As smartphones proliferate, some users are cutting the computer cord

Excellent article in the Washington Post summarising the findings of recent research in to smartphone ownership and use

A third of all American adults own a smartphone and for many minority and low income users, those mobile devices have replaced computers for Internet access.

The findings released Monday by the Pew Internet & American Life Project highlight the breakneck speed consumers are adopting smartphones — faster than just about any high-tech product in history.

Facebook and Privacy

Cory Doctoroy at the TEDxObserver event on Facebook and why we need to teach pupils/kids to guard their privacy. As usual Doctorow is though provoking.

Thanks to @melaniemcbride for the tweet.

2011 Horizon Report

Each year, the Horizon Report describes six areas of emerging technology that will have significant impact on higher education and creative expression over the next one to five years. The areas of emerging technology cited for 2011 are:

Time to adoption: One Year or Less

• Electronic Books
• Mobiles

Time to adoption: Two to Three Years

• Augmented Reality
• Game-based Learning

Time to adoption: Four to Five Years

• Gesture-based Computing
• Learning Analytics

Here is a short fast paced video clip on the findings

Creative Commons

Here’s a short film explaining the benefits of Creative Commons.

Kodachrome 64. Last Roll.

I had previously blogged about the end of Kodachrome 64 slide film. National Geographic photographer Steve McCurry was given the last roll of Kodachrome produced by Kodak.

Have a look and see what Steve shot with the last roll to be processed. I wonder how long it will be before most other non specialised film goes the same way?

“Today is the day that Dwayne’s Photo in Parsons, Kansas, the last lab on the planet to process Kodachrome, stops developing the iconic film forever.  When Kodak stopped producing the film last year, they gave me the last roll.   When I finished shooting the final frames, I hand-delivered it to Parsons.   Here are a few of those last 36 frames.”

Teens and Mobile Phones

New research from The Pew Research Center
Mobile phones have become the hub of teens’ communication with peers and others, and is increasingly a source of information as well as connection to others. This talk presents data about which teens have mobile phones and how they use them – texting, talking and beyond – as well as findings about the type of plan teens have for their phones and how those economic factors affect use. The presentation also examines how institutions like families and schools regulate teens’ mobile phones. Some very interesting information here about. For example the typical teen sends around 50 text messages each day!

Charles Leadbetter

Very interesting talk from Charles Leadbetter on education in the developing world. Charles Leadbeater went looking for radical new forms of education — and found them in the slums of Rio and Kibera, where some of the world’s poorest kids are finding transformative new ways to learn. And this informal, disruptive new kind of school, he says, is what all schools need to become.

Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the learning revolution! | Video on TED.com

TED Talks In this poignant, funny follow-up to his fabled 2006 talk, Sir Ken Robinson makes the case for a radical shift from standardised schools to personalised learning — creating conditions where kids’ natural talents can flourish.

more about “Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the learni…“, posted with vodpod

The 2010 Horizon Report

The 2010 Horizon Report: K-12 Edition, examines emerging technologies for their potential impact on and use in teaching, learning, and creative expression within the environment of pre-college education

The technologies featured in each edition of the Horizon Report are embedded within a contemporary context that reflects the realities of the time, both in the sphere of education and in the world at large. To assure this perspective, each Advisory Board researches, identifies, and ranks key trends that are currently affecting the practice of teaching, learning, and creativity, and uses these as a lens for its later work. These trends are surfaced through an extensive review of current articles, interviews, papers, and new research. Once identified, the list of trends is ranked according to how significant an impact they are likely to have on education in the next five years. The following five trends have been identified as key drivers of technology adoptions for the period 2010 through 2015; they are listed here in the order they were ranked by the Advisory Board.

2• Technology is increasingly a means for empowering students, a method for communication and socializing, and a ubiquitous, transparent part of their lives.Technology is impacting all of our lives, and especially the lives of students, in new and expanding ways. Once seen as an isolating influence, technology is now recognized as a primary way to stay in touch and take control of one’s own learning. Multisensory, ubiquitous, and interdisciplinary, technology is integrated into nearly everything we do. It gives students a public voice and a means to reach beyond the classroom for interaction and exploration.

3• Technology continues to profoundly affect the way we work, collaborate, communicate, and succeed. Information technologies impact how people work, play, learn, socialize, and collaborate. Increasingly, technology skills are also critical to success in almost every arena, and those who are more facile with technology will advance while those without access or skills will not. The digital divide, once seen as a factor of wealth, is now seen as a factor of education: those who have the opportunity to learn technology skills are in a better position to obtain and make use of technology than those who do not. Evolving occupations, multiple careers, and an increasingly mobile workforce contribute to this trend.

4• The perceived value of innovation and creativity is increasing. Innovation is valued at the highest levels of business and must be embraced in schools if students are to succeed beyond their formal education. The ways we design learning experiences must reflect the growing importance of innovation and creativity as professional skills. Innovation and creativity must not be linked only to arts subjects, either; these skills are equally important in scientific inquiry, entrepreneurship, and other areas as well.

5• There is increasing interest in just-in-time, alternate, or non-formal avenues of education, such as online learning, mentoring, and independent study. More and more, the notion of the school as the seat of educational practice is changing as learners avail themselves of learning opportunities from other sources. There is a tremendous opportunity for schools to work hand-in-hand with alternate sources, to examine traditional approaches, and to reevaluate the content and experiences they are able to offer.

6• The way we think of learning environments is changing. Traditionally, a learning environment has been a physical space, but the idea of what constitutes a learning environment is changing. The “spaces” where students learn are becoming more community-driven, interdisciplinary, and supported by technologies that engage virtual communication and collaboration. This changing concept of the learning environment has clear implications for schools.

Has education changed since the Industrial Revolution?

Interesting little clip from the We Are The People film.

Thanks to @ipittman for the tweet