Kinect Hackers Are Changing the Future of Robotics | Magazine - 0 views
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On November 4, a solution was discovered—in a videogame. That’s the day Microsoft released the Kinect for Xbox 360, a $150 add-on that allows players to direct the action in a game simply by moving their bodies. Most of the world focused on the controller-free interface, but roboticists saw something else entirely: an affordable, lightweight camera that could capture 3-D images in real time.
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When DIYers combine those cheap, powerful tools with the collaborative potential of the Internet, they can come up with the kinds of innovations that once sprang only from big-budget R&D labs. In 2009, a PhD student named Daniel Reetz turned two Canon PowerShot A590s into an improvised high-speed book scanner. He detailed the project on a website, DIYbookscanner.org, where readers have since posted hundreds of tweaks, suggestions, upgrades, and entirely new designs. The open source MPGuino project, which uses an Arduino microcontroller to track gas consumption as you drive, has inspired a small community of fans who help refine and customize the gizmo.
Harnessing the Power of Feedback Loops | Magazine - 0 views
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The signs leverage what’s called a feedback loop, a profoundly effective tool for changing behavior. The basic premise is simple. Provide people with information about their actions in real time (or something close to it), then give them an opportunity to change those actions, pushing them toward better behaviors. Action, information, reaction. It’s the operating principle behind a home thermostat, which fires the furnace to maintain a specific temperature, or the consumption display in a Toyota Prius, which tends to turn drivers into so-called hypermilers trying to wring every last mile from the gas tank. But the simplicity of feedback loops is deceptive. They are in fact powerful tools that can help people change bad behavior patterns, even those that seem intractable. Just as important, they can be used to encourage good habits, turning progress itself into a reward. In other words, feedback loops change human behavior. And thanks to an explosion of new technology, the opportunity to put them into action in nearly every part of our lives is quickly becoming a reality.
Instructional Game Considerations | Kapp Notes - 4 views
Video Chat Becomes Social Networking's New Battleground - 0 views
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"On Wednesday, Facebook announced that it had partnered with Skype to let Facebook users call one another from their camera-enabled computers, simply by clicking on a button on a friend's Facebook profile or from the chat window. After a one-time download of Skype's technology, the video calls look to be painless and simple for anyone to use. Compare that to Hangout, Google's new video chat in its still invite-only social network Google+. Hangout is designed as a group chat application for impromptu socializing with friends. To start one, you press a button declaring you are open to hanging out, choose which circle(s) of friends to send the invite to, and up to 10 people can be in the room at any one time. The loudest talker gets the big space up top - and the group can collectively talk or even watch YouTube videos together. As young Marty McFly once said in a different context, your kids are going to love it."
Contemplative Computing - 0 views
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So can computers actually help improve our concentration and contemplation, instead of leading us into distraction? The problem, as Pang puts it, is that "Technologies that were supposed to help us think better, work more efficiently, and connect more meaningfully with others now interrupt us, divide our attention, and stretch us thin."
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In the paper he outlines give principles of contemplative computing; Build awareness through DIY and self-experimentation Recognize that we are cyborgs, and humans Create rewarding challenges Support mind-wandering Treat flow as a means, not an end
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Pang suggests that we don't have to choose between information technology and contemplation, and suggests contemplative computing as a new way forward. He describes contemplative computing as something you do, not a product. But the principles of contemplative computing could be extending to application design. "The problem is that today's information technologies are often poorly-designed and thoughtlessly used: they're like unreliable prosthetics that we have to depend on, but can't quite control or trust," Pang says.
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A fascinating post on "contemplative computing", where computing can be used to facilitate and even enhance creative education/workflow process... where the software would allow you to try out multiple versions of a music composition / essay / video seamlessly... while enabling you to wander around exploring on relevant topics on Wikipedia without getting distracted off-topic! :)
A Useful Collection of iPhone/iPad Apps Developer Tools and Resources | Onextrapixel - ... - 2 views
Instructional & Multimedia Designin Angry Birds - 7 views
Here were my preliminary thoughts on incorporating Angry Birds in education: http://ashleytan.wordpress.com/2011/06/11/angry-birds-for-learning/
A complete guide to web, Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus privacy and security! | The... - 1 views
Automatic mobile rendering for Google Sites - Docs Blog - 3 views
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As the dramatic growth of the mobile web changes the way people consume content, it’s becoming increasingly important for publishers to provide a good mobile experience. With this in mind, we just added automatic mobile rendering in Google Sites for iOS 3.0+ and Android 2.2+ devices, and a mobile version of the Google Sites lists. By going to General settings under More actions > Manage site and clicking on Automatically adjust site for mobile phones, your Google site will be automatically adjusted whenever it’s viewed from an iOS or Android 2.2+ device
Search Engines Change How Memory Works | Wired Science | Wired.com - 0 views
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Thanks to search engines, most simple facts don’t need to be remembered. They can be accessed with a few keystrokes, plucked from ubiquitous server-stored external memory — and that may be changing how our own memories are maintained. A study of 46 college students found lower rates of recall on newly-learned facts when students thought those facts were saved on a computer for later recovery.
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One small but intriguing effect in the new study involved students who were less able to identify subtly manipulated facts, such as a changed name or date, when drawing on memories they thought were saved online.
The 7 Golden Rules of Using Technology in Schools - 1 views
Blackboard: Now More "Open" | Hack Education - 0 views
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The change will allow instructors to publish and share their courses — syllabi, handouts, and so on — under a Creative Commons Attribution license (CC BY).
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This will mean that, for the first time, content in Blackboard will be available to those who aren’t registered for a course — learners not enrolled, learners not on campus. Professors will be able to share their material to Facebook and Twitter.
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Blackboard also says that it’s revising its policies so that institutions that do open up their course materials this way don’t incur any additional licensing costs when people access the materials, even via webinars and the like. That means non-traditional, non-enrolled, non-revenue generating students will be able to access the material as “guests” without forcing schools to pay more.
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Ice Cream Sandwich Face Recognition | Augmented Planet - 2 views
Ten ways schools are using social media effectively | eSchool News - 0 views
South Korea Says Good-Bye To Print Textbooks, Plans To Digitize Entire Curriculum By 20... - 0 views
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Smart Education will change how we perceive textbooks,” South Korea’s Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Ju-Ho Lee, told the BBC. “The transfer from the traditional paper textbooks to digital textbooks will allow students to leave their heavy backpacks and explore the world beyond the classroom.”
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