Category Archives: Technology

Technology

Book Twist

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The last time I taught 486A (fall 2010), I did iPAD compatible web design. The iPAD compatible was added because there were so many web design courses on campus that compete with 486A… to the point where I was ready to give up.

Then I went for sabbatical in fall 2011, and hence, did not have to teach it last year. For this Jan (2012), there are now a pent up interest for that course, because quite a number of students had to postpone it due to my semester-long absence. Having been back from sabbatical, I had to offer both 486A and B in the same time slot to meet the need of those who did not have a chance to do 486A last semester. Moreover, I was also forced to consider if I wanted to return to the iPAD compatibility, or offer something more.

I sort of decided on offering InDesign, knowing that the eBook market has taken off (finally after many years of false start, thanks to iPAD), and perhaps InDesign could help teachers create instructional resources for handheld devices. I still haven’t met the class yet, because last Monday was Martin Luther King Jr Day. Guess what?

Apple has decided to move to iBOOK 2, and on top of that, releasing the iBook Author. Is this uncanny, or what?

Flash no more?

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If you live somewhere on planer Earth, you probably own either an iPAD, or iPOD. And if you live in Singapore, I will bet you also owned an iPHONE! For all it’s warts and blemishes, Apple’s products sell. And when Apple throws its weight behind HTML 5, many has predicted the demise of Flash.

Today, Flash may not have died, yet, but it looks to be on its way (as many developers anticipated). Adobe has just announced it is folding Flash mobile development. On top of that, its pushing for Adobe Edge (to be released in 2012) as its new HTML 5 development platform. One major tell-tale sign is when Adobe released (without warning) a specialized tool to instantly convert Flash to HTML 5 (as an unsupported beta product), you knew something is going on behind the scene. Why was such a tool even developed in the first place? Many suspect it is for Adobe to gauge the popularity of HTML5 and how many developers would be desperate enough for such a switch (even when the product is unsupported). I am guessing the number of download is overwhelming… judging by adobe’s decision to move ahead with HTML5.

By next year, you should have switched to HTML5. Even though Adobe still want you to use Air (along with Flash Builder/Flex for non-mobile browser). But will Flash Builder eventually give way to something akin to “HTML5 Builder”? We shall see.

iPAD + iOS 4.2

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Since it’s Thanksgiving Day, and I have just updated my iPAD to iOS 4.2, this seemed like a good time to let my thoughts out…

The new iOS 4.2 is like a “wish list” comes true for many power users (no doubt due to some demand/pressure from the business sector). The Apple website claimed that installing iOS 4.2 is like getting a new iPAD, with the addition of AirPrint, better Mail management, Folder, Multitasking, dictionary, even an iPAD locator.

One wish remained: Flash, and it is one that even Father Christmas is not able to grant. ;-) However, if you are one of the geeks (like me), you would already know that there are ways to overcome the limitation through RealVNC, TeamViewer, SplashtopRemote, and the now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t SkyFire video browser). Yet another demonstration of “if there is will, there is a way!”  The main idea behind these work-around is that you can use a faster desktop/laptop to view a Flash presentation, while simultaneously “screen dump” it (both video and audio) over to an iPAD through wireless network connection. The synchronicity depends large on the speed of your WiFi connection. So, if both machine are on the same network, it could be nearly flawless — according to this account, it is possible to run two Flash movies side-by-side without degradation.

So why do I care about iPAD? You probably know that I am not really an Apple lover, right? (I purchased Apple machines only to turn them into PCs, Yikes!) Well, I am an instructional technologists who have decided to make emerging technology my business. And I see iPAD holds a key (big one) in changing not only the way I work and teach, but also the way the next-generation of teachers teach… if I can help it.

The iPAD help me make the cross over to change my Instructional Authoring Tool class to an iPAD-compatible instructional design showcase. I explained the reasoning behind making website compatible with iPAD… and demand my students to think hard about how they can turn their web site into an iPAD compatible one…. through the introduction of big “finger touchable” buttons, specific table size (to reduce white space around the border), lots of nice graphics, Youtube video, HTML5…. the list goes on. The class will soon have its showcase, and I am already seeing some fantastic website. Like the “Learning to Draw” Website by Kalonde, and the Mineral Website by Mark. You may not notice the “big deal” when visiting their site using a laptop/desktop, but they really shine when you access it using an iPAD.

And this is the reason why I am utterly shock about the HP Slate (supposed Tablet killer)!

Once it’s on… A Windows 7 desktop. Not a touch-optimized Windows 7 desktop, just the same user interface that a desktop PC user would encounter, just now with touch capabilities. This can’t actually be the case, could it? Surely, every tech gadget maker now understands that the software is as important as the hardware. I mean, so you’re Microsoft — does the meeting go something like this?

“We need to get Windows on a touchscreen. Like, now.”

“O.K., but 10-inch touchscreens require a different kind of organization and navigation than desktops. Do you want me to optimize the O.S. for touch?”

“Nah, just make it touchable and people can figure out what to do. Throw in a pop-up keyboard and some swipey-screen action. And don’t worry if the screen is really slow to respond to scrolling and is sort of inaccurate about where you’re touching. I’m going to get a cafe latte.”

This is why I think—hope—that what we’re seeing here isn’t quite ready for prime time. Because if H.P. thinks it is? Oh boy.

Hello! Whatever happened to Touch Optimization?? Does HP not hire any instructional designer who specialize in usability testing? (May be they should send someone over to take my course!) 8-O

Happy Thanksgiving!

In C.S. Lewis’ book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Father Christmas arrives when the Witch’s magical hold over Narnia begins to break. He gives Peter, Susan and Lucy gifts, which ultimately will help them defeat the White Witch. Mrs Beaver is given a better sewing machine and Mr. Beaver gets his dam completed.

E-Learn

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Immediately following ModSim, I found myself in Orlando, Florida, attending the E-Learn Conference. My first visit to E-Learn was in 2004 and at that time it left me with a good impression. I remembered a small group of military attendees and discussions about SCORM. There were numerous research findings pertaining to Distance Learning also….

So whatever then happen to E-Learn in 2010? I found very few research papers or empirical studies reported. Besides the keynotes and a few nicely written concept/theory papers, majority of what was presented ranged from ‘sales pitch’, to product talks, to ‘this is what our school dl programs looks like’…. There were so few sessions that intrigue my interests… particularly after a very fruitful ModSim. But what should I think when I started hearing from other participants about how they find the conference to be lacking in research presentation? (Ouch!) 8-O

I do remember a second call for paper… but was there a third? Should I have taken the cue for that to be a sign of ‘lack of participation’ from other fellow researchers, and that many lesser than par papers were accepted?

I don’t have the answer to that. (As a side note, I heard last year’s E-Learn at Vancouver was great, so is it Orlando, US, 2010 economy? Or what?)

Luckily, I did discover two gems from the conference, so maybe it is not so bad. (Am I correct, Mary?)

What’s more interesting is that both gems are making the same demand of me… and will in fact help create a new area in my current research. I look forward to that challenge. As usual, don’t want to talk about it yet, until things are well establish. So stay tune if you want to know.

virtual training

virtual training

Learning Analytics

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Here’s a new word for you: Learning Analytics (LA)

  • According to Wikipedia, LA is “the use of intelligent data, learner-produced data, and analysis models to discover information and social connections, and to predict and advise on learning.”
  • According to EDUCAUSE’s Next Generation learning initiative, LA is “the use of data and models to predict student progress and performance, and the ability to act on that information.”

George Siemens explained that the EDUCAUSE definition is intended to work within the existing educational system, rather than to modify it, where his definition (=Wikipedia)  has to do with using (data and analysis results gleaned from) LA to restructure the process of teaching, learning, and administration.

In George’s mind, LA is very much related to Web analysis, (educational) data mining and tools like Google Analytics.

LA begins by collecting data off-put by users (typically, data trails generated through mouse-clicks, click-through, recommender systems), and storing that data for drill-down analysis. The LA approaches try to make sense of learner activity (through attention/focus heat maps, social network analysis, and so on) and using the findings to take actions for curriculum mapping, personalization and adaptation, prediction, intervention, and competency determination. Put in another word, it involves some kinds of (learning) traits profiling, so that we can better understand the learners to affect their learning.

It is the same for Performance Trails. Except that in Performance Trails, the learning system in question is neither the existing education system, nor the Intelligent Learning Systems (ILS). It is the 3D virtual environments so commonly found in games and virtual worlds.