Faustian Rants

Moore’s Law and Yellow Bird

Jim — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 02:42:25 +0000

One of the most amazing things about YouTube is what the collective can lead to. For example, I searched for the classic song “Yellow Bird” and found what looked like nearly 4000 different renditions of the song. From the classic Joseph Spence version to multi-track attempts. Here a just a few for your listening curiosity. Nothing like this was possible before YouTube.

Inia Te Wiata, a harmonica version, on the ukulele, Vivian Vance no less, learn how on a 12 string, a dad with his sons, and even a Berlin Barbershop Quartet! Enjoy these and a few more listed below….

In Support of WikiLeaks

Jim — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 19:20:36 +0000

Unlike many technologies, I get the Faustian bargain in WikiLeaks and this latest blog entry is in full support of freedom of information. I don’t understand the out cry against WikiLeaks at all, and frankly the current administration (most notably Hillary Clinton) has lost a ton of goodie points with me over the spectacle they’ve tried to make of it. SHAME ON YOU Hillary!!

For years now my government has been telling me not to worry about the Patriot Act and any increase in surveillance they might be doing. “If I have done nothing wrong, I have nothing to worry about.”, they say. Well ditto back at you Uncle Sam.

When is the last time it was a good idea for governments (or anybody else for that matter) to hide what they are ashamed or embarrassed of? Normally exposing what’s embarrassing you is a big step in getting you to stop doing it.

BTW, I have a slight whiff of fear running through me about posting this, and that is a shame. That slight fear in me means we still have a ways to go in defending our freedoms.

Faculty Development Seminar at Baylor

Jim — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 11:55:01 +0000

Yikes!! Why couldn’t I have been a faculty member at Baylor!! My recent discovery of a faculty development seminar they are holding has me drooling!! What an idea. Have to follow up and make something similar happen on my campus. (Or perhaps SUNY wide)?

Is Moore’s Law Just a Pattern?

Jim — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 00:39:57 +0000

Data Storage Thoughts

Jim — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 14:31:51 +0000

A recent article in Technology Review about 3D data storage is a perfect example of how nanotechnologies will keep Moore’s Law moving forward, unabated I think, for the next 10 – 20 years. Bits that are the size of molecules means incredible amounts of storage for portable devices. We went from saying “theoretically” about ideas like this to saying “in 10 or so years” pretty quickly. Some samples of how this pace of change is reaching storage can be read here and here.

Enjoy.

Are Today’s Students REALLY Rewired?

Jim — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 12:51:36 +0000

An excellent article by Daniel T. Willingham entitled “Have Technology and Multitasking Rewired How Students Learn” appeared in the Summer 2010 edition of the American Educator. In it, Willingham reviews what we think we know about technology and its impact on student learning. I highly recommend it. A few important takeaways I got from this article are:

It isn’t technology that students find engaging. It is solvable mental problems.
Technology can increase student engagement if it aids in presenting and helping students solve these problems.
Students cannot multitask.
Technology can provide rapid changes to what a student sees or experiences. This may or may not translate into increased engagement or learning.
The whiteboard analog used in the article is excellent. Students may LOVE the whiteboard, but does it really translate into enthusiasm for the course. Studies suggest not.
Younger people are better at multitasking than older people, but not because they practice it. It is because they larger working memory capacity. They are not better at it than they used to be.
Interestingly, College students that report being multitaskers are actually worse at it than their counterparts.
Bottom line – if you need to get something done, multitasking is never a good idea.

The article goes on with more important points.. but this will give you a flavor for it. It does reiterate a few points worthy of remembering. Using technologies effectively is not as obvious as it might seem at first. For example, hypertext reading, as it relates to working memory, has to be considered carefully. If the reader has plenty of prior knowledge, thus uses less working memory while reading, hypertext links may be ok. It the reader does not it can be disruptive.

Finally, things to consider as a teacher. Encourage students to NOT multitask. If you are using a new technology, get connected to a community of teachers using it and share stories. Finally, think about what the technology can and CANNOT do. For example, videos are good for showing things over time, photos are better for showing static concepts.

Google Map Example

Jim — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:28:46 +0000

View Larger Map

The Digital Facelift

Jim — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:07:36 +0000

At the 2006 SUNY CIT Conference there was a session by a group of faculty from the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). It was entitled, “Does Technology Imperil the Academy?”. At this session, Steven Zucker, Beth Harris and Eric Feinblatt first introduced me to the idea that the “cloud” (Web 2.0, social networking tools, or whatever you want to call it) was going to change education is a way that was different from what previous technologies had done. That a dark cloud was gathering in the distance and the storm it was bringing to higher education could be more than a gentle breeze.
Ever since then, I’ve read, watched and listened to everything I could find about the new “cloud” of software services and what people thought their impact on higher education would be. It has been a long and winding road (or a long strange trip if you like the Dead better.) Hardest along the way has been trying to articulate this gathering cloud. Today, I feel its cool breeze coming. I can see its clouds growing larger and darker, but I can’t find the right words so others at my campus see it. Sure there are a few sympathetic ears, but for the most part no one is paying attention. As we start another strategic planning process for the campus, I struggle with how to get this issue on the radar of the strategic planning committees. (I hear your laughing.)

Hope springs eternal and my failures at being able to articulate this issue received an incredible spark from Gardner Campbell at Baylor University. Gardner, IMHO, masterfully articulates the issue first introduced to me years ago in this talk. I am so impressed with this talk that I am using it as the “text book” for my course on “Communicating Using Social Media” here at SUNY Oneonta. Watch this, it is well worth it.

I am not someone to jump at the next techno marvel that will “fix” education. I have studied the history of education and know from experience that “we have heard this before.” This only makes me worry more deeply. I fear our experiences with failed promises that technology has too often produced will make us so skeptical as to ignore these clouds. We so do at our own peril.

Why is Constructivisim Doing So Poorly?

Jim — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:01:12 +0000

Why is the constructivist approach to education doing so poorly over the last 20 years or so?

Read Upon what does the turtle stand? rethinking education for the digital age by Aviram, Roni and others.