QR codes are here and they are going mainstream. MR Robbo the PE geek, myself and others are using these IN CLASS and they are useful ways of augmenting reality. Time to learn because people are going to be talking!

This is is a very important study from the U.K. and Office of Standards in Education in 2009 entitled "The Safe use of new technologies" showed that where provision for e-safety was outstanding all used 'managed' systems to help pupils to become safe and responsible users of new technologies." This is being cited EVERYWHERE. Take a look.

AUSTIN, Texas, March 30 /PRNewswire/ -- GetYa Learn On, LLC - an educational software company that created the innovative application called "Statistics I" - today released empirical findings from a pilot study conducted during the Fall semester of 2009 at Abilene Christian University (ACU). Students in an introductory Statistics class were given the new iPhone application which was used to supplement the instructor's lectures and for studying and test preparation. Statistics I is based on a rich Mobile Learning Platform™ that includes lessons, touch-screen simulations, calculators, decision making tools, quizzes, flashcards, formulas, and a glossary. The Statistics I app has been converted into an iPad E-Textbook and is under review for the grand opening of the iPad App Store.

If students wish to contact the writers of this report - have their teacher talk to Mrs. Davis - I have their email!

Don Tapscott asks students and educators to share what they are doing for "national volunteer week" even if you are not in the USA- share what you're doing this month (Earth Day is coming up.) He's listening, let's talk and engage in conversation.

Free webinars from Discovery on Learn Central and Elluminate as part of the NetGenEd project - you're invited! Webinar 1 - Joe Brennan, Storyboarding Recording: https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?psid=2010-04-07.0651.M.E863950419.... Other sessions are listed below. These sessions are also being promoted on LearnCentral (http://www.learncentral.org) as part of the community events calendar. The link to the room for you and/or your students is: https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=2007066&password=M.F69412.... Webinar 2 (Zone 2) April 14, 9pm EST, Hall Davidson host Topic: Budgeting / Big Picture Webinar 3 (Zone 1) April 21, 11am EST, Joe Brennan host Topic: Sound Webinar 4 (Zone 2) April 28, 9pm EST, Hall Davidson host Topic: Acting

Links to information on digital film webinars for netGenEd 2010.

My ninth graders have completed a module documenting how to do various tasks in OpenSim, the virtual world we use that is hosted by Reactiongrid. This wiki has the links, instructions, and other pages with tutorials on how to do various items. I was assessing this today and thought I'd pass it along as there is some great information to show you how to do things. (If you are a beginning second lifer you may also learn some things.)

This is an example of how students can create content for the purposes of education.

This tedtalk discusses how Microsoft is building augmented reality into searchable maps and is from Blaise Agüera y Arcas with Microsoft. This software is supposed to transform how we look at digital images. This is fascinating and also a topic that the students of NetGenEd will be reviewing as part of their research into augmented reality.

Excellent information from some leaders in technology for those studying mobile computing and the implications.

Will the Joo Joo tablet pre-empt the itouch - not sure, but it sure looks cool and that it can surf the internet 9 seconds from being turned on is cool. Also looks to be an "e-book" type device as well. (Wonder if Amazon will make the kindle app on this device?)

More tablets heading to a place near you -- they call it a "category creating" Internet tablet - I'm not sure, but am still watching all these tools.

The future of computing - from the amazing inventor of sixth sense technology at MIT. Intelligent sticky notes are an example of how we will interact with devices and augment reality with RFI tags.

These are the sticky notes that you should review and how they will work.

Important video for gesture based students to view. This is about the evolution of input into the computer.

So, I'm finally testing Google sketchup! They have some cool competitions for modeling your town and some examples on this website and also a link for educators to download the pro version of sketchup.

Data that is innocuous or is it? Excellent article from the New York Times on Privacy. "In a class project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that received some attention last year, Carter Jernigan and Behram Mistree analyzed more than 4,000 Facebook profiles of students, including links to friends who said they were gay. The pair was able to predict, with 78 percent accuracy, whether a profile belonged to a gay male. So far, this type of powerful data mining, which relies on sophisticated statistical correlations, is mostly in the realm of university researchers, not identity thieves and marketers. But the F.T.C. is worried that rules to protect privacy have not kept up with technology. The agency is convening on Wednesday the third of three workshops on the issue. "

Privacy concerns are tremendous with any kind of data and as you predict what is happening with the future, you should look at this.

Don Tapscott shares his announcement on the NetGenEducation Project we're running again with him this year!

Been discussing with some of my friends on Facebook about location based tracking. This is one drawback/ issue for mobile devices. We must consider this when requiring location based anything for college or k12 work.

Open content and sharing is a shift in the way traditional academics have run. This is a cost-effective alternative to textbooks and customizable educational content is becoming increasingly available for free over the Internet. (Just be wary that you do not confuse "free" with "open source" - it is not the same.) Current links from the Horizon Report 2010 on this trend.

eBooks are becoming more affordable and with devices like the Kindle, Nook, and soon to be released iPad, ebooks are becoming more practical (as well as environmentally friendly as they save paper.) This trend is predicted to move full scale into the college scene within the next 2-3 years. These are the links from the Horizon Report 2010 on this topic.

Augmented Reality is enhancing the world around us by using electronic devices to create a reality that is supplemented (or "augmented") with additional information. Sometimes this is location based (using GPS) or uses QR Codes (with QR code readers) and most often with handheld devices making this truly possible. These links are from the Horizon Report 2010.

The mouse and keyboard are no longer the only way to input data into computing devices. This trend capitalizes on touch interfaces as made popular by the itouch/ iphone as well as the gesture based interfaces made popular by the Wii. Additionally, sixth sense computing (as seen in Minority Report) is a reality as this has already been invented. These links are from the Horizon Report 2010 and will be used by students in the NetGenEd project to understanding Gesture Based computing