, as in the coming week I'm going to be speaking to a number of staff gatherings at schools preparing themselves before the onslaught of students the week after. The contents of this report provide useful food for thought at a time of year when we are thinking aspirationally, and are not bogged down in assessment activities and other deadlines that often become the focus of our energies.

Like the previous reports, this one analyzes the MetaTrends of the last 5 years, and outlines the major emerging technologies for college level education in the next 5 years including user-generated video content, collaboration webs, mobile broadband and data mashups. While the focus is on tertiary (college) settings, the discussion around these trends and what they mean for learners and for the education institutions applies just as much to the school sector, particularly as some of the trends (Collective Intelligence and Social Operating Systems) are seen as 4-5 years out still.

In addition to these technology trends, the report also identifies and discusses key trends affecting the areas of teaching, learning, and creative expression. This year four such trends are identified:

• The growing use of Web 2.0 and social networking--combined with collective intelligence and mass amateurization--is gradually but inexorably changing the practice of scholarship.
  
• The way we work, collaborate, and communicate is evolving as boundaries become more fluid and globalization increases.
  
• Access to--and portability of--content is increasing as smaller, more powerful devices are introduced
  
• The gap between students' perception of technology and that of faculty continues to widen.

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 3:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Here's another report to complement the one from Pew Internet that I blogged about earlier. According to this British Library study many of the assumptions made about the Google generation - defined as those born since 1993 - fail to stack up to the evidence. study was commissioned by the British Library and JISC to identify how the specialist researchers of the future, currently in their school or pre-school years, are likely to access and interact with digital resources in five to ten years' time. This is to help library and information services to anticipate and react to any new or emerging behaviours in the most effective way and to inform and stimulate discussion about the future of libraries in the internet era

I found the following statement of interest with regards to the impact on libraries of a move towards the much talked about 'information-on-demand" environment:

The implications of a shift from the library as a physical space to the library as virtual digital environment are immense and truly disruptive. Library users demand 24/7 access, instant gratification at a click, and are increasingly looking for `the answer' rather than for a particular format: a research monograph or a journal article for instance. So they scan, flick and `power browse' their way through digital content, developing new forms of online reading on the way that we do not yet fully understand (or, in many cases, even recognise).

There's plenty more to challenge and inform - including the section on the Google Generation itself... it's certainly challenged some of my assumptions - I'm off now to read further...

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 3:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I had an unexpected skype call yesterday with Joe Rigby from MellaniuM, a Toronto-based startup specialising in the development of 3D real-world virtual environments. Joe and his development team have leveraged the Unreal2 engine used in Unreal Tournament game to create this very impressive 3D virtual world - capable of having up to 32 avatars working together in a private virtual world.

MellaniuM works differently from Second Life, in that is it is a Client-Server operation - you need first to download a piece of client software and install it onto your computer, after which all of the processing happens on your desktop, and doesn't rely on this being done across the web. The result is a very impressive, highly detailed 3D virtual environment that you can navigate around with ease, and includes some of the most impressive light-source rendering that I've seen in this sort of thing.

Part of the secret of the very impressive graphics in the environment is that they are rendered directly from Autocad designs to dimension the model to exactly what they are in real life - you can see some examples of this in the video clip.

The other really impressive thing for me was that Joe was able to 'walk' me through the demos of the software using skype - another little innovation that he and his colleagues had worked on.

Already interest is coming from engineering and real estate companies who see potential in these sort of environments for their businesses. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to think of ways in which these environments could be used in education - for virtual field trips, virtual science labs, and virtual classrooms... as we're already seeing happening in places like Second Life, but in this case, in a richer, more graphically detailed environment that "lives" on your own computer.

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 10:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

There's a lot of talk around about the concept of Web2.0 "MashUps", and the way in which these cna be used in eLearning. Many of us are now well used to the aggregation services of applications such as PageFlakes and Netvibes, incorporating YouTube videos or SlideShare shows into our blogs, or using Flickr photographs in other apps etc.

At the centre of any "MashUp" is the issue of interoperability and standards which determine whether or not the data from one application/system can be read and/or incorporated into another. This takes us into the dizzying depths of talking about Extensible markup Language(XML), Services Oriented Architecture (SOA), and Application Programming Interface (API) etc.

In an article titled Service-oriented architecture as the backbone for distributed GIS systems, Duane Nickull of Adobe provides a very useful overview of what is involved, focusing particularly on how modern distributed Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data can benefit from the adoption of a common architecture model such as SOA.

An example he gives (illustrated at the top of this post) is well worth taking a look at. It is of Allan Padgett's Tour Tracker, a software application that allows users to interact with the Tour of California bicycle race. It's a great illustration of how GIS information can be used in this way, providing a real-time updated view of the progress of the cyclists on a map in the background, and incorporating live video feed, updated Flickr images, and windows for chat and news feeds in the foreground. Very impressive.

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 9:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Here's a little gem that I came across this morning in my RSS feeds....

"Learn More" is a series of self-paced discovery entries for library staff interested in venturing out on the social web. Learn More has been developed by Steve Campion, the system trainer at a large public library system in the Pacific Northwest, USA.

Each post is meant as a short introduction to a different social website, tool, or concept. It might not be ground-breaking information to veteran readers of the blogosphere, but the writer hopes that each brief summary will act as a gentle nudge for newcomers to social networking.

The tutorials are very simple and written in a conversational style that make them accessible to most. I really enjoyed reading the "Meaning For Libraries" section in each tutorial, and wonder if the same thing could be done with classroom teachers in mind - at various levels of the school system.

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 2:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Economist.com today kicked off a new Oxford-style online debate on social networking and the value it adds to the classroom.

This month's debate proposition is: "The house believes that social networking technologies will bring large [positive] changes to educational methods, in and out of the classroom."

Our expert debaters are two leaders in education and technology, and will square off for three rounds of debate:

• CON - Michael Bugeja, Director of Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, Iowa State University of Science and Technology. The author of 21 books whose research is often cited by the New York Times, Dr. Bugeja was among the first to analyze the use of social networks (Facebook & Second Life) before their use by students and educators was widespread and well-understood.
• PRO - Ewan McIntosh, National Adviser on Learning and Technology Futures for Learning and Teaching Scotland, the education agency responsible for curriculum development, and a member of the Channel 4 Media Advisory Board. He writes about social media and learning for the Guardian and the BBC, speaks internationally and consults for organizations including the British Council, the RSA, General Teaching Council of Scotland, RM and Scottish Enterprise, advising on how social media can be harnessed for to improve learning. He blogs at http://edu.blogs.com

• Parry Aftab, Founder & Executive Director, WiredSafety.org
  
• Judith Krug, Directory, Office for Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association (ALA)
  
• Ann Flynn, Director, Education Technology, National School Board Association (NSBA)
  
• Nancy Willard, Executive Director, The Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use

The Economist has launched a Facebook group for followers of the debate. If you're already a Facebook member, feel free to join the group where you'll find syndicated content and be able to interact directly with members of The Economist community, including some of the previous guest participants.

Here's a short debate schedule:

• Tuesday, January 15 - Opening statements & floor opens to comments from public


• Wednesday, January 16 - Guest Participant, Parry Aftab, WiredSafety.org
  
• Thursday, January 17 - Rebuttals
  
• Monday, January 21 - Guest Participant, Judith Krug, American Library Association
  
• Tuesday, January 22 - Guest Participant, Ann Flynn, National School Boards Association
  
• Wednesday, January 23 - Closing statements
  
• Thursday, January 24 - Guest Participant, Nancy Willard, Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use
  
• Friday, January 25 - Debate winner announced

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 10:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Very interesting report just out from Pew Internet:

There are several major findings in this report. One is this: For help with a variety of common problems, more people turn to the internet than consult experts or family members to provide information and resources.

Another key insight is that members of Gen Y are the leading users of libraries for help solving problems and in more general patronage.

In a national phone survey, respondents were asked whether they had encountered 10 possible problems in the previous two years, all of which had a potential connection to the government or government-provided information. Those who had dealt with the problems were asked where they went for help and the internet topped the list:

• 58% of those who had recently experienced one of those problems said they used the internet (at home, work, a public library or some other place) to get help.


• 53% said they turned to professionals such as doctors, lawyers or financial experts.


• 45% said they sought out friends and family members for advice and help.


• 36% said they consulted newspapers and magazines.


• 34% said they directly contacted a government office or agency.


• 16% said they consulted television and radio.


• 13% said they went to the public library.

The survey results challenge the assumption that libraries are losing relevance in the internet age. Libraries drew visits by more than half of Americans (53%) in the past year for all kinds of purposes, not just the problems mentioned in this survey. And it was the young adults in tech-loving Generation Y (age 18-30) who led the pack. Compared to their elders, Gen Y members were the most likely to use libraries for problem-solving information and in general patronage for any purpose.

Furthermore, it is young adults who are the most likely to say they will use libraries in the future when they encounter problems: 40% of Gen Y said they would do that, compared with 20% of those above age 30 who say they would go to a library.

Full report can be downloaded here (PDF)

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 7:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The focus on interoperability was identified as one of the ten trends for 2007 by CORE, and this just-released report from BECTA in the UK. highlights again why this is so important. The main focus of concern is ensuring the widest compatibility of files between different applications. The report draws attention to limitations in Microsoft's implementation of the Open Document Format (ODF) international standard, and recommends that users of Office 2007 should not save in Microsoft's new Office format (OOXML). They suggest that users should in the short term continue to save files in the more widely adopted .doc, .xls and .ppt formats.

Until the issue is resolved, BECTA is recommending UK-based schools do not upgrade existing ICT systems to Microsoft Vista or Office 2007, and mixed Windows-based operating environments should be avoided. However, Vista should be considered where new institution-wide ICT provision is being planned.

This is a bold step by BECTA - one I'm sure will create ripples throughout the education system. More evidence, however, of how seriously the issue of interoperability is being taken and needs to be taken as we make decisions about systems and software we choose install at home, at work and in our schools.

The Microsoft Office and Vista full report is available to download here.

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

New Zealanders and many others from around the world are today mourning the death of Sir Edmund Hillary, an icon of New Zealand, and a hero in the truest sense of the word. He was certainly an inspiration in my life, as a role model in terms of his tramping and climbing, and, perhaps more significantly, in terms of the sentiments expressed in his book "Nothing Venture, Nothing Win".

The thing that impressed me most about Sir Ed is that he is a man who made a difference. A couple of years back I had the privilege of trekking in the Himilayas, and visited Khumjung secondary school on the way back down from Everest Base Camp. This was the first of the nearly 30 schools that Hillary helped build in Nepal after his summit of Everest in 1953. Sir Ed spent decades working to improve Nepal through the Himalayan Trust, which helped build hospitals, clinics, bridges, airstrips and schools. He was made an honorary Nepalese citizen in 2003.

In the grounds of Khumjung High school is a statue of Hillary (see image) - and when I told the principal there that I was from New Zealand I was enthusiastically taken to see it and told all about this great man, such is the way they revere him there.

Hillary's passion for the people of Nepal, and his commitment to helping them in very practical ways stems from a very fundamental belief he had.

"Nepalese did not ask for poverty while New Zealanders lived in affluence. The fact that we do is a blessing, and with it comes responsibilities."

Kua hinga te totara nui o te wao tapu. Moe mai rā, Sir Ed.

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 8:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)