Learning Solutions

Here are the top ten ed-tech stories of 2009, as reported by eSchoolNews:

10 - Internet safety becomes an integral part of the K-12 school curriculum (link)

 9 - “Sexting” becomes a huge problem for educators and parents  (link)

 8 -  Microsoft vs. Google: Two technology heavyweights square off in a battle for student loyalty (link)

 7 - Google’s ambitious book-scanning project draws antitrust concerns  (link)

 6 - Online learning becomes a true “disruptive innovation” … (link)

 5 - …while also preventing the disruption of class during the swine-flu scare  (link)

 4 - Billions of dollars in federal stimulus funding helps rescue ed-tech budgets–but schools are still hurting, despite the increase  (link)

 3 - Federal officials seek a national strategy for getting broadband to every American  (link)

 2 - Technology is a key part of the Obama administration’s school-reform efforts  (link)

 1 - Digital textbooks open a new chapter in the history of U.S. education  (link)

Some think of digital signage as just eye candy, little more than glorified billboards with some video and sound.  Scala, Troades, and House of Media Experience has taken this to the next level with their immersive experience that combines audio, video, AROMA, and interactive technologies.

“We wanted the visitor to have a 360-degree experience. Digital signage is not only about sound and vision, but is enhanced by adding other human sense triggers. Their recollection of their experience and of Miele will be individual to them and as long as the experience was meaningful, helpful, timely and relevant. I’m convinced that this will build brand loyalty and that over time, that recollection and loyalty will be evidenced through referrals and purchases,” said Luc Heijnen of concept design, Multisensory Experience at Troades.

The customer experience is designed to be as personalised as possible. Customers are requested to register prior to or on arrival to provide Miele with basic visitor/shopper information including gender, demographics, lifestyle, historic Miele purchase information, etc.

Visitors are provided with an Apple iPod Touch which contains the visitor’s name, preferences and profile. The iPod Touch can be used to retrieve information on the store (such as a floor plan), provide detailed information on Miele products and services, and enable customers to request advice and recommendations from the iPod Touch system.

The response of the system is based on the user’s unique preferences and profile. Additional information can be printed out in-store or emailed to a customer’s email address direct from the iPod Touch.

The store is equipped with indoor GPS technology which links to each iPod Touch each of which is equipped with its own GPS transmitter. This means Miele know which iPod Touch (and therefore which customer) is in which area of the store to the precision of 50 centiments the size of each square floor tile, each of which also has its own unique GPS address. This technology enables Miele to plot customer progress through the store and map shopping routes, hotspots and dwell times to help develop the digital experience.

Implications for educational institutions are endless…

Read more about it…

“How to Become an Executive in Information Technology in 400 Words or Less“.

Uses 63 commonly used IT buzzwords.

Ideally, change management begins at a 50000-foot level, so first and foremost you want make sure you are talking apples to apples with the right people in the right seat on the bus that is on the right street in the right city and state. When the time comes to bridge the gap, best practices dictate you put a stake in the ground and mind meld with the solution architect. Be tactical, taking baby steps, staying off the bunny trail, even if it is a moving target. In this initial phase of information gathering, understanding time to value will help you avoid vendor rage.

It’s like building a house, taking a cool concept and through many iterations, minimizing disconnect while managing cost of service. If you find yourself in the critical path, revisit the action items to get traction, even it you take a vanilla approach.

Don’t drop the ball when you encounter showstoppers, and feel like you are pushing a string, that is healthy friction. To get your ducks in a row, think out of the box, and try playing the customer, without reinventing the wheel. This is not just a stopgap measure, but rather an interface to peel the onion and get the low hanging fruit. Lessons learned say you will experience push back, like you are drinking from a fire hose. Next steps would be telling the story to connect the dots, using a phased approach that increases synergy, and well, warm fuzzies!!

When you are about to operationalize, it’s like building a car, so don’t be afraid to eat your own dog food, though it may feel like herding cats. This is when your passion for databases and capacity planning will allow you to leverage those resource buckets, and move past the proof of concept stage. This may sound like a chicken and the egg approach, and make you go from hero to zero. But, you should play devil’s advocate, and focus on a dashboard of KPI metrics, not onesy-twosy objectives, which would increase fuzziness. Avoid building buggy whips, and your triangle will take you from hide and seek to show and tell, thus creating GOODNESS!!

OR

Just outsource it!!

An Aggie Mom is a special person. She has to suffer through countless Aggie jokes when she tells her friends where her child is going to college. She has to drive the endless road to College Station—for there is no short cut. She prays silently when her child leaves to make the long trip to school each time after a visit home. An Aggie Mom has to endure the comment, “That’s just like an Aggie,” every time her child does something less than perfect—sometimes a lot less than perfect.

But the Spirit of Aggieland is alive and well in the heart of each Aggie Mom. She cheers the athletic teams even when she knows none of the rules and none of the players. Her heart swells with pride when the scholarly accomplishments of faculty and students are related in the media— even when she has never heard of the individuals or of what they have studied. Sounds of the “Aggie War Hymn,” “Silver Taps,” Reveille barking—sights of the Twelfth Man towels, the Aggie Senior Ring: All these things make an Aggie Mom proud. But nothing can compete with the pride shining in her eyes as her Aggie crosses the stage with diploma in hand— and looks up into the crowd searching for Mom’s face. Being an Aggie Mom does not end at graduation, because once an Aggie Mom, always an Aggie Mom!

(Composed by Binnie Dierschke, mother of Patrick Dierschke ‘91, and past president of the San Angelo A&M Mothers’ Club)

The 5th Annual Region XV Regional Robotics Competition will be held on January 26, 2009, at the Education Service Center Region XV.

There is no entry fee to compete at the regional contest. There is no limit to the number of teams that can be entered. No more than four students per team, please.

Please complete and fax the Arena and Inventions entry forms before December 15, 2008. Parent Release forms can be faxed or mailed to Region XV. Fax number is 325-655-4823.

First Ever ESC Region XV Area Robotics Contest

For the first time the TCEA State Robotics Contest will require an area contest to be held to determine participants at the state contest. ESC Region XV Area Robotics Contest will be February 16, 2009, and be held at Angelo State University.

Teams will pay $40 entry fees to be considered contenders for state. Teams not interested in competing for state are welcome to attend and do not have to pay an entry fee.

Teams will need to register with Region XV (forms are posted) and also register with TCEA (details coming).

Please complete and fax the Region XV Area Arena and Inventions entry forms before February 2, 2009. Parent Release forms can be faxed or mailed to Region XV. Fax number is 325-655-4823.

More information and entry forms at: http://www.netxv.net/pm-view.php?page=437

TCEA Robotics State Competition 2009

Sandy Sawyer our Area 15 TCEA rep has sent the following information regarding Area and State Robotics Contest.

1. problem statement will be on the website (From Angela Crowder- We are currently working on the redesign of the contests portion of the website. We were slightly delayed this week but are working on getting that done ASAP)
2. If they do not want to go on to state there will not be a fee to participate in the Area Robotics contest Feb. 16, 2009
3. I (Sandy Sawyer) will sponsor the teams from our area to go on to state.  (2 Teams from each division + 2 Wildcards) Arena and Inventions
4. They are looking at the calendar to see if they can change the date from May 2 to another date. (will know more information on this in a few weeks)

Having Granny in my life has made me a better person. She is my last grandparent. I am fortunate to have had many years with all four of my grandparents. The unfortunate consequence is having to say goodbye to each of them. When I lost my first grandparent, I could not understand why he was taken away. Being younger, I was selfish and wanted him to be with me forever. I was not interested in the bigger picture and the true glory of everlasting life that awaits each of us.

Now, as I say goodbye to Granny, I feel blessed to have been a witness to her example of love, loyalty, and honor, calmed by the thought of her continuing to watch over me and my family. I know she is with Papa and is already getting on him about the clothes he found at the angels flea market. One of my greatest treasures from her is the quilt she made for me.

She gave me a quilt

It began as five pieces stitched together with hands worn from hard work, but determined by love

It has given consolation in times of grief, and absorbed the tears of joy

It is a cocoon of warmth when it’s cold and rainy, a place to relax and bask in sunshine of calm summer day

It has swaddled the newborn and comforted the elderly.

It has been shared with others to praise and criticize

It has endured the wear and tear of life, but with gentle love and care, has remained in one piece

It has traveled many roads, but has always found its way back home

It confounds the ignorant as to how those five pieces have stayed together to form an unbreakable bond

It beholds a sense of wonder to those that understand the true difficulty of crafting something so delicate yet durable

It is a testament to the work ethic and faith-filled legacy of our German Catholic heritage

She gave me a quilt?

No, she gave me a family

A family that knew if you left her house hungry, it was your own fault, whether for food or love, she provided an abundance of both

A family that celebrates the triumphs as well as defeats with equal passion

A family that remains loyal to each other through the toughest of times

A family that plays hard and prays harder

A family that will always be the Norman and Cora Dierschke Family 58 strong and growing.

Pandora is a product from the Music Genome Project, whose goal is to create the most comprehensive analysis of music ever.

They hope to capture the essence of music at the most fundamental level. They have assembled literally hundreds of musical attributes or “genes” into a very large Music Genome. Taken together these genes capture the unique and magical musical identity of a song - everything from melody, harmony and rhythm, to instrumentation, orchestration, arrangement, lyrics, and of course the rich world of singing and vocal harmony.

What does this mean for you?  Simply, the best FREE internet radio ever.  All you have to do is enter an artist’s name in the radio player.  Pandora will create a station based on the characteristics of that artist’s music.

For example, I entered “Jimmy Buffett” as the artist.  A station was created that contained music based on Buffett’s use of acoustic rock instrumentation, folk influences, a subtle use of harmony, mild rhythmic syncopation and major key tonality.  Pandora  played other artists, The Eagles, James Taylor, Alan Jackson, Jackson Brown, etc.

Once the music starts playing, you rate the songs, and the player will adjust the selections based on your likes and dislikes.  You can create up to 200 different stations, with the option of mixing stations, and sharing them with others.  Links are provided to purchase the music through Amazon or iTunes.

Just released is Pandora for the iPhone.

Educational uses involve music appreciation and understanding commonalities in different music genres.  Students can enter their favorite artists and map out the characteristics. Using a mapping tool, such as Inspiration, students can discover the various influences of older artists on current Top 40 stars.

Joomla! is one of the most powerful Open Source Content Management Systems (CMS) on the planet. It is used all over the world for everything from simple websites to complex corporate applications. Joomla! is easy to install, simple to manage, and reliable.

Okay, the above is from the Joomla! website, but I can attest that the statement is backed up by a great product.  I am the webmaster for several websites, and my clients want the ability to delegate the management of content, without needing HTML knowledge.  Joomla! meets these requirements and then some.

The Joomla! community is arguably the most mature in the Open Source CMS arena.  Solid administrator and end user documentation walks the newbie through setting up a website. Community vetted modules continually provide enhanced tools.  Thousands of customizable themes are readily available to give your site a unique look and feel.

My webhost provider, Siteground, provides free installation for your Joomla! site.  When shopping for a webhost provider, make sure they have an install tool such as Fantastico or Simple Scripts.  These tools provide three-click installation of many popular web applications.

From a learning solutions perspective, a Joomla! site could be set up for an instructor or school without much overhead.  Students would be able to learn about CMS protocol and how to structure a website that is easy to manage.

I have “stumbled upon” a great tool for learning all about what the internet has to offer.

StumbleUpon is a browser tollbar add-on which takes you to random sites, that you can rate “Like It” or “Don’t Like”. As you rate sites, your stumbles will be tailored to your interests, from politics to online games, humor to music. You can stumble within a certain website, like The Onion, or just meander through the many halls of the web. You can create a community of stumblers to share your finds.

This is a nice tool find some sites that you would normally not be aware of with a general search engine. I am using it in conjuction with PMOG to create missions and portals.

Construction continues on the new Angelo State Centennial Village.

This image is updated every five minutes.