Robbie #edcmooc

Robbie

This is a typical example of the concept that we are discussing with digital cultures. Even though Robbie is a Robot (converted) it is talking about the things that he is missing. All the missing things are connections to people on earth, how sad it is that is had to leave earth, about the feelings of parting and missing Cathies music playing, missing other fellow members conversations and connectedness to them. Robbie is specifying the distance, time and how long it has been away, out of all it is more concerned about interaction that it is missing.

The interesting fact about the video is that how powerful you can be in terms of energy, battery power, ability to travel etc, finally they all boils down to feelings, how important is it to be connected, be part of a society, have someone to share thoughts, ideas, and feelings.

With an implanted brain which is expected to be artificial, if Robbie is missing connectedness, how much would we humans miss this if we are sent out of space for years to be all lone?

Assessment Digital Artefact #EDCMOOC

With the current technological innovations there is no edge to what we can do...we can explore and take advantage of resources, solutions and processes that is way beyond what we have with us. To make use of  these resources and to be the beneficiaries we have to use the technology in ethical and humanistic manner.

Sources:Spiral galaxy http://messier.seds.org/m/m031.html
Business Woman, Microsoft images

Digital Ways #edcmooc

Digital Ways to Engage your Students

#edcmooc


Mellisa discusses how technological changes have made teachers think outside the box to keep the students engaged within their comfort zone while making use of the benefits of the  technology. These technological tools do provide fun learning environment while the students are kept focused on the topic that is being taught.

some of the tools like the back channeling are cost effective implementations that provides an additional learning environment.

With simple tools/apps such as Evernote,you will start collaborating with the students as a teacher while allowing the students to collaborate and work in teams.

Great post and thank you for sharing!

Digital Ways to Engage your Students #edcmooc

Digital Ways to Engage your Students


Mellisa discusses how technological changes have made teachers think outside the box to keep the students engaged within their comfort zone while making use of the benefits of the  technology. These technological tools do provide fun learning environment while the students are kept focused on the topic that is being taught.

some of the tools like the back channeling are cost effective implementations that provides an additional learning environment.

With simple tools/apps such as Evernote,you will start collaborating with the students as a teacher while allowing the students to collaborate and work in teams.

Great post and thank you for sharing!

Life Long Learning

A great video

This video was shared by EDCMOOC participant. It is a great video where it says individualized independent learning provides new paths for life long learning!

World Builder

by Bruce Bryant

Can human emotion be manipulated by digital simulation?

Humans are identified to be the most interesting creature on earth to study. Their behavior and thoughts can change more than 60 times a minute. With such speedy thought travelling what humans can do is quite unknown even with such technologically developed times. However, similar to their (humans) capabilities they do have weaknesses. Even though they are quite capable of inventing and doing things, when it comes to feelings they could be seen as the weakest...

In the movie, it is all about nature, natural setting and how much human like to be close to the nature. And also, it shows how humans connect with different things.

Do emotions get manipulated with technological simulations,,,is a difficult question to answer, as I would think the answer is yes and no. Our emotions do get manipulated due to simulations but only until we get to know that it is a simulation. We always want to be close to the real thing/person more than any other means!

Heart to heart

Hear to heart is an advertisement that reminds us about virtual-reality. We have embraced technological developments so much that sometimes we connect with people as close as much we are face to face.

However it also question whether we are happy to live with just technology or we really want to connect with humans, face to face. Do we want to call it illusion? May be, but the reality is we have got closer to that illusion more than ever before. Even though we can connect through media we still want to believe that we are face to face.

Toyota GT86

The dystopic vision in this video shows how people have changed over time.
The simulation shows how people would move towards the authentic realistic and personal type of items. This means our students will also look for authentic learning materials, resources, activities and even projects to work on. Will they also be looking that type of trainers and teachers who can provide authentic, real-life examples and humans (rather than machines) to learn?

Automated and machine dependency will provide efficiency while authenticity taking a another turn in the education sector!

I believe authenticity and human interaction are important factors that we have not forgotten in the education sector, and with this example it verifies that in the future also such attributes will be valued.

Will technology hinder these attributes in the education sector? My guess is not, what ever said and done, after all the learners demand for real humans to teach them, things that are related to them directly.

Innovations

Social Media

Are you really into Social Media?

Like the idea of saying "This video should begin at minute 7:00 (if it doesn't, start at 7:00 yourself)" by edcMOOCs. Nice way to keep the earning interesting.

Annalee Newitz in her speech describes several stories similar to science fiction that tells about potential future through social media. It is quite interesting to listening to the concepts Hive mind, and Proverbial privacy apocalypse. Is nt it interesting to think how t=our own brain crash through a virus? Just like the computer crashes through a virus. But when you think of it, we actually have few signs of this happening already? There are many youngsters who end up in mental trauma or dysfunctional mental conditions through addicted computer games or videos.

Our future options with technology:
This is a very in depth area of study. Now that many futuristic technological advancements have been revealed, the future seems to be quite in-predictable. If the technology is used for valuable tasks it will provide us with great efficiencies and support to live a better life. At the same time if it is used for controlling purposes it will lead to many problems such as privacy issues and especially resistance from the users. 

Our preoccupations and assumptions:
With the advancements. some of our assumptions could be justified. How privacy will be violated and how it will be used to monitor different actions could be a major issue int he future.
May of our occupational environments would change and expectations will be quite different to what we have now.

Utopia-Dystopia:
In one hand you could argue that this will lead to utopia and the other could argue that this is dystopia. It will depend on how it is viewed. If there is someone who would think that streamlining and making the world a better place through these development it would be considered to be one compared to the group who thinks it is not the best option!

Plurality

Are you a time traveler?

Yet another think provoking video. It is so interesting to watch these videos and then gaze into the future. But again do you really want to be watched! every step and every move of your life to be monitored and watched!

Education, on the other hand could benefit through some features of technology that can made distance learning more practical. Thinking of rural students and how they can be monitored only while they are carrying out a practical session etc would be fine with such technology. But like anything, will these technological developments be used for the benefit of our human race or to create more and more scary environments is yet a question.

Charlie 13

Charlie 13: Would you like to be Tagged?


Click here for the video

This is a very interesting video. Just makes you think hard where we are heading. It is not where we could end up,it is also what and how life would change with these new developments.

We all love to be advantageous and follow our inquisitiveness take us. However, would you like to be chipped/tagged. It only reminds me of tagging/chipping the farm animals to keep track of this growth and other developments and the wild animals that researchers want to track. The tracking to me is more like "big brother" watching over your shoulder...

Technological developments can always bring changes to ways we live, work and socially interact. However, when it crosses the line to interfere personal life it takes a different path altogether. Many of us will agree about the medical advancements that technology provides us today. But does that mean you want to ruin your personal life being tagged? Would you prefer to be free or being watched through a tagging system. I personally will feel like I am taken to a prison for the rest of my life if I get tagged...

No wonder Charlie resist to this and wants to wonder with his inquisitive mind!

Sight

Sight

Click here to watch the video

"Sight explores how the ubiquity of data and the increasingly blurry line between the digital and the material might play out in the sphere of human relationships". edcMOOC

The learning is a process that we all undertake consciously or without really thinking about it. However when learning is made to be fun activity where there is inquisitiveness, defectiveness or making the learner to achieve something challenging, it is more entertaining.  Also it allows the skill to be developed easily compared to boring activity where the learner has to struggle to gain the skill.

Game based learning in the educational context as well as in the professional development scenarios work in an effective manner. However, the trainer has to make sure the game based learning add value rather than just providing badges to every person, and very move that takes place, which devalues the idea of game based learning.

Resources

Wimba Create:

Guides:
http://www.netspot.com.au/cg_docs.htm

Productivity future

Future....

The future that this video is indicates will be at our door step soon. With the current research and developments, these devices will be available in the market soon. 

In businesses, education institutes and in individuals personal life activities will be changed by using the luxury facilities these devices provide. However, we need to understand what we intend to achieve with the use of these devices.

Is it only a marketing/sales strategy to add more features or do they bring efficency to our daily life?

A Day Made of Glass 2

A Day Made of Glass 2

This a video that explains what the near future will be. It also enables use of technology to make decisions, arrange days activities and carry out tasks in an efficient and effective manner. The younger generation, the digital natives will only see the world through these devices. They also might not know a world that was without these gadgets. Such devices can be used to enhance learning experiences.

However like with many technological advances, this production raises few questions about the effectiveness of the devices and other tools if basic requirements such as wifi are not available.


Education visualised :
The education has been visualised through communication and with the use of technology. The technology has been introduced as the main tool that facilitates most of the learning and teaching. However, it never represents that human teacher student interaction is removed nor robot are used to educate people.

Nature of communication in these future worlds:
Nature of communication according to this  video is more like using different technological mobile devices. It represents developments in the technological devices for the purpose.

Utopian or a Dystopian visions :
Without boundaries the world will be a small connected place creating an Utopian vision

Ideas and interpretations: Is man a tool-using animal?

Chandler, D. (2002). Technological determinism. Web essay, Media and Communications Studies, University of Aberystwyth. Download as PDF.

Key points:

Technology led theory:

The two main categories are:

• Technology PUSH
• Demand PULL

Technological determinism:

Technology is the basis of society in the past, present and future and considers cause and effect relationship

Benjamin Franklin apparently first coined the phrase that 'man is a tool-using animal'. 
It was such a long time ago that Franklin had stated this, but when you think even today most of us are tool-using creatures? Some of us get involved in making them too. But most of the time we use what has been made by others. Such a great saying!

Thomas Carlyle echoed this in 1841, adding that 'without tools he is nothing; with them he is all'

How can you prove this to be wrong, imagine you without your phone for a day! How lost are you. It is like you are being put into a dark whole cut off from the whole world. But with a set of tools what is the thing that we can not do....?


Leslie White's statement place everything into context, when he declared  'We may view a cultural system as a series of three horizontal strata: the technological layer on the bottom, the philosophical on the top, the sociological stratum in between...

These readings are really good they are thought provoking....

Web based technology connecting people?

Inbox - Short film

Do n't we always connect with people now with the technological advancements? Have we ever stopped to think if these technology was not there what life would be.

Good old days it was only a face to face encounter that we got to know people. Other method was to read about another person either through a book or a news paper. And then came the telephone which enabled connecting with people easily...and it did not take much time to have computers and mobiles...also not to mention our dear friend WWW.

Now we are 24 X 7 connected with the whole world, with anyone and everyone. It has made the word quite small and connected. Hope it also has made people happier and wiser?

edcmooc week 1 readings

Bendito Machine:

This is the first resource that I am watching for week 1 of edc mooc. This video is reminding me of the good old days when we first got our TV, good old days. But at that time people used to sit and watch TV as if it was the greatest thing that was around. Many people stayed up in the night to watch movies and stopped going to the cinemas etc. All in all the new device was considered the best item on earth that gave the best times for young and old. However, as time went pass, there were so many critiques about the TV and how it impact childhood out door play and suitability of the programs etc.

People started to weigh the pro and cons and think before they let their kids watch certain telecasts on TV and they also restricted the time allocated as the younger generation became obese and un healthy.

It nt it the same thing that has happened with many other tools( our new toys)? Computers. Laptops, phones and now ipads and iphones, They all bring great innovation into our society. At the same time people would know how to and when to use these devices to make the best use of them,

This great short animation, well represent how people embrace and value these new tools forgetting many other important factors, Also, how un sustainable we could be by just throwing fully functional devices just to get few more features in a new device.

These are quite different aspects of the same coin, should you not gain the benefits of the new tools...or should you be just switching to the latest model just to get the new feature?