Monthly Archives: April 2016

Chatbots: Wave of the Future, or Bad Idea Waiting to Crash and Burn?

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There has been some chatter about Chatbots in education, usually in the form of automated feedback in larger classes or tutoring-style help or even as a replacement teacher. Some don’t like the idea that much – “Please, Facebook, Don’t Make Me Speak to Your Awful Chatbots” is definitely written by someone that is not a fan, but a good article if you want to look at the trends that led to chatbots as well as the problems some have with them. It doesn’t touch on the most concerning aspect of chatbots: outsourcing human jobs to bots, with sub-par results. There are some interesting uses for chatbots in education, such as automatic answers to frequently asked questions (as long as learners know they are getting a bot as well as what the system does with any data they submit). But there are other ideas that are not good at all, such as how Bill Gates wants to replace teachers with chatbots so that everyone can learn like him. We all learn differently, and while some would like the idea of a chatbot answering questions, many would not. Many prefer to explore on their own where Gates likes to ask questions. And there are many other ways that would not include either way. We are all different, and we are every changing. Why would we all want to learn in the way one person does?

Turn Your Body in a Computer Display

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Using the human body as a computer display of some sort is not a new thing (as there was always someone in elementary class that would jump in from of the projector on film day and shout “look – my tummy is a TV!”), but current work in this area is fascinating. A new article circulating today (I believe Dr. Peggy Semmingson was the first one I saw posting it) talks about an incredibly thin organic display being applied directly to our skin. The initial idea would be to measure and display various aspects of your health. Maybe someday it would display your emotional state and even communications. While privacy will need to be addressed (you don’t want a display of your feelings or heart rate on your should for all to see at all times, right?), still an interesting idea. I’m also a fan of the idea of the Cicret display band in the video above (which I believe Justin Dellinger brought to my attention). It just projects your cellphone display on your arm, and then tracks where you touch. It probably can’t give you the same health information as the skin display, so both could work together.

Reclaim the Front Page of Your Learning Experience for #IndieEdTech

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While this website is an area to quickly document different “innovations” that I read about (within a pretty wide and loose definition of the word), I will continue to write more in-depth on my main blog about newer ideas I am pondering/working on/etc. Mainly because this website is not really meant to be a blog as much as a fluid place for updates. After reading about the Indie Ed-Tech movement, I decided to take a look at some of the customizable modality pathways design work I researched in my dissertation and consider how that connects. The idea that is emerging in my work is one of learners reclaiming the control of their learning experience. Reclaim the Front Page of Your Learning Experience for is really just me laying out how my ideas connect with the larger picture of Indie Ed-Tech, as well as where I will go with these ideas. More to come in future blog posts over at EduGeek Journal.

Personal Wrist Watch Transformer Drones are About to Become a Reality

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I seem to remember in the back of my head some 80’s Saturday morning cartoon had a character with a wrist watch that was also a robot that took off and spied on the bad guys. I guess the people at Nixie saw the same show at some point and turned it into a drone (or “wearable camera” as they call it). The Nixie Wearable Camera looks like a wristwatch, but then it unfolds into a small drone, takes off, takes a picture or video, and comes back. Basically a flying SoloShot. Of course, I can hear every concerned parent out there worrying about four spinning blades being just inches from their peoples’ wrists and jugulars – a major accident is just a sudden allergy-induced sneeze away. Hopefully there are some security measures in place. But as with any emerging technology (like drones), the charge is to make the idea practical and relevant to everyday usage in order to gain widespread usage. Unlike many other new technologies, I can see where something like this could have educational potential right away (once they invent miniblade-proof wrist guards, that is). Any course that could send learners out into the world to capture visual artifacts from a greater distance (Geology, Architecture, Urban Planning, Nursing, Engineering, etc) could utilize cheaper/smaller drone options to help learners gain a different perspective. Of course, this is not the first smaller drone to be made, but it does contain a novel (albeit potentially grisly) storage and transportation mode that could make it more practical than others. Of course, if you end up owning an Apple Watch, a Fit Bit, an Empatica E4, and a Nixie, it will be like the 80s Swatch fad gone high-tech.

Stephen Downes v. George Siemens…. the Re-Match of the Century!

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Open Discussion and Interaction Time with Stephen Downes

Location: UT Arlington LINK Research Lab (246 Nedderman Hall)

Time: Monday April 18, 2016 at 12:00 PM CST

Ends: Monday April 18, 2016 at 1:00 PM CST

Stephen Downes will be in at the UT Arlington Research Lab to discuss his recent work and views on education. This discussion time will be an interactive time where you can pick Downes brain on any topic you are interested in. Also expect plenty of banter between Downes and George Siemens, who will also be there.

Holoportation – More Practical Application of Virtual Reality

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One of barriers to wide-spread adoption of Virtual Reality (well, beyond cost and computing power and complexity and…) is finding useful applications beyond gaming. Of course, anyone that has looked at a VR headset has probably thought how nice it would be to connect Skype to those somehow. Seems like Microsoft had the same idea, kind of. Fill a room with 3D cameras, connect to Hololens, and connect with 3-D virtual holograms of people that are far away. Microsoft’s Hololens is a different type of VR device that is also part augmented reality – it can combine virtual components with the real world around you as an augmented layer. It also currently costs thousands of dollars. So, yeah – this set up is not cheap. But someday we could see the eye tracking Fove combined with Microsoft Hololens and holoportation to take educational concepts like social presence, teacher presence, and immediacy to new levels. Of course, if most people are still ignoring those affective components in the future as they are now, newer cooler technology won’t change that.

Eye Tracking in Virtual Reality

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https://www.youtube.com/plTTqH-YMT4

Another sticking point in Virtual Reality is control. Many Virtual Reality “games” are really guided tours through cool 3-D graphics. Others require a game controller that can somewhat take you out of the “reality.” Others are trying to add more natural controls like eye tracking, unidirectional treadmills, etc. Fove is billed as the first VR headset with eye tracking built in. They say you can move with your eyes, make eye contact (with virtual things, that is – but important when considering new ideas like holoportation), and reduce simulation sickness. All of that in a device that doesn’t require a powerful computer to run for $349-399? Well, that is what they charged Kickstarter backers for one of their headsets. Wonder what the commercial version will cost. But it seems that many of the barriers to VR becoming a “thing” are melting away.

Turn Your Phone into a 3-D Printer

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRU6h46eAmg

I know it sounds like a crazy claim, but there is a serious project out there that wants to turn your cellphone into a 3-D printer. And it will cost $99. Watch the video above to see this project in action (and you still have time to buy one through the KickStarter!). 3-D printing is starting to come down in price, but the big question is how flexible will it become, and how will people use it in everyday life? By flexibility, I mean things like color and material. Its cool to print some trinkets in one color, but when will we see colors available? And what about things that have different materials, like metal and plastic? Someday hopefully. The other problem is how to use it in everyday life. Sure, you can print up some one time cool things, but then what? I think this OLO is one way to look at how to practically use it – 3-D messaging. The other side is to give people the ability to make things and send it to others. I see that as a better use for education.

A Great Introduction to Blockchain for Education

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Blockchain for Education

There has been some chatter about taking the idea of BitCoin and applying the underlying technology of BlockChain to education. Audrey Watters gives a great introduction to the idea and where it could be going for education. The questions she raises are key considerations that, in a lot of ways, should steer Education away from the whole idea. The scenario she describes for proving your knowledge to potential employers sounds exhausting. While these ideas seem scary to most, big companies are investing huge amounts of $$$ into the idea and we need to know what is happening before this grows beyond what we can control.