It's a Tool

   

It's a Tool

 With the advent of personal computing in it's various forms, the one thing being noticed at the Community college is the skill of people using their portable devices to interact in the social media of their life, creating groups, private threads, and collaborative groups.  The idea that people can be this productive with their social network needs to be expanded to their productivity network within the context of learning.
     Companies such as Microsoft, Apple, Google, IBM, Corel, Apache Open Office, and Adobe are using cloud computing to provide clients the ability to collaborate on projects online.  Collaborative  access to files stops confusion as to the version of the document you are working on for the project.  It allows each team member the ability to edit and make changes that benefit the end product.  Taking the skills people have with their social media to their productivity media does not take very long, however it is a diffusionary process requiring some dedication in order to learn the software that is being used in a collaboartive fashion.  This is where the challenge is for people using technology:  Being able to relate one set of skills used in one construct and apply it to another.  For some it is an easier process than others, however with dedication any obstacle can be overcome.

Using LAYAR to make interactive documents

One of the presentations at the SC Edtech conference last week was a presentation by Max Monroe from Pickens County using LAYAR.  LAYAR is an advertising program which allows you to take any document, upload it to your account at the LAYAR site and embed audio, video, or hyperlinks.  It creates interactive text documents with the web.

The process is this:

1.  Create the interactive document at the LAYAR site.
2.  Download the app for your mobile device
3.  Scan the document using your mobile device
4.  Click on the links which appear virtually.

This acts like a QR code reader only not as messy.   The nice thing is that students can take the printed sheet home, scan it with their AR reader app at home and interact with the materials to refresh their minds about the lesson of the day, whether it be an audio recording of a story, a video, or hyperlink to a web page.

This can be used in music by taking a score of lead sheet , upload it to the LAYAR site, then adding hyperlinks to the history of the tune, musical concepts, definitions, and form related materials to the actual piece of music.

The site is at www.layar.com

Productivity versus being a fanboy or girl

One of the things I always liked about my Franklin Planner was that it was everywhere I was.  All my information that was important to me, was with me, or within reach at all times.  When I became interested in using technology in productive ways, there were problems between using the different elements of my technology portfolio.  As an example, I have a mac, iPad, ipod, and iPhone on the apple side, and a HP laptop on the PC side.  Getting these to all work together is just a pain, as one application will not work across the Apple Microsoft divide, however, there are solutions.

After may third move in the past three years, I have become a Google apps fanboy, only because regardless of which piece of technology I use, I have access to it.  There online solution is the least cumbersome to work with, and allows the user flexibility in using the software in a productive manner. This is probably the closest match to my paper planner that I have used.  While I use Outlook on my live account,  and like what I am capable of doing with it using my Windows 8 laptop, the major bummer is my information cannot be shared with my apple devices, which defeats of purpose of a productive mobile tool, like my paper planner.  Apple's calendar  gives you a day view, a list view, and a month view.  Their  reminder software is basic at the minimum level, and offer little in workflow productivity, offering exclamation points to prioritize tasks. The only way I have found to share the information between the two platforms is to link them to my Google account. I made this work till Windows 8 came out, where I can share my calendar via email to my apple account, however the link crashes on the Apple side of the equation.  Icloud is also Apple restrictive, so a pdf document cannot be loaded to the cloud.  Microsoft, Google, and Dropbox allow you to upload anything you wish, so this makes my rantings even more confusing.  This confusion can be solved by many things, such as stick to Apple or Microsoft for my technology needs, however, I do not have resources to do that.  What to do to make it work better?  Use note taking programs.

I have found Evernote and Onenote capable of solving my cross application needs.  I am sure Google Keep will be similar in context to these programs.   I created my Franklin Covey week template in Onenote and Evernote.  It looks just like my old paper planner.

What I do like about Onenote is the fact that they have created an application that allows me to edit my to do checkboxes, and allow my to prioritize the 1,2,3, so my A items in my planner are 1, the b items are 2, and the C items are 3.  I am able to open my planner pages on my Apple products as well as my PC products, offering seamless integration.   Evernote allows a similar capability using a template, however does not have the prioritized checkboxes that I found in Onenote.  So I list my priorities as A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3 after the checkbox in each table block, which gives me the same productive capacity, working on any type of technological device.

I set up a notebook in each program called "CD's Planner." In each of these notebooks, I have pages for my mission statement, my goals, my weekly overview, along with a set of daily pages.  I can copy and paste information between my table blocks in my week view in  order to map out my daily view.   I also have a templates set that I use at the beginning of each week.  These have certainly helped me to use my cross platform technologies as a tool again, and hopefully, it will help others who suffer from the same frustration of the Apple/Microsoft battles for people to use their technology as a productivity tool.

Upon posting this, I found that you can set up an exchange account in your Apple settings that will share the MS information on my Apple products.  I will follow up with an update as to how well this continues to work.

In the book the "Diffusion of Innovations," the author describes a diffusion rate on a scale from early adoption to laggard adoption, or being the last to adopt the technology.  The idea that school systems will not allow students to use portable devices as an educational tool demonstrates the "fear" that decision makers have, and where their system is along the diffusion scale.  Instead of addressing the issue by making each person accountable for how the technology will be used in an educational setting, we unplug the tools this generation of kids have grown up with.  By having an agreement in writing with the student, parents, and administrators describing how the technology will be used in the educational setting, this fear is taken care of.  When the student violates the policy, the privilege to use the technology is gone with that decision.

Online education is becoming mainstream in the collegiate arena of ideas.  K-12 education is still partly entrenched in the fear that Web 1.0 is the only way to go, or you can use the internet as a research tool. You will not be able to collaborate online, or work with people who are halfway around the world.  One of my students plagiarized an entire report.  She does not stand a chance when if she goes to college and must turn her paper in through "Turnitin.com."   We hear educators complain at every level that students are unprepared for their classes.  Online education allows users to think, respond appropriately, and write their ideas with clarity.  As a parting gift, the Essa school in Britian on the Macs in Education site is a superb movie on how interactive technological tools enhance education.  The link is:

http://www.apple.com/education/profiles/essa/#video-essa

Cheers!

Smartmusic for the Musician

Smartmusic has come a long way from the digital cartridges of it former practice system.  Makmusic just made the Ipad version of Smartmusic available, allowing the user to access an entire library of music to practice and play with.  In the classroom, Smartmusic allows educators to set up a Gradebook for each of their classes.  The students create an account at Gradebook.Smartmusic.com, and then join the teachers classroom.  Here the educator can send out assignments from method books used, jazz tunes, band pieces, and solo instrument materials.  The institution fee is around $150 dollars for one calendar year.  Individual plans run around $40 dollars.  The program listens to you perform, anaylizes the performance and tells you which notes were played correctly and incorrectly.  (Green for correct, and Red for Incorrect).  It will grade it on a percentage, which allows players to improve each take.  The play then can upload their best take to the educator for commentary and review.   The Ipad version does require IOS6,  which was an unpleasant surprise for me and my original Ipad.  This makes me an unhappy Apple user. The last time they pulled this stunt, I bought PCs and have stayed there until buying a macmini four years ago.   It seems that I will have to use my ipad in other capacities.  As a Finale user, I can access Smartscore, which will at least play the created music files.  The tools available for musicians are well worth the investment, as you still spend several thousand dollars for a professional level instrument.

The Case for Video on Demand

When I watched the movie for my assignment a few weeks ago, I found that renting the movie from an online carrier was easier than having to find the movie at a local dvd store.  I think the VOD movement will eventually replace the DVD, as you can order or download the video at your convenience, pause or restart the viewing if you are interrupted, and view it anywhere you are.  It is a similar progression in music, where I can now download a song or album often for less expense than purchasing the physical format of a CD.   This is an increasing return for the movie industry, as it migrates away from a "physical" delivery system. 

I think VOD enhances movie going based upon convenience for the user.  it retrieves the idea of having you entertainment with you wherever you are, such as the days of the portable radio, and rekindles the idea of podcasting in a visual format. 

DNA Memory

I stumbled across this today, and thought this is where the future  of music and learning could go.  Dr. Thornburg may have nailed this one.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324539304578259883507543150.html

Second Life as a Disruptive Educational Force

Second Life can be a disruptive force in the educational community.  As a disruptive force, the need for physical buildings disappear.  Classrooms are virtual and wherever there is an internet connection to access the domain.  There is a game quality to the control of your avatar, which can walk, run, fly, and jump.  Teleporting to a different location or island is one of the tools that allow you to move around quickly and freely.  You can have conversations with the people you meet, and seems to be a perfect setting for a virtual classroom. 

Second Life has the opportunity to replace the physical educational institution in the sense of a brick and mortar school.  It takes the "physical plant" and places in a virtual world.  There is no added expense of feeding, transporting, or having the expenses associated with a building, there is interaction within the virtual environment, along with other people there.  One advantage is the flexibility in scheduling events.  The ability to instruct a class at seven pm, versus eight am, may have appeal to a person who is an afternoon or evening person. 

Should holographic technology continue to evolve in the near future, I see the possibility of a holographic version of Second Life.  Your camera has the capability now of transmitting your image and your voice to others.  The same tools could create a virtual holographic image of you, and place in an educational island on Second Life.  That is my kind of education. 

Parameters need to be in place concerning social norms on such a site.  Tone in writing is such an important issue, as many people currently use the keyboard as an attack tool in many blogs.  There is name calling, profane language, and disrespectful discussions that certainly violate the need for civility in an online environment.

While Second Life may not be able to currently do many of these things, there is potential for such an environment to appear on Second Life.  I think I am going to look for a master class island for my musical skills. 

Rhymes of History

In this week's blog posting, I am looking at the idea of a rhyme of history.  It is well quoted that history repeats itself.  I like to think of the smartphone ipod, or tablet that allows a user to listen to music.  It takes me back to my days of youth, where we used to listen to a transistor radio, because it was small, portable, and allowed you to use an earpiece to listen without bothering others around you.  While current listening devices have much more to offer, they served their purpose to provide music played on the am and fm band in a portable device.