worldatways

The iPod might have an instructional potential, but it is the educators who arrange and structure instructional events around it to make learning happen, not the instrument itself. To realize the instructional potential of technology requires a set of skills that can only be acquired through adequate instruction and practice. Just as speaking a foreign language is not a qualification to teach it, knowing how to use a technology does not mean that one knows intuitively how to use it as a teaching tool.

A keyword search for the word "tech%" and "computer" in the Modern Language Association (MLA) job list1 returns over 43 relevant ads out of 236 job postings (as of November 20, 2007): "familiarity with teaching-related technologies" (tenure track in Spanish, Missouri); "experience with technology in the classroom" (tenure track in French, Michigan); "ability to use technology effectively in teaching and learning" (tenure track in Japanese, South Carolina). The wording varies slightly from one ad to the next, but the message is the same: job candidates are well advised to have an answer ready when asked how they use technology in the classroom.

Because the field of language technology is at the crossroads of technology, instructional design, and languages, it calls for the close collaboration of experts in each area. Today, language centers are the only campus units where such a wide range of expertise can easily be found.

Sensor-based interfaces

it's time we realized that the local compute power is a fraction of what's available in the cloud

applications that use those sensors both to feed and interact with cloud services

Set up alerts and track keywords in the public Twitter stream.

said to be the first of its kind involving an art museum. It involves 14 of the Prado's choicest paintings,

the images now available on the internet were 1,400 times clearer than what would be rendered with a 10-megapixel camera.

"With Google Earth technology, it is possible to enjoy these magnificent works in a way never previously possible--obtaining details impossible to appreciate through [even] firsthand observation," he said during a news conference at the museum.

Watch TED Talks clips. :) More suggestions: Presentation Zen Deliver a Presentation Like Steve Jobs The Art of the Pitch (mp3)

http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00001B&topic_id=1

More recently, I've started watching and deconstructing Lessig's TED talk with my Art & Media Ed students (most of whom are becoming teachers) in order to better understand the power of Lessig's approach. We also review the critiques of PowerPoint put forth by Edward Tufte, Sherry Turkle, and David Byrne. As a point of reference, we view Peter Norvig's PowerPoint reworking of the Gettysburg Address. If you haven't seen it, Norvig's presentation translates Abe Lincoln’s moving 1863 cemetery speech into a series of six generic slides featuring bullet points, bland colors and a nearly incomprehensible ‘Organizational Overview’ graph. It clearly illustrates some of the profound limitations of PowerPoint as a communications tool. In contrast, Lessig uses visuals (and selected text) in a way that truly compliments and extends the conceptual/pedagogical aspects of his presentations. As Chris Tunnell has pointed out, the multiple slides, repeating images, and minimal text allows the audience to focus on, enjoy (and presumably remember) the material being presented. This is further enhanced by the logical (e.g. 3 stories and an argument) and sometimes poetic (e.g. "the refrain") structures that Lessig uses to organize his talks.