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A USA TODAY report! Does this mean that Occupy is not true democratization.

I think civic engagement in general fails to capture Americans' interest if you look at voting demographics and overall participation in local government.

Video demonstrates an intuitive pan/zoom feature of 'video screen capture'. This could be very useful, but it is quite expensive $299.

It isn't so much the fact that this camera can do what it can. It's how its inventor conceptualized the possibilities of firing packets of photons many times and capturing it to form an image. There were ripples of light! Amazing possibilities in store for the imaginative educator...

From the article: "Music technology in some ways appears to have been on a trajectory in which the end result is that it will destroy and devalue itself. It will succeed completely when it self-destructs. The technology is useful and convenient, but it has, in the end, reduced its own value and increased the value of the things it has never been able to capture or reproduce."

Raspberry Pi may sound like the name of a math-based dessert. But it is actually one of the hottest and cheapest little computers in the world right now. Almost one million of these $35 machines have shipped since last February, capturing the imaginations of educators, hobbyists and tinkerers around the world. One Pi owner, Dave Akerman, of Brightwalton, England, even sent a Raspberry Pi to the upper atmosphere, floating it 40,000 meters up using a weather balloon. There he was able to take live video, photos and measurements. "Now every primary school in the world can take pictures from near space," Mr. Upton said. "You give people access to this tool and they do great things."

In line with this past week's lecture on AI and computers attempting to capture human-like learning. This work my MIT researchers is trying to replicate 'plasticity' in our learning - how our brain neurons adapt to new info, creating new connections.

What can I say, its a smartpen. On the flip side of the user-value, a teacher could use the device to 'capture' student work in a digital log, The ability to program the SmartPaper with unique commands would make for some simple yet scalable adaptive testing designs.

Vernier develops some interesting data collection technology for a tough concept. Will capturing info frame by frame and generating a graph help students understand the concept of velocity?

Orwell missed the mark with his vision of a society that is policed by a single panoptical entity (government). WE ARE BIG BROTHER! Regardless of use, taste or even civility, the masses are using their digital recorders to capture everything. These students have developed a very interesting aggrigator of live video cams that layers over Google Earth sat feeds....Check this out!

In general, these systems consist of a school photo ID card affixed to a lanyard that is worn around the student's neck. The ID has a RFID chip embedded in it. The tag includes a digit number assigned to each student. As a student enters the school or pass beneath a doorway equipped with an RFID reader, the tag ID is read, recorded and sent to a server in the school's administrative office. The captured data not only provides an attendance list (sent to the teacher's PDA), but tracks the student's movement throughout the day.

I like that it makes attendance easier to monitor but still seems kinda creepy...and there's always a way around those systems....

The SPINNER project from the Responsive Environments Group at MIT Media Lab is the first research platform designed to investigate the world of ubiquitous video devices. The Spinner can automatically edit video to fit a narrative structure. It uses video from cameras installed at the Media Lab and sensor data from people generated by wearable smart badges to track their activity and location. The system then creates a video using the characteristics detected from the sensor data with the video captured by the cameras.

An Indian firm has created a mobile device platform that "empowers social enterprises (at the bottom of the pyramid) to capture, analyze and process information remotely through smartphones / tablets". I think this is interesting in it's bringing mobile collaboration to some of the most remote places, physically and economically.

http://www.ted.com At TEDIndia, Pranav Mistry demos several tools that help the physical world interact with the world of data -- including a deep look at his SixthSense device and a new, paradigm-shifting paper "laptop." In an onstage Q&A, Mistry says he'll open-source the software behind SixthSense, to open its possibilities to all.

Hi there Hongge, thanks for sharing this amazing video. He's managed to bridge certain key technologies and made them more intuitive for the daily user. It's great that he's made it open-source too! Maybe we could pay a visit to MIT to check it out? I wonder though, whether such a device would in the future not only project thoughts and programs but also capture user data and begin to 'suggest' or advertise certain things to you. Scary but the potential is enormous. Again, thanks!

Thanks, Matthew. That video was actually filmed three years ago (yes, even before iPhone 4) and I wonder if Pranav is still at MIT Media Lab. Maybe Karen knows more about him and could make an introduction for us? Machine learning and personalizing content for us is already happening. Personally, I like the idea of personalized content simply because nowadays we can be so easily info-overloaded. It is quite normal for CEOs and political leaders to digest pre-screened/selected info by their secretaries and/or advisers, right? And Google has been doing this for advertising to consumers. I don't mind the right ads appear at the right time when I need the product or service. What really strikes me about Pranav's idea is that it reminds me about the movie Inception, where you can transplant an idea into someone's mind and the distinction between reality and the virtual world is so blurry.

Lesson Capture and Technology in the service of education!

One of the few uses of advanced technologies in the history curriculum

As delivery of history teaching to students becomes more and more realistic, it is more important than ever to ensure that we have in place a robust and diverse oversight network to ensure that the narrative being suggested is an accurate representation of the time and place, as opposed to a history-as-written-by-the-winners narrative, which is pervasive throughout many textbooks. For many students, this sort of immersion will overwhelm any alternative streams of knowledge coming from Harlem in the 20s, so it is vital that the VR be constructed in a way that captures the context of why it was such a dynamic time in New York. As for the creators of this technology having to turn to the porn industry for technical support, that should not come as a surprise, as many claim that porn has revolutionized, or at least been instrumental in, the emergence of many new industries from VHS to the internet.

Captures the complexities of actually implementing new technologies in school at scale.

This "Web documentary" provides a unique way to expose an important political and social issue. Focusing on the issues surrounding China's exploitation of its land and people related to coal, the site casts the viewer as an investigating journalist. You can choose to visit the sites and see the conditions for yourself or you can talk to people along the way and gain insight into their lives (as well as the political system). The content is deep, has high replay value, consists of very high-quality media, and represents an innovative approach to sharing experiences about important world issues.

Wow. I have seen web documentaries highlighting human rights issues before, but this one's style and tone really captures the juxtaposition between socioeconomic classes. The map and additional information buttons are great for Social Studies and History teachers willing to bring this into the classroom. As a former middle school World Geography teacher, I would be interested in showing this to my class, but also hesitant. Any former teachers who would show this to their students?

Wow. I've seen similar attempts at making web documentaries trying to raise public awareness about human rights before, but the filmmaker really hit the nail on the head. The juxtaposition between socioeconomic classes and the attempts mine workers make to brighten their world (i.e. engaging in a Christmas song/dance at the temple) is striking. I'm curious if any teachers would be brave enough to discuss these topics in their social studies classes.

If you're nerdy and sartorial

Summary: In a shift, professors from prominent colleges (including Harvard) are actually *encouraging* students to use Wikipedia.

Yes! This is a great way to harness a digital resource rather than dismissing it. More or less, everyone uses Wikipedia because if for nothing else, it's usually the first hit in a Google search. I agree with the article in that most students aren't allowed to cite Wikipedia but they do use it as a jumping-off point for their research. So in this sense, it IS valuable. One of the reasons I like it in a pinch is the colloquial tone in the delivery of the information. I usually feel like a buddy is explaining it to me rather than a Phd. If students could capture that tone but provide quality assurance on the facts, there's a real research gem to be had here.