06.09.2021 Views

Education for a Digital World Advice, Guidelines and Effective Practice from Around Globe, 2008a

Education for a Digital World Advice, Guidelines and Effective Practice from Around Globe, 2008a

Education for a Digital World Advice, Guidelines and Effective Practice from Around Globe, 2008a

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

1 – Emerging Technologies in E-learning<br />

Display technologies:<br />

• high-definition, wall-sized display screens<br />

• three-dimensional displays<br />

• h<strong>and</strong>held mini-projectors<br />

• glasses-mounted, near-to-eye displays<br />

• flexible, paper-like displays<br />

• full-face virtual-reality (3D) helmets<br />

Multi-sensory inputs <strong>and</strong> outputs (see Stead, Sharpe,<br />

Anderson, Cych & Philpott, 2006):<br />

• speech<br />

• smell<br />

• movements, gestures, <strong>and</strong> emotional states<br />

• tangible user interfaces using the direct manipulation<br />

of physical objects<br />

• h<strong>and</strong>held PCs <strong>for</strong> user input <strong>and</strong> data<br />

• GPS (global positioning system) units<br />

• wearable sensors<br />

Examples of augmented reality applications include:<br />

• image-guided surgery in medicine<br />

• movie <strong>and</strong> television special effects<br />

• airplane cockpit training<br />

• computer-generated images <strong>for</strong> engineering design<br />

• simulation of major manufacturing environments<br />

Augmented reality is most often used to generate<br />

complex, immersive simulations. Simulations are powerful<br />

learning tools that provide a safe environment <strong>for</strong><br />

learners to practise skills <strong>and</strong> conduct experiments.<br />

Integrating the physical world <strong>and</strong> computer input is<br />

obviously an expensive technical challenge, <strong>and</strong> it is<br />

mainly a research field at this time. Up to now, the potential<br />

training applications are limited to medical, military,<br />

<strong>and</strong> flight training; but as costs come down, the<br />

possibilities <strong>for</strong> simulations in all fields are limited only<br />

by the imagination.<br />

Many research projects are being carried out in this<br />

area. For more in<strong>for</strong>mation on augmented reality, see<br />

Sony’s Computer Science Laboratory (http://www.csl<br />

.sony.co.jp/project/ar/ref.html) <strong>and</strong> the thesis abstract at<br />

http://www.se.rit.edu/~jrv/research/ar/introduction.html.<br />

Smart mobs<br />

Rheingold, the author of Smart Mobs, considers smart<br />

mobs to be “the next social revolution” (Rheingold,<br />

2006, para. 1) combining “mobile communication, pervasive<br />

computing, wireless networks, [<strong>and</strong>] collective<br />

action” (para. 1)<br />

Two well-known examples of smart mobs involved<br />

events in the US as well as in the Philippines: “Street<br />

demonstrators in the 1999 anti-WTO protests used dynamically<br />

updated websites, cell phones, <strong>and</strong> ‘swarming’<br />

tactics in the ‘battle of Seattle.’ A million Filipinos toppled<br />

President Estrada through public demonstrations<br />

organized through salvos of text messages” (Rheingold,<br />

2006, para. 2).<br />

In education, instead of smart mobs protesting a political<br />

decision, smart study groups will <strong>for</strong>m to prepare<br />

<strong>for</strong> quizzes or to provide feedback about written assignments<br />

be<strong>for</strong>e submitting them <strong>for</strong> a grade.<br />

WEBSITES MENTIONED IN THIS SECTION<br />

• Emerging Technology Links:<br />

http://www.u.arizona.edu/~cgj/emerging<br />

• Center <strong>for</strong> <strong>Digital</strong> Storytelling:<br />

http://www.storycenter.org<br />

• Suprglu: http://www.superglu.com<br />

• Nobel Prize: http://nobelprize.org/educational_games<br />

• Google Maps: http://maps.google.com<br />

• Google Scholar: http://scholar.google.com<br />

• Gnooks: http://www.gnooks.com<br />

• Blinx: http://www.blinkx.tv<br />

• StumbleUpon: http://www.stumbleupon.com<br />

• Ask.com: http://www.ask.com<br />

• Flickr: http://www.flickr.com<br />

• YouTube: http://www.youtube.com<br />

• Tracking the Avian Flu:<br />

http://www.futurecrisis.com/places/view.php<br />

• Top City Books: http://www.topcitybooks.com<br />

• SecretPrices.com: http://www.secretprices.com<br />

• Cookin’ with Google:<br />

http://www.researchbuzz.org/wp/tools/cookin-withgoogle<br />

• MySpace: http://myspace.com<br />

• Facebook: http://facebook.com<br />

• Plaxo: http://www.plaxo.com<br />

• LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com<br />

• Augmented Reality:<br />

http://www.csl.sony.co.jp/project/ar/ref.html<br />

• Smart Mobs: http://smartmobs.com<br />

• For a list of the latest mashups, go to:<br />

http://coolgooglemaps.blogspot.com <strong>and</strong><br />

http://www.programmableweb.com.<br />

• For a list of social networking links go to:<br />

http://socialsoftware.weblogsinc.com/2005/02/14/homeof-the-social-networking-services-meta-list<br />

<strong>Education</strong> <strong>for</strong> a <strong>Digital</strong> <strong>World</strong> 11

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!