Well this has been a popular post, but if you haven’t seen it yet, Google Sightseeing is a terrific little blog which harnesses the use of Google Maps and Keyhole satellite photography. People can suggest a location for Google Sightseeing, and there are some terrific submissions already.
I can tell you one thing, though, Olympic Stadium, even from the sky, will, never be the same without the blue and red.
Yahoo! and Google have been battling for months now, service by service. Some examples include:
– Blogger vs. Yahoo! 360
– Picasa vs. Flickr
– Google Video vs. Yahoo! Video
– Google Maps vs. Yahoo Maps
And just recently, Yahoo! (IMHO) surpassed Google with the ability to search the Creative Commons directly. Surprising.
And today, Google has announced that it will soon support video blogging, and will be archiving people’s video clips in the next few days.
Interesting developments, but I suppose if you can’t choose, you can always use Yagoohoogle!
Ian Kerr, Canada Research Chair in Ethics, Law & Technology, presented “if i were an iPod: privacy, autonomy and Internet for Dummies” at the University of Regina on April 5, 2005. The presentation was sponsored by the Sheldon Chumir Foundation. The following are some of the highlights of this presentation.
Background:
Note for my next presentation: As the participants of the session gathered, Dr. Kerr plugged in his iPod to the room’s sound system, and a little bit of Our Lady Peace set the mood. A nice touch.
Dr. Kerr is also involved in a large SSHRC sponsored project titled “On The Identity Trail: Understanding the Importance and Impact of Anonymity and Authentication in a Networked Society.”
There were other panelists participating in this presentation, but for simplicity’s sake, I will focus on the message from Dr. Kerr. I apologize to the other respected panelists.
Presentation:
Intro – We live in an era of terror, weapons of mass destruction. How are we going to combat this fear? Counter intelligence? Dr. Kerr refers to an MIT project referring to smart (kitchen) counter intelligence. “Thinking systems … that lead people through a cooking experience.” Some of the potential of this is that the devices can look for activities (even kitchen activities) that could lead to dangerous outcomes. Smart devices could make our lives safer.
The previous was a lead-up to what are known as “smart technologies.” The idea of “Smart technologies” rose as books like the “Internet for Dummies” entered the market. Interesting overlay. As technologies get “smarter”, humans seem to lag behind.
Today, we are experiencing a “netvolution” … we are moving from a network of ideas, to a network of devices.
It’s easy to say that the media coverage behind the sad passing of Pope John Paul II is unprecedented. We have never before lived in a time where media, both mainstream and independent has infiltrated our lives in so many ways. So I wasn’t surprised to see the 1000’s of blogs covering the illness of the pope, and his passing. But for some reason I was surprised to see that Father Roderick Vonhögen of the Archdiocese of Utrecht, The Netherlands is podcasting. I absolutely love the iPod/Catholic priest graphic at CatholicInsider.com.
I am still working away at a study focused on the Open (Source) Movement as it applies to education. A brief introduction to the study is stated below:
“Examining Open (Source) Communities as Networks of Innovation: Implications for the Adoption of Innovation by Teachers”
“For this study, I am trying to better understand teacher activity and beliefs around what I describe as the ‘open’ movement. To me, this movement is characterized by the use and development of open source software (e.g., Linux, Open Office), open content (e.g., learning object repositories, Creative Commons) and open publishing (e.g., blogging, wikis, indy media).”
While I think my focus has shifted a fair bit (I am no longer looking specifically at teachers), I am still collecting basic information and looking for participants for this study. If you, or anyone you know is involved in the use or advocacy of open (source) software or activities in education, please feel free to fill out the following short online survey, or pass it along to someone who might be interested.
http://prometheus.cc.uregina.ca:7090/opensource/
Those who fill out the form may be asked to participate in a follow-up interview, or asked for some clarification to their responses.
If you have a moment, please help spread the word. I would like this study to be as rich and informative as possible.
A couple of days ago I read a post by Anne Davis titled “Inappropriate Comments = Teachable Moments“, which in itself is worth commenting on. Anne wrote the post in response to an innappropriate comment posted to a student blog. She used the incident as a teachable moment, and in consultation with her students, they collectively constructed protocols dealing with innappropriate comments. This is what they decided:
1) We would not respond to the irresponsible commenters. We would ignore them.
2) The student would report any inappropriate comments to the teacher.
3) The teachers would delete inappropriate comments, if they found them first but would discuss the matter with the owner of the blog and with the group, if appropriate.
4) We agreed that it was unfortunate that the commenter had not used common sense and we would try to set good examples on our blogs.
In being innovative with emerging technologies, teachers may often encounter aspects of Internet communication which are negative or unfavorable. Yet, such incidents are very much a part of an adolescent’s everyday world, and ignoring their existence will only contribute to the division between school learning and “real-world” learning.
And to demonstrate how this Davis’ philosophy is just good sense, note Marcos’ response to the “Inappropriate Comments = Teachable Moments” article. He writes:
“I think weblogs should be allowed in schools because it is part of our education. Weblogging has made me a better writer and thinker. Sometimes we get an inappropriate comment but that doesn’t slow us down. It is not the end of the world because someone has called you a bad name. You can’t stop that from happening. When we get an inappropriate comment we learn a lesson and that lesson is not to be like that person. We also learn responsibility on the Internet. If you were in a race and someone called you a bad name, would you stop? I think not. Martin Luther King Jr. was called bad names all the time and it didn’t stop him from fulfilling his dream. Thinks like this happen all the time, even out of school. So, please don’t shut down weblogs.”
Oh yeah, I failed to mention that Marcos is a fifth grade student. I’m certainly impressed by his level of maturity, and his thinking. Check out his blog at Marcos’ Seaworld of Facts.